My husband and I will be traveling for the next couple of weeks, and it will be difficult for me to get an internet signal to upload new posts for you. So I have decided to take a look at several Scriptural passages that I have talked about before and present them to you again. I have chosen those I feel are the most relevant to us leading our lives in Spirit and Truth.
Repeating the Word is never a bad idea, and these particular passages are speaking to my spirit, even as I see them particularly appropriate for some issues my fellow Christians are dealing with today. So even though I may not be writing in a current time-frame, I think you will still find value in what the Bible speaks to us through these powerful words. So, if this is the first time you've read this post, or the second, I pray it will bless you.
Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you [as My representatives]. And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven
[because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are
retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief].
This is an
interesting passage, whereby the risen Jesus is appearing to the
Apostles, who are hiding out in an undisclosed room in Jerusalem,
fearing retribution from the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman
government because of their association with the crucified Christ.
Although they had spent nearly three years with Him, and Jesus had
tried to prepare them for this time, you can imagine their confusion,
dashed hopes, and fear of what the future might mean for them.
But in these verses, Jesus appears to them to calm them, bring them
peace, and remind them of their mission to co-labor with Him on behalf
of the Kingdom of God. He then breathed the Holy Spirit on them, and
gave them a very important and precious gift: the authority to forgive
sins.
I know that is a foreign idea to us 21st Century Christians, and it
certainly is not taught in the Church as a matter of our authority.
And I can hear the naysayers now ... Where do you get the idea that we have the authority to forgive sins? Isn't God the only One who can forgive us our sins? That
second question sounds exactly like the Pharisees in Mark, Chapter 2,
who, upon hearing Jesus tell the paralytic that his sins were forgiven,
asked, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can
forgive sins but God alone?” I am sure there are some within the Body of
Christ who would assign the same doubt to my statement that we can
forgive sins. But let me see if I can explain my understanding of these
verses in John...
It is very
important that we have a clear understanding when it comes to the
dynamics of the relationship between the Father, the Son, and us. Over
and over, Jesus declares in the Bible. I only
do what the Father tells Me ... I only do what pleases the Father ... I
only do what I see the Father doing ... I only say what I hear the
Father saying ... If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. Therefore, Jesus is an exact representation of the Father. And here, in John 20, He is telling the apostles, Now, you're MY representatives;
meaning by extension, they are representing the Father, too, just as
Jesus did. Furthermore, Jesus tells the Apostles that all authority on
Heaven and earth has been given to Him and their Commission is now to
teach all the nations what He has taught and commanded them to do --
i.e., we now represent Jesus!
But there is another aspect of our relationship with Christ and how we represent Him. In 1 Peter 2:9, the Bible calls us a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so
that we may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and power] of
Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Remember,
God instituted the priesthood in the Old Testament as the means by
which His chosen people could be forgiven their sins. The priests
served a particularly important function in the sacrificial system that
brought the sins of the Israelites before God to be forgiven. But in
the New Testament, Jesus became our High Priest and the ultimate,
once-for-all sacrifice, so that system is no longer needed. However, as
it is revealed in 1 Peter 2 and Revelation 5, we are to still serve
God as priests of His Kingdom, bringing people "out of darkness and into
His marvelous Light (Jesus)".
That is
what I believe Jesus is telling us here in John 20... He is our High
Priest, and as His representatives here on earth, we serve the Father's
Kingdom as His priests. So how does that work, and what are our duties
as priests? Have you ever known someone who has given their life to
Christ, and declared Him their Savior, yet cannot seem to receive His
forgiveness of their sins, even after they have confessed and repented?
Even though their salvation is certain, there is some area of their
life that satan still holds in bondage, and they are mired in
self-condemnation?
Even though the Bible tells us that Jesus has forgotten their sins,
as far as the east is from the west, they still feel He is distant and
they don't feel forgiven. I believe John 20:23 declares our position as
the royal priesthood and Jesus is giving us permission to declare to
that tortured Christian that if they have faith, their sins are
forgiven. On the other hand, we must take our holy priesthood very
seriously (as the representative of Christ), and when it is clear that a
sinful lifestyle has not been confessed or repented for, and Jesus has
been rejected, then we have no authority or duty to forgive anyone's
sin. Very simply, for me, John 20:21-23 is Jesus defining a priestly
duty, and since we are called to be a royal priesthood of God's Kingdom
on earth, it is part of our allegiance to our High Priest.
But, here's the thing ... the powerless Church, today, is all too
eager to call themselves priests of the Kingdom, but only in the sense
of a noun, and not as a verb -- meaning there is an obligation to act
out our identities as priests, (and representatives of our High Priest)
and to be willing to take the sins of a fellow Christian and wash them
in the blood of Jesus, pronouncing those sins forgiven. If that sounds
anti-Biblical, think on this.... Are we not in Christ, and Christ in us?
Did He not take all sin upon Himself, and by His Blood we are forgiven
and healed? If Christ is in us, we can take those sins and present
them to Him, being confident of His mercy and grace upon all who believe
in Him.
Personally, in our deliverance ministry, my husband and I have often
reminded someone being oppressed by spirits of unworthiness, inadequacy,
self-condemnation, shame, or guilt that their faith in Jesus Christ as
their Savior, and their confession of their sins allows us, as His
representative, to speak Jesus's forgiveness into their life. In that,
we serve both our God and our fellow man. That's why God sent Jesus,
and that's why He sends us.
Current Note: This Scripture has particular significance to me today because my heart is broken for the number of marriages that I see the Enemy attacking. I truly believe this Scripture is telling us that forgiveness is the key to the restoration of relationships, and this is especially important when it comes to the restoration of a marriage. If you are unable to forgive your spouse, then I think it is important that you remit their sins to Christ -- hand them over [or release] the sins to Jesus and let Him deal with them. You have a choice -- forgiveness or remittance. Either way, unforgiveness will not be a stumbling block to you.