By Gary Ray Branscome
Jesus made certain statements about forgiving and retaining
sin that were twisted during the Middle Ages into a way of making forgiveness depend
on works. For that reason, we need to look closely at what the Bible does say,
while allowing Scripture to interpret itself.
One of those statements reads, “At evening
on that same day, which was the first day of the week, after the doors to the
place where the disciples had gathered were locked, for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood among them, and said to them, Peace be with you. And after
saying that, He showed them His hands and his side. Then the disciples were
overjoyed, when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, Peace be
with you: as my Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And after He had
said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Ghost. If
you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; and if you retain the sins
of anyone, they are retained. But Thomas, called Didymus,
who was one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came” (John
Notice that all of the Apostles were not present [Thomas
was missing]. Furthermore, a comparison of this passage with Luke
24:13-36 reveals that two other disciples (who were not apostles) were present
when Christ made these statements. That tells us that Christ’s words, “If you
forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; and if you retain the sins of
anyone, they are retained” were not meant for
the Apostles alone. Likewise, there is nothing in the text to indicate that
forgiving and retaining sins is limited to the “clergy” or is passed on by
ordination. On the contrary, if we look at the context, Christ’s words, “Receive the
Holy Ghost,” suggest that the power of forgiving and retaining
sins is extends to all who have received the Holy Ghost.
If we look at Christ’s
example we read, “They brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a bed: and
having seen their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man; Son, be of good
cheer; your sins are forgiven. At this, some of the scribes said within
themselves, This man blasphemes. And Jesus knowing
their thoughts said, Why do you think evil in your
hearts? For which is easier, to say, Your sins are
forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man
has power on earth to forgive sins, (He then said to the paralyzed man,) Get up, pick up your bed, and go to your house” (Matthew
9:2-6).
The fact that Christ told
the paralyzed man that his “sins” were “forgiven,” tells
us that the paralyzed man desperately needed assurance of forgiveness. And,
that is understandable because the words, “Who sinned, this man, or his
parents, that he was born blind?” tell us that in their society affliction was
often seen as punishment for sin (John 9:2)
In our society the words that Christ spoke to the paralyzed
man would be viewed as assuring him of forgiveness, rather than forgiving his
sin. And, that tells us that whenever we assure people of forgiveness we are
forgiving sin in the sense Christ intended when He said, “If you
forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven” (John 20:23). That being understood, we need to realize that Christ
never said, “Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven,” when speaking to
those who were self-righteous, unrepentant or unbelieving. Those words were
spoken to believers who were burdened by guilt and desperately needed assurance
of forgiveness. And, when we say to people like that, “God has forgiven your
sins,” we know it is true because the sacrifice for sin has already been made.
As it is written, “By one offering He has perfected for ever those who are
sanctified” (Hebrews
There is a clear parallel between the forgiving and
retaining of sins that Christ spoke of in John
20:19-24, and the binding and loosing that He spoke of in Matthew eighteen. In
that chapter He said, “If your
brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone:
if he will hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not listen,
then take one or two others with you, so that every word may be established by
the testimony of two or three witnesses. And if he refuses to listen to them,
tell it to the church: but if he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you
as an heathen man and a publican. I tell you truly,
Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven: and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew
In those words of Christ we see the power to retain sin
used in the context of congregational discipline. And, its purpose is not to
impose the will of some on others, but to bring the unrepentant person to
repentance by removing any false assurance of forgiveness [See 1Cor. 5.] In theology, exercising this authority is referred
to as the “office of the keys”. Of those keys Lenski
says, “How the keys are to be used is shown with great clearness in Matt.
THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
There
is a clear parallel between Christ’s words to Peter, “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whoever you
will bind on earth will be bound in heaven: and whoever you will loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven,” and His words in Matthew eighteen (Matthew