Featured John 20:23...Can Christians Forgive Sin???

23 whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. Jn 20

...in the same vein as:

19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Mt 16

18 Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Mt 18

...and all about Apostolic authority in this temporal realm, NOT the eternal realm. Peter exercised it here:

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou has not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it.
9 But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.
10 And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost: and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband. Acts 5

...Paul exercised it here:

3 For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing,
4 in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 cor 5

19 holding faith and a good conscience; which some having thrust from them made shipwreck concerning the faith:
20 of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I delivered unto Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Tim 1

...the council at Jerusalem exercised their Apostolic authority here:

19 Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God;
20 but that we write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood. Acts 15

 

Sure we can forgive sin. The issue is does our forgiveness remove the consequence of the sin required by God? And of course that answer is no.

The verse says that if they forgive the sins of anyone, under certain conditions, those sins will be forgiven. What conditions?

John 3:36
“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

The problem with some interpretations is they think the "if" conditional is satisfied by the Apostle choosing to forgive, rather than pointing to the prior verses.

If anyone believes into Him, his sins are forgiven. If anyone does not believe, the wrath of God remains of him.

 

The Apostles themselves had NO authority to forgive sins, as they were pointing all sinners to the Lord Jesus, as He ALONE can forgive their sins!
Under authority of the bible, if any reject Jesus to save therm, sins still remain!

 

Truth.

 

A person who receives Christ has one's sins forgiven and those who reject Christ their sins are not forgiven. John 20:23.

 

Well, I believe that to be the main meaning of those words. Per Acts 1:8.

 

Under the Law. Hebrews 10:17 the forgiveness is full and complete.

 

Leviticus 19:18, ". . . thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." The requirement to forgive in order to be forgiven is a work. The promise found in Hebrews 10:17, "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more," is a promise of the New Covenant not requiring that work. [Jeremiah 31:31-34.] That is why I identified that work as Law.

 

Then either grace is a false teaching [Romans 11:6] or the teaching one must forgive in order to be forgiven is a false teaching. By reason to forgive in order to be forgiven is a work and a requirement is a Law.

 

Ephesians 2:10. It is a work, but solely after being saved. Since in Christ forgiveness is completely do to grace, then the requirement to forgive in order to be forgiven can only be under the Law. Therefore as I argued it is Law.