Online Bible Study - Foundations of Faith

The Confession of Sins

One important teaching of the Bible regarding confession as the means or way to receive forgiveness, is the Biblical authority that Christ gave for human beings to announce the forgiveness of sins to a penitent sinner. That God-given authority is called the "Office of the Keys." That term comes from the words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Matthew 16:19, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Confessing our sins to another person has origin and basis in the teachings of the Bible. In the book of James it is written, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).

Primarily, however, the responsibility for carrying out act of confession, and the resulting absolution, has been given by our Lord Jesus Christ to His Church on earth. The following verses show this responsibility. "If he (a sinner) refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:17-18, 20).

Of course, it is Jesus Christ Himself, the Savior and Redeemer, who has already forgiven our sins when He died on the cross. In this work, Jesus guaranteed our salvation by faith through His resurrection. He is the one who made forgiveness possible. He has the authority to commission His disciples, and believers today, to carry out His work of evangelism, to hear confession, to pronounce absolution, to baptize, and to make disciples. Hear the words of Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

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