Posted by Ray Kidder on 5/26/2009, 8:31 pm, in reply to "Re: The Roman Catholic powers"
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Jim,
I do not deny that some of the members of the body of Christ have certain roles in bestowing the forgiveness of sin as they function as ambassadors for Christ. I think the sacramental of confession and absolution is a channel of God's grace that can occur when someone confesses his sins to a priest, and/or receives pastoral counseling unto contrition and repentance. You mentioned the keys, and the power of forgiveness. The passage that deals with the keys is found in Matthew 16 (NKJV):
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Another commonly quoted passage that points to the ability of members of the body of Christ to forgive or retain sins is found in John 20 (NKJV):
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
It is interesting that Jesus gave these apostles this power in conjunction with the receiving of the Holy Spirit. This suggests to me that this is a spiritual gift that is to be used in conjunction with the wisdom and mysteries of the Holy Spirit.
The lack of importance of the Holy Spirit in Western Christianity (as pointed out by the Eastern Orthodox because of the insertion of the filioque) may have manifested itself in neglect of the moving of the Holy Spirit in conducting this sacramental power. Perhaps the problem in the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s was that these sacramental powers were considered to be too dependant upon human abilities, instead of letting the Holy Spirit run the show.
This passage from Romans 8 (NKJV) comes to mind:
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
This passage teaches us how the Holy Spirit influences our prayers, and how many of the right prayers are such that we have not yet discovered the proper words to use. If the Church does not see the importance of the Holy Spirit, this might lead to the overuse of prayers found in prayer books, intellectual theological pursuits, and overuse of sacramental ceremonies to bestow forgiveness. An analogy in the secular world is a criminal justice system that is overly dependant upon lawyers, court proceedings, use of past legal decisions, liberal spending on prisons, police, detective work, and surveillance, with a corresponding lack of emphasis on rehabilitation.
Perhaps the Holy Spirit's role is likened to that of rehabilitation (i.e. contrition, repentance, enlightenment, love, works of the Spirit) in lieu of payments, punishments, and forgiveness that is without true repentance.
Perhaps the Eastern Orthodox are correct when they claim that Protestantism hatched from the egg that had been laid by the Roman Catholic Church. These Eastern Orthodox claim the Protestants were right about their contention that the Roman Catholic Church had problems, but the Eastern orthodox also claim that the Protestants have over-reacted by cutting out too many features from Christianity. I think the Protestant overuse of the word "alone" has lead to nullification of some useful channels of God's grace through sacraments and sacramentals.
Ray Kidder
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