Forgiveness of Sins

Question: What does John 20:23 mean: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained?" Does this passage teach that the priest has power on earth to forgive sins?

The meaning of the verse is very clear if you notice exactly what is said and the exact context in which Jesus said it. In the preceding verse, Jesus had breathed on the disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (v. 22). Then He said to them, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In other words, Jesus taught that a disciple who had received the Holy Spirit would receive the power of spiritual discernment, through which he would know whether there had been true repentance or not, and whatever person's sins this Spirit-filled disciple pronounced were forgiven, were indeed forgiven.

The promise was not made to an official priest but to disciples who had been filled with the Holy Spirit. If a priest were filled with the Holy Spirit, he undoubtedly would receive this spiritual discernment. However, a man who is not a priest, except in the sense that all believers are priests (Revelation 1:6), and who receives the Holy Spirit may have this spiritual discernment. There are times when any Spirit-filled person may know that a pretense of repentance that another person makes is not genuine; because of this, he may declare to that person that his sins are not forgiven. On other occasions, he may see that repentance and faith are genuine, and declare to the person that his sins are forgiven.

The apostle Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, exercised this power in Acts 8:20-23. The apostle Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, exercised it in Acts 13:9-11. Many humble believers have this Spirit-given discernment today. There is no mention whatsoever of priests in the passage, and there is absolutely nothing that can e built upon to prove that the priest as such has power on earth to forgive sins.

~R. A. Torrey~