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Bible Questions and Spiritual Discussion
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Sins Forgiven
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We will be reading John, Chapter 20 tomorrow. Would anyone care to explain the meaning of John 20:23?
"If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” ESV
"If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?" The Message
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Craig from Illinois 05/31/2012 19:09 |
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Saint Grogan
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06/04/2012 00:45 |
“ Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” (John 20:23 KJV)
Hi Craig,
Jesus was giving the apostles (and by extension, all believers) the privilege of announcing Heaven’s terms on how a sinner can receive forgiveness. If a person repents and puts their faith in Christ, then a believer has the right to announce a sinner’s forgiveness. If a sinner rejects the finished work of Christ’s sacrifice, then a believer can announce that that sinner is not forgiven. (Taken from “The Bible Knowledge Commentary)
John uses a significant perfect verb tense that implies a process having reached its consummation and now exists in a finished state. So, the verse is better understood as, “Those whose sins you forgive HAVE ALREADY BEEN forgiven; those whose sins you do not forgive HAVE NOT BEEN forgiven. Only God can actually forgive sins (Luke 5:21), but believers have the prerogative of proclaiming to others a sinners forgiveness or condemnation based on their acceptance or rejection of the finished work of Christ.
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