John 20:23
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“Whose soever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins you retain, they are retained.”
Does this passage prove that the Catholic practice of confession to a priest is necessary for sins to be forgiven or not? Since remit means to “forgive,” does this verse support this idea?
This scripture actually refers to any sin or sins that a faithful minister can recognize have not been repented of. (See the John 8:15-16 explanation.) Of course, in cases where a minister has come to such a recognition, a sin unrepented of would have been left unforgiven by God—and thus “retained” to the person. For illustration, see Romans 16:17 about the need to occasionally “mark” one who is sowing division or teaching heresy, and then ask how any minister can possibly know to do this unless that minister recognizes he is dealing with someone who either will not or has not repent(ed). Discernment is vital.
It is simply not possible, and actually ridiculous, to draw the doctrine of regular, required confession from this verse.
No suggested reading.