Dear Friend, the Lord declares in Isaiah 43:25:
I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
Psalm 103:2-3 adds:
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases…
Many will use these verses against the idea of confession to a priest. God forgiving sins, they will claim, precludes the possibility of there being a priest who forgives sins. Further, Hebrews 3:1 and 7:22-27 tell us Jesus is, “the… high priest of our confession” and that there are not “many priests,” but one in the New Testament—Jesus Christ. Moreover, if Jesus is the “one mediator between God and men” (I Tim. 2:5), how can Catholics reasonably claim priests act in the role of mediator in the Sacrament of Confession?
In the Catholic Church, confessing sins to a priest is a sacrament known as Reconciliation or Penance. This sacrament is based on Jesus' teaching and example, as recorded in the Bible.
According to Catholic doctrine, when we sin, we damage our relationship with God and with the community of believers. Confessing our sins to a priest is a way to acknowledge our mistakes, take responsibility for them, and seek forgiveness and healing.
The priest acts as a representative of Christ and the Church, and through the sacrament of Reconciliation, he offers forgiveness and absolution in God's name. The priest also provides guidance, support, and encouragement to help the person overcome their sins and grow in their faith.
Confessing sins to a priest is not just about getting forgiveness, but also about:
1. Acknowledging our sinfulness and taking responsibility for our actions.
2. Seeking healing and restoration of our relationship with God and the Church.
3. Receiving guidance and support to overcome our weaknesses and grow in holiness.
4. Experiencing the mercy and compassion of God through the priest's words of absolution.
In the Bible, Jesus gives his apostles the power to forgive sins in his name (John 20:21-23). This authority is passed down through the centuries to Catholic priests, who continue to offer the sacrament of Reconciliation to those seeking forgiveness and healing.
It's worth noting that confessing sins to a priest is not required in all Christian denominations, and some people may prefer to confess their sins directly to God in prayer. However, for Catholics, the sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of their spiritual practice and a means of experiencing God's mercy and forgiveness.
The practice of confessing sins to a priest is rooted in the Bible. Here are some key passages that relate to this practice:
1. *John 20:21-23*: Jesus appears to his apostles after his resurrection and gives them the power to forgive sins in his name. He says, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (John 20:22-23)
2. *Matthew 9:1-8*: Jesus forgives the sins of a paralytic man, demonstrating his authority to forgive sins. The passage says, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Matthew 9:6)
3. *Matthew 16:19*: Jesus gives Peter, the first pope, the keys to the kingdom of heaven, saying, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)
4. *James 5:14-16*: The apostle James writes, "Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:14-16)
5. *1 John 1:8-9*: The apostle John writes, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9)
These passages demonstrate that:
- Jesus has the authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:1-8)
- He gives this authority to his apostles (John 20:21-23)
- The apostles are given the power to bind and loose sins (Matthew 16:19)
- Confession of sins is necessary for forgiveness (1 John 1:8-9)
- The church has a role in praying for and forgiving sins (James 5:14-16)
The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrament of Reconciliation is a continuation of this biblical practice, where priests, as representatives of Christ and the Church, offer forgiveness and absolution to those who confess their sins.
BEGINNING WITH THE OLD
The Catholic Church acknowledges what Scripture unequivocally declares: it is God who forgives our sins. But that is not the end of the story. Leviticus 19:20-22 is equally unequivocal:
If a man lies carnally with a woman… they shall not be put to death… But he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord… And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed; and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
Apparently, a priest being used as God’s instrument of forgiveness did not somehow take away from the fact that it was God who did the forgiving. God was the first cause of the forgiveness; the priest was the secondary, or instrumental cause. Thus, God being the forgiver of sins in Isaiah 43:25 and Psalm 103:3 in no way eliminates the possibility of there being a ministerial priesthood established by God to communicate his forgiveness.
OUT WITH THE OLD
Many Protestants will concede the point of priests acting as mediators of forgiveness in the Old Testament. “However,” they will claim, “The people of God had priests in the Old Testament. Jesus is our only priest in the New Testament.” The question is: could it be that “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) did something similar to that which he did, as God, in the Old Testament? Could he have established a priesthood to mediate his forgiveness in the New Testament?
IN WITH THE NEW
Just as God empowered his priests to be instruments of forgiveness in the Old Testament, the God/man Jesus Christ delegated authority to his New Testament ministers to act as mediators of reconciliation as well. Jesus made this remarkably clear in John 20:21-23:
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Having been raised from the dead, our Lord was here commissioning his apostles to carry on with his work just before he was to ascend to heaven. “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” What did the Father send Jesus to do? All Christians agree he sent Christ to be the one true mediator between God and men. As such, Christ was to infallibly proclaim the Gospel (cf. Luke 4:16-21), reign supreme as King of kings and Lord of lords (cf. Rev. 19:16); and especially, he was to redeem the world through the forgiveness of sins (cf. I Peter 2:21-25, Mark 2:5-10).
The New Testament makes very clear that Christ sent the apostles and their successors to carry on this same mission. To proclaim the gospel with the authority of Christ (cf. Matthew 28:18-20), to govern the Church in His stead (cf. Luke 22:29-30), and to sanctify her through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist (cf. John 6:54, I Cor. 11:24-29) and for our purpose here, Confession.
John 20:22-23 is nothing more than Jesus emphasizing one essential aspect of the priestly ministry of the apostles: To Forgive men’s sins in the person of Christ— “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, whose sins you retain are retained.” Moreover, auricular confession is strongly implied here. The only way the apostles could either forgive or retain sins is by first hearing those sins confessed, and then making a judgment whether or not the penitent should be absolved.
TO FORGIVE OR TO PROCLAIM?
Many Protestants and various quasi-Christian sects claim John 20:23 must be viewed as Christ simply repeating “the great commission” of Matthew 28:19 and Luke 24:47 using different words that mean the same thing:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
… and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations…
Commenting on John 20:23 in his book, Romanism—The Relentless Roman Catholic Assault on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! (White Horse Publications, Huntsville Alabama, 1995), p. 100, Protestant Apologist Robert Zins writes:
It is apparent that the commission to evangelize is tightly woven into the commission to proclaim forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ.
Mr. Zin’s claim is that John 20:23 is not saying the apostles would forgive sins; rather, that they would merely proclaim the forgiveness of sins. The only problem with this theory is it runs head-on into the text of John 20. “If you forgive the sins of any… if you retain the sins of any.” The text cannot say it any clearer: this is more than a mere proclamation of the forgiveness of sins—this “commission” of the Lord communicates the power to actually forgive the sins themselves.
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