Can churches and ministers forgive sins?

"So Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'" John 20:21-23

"Who can forgive sins but God alone?" was the question on the mind of scribes and Pharisees when Jesus announced forgiveness to the paralytic man (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21). And it often is raised today when people hear Lutheran ministers, in the name of Christ, forgive the sins of their parishioners. But, in our text, Jesus sends out His disciples, gives them His Holy Spirit, and says to them: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Having suffered and died to make atonement for the sins of the world and having risen again from the dead in triumph, Jesus now commanded His disciples to go out into the world and proclaim forgiveness of sins in His name to the penitent and the retention of sins to all who do not repent and look to Jesus in faith (Cf. Luke 24:45ff.).

We often speak of this power to forgive and to retain sins as the Office of the Keys because it opens and closes the gates of heaven to hearers. After Peter's confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and Jesus' words to Peter about building His church upon the rock of this truth (Matthew 16:15ff.), Jesus said to Peter, "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" (Matthew 16:19). This passage literally says: "Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound (Greek future, perfect, passive) in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed (future, perfect, passive) in heaven." It proclaims to people the verdict of God, that their sins are forgiven and heaven is open to them for Christ's sake or that they have no forgiveness of God and are under His wrath until they repent and look to Christ Jesus in faith.

We know these keys were given, not only to Peter, but to all of the apostles, for Jesus "breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'" But these keys were given not only to the apostles, but to the church of Jesus Christ, which is made up of all who trust in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and life eternal (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2; 5:1-5; Matthew 18:17-18), and to individual members of the church (Matthew 18:15-16; Luke 17:3-4). Ministers are called by the local gathering of Christ's church to administer the keys on their behalf and in accord with God's Word (1 Corinthians 3:5ff.; 4:1-2; 2 Corinthians 2:10; Ephesians 4:11ff.; Acts 1:21ff.; 6:5ff.; 14:23 - χειροτονησαντες means to elect by a show of hands; Titus 1:5ff.).

Rightly using these keys is an awesome responsibility, for they open or close the kingdom of heaven by proclaiming to some the forgiveness of sins and to others that their sins are not forgiven. The use of these keys is not to be taken lightly but with great care and diligence so as not to misapply God's Word to people and bring about their eternal ruin and bring God's wrath upon us.

Luther's Catechism states: The Office of the keys "is the peculiar church power which Christ has given to His Church on earth to forgive the sins of penitent sinners unto them, but to retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent" (A Short Exposition of Dr. Martin Luther's Small Catechism, 1912, CPH, Page 133). And, even when we retain sins, it is with the hope and desire that the lost sinner will repent and turn to Christ.

These keys are used each Sunday in services (as well as in private) when the called minister, in the stead of the congregation of believers and in the name of Christ, proclaims God's forgiveness to those who repent, confessing their sins before God and one another and seeking God's mercy and forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ and His innocent sufferings and death in their stead (cf. James 5:16; Acts 3:19; Psalms 32 and 51; 1 John 1:7 - 2:2). And it happens when individual believers admonish and forgive the penitent, or when the church excludes an impenitent sinner until he repents (Matthew 18:15-18; Luke 17:3-4). And truly it occurs whenever ministers proclaim God's Law and its judgments upon sin and His Gospel of mercy and forgiveness for the sake of Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world (Luke 24:46-47; Mark 16:15-16).

Note that Jesus first breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," and then gave them the keys. And how important this is! For without the working of the Holy Spirit, one could not himself repent and receive forgiveness through faith in Christ, much less rightly apply God's Word of Law and Gospel to others.

Jesus has given to us, His Church in this place, the keys of the kingdom. And He has given us His Holy Spirit that we might rightly forgive the sins of penitent sinners but retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent. God grant that we rightly use and apply these keys!

O crucified and risen Savior, give to our ministers and to us as members of Your Church the spiritual understanding and wisdom to rightly divide Your Word and proclaim forgiveness for the sake of Your shed blood to penitent sinners and wrath and judgment upon those who remain impenitent and unbelieving. We pray in Your name. Amen.

Editorial on 05/03/2017