WHAT DOES JOHN 20:23 MEAN?

QUESTION:

What specifically did John mean when he speaks to whom you remit sins will be remitted; and those who withhold it from them are retained?

ANSWER:

The Bible teaches us that only God can forgive sins and that if we confess them, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins:

Jesus Himself made Himself known to the authorities and to those around Him that He can forgive our sins:

In this Word of God is the message authorized by the Savior Himself, and when we preach it we open the door to heaven for sinners, since it is the gospel of salvation provided by Jesus Christ alone. He tells us that when we preach that gospel, we can tell those who accept it that their sins have been remitted (totally forgiven) and that they are saved and on their way to heaven by the blessed blood of Christ shed on their behalf. Those who reject it, we can declare them with their sins retained (they are still under eternal damnation), that is, they are on the road to perdition, to hell. See Matthew 16–19; John 3:31-36; 20:21-23.

Now, the text doesn't mean that as a preacher I can go down the street and say to this one, "Your sins are forgiven," and to this one, "Your sins are withheld from you." The permission to "remit" and "withhold" comes only in connection with the preaching and offer of salvation in Christ to the reaction of those who hear. He who by faith accepts what Christ did on the cross on his behalf (not by coercion but willingly) has his sins forgiven. (This is a matter of the heart, something that happens between a sinner and Christ Jesus—it doesn't come by raising the hand, or going forward, or weeping, etc. It is the result of a transaction between a sinner who hears the gospel and seeks forgiveness from Jesus Christ, and it is not mechanical.) He who rejects Christ remains in his sins.

A reflection on this text:

"To those who remit sins," said Christ, "they are remitted: to whom you retain them, they shall be retained." Christ does not give anyone freedom here to judge others. In the Sermon on the Mount, he forbade it. It is God's prerogative. But it places upon the organized church a responsibility for its individual members. The church has a duty to admonish, instruct, and if possible restore those who fall into sin. "Reprove, rebuke, exhort," saith the Lord, "with all patience and doctrine." 2 Timothy 4:2. Do faithfully toward those who do evil. Admonish every soul that is in danger. Don't let anyone be fooled. Call sin by its name. Declare what God has said concerning lying, stealing, idolatry, and every other evil: "Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:21. If they persist in sin, the judgment which you have declared by the Word of God is pronounced upon them in heaven. By choosing to sin, they deny Christ; the church must show that it does not sanction its actions, or it itself dishonors its Lord. He must say about sin what God says about it. He must deal with him as God directs, and his action is ratified in heaven. He who despises the authority of the church despises the authority of Christ Himself.

Here we see how the Word itself guides us to understand this verse and that is that the preaching of the gospel leads us to a decision that we must make, accept or reject; and it is in this regard that John 20:23 refers, that by preaching as Jesus commends his disciples and they were announcing Jesus Christ, people do accept him (John 1:12) They receive forgiveness of their sins (by faith as we see in the examples of Jesus forgiving those who believed in Him) and therefore God no longer remembers those sins and they are remitted (Isaiah 43:25 " I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."), but those who reject Him do not receive forgiveness (i.e., their sins are not forgiven and therefore are retained).

The one who does not believe, the one who rejects it (who rejects Christ) does not receive forgiveness of sins because  he has not believed, his sins are remitted to him and because he has rejected and not believed in salvation, he receives condemnation.

Examples of Bible verses that forgiveness of sins is received by faith: