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QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ASKED

Someone has asked, "If only God can forgive sins, then how do you explain John 20:21-23, which says that Christ gave his apostles the power to forgive sins?"

The passage for consideration states, "then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained." Notice carefully the passage. Jesus begins with a salutation of peace. They were to be messengers of peace. They were to be his ambassadors, the bearers of his message of peace to the world. What follows is what is commonly called The Great Commission. As it is stated in Mark, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15-16). As the father had sent the Christ into the world to reveal to mankind his divine plan of salvation, so Christ is commissioning the apostles to go into the world and to continue the work he has begun. This message they were to take was the gospel. By faithfully obeying it mankind would receive forgiveness: God's grace, and if faithfully lived, eternal life in eternity. Those who obey the message of the gospel will have their sins forgiven, i.e., remitted; however, those who reject the gospel message will have their sins retained. God does the forgiving based upon man's compliance with his divine terms. The reference in the passage has to do with the commission God is giving the apostles through Christ: it is the gospel message; when it is obeyed; we enjoy the benefits of the blood of Christ. Man does not do the saving--it is God that saves, when man renders obedience to the gospel message. It was this gospel message that the apostles were being told to preach and to teach.

The Bible makes clear that God and not man has the authority to forgive sins. Notice an incident in the life of Christ. In Mark 2 they bring to Jesus one that is sick of the palsy. Because of the crowd, they lowered him, while on his bed, down from the rooftop. The text says, "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee" (Mark 2:5). However, some of the scribes reasoned among themselves that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy, because he forgave the sick man of his sins making this statement, "Who can forgive sins but God only?"(vs. 7). In one respect the scribes were right, and in another they were wrong. They were right, in the sense, that only God can forgive sins. They were wrong in failing to see that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and, thus, has the authority to forgive sins. To prove this to them Jesus miraculously heals the sick of the palsy (vv. 11, 12). In doing this he makes this statement, "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?" Only God could forgive sins and only by the power of God a miracle can be performed. Jesus was God, God in the flesh (consider I John 1:9; 2:1). The point is that forgiveness of sins belongs only to the Godhead. Therefore, our Lord here commits to his apostles, those being sent, the right to authoritatively declare in his name that there is forgiveness for man's sin, and on what conditions the sin will be forgiven (See Matt. 16:18,19 for a similar-type situation). The apostles are to tell the world the will of God and the end result is the forgiveness of God, when God's will is obeyed.

Jim Laws

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