Confession to a Catholic Priest

The apostles DID NOT work through something called the "sacrament of confession" or any other so called "sacrament." The apostles DID NOT have any "special power" within themselves to remit sins in the sense that you (Catholics) teach. They could ONLY forgive or remit sins in the sense that they preached the doctrine of Christ which when obeyed, brought God's forgiveness and Salvation to the Obedient. (See Heb 5:8-9). How did the apostles retain sins? "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized;" (Acts 2:41). This implies that some did not receive the word and were NOT BAPTIZED for the remission of their sins. Therefore their sins were retained.

As a Christian, I confess my sins, just like the Bible says, 1 Jn 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Catholics would like to see the words "to a priest" added after "confess our sins," but the truth of the matter is, it isn't there is it? The Bible tells us who we are to pray to for the forgiveness of our sins, 1 Jn 2:1-2 says, "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And HE HIMSELF is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." Once again, the ONLY way our sins are remitted if we sin is THROUGH JESUS Christ, and not some Priest that supposedly has the ability to absolve sins.

Act 8:13 speaks of Simon believing and being baptized – No Confession.

Acts 18-24 speaks of Simon being told to repent and pray for his sin, then in verse 24, he asked Peter to pray for him. This is consistent with what the NT teaches. (See Jas 5:15)

Matt 3;5-6 and Mk 1;5-6: Speak of John the Baptist who prepared the way before the Lord. After Jesus died, John’s baptism was no longer valid. Some disciples were only baptized with John the Baptist’s baptism (See Acts 19:3) but this was the wrong baptism, since they did not receive the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19:5, they were re-baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Heb 3:1 Speaks of how Jesus was sent by God to reveal the Father.

Acts 19:18 People came confessing all right, but once again no mention of confession of sin. Or confession to a priest.

Lk 17:11-14 Jesus was still alive. The NT was not active at this time. Jesus was still alive.

Matt 8:2-4 Jesus was still alive. The NT was not active at this time. Jesus was still alive.

Mk 1:40-45 Jesus was still alive. The NT was not active at this time. Jesus was still alive.

Let the Bible explain what true confession is, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom 10:9-10). How did the Eunuch make his confession? The Bible says in Acts 8:37 that "And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Catholics would like all of us to believe that Jn, 20:22-23 says that the apostles were somehow able to transfer the ability to “absolve sins” down to the Catholic Church. Let them show you an example of how the Apostles were able to do this without teaching them what God instructed is the proper way to be saved. I eagerly await his response to this question, but I fear it will not be forthcoming as there are no passages to justify their position at all. Where are the examples of this other than in this one passage?

When the apostles received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2), they began to do as the Lord had said. For example, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins..." (Acts 2:38). This and other similar passages are inspired examples of how their authority to forgive sins was exercised and Jesus prophesied how they were to forgive sins in Lk 24:47-49.

Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they laid down the conditions by which sins are forgiven. If we do as they commanded, our sins are forgiven, if we do not, our sins are retained. Since this is the only thing revealed in the New Testament concerning their power to forgive and retain sins, this constitutes the full extent of their authority in this matter.