Sin is the breaking of God’s law, an offense against him, so ultimately God alone has the authority to forgive it. When King David was crushed under the weight of his own sin, he found peace through direct confession to the Lord: “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
The first Christians followed this same path, confessing their sins to God and asking him for forgiveness. Jesus himself embedded this practice into their daily life, instructing his followers to pray: “Our Father in heaven… forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:9,12).
Over time, however, new traditions began to take shape within the church. Gradually, the practice now known as the Sacrament of Confession was introduced, teaching that a Catholic priest holds the authority to grant absolution, acting as a judge to forgive sins in God’s name.
Perhaps, like me, you grew up learning that Jesus instituted this sacrament when he said to the apostles: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:23).
- Jesus clearly gave the apostles authority concerning the forgiveness of sins. But how were they to exercise that authority in practice? Was it through private confession and priestly absolution, or in some other way? The Acts of the Apostles and the rest of the New Testament show us how the apostles understood their commission.
- What we do not find in the New Testament is an example of the apostles hearing individual confessions, giving absolution, or assigning penances. Instead, their clear focus was preaching the gospel—calling everyone to repent and turn to Christ for the free gift of forgiveness.
- The Apostle Peter declared, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43). The Apostle Paul preached the same message: “Through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you” (Acts 13:38).
If the apostles were with us today, they would extend God’s offer of forgiveness in precisely the same way: by pointing us directly to Christ and calling us to repent and trust in him. In fact, this is exactly what they continue to do through the teaching they have left us in Scripture.
There is another important point to consider. Catholic teaching holds that even after a person has been forgiven, he must still make satisfaction for his sins. This is done through acts of penance in this life and, where necessary, through purification in purgatory after death.
Yet Scripture speaks a far more liberating truth, assuring all believers: “Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12), and “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Jesus paid the debt in full on the cross.
This leaves us with a vital question: How am I seeking pardon today? Am I relying on a human priest and my own efforts to make amends, or am I confessing directly to God, trusting completely that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse me from every sin?