S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

In John 20:23, Jesus tells His disciples, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." The very core of the gospel message is the truth th...

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July 01 2013 • 4 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Billy P Eldred Supporter

I believe the key to this verse lies in verse 21 "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you". Why did Jesus come? To save the lost! Why was he sending out his disciples? To save the lost! 

And how are the lost saved? By Faith in Jesus. So I believe Jesus was saying: I am empowering you with the Holy Spirit to witness to the lost. They will either believe and therefore their sins will be forgiven commuting their death sentence or they will remain in their sin, unforgiven. 

As I reread this answer this morning, this verse came to mind:
: Romans 10:14 NIV
[14] How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 

I believe Jesus was encouraging his disciples and saying "If you don't go to these people and preach the good news, what hope do they have! I am annointing you with the Holy Spirit so you will have what you need to succeed.

January 20 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Richard Magee Supporter Disabled Scholar

To understand this passage, I feel that it must be looked at in a different way. I think Jesus used this to sway people to believe in him so that their sins are forgiven summarily and without question. Otherwise he warns that you will be bound to your sins by each and every individual who will not, in and of themselves, forgive you. I feel it was a successful attempt at being a "sobering thought" to clench his deal with those present and the future of us who are made the same offer to join in Him for absolution, by the spreading of his gospel.

November 29 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

paul thieman Supporter

one sins block one's faith. To forgive is a key to God's Kingdom so to
have victory we must forgive.

January 21 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Michael Davis Supporter Former Baptist Pastor now Catholic, lover of the poor

None of what I say here will be my opinion. I am a human with a sin nature and so my opinion is short-sided. I appeal to the Scritpures and to the Early Fathers who were discipled by the apostles. 

1. In the context Jesus is speaking to the Apostles directly. He is not speaking to the entire church, but to specific people. He is giving them His authority to forgive sins or to withhold forgiveness. Again, before going back to Heaven Jesus is giving the Apostles His authority to lead His Church. Of course, only God can forgive sin, but He is now using human leaders to be a visible sign of Him with His people. Therefore, He is giving them authority to speak on His behalf to forgive sins. 

2. The Early Fathers who were discipled by the Apostles wrote in many places that the Apostles, and thus their successors, have the authority to loose and to bind, to forgive or to withhold forgiveness of sins acting in Persona Christi (in the Person of Christ). They also taught that for them to be able to know whether to forgive or withhold forgiveness they had to know what the sins are, so we have the sacrament of reconciliation (formerly called Confession). If the ones who were discipled by the Apostles held this interpretation of this passage, then who am I to argue?

The quotes of the Early Fathers on the interpretation of the scripture and their writings on the fact that we should confess our sins to the Apostles, or their successors, and that they are acting in Persona Christi is so numorous that I cannot take up the space here. I will just encourage you to do your own research. It is God Who forgives sin, but since the Incarnation of Christ He uses His human leaders to carry out His mission in the Church.

February 28 2019 • 6 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jeffrey Johnson Supporter

What is the correct interpretation of John 20:23?

What did Jesus mean when he told the apostles in John 20:23 ESV: "Whosoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."

John 20:21-23 signifies Jesus commissioning his disciples to continue his mission, empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel. By preaching forgiveness, they declare whose sins are forgiven (if they believe) or retained (if they reject it). The core meaning emphasises sharing the gospel rather than independent human power to forgive.

He was describing a unique authority he would give the apostles when they received the Holy Spirit.​—John 20:22.

Did not Jesus authorise his apostles to forgive sins?

John 20:21-23, JB: "'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.' After saying this, he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'"

How did the apostles understand and apply this? There is no record in the Bible of a single instance in which an apostle listened to a private confession and then pronounced absolution. However, the requirements for being forgiven by God are set out in the Bible. The apostles, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, could discern whether individuals met such requirements and, on this basis, declare that God had either forgiven them or not. For example, see Acts 5:1-11. 

The apostle Peter used this authority when judging the disciples Ananias and Sapphira. Peter miraculously knew about their deceptive scheme, and his judgment indicated that their sin would not be forgiven.​—Acts 5:​1-​11.

The Expositor's Greek Testament says this on this subject:

John 20:23. The authorisation of the Apostles is completed in the words: ἄν τινων … κεκράτηνται. "Whosesoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven to them: whosesoever ye retain, they are retained." The meaning of κεκράτηνται is determined by the opposed ἀφέωνται [the better reading]. The announcement is unexpected. Yet if they were to represent Him, they must be empowered to continue a function which He constantly exercised and set in the forefront of His ministry. They must be able in His name to pronounce forgiveness, and to threaten doom. This indeed formed the main substance of their ministry, and it was by receiving His Spirit that they were fitted for it. The burden was laid upon them of determining who should be forgiven and who held by their sin. Cf. Acts 3:26; Acts 5:4.

May 07 2026 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report