Joshua, How do you know that Peter did not confess his sins to another Apostles were you present there at that time and followed Peter every step he took? Yes, Yes, Now you are going to tell me, if I was present there to as well, and did I see Peter confess his Sins to another Apostles etc.
BUT did not Jesus Christ say also to the Apostles In
John 20:21-23 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23** Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.**
Joshua, you seem to forget about (John 20: 21-23) above. Why? Joshua, Can you retain my sins? Did Not Jesus Christ teaching say to forgive all? Then why did Jesus NOW SAY “AND WHOSE SINS YOU SHALL RETAIN, THEY ARE RETAINED”.
Joshua, No! You can not retain my sins, nor can I retain your sins we must forgive one another this is Christ’s teaching. But the Church can retain our sins or forgive them. This is why we must go to see a priest the priest acts in Christ’s place there we can have our sin’s that we committed against God, forgiven or retained. Understand, if not pray to the Holy Spirit that you will find understanding and Guidence to the Catholic Church. AMEN
Again, Christ’s teaching’s for the CHURCH it is only through the Church that we can find and hear that Our Sins our forgiven or retained.
But we the people must forgive each others sins that they have done to us, no matter what and this to is Christ’s teaching for us who are not the leaders of His One Church. AMEN
Hi Ufamtobie,
No…I did not forget about the passage, but take care to not add to what is spoken by Christ.
No one should retain sins, not even the Church.
John 20:23 - “ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀφέωνται αὐτοῖς ἄν τινων
κρατῆτε κεκράτηνται.”
κρατῆτε (krateó) means “To hold onto; cling to; hold fast to; to keep.”…and in the context of the passage, it conveys a similar meaning as “to hold a grudge”.
Christ was not defining two distinct “powers/authorities” of the Church in this passage [Forgiveness & Retention]. He was simply stating the
negative point of view (like any of us would do while teaching) to drive home his point that they - we - MUST forgive (and forget) sins or we can’t possibly truly forgive people.
To prove this, let’s return to the word “retain”…
Retain means “continued in your keeping or use or
memory; to keep in one’s mind.”…and in the context of the passage, it conveys the meaning of “remembering”.
(
KJV) - “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and
whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”
(
NASB) - “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you
retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
To understand the word retain in context of forgiveness, let’s look at a few pasages on forgiveness:
Isaiah 43:25 - “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions [sins] for My own sake; and I will **not remember זָכַר] ** your sins.”
זָכַר (Zakar) means “to bring to
mind; to call to mind;
to keep; to record.”
Hebrew 8:12 - “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember μνάομαι] no more.”
Hebrew 10:17 - “And their sins and iniquities will I
remember μνάομαι] no more”
μνάομαι (mimnesko) means “in the mind or of
mental grasp; to bear in mind; to recollect”
Now if we read multiple interpretations of John 20:23, Christ’s message is clear:
(
NIV) - “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you
do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
(
NLT) - “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you
do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
(
ESV) - "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you **withhold forgiveness **from any, it is withheld.”
(
GWT) - “Whenever you forgive sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you
don’t forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Christ’s message is, “whoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven
and with true forgiveness comes forgetfulness]…but whoever’s sins you hold on to and remember,
they can not possibly be truly forgiven.”
So can you and I retain sins (in the true meaning of the word, which means to “remember them as if to hold a grudge”)? Yes…but here Christ is teaching us - as his disciples - to “forgive
and forget”, as such is true forgiveness; the forgiveness of God. He is not giving the Church “authority to remember sins”. This is an error in interpretation.
Now let me ask you:
If not even God can “retain” (remember) sins once He’s forgiven them, what gives anyone on earth the power or authority to do so?
