John 20.23 - Borrowed Forgiveness

“Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them” (John 20.23). This is in truth a most difficult problem. How can men have the authority to forgive? On the basis of this Scripture verse, the Roman Church formerly sold the so-called “indulgences”. Actually, though, this verse is clearly related to the preceding verse, which reads: “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the Lord gives His Holy Spirit to His church that she may represent Him on earth and be His vessel to forgive sins.

Such forgiveness we may label as “borrowed forgiveness”. For instance, when we are preaching the gospel we sometimes meet a sinner who truly acknowledges himself to be a sinner and sincerely asks God for forgiveness with cries, tears, repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus; but somehow he is unfamiliar with the truth of forgiveness. If at that moment someone in the church will stand up and say, “God has forgiven your sins”, such a declaration will be of tremendous help to that sinner. The reason the church may decide who can be baptized and who can partake in the breaking of bread is because she has received the Holy Spirit. Under the authority of the Holy Spirit, she may be a borrowed hand to forgive or to retain people’s sins. It is only when the church abides in the Holy Spirit, and breathes in the Holy Spirit that she can forgive. Not anyone can forgive merely on the ground of some fleshy position he occupies. If we can see such forgiveness as “borrowed forgiveness”, the difficulty is solved.