The practice of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture.
The New
Testament teaches that all believers are priests. describes believers as a
“holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood.” Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 both describe believers as “a kingdom of priests.”
In the covenant of the Old Testament, the faithful
had to approach God through the priests. The priests were mediators between the
people and God.
The
priests of the Old Testament offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people.
That is no longer necessary.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can now approach
God’s throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16).
The temple veil tearing in two at Jesus’ death was
symbolic of the dividing wall between God and humanity being destroyed. We can approach God directly, ourselves,
without the use of a human mediator.
Why? Because Jesus Christ is our great High Priest
(Hebrews 4:14-15; 10:21) and the only mediator
between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5).
The New Testament teaches that there are to 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, believers are told in 1 John 1:9 to confess their sins to God. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins as we confess them to Him.
When it comes to confession of sin, believers are told in 1 John 1:9 to confess their sins to God. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins as we confess them to Him.
James 5:16 speaks of confessing our trespasses “to one another,” but this is not
the same as confessing sins to a priest as the Roman Catholic Church teaches.
Priests/church leaders are nowhere mentioned in the
context of James 5:16. Further, James 5:16 does not link forgiveness of sins with the confession of sins “to one
another.”
The Roman Catholic Church bases their practice of confession to a priest primarily on Catholic tradition.
The Roman Catholic Church bases their practice of confession to a priest primarily on Catholic tradition.
Catholic point to John 20:23, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not
forgive them, they are not forgiven."
From this verse, Catholics claim that God gave the
apostles the authority to forgive sins, and that authority was passed on to the
successors of the apostles, i.e., the bishops and priests of the Roman Catholic
Church.
There are
several problems with this interpretation.
(1) John 20:23 nowhere mentions confession of sin.
(2) John 20:23 nowhere promises, or even hints, that the authority to forgive sins
would be passed on to the successors of the apostles. Jesus’ promise was
specifically directed to the apostles.
(3) The New Testament nowhere states that the
apostles would even have successors to their apostolic authority. Similarly,
Catholics point to Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 (binding and loosing) as evidence for the Catholic Church’s authority
to forgive sins. The same three above points apply equally to these Scriptures.
Again, the concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. We are to 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 to God directly because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Again, the concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. We are to 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 to God directly because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
