What Does The Bible Say About Confession To A Priest?

The concept of confession to the priest was found in the Bible in the old testament. The New Testament teaches that all believers are priests of the Highest God (or priest of the Roman Catholic terminology). The 1 Peter 2: 5-9 is described as "the holy priest" and "the priests of the King". In Revelation 1: 6 the believers are described as "a kingdom and priests." In the Old Testament, believers should approach God through the priests, the priests are the mediator between God and men. the blood of animals is the priests for the people to forgive their sins. It is not necessary. Because Jesus is our offering, we can approach the throne of God with courage (Hebrews 4: 14-15 (1 Timothy 3:15). The New Testament teaches that there are elders in the church (1 Timothy 3), deacons (1 Timothy 3), Bishop (Titus 1: 6-9), and pastors (Ephesians 4:11).

When it comes to confession of sin, believers are told in 1 John 1: 9 to confess sin directly to God. God is faithful and justifiable to forgive our sins if we repent of Him. James 5:16 mentions that we commit sin to one another, but it is not the same as the confession to the priest as taught by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church based this teaching of confession to the priest in their tradition. They use the support of John 20:23 where Jesus told the apostles, "Whoever forgives sins, forgives them; whoever forgives sins, is not forgiven." From this passage, Catholics claim that Jesus gave apostles the power to forgive sins and their authority was passed on to their successors, none other than the priests and bishops of the Catholic church.

In John 20:22 Jesus said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." it means that "authority", and in John 20:22 Jesus said "you forgive the sins of any, means forgive the sins of people, not only one who commit sins on them. So, it is clear that the authority given by Jesus is focusing the authority of confession. That is the doctrine of confession given by Jesus to his Church!

Tags: what does the bible say about confession to a priest, how do we confess our sins, why is confession important, when not to confess sin, what does it mean to confess our sins, confession of sin verses