What does the Bible say about confession of sins to a priest? : Nowhere in Scripture the concept of confession of sins to a priest taught. Beginning because the New Testament does not teach that there should be priests in the New Covenant. Instead, the New Testament teaches that all believers are priests. 1 Peter 2:5-9 describes believers as royal priesthood and holy nation. Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 both describe believers as kings and priests. In the Old Covenant, the faithful had to approach God through the priests. The priests were mediators between God and the people. The priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. That is no longer necessary, because the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we can approach the throne of God boldly (Hebrews 4:16). With Jesus death, the veil of the temple was torn in two, destroying the symbol of the dividing wall between God and humanity. We can approach God directly by ourselves, without the use of a human mediator. Why? Because Jesus Christ is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15, 10:21), and the only mediator between us and God (1 Timothy 2:15). The New Testament teaches that there should be elders (1 Timothy 3), deacons (1 Timothy 3), bishops (Titus 1:6-9), and pastors (Ephesians 4:11) - but not priests. When it comes to confession of sin, 1 John 1:9 is said to believers who confess their sins to God. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins if we confess them to Him James 5:16 speaks of confessing our trespasses one another. But this is not the same as confessing sins to a priest, as the Roman Catholic Church rages. Nowhere are mentioned priests / church leaders, within the context of James 5:16. Moreover, not James 5:16 links the forgiveness of sins with the confession of transgressions one another. The Roman Catholic Church bases their practice of confession to priests in the Catholic tradition mostly. Catholics point to John 20:23 If you forgive the sins, they are forgiven; and who shall retain, they are retained are the basis of this verse, Catholics claim that God gave the apostles the authority to forgive sins, and that authority was delegated to the successors of the apostles, understood therefore to the bishops and priests of the Roman Catholic Church. There are many problems with this interpretation. (1) John 20:23 nowhere mentions confession of sin. (2) John 20:23 nowhere promises, or even suggests, that the authority to forgive sins happen to the successors of the apostles. The promise of Jesus was specifically directed to the apostles. (3) Nowhere in the New Testament states that the apostles would have heirs of his apostolic authority. Similarly Catholics point to Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 (withholding or remitting) as evidence that the Catholic Church has the authority to forgive sins. The same three previous points apply equally to these Scriptures. Again, nowhere in Scripture is taught the concept of confession of sins to a priest. We must confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9). As New Covenant believers, we do not need mediators between us and God. We can go directly to God through Jesus Christs sacrifice for us. 1 Timothy 2:5 says, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 09:25:34 +0000
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