168. REMISSION OF SINS.
By Editor
Will you please explain John 20: 23: "Whosoever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained." Does not the power to forgive sins belong to God alone? MRS. C. S. P. Yes, in its fullest sense the power to forgive sins belongs to God alone. We may forgive our brethren their trespasses against us; we cannot forgive sins against God. What the Lord meant here is that to his servants were committed the gospel, the message of man's salvation, and the terms by which man could receive it. Those who accepted that gospel, would be forgiven, and their sins remitted; those who rejected it would remain in their sins, and thus die. See the article "Rome's Claims of Infallibility," in the SIGNS of December 3. See also "Spirit of Prophecy," vol. 2, pp. 244-247. An illustration of the meaning of this scripture is furnished in Jer. 1: 10. The Lord says to the prophet, "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build, and to plant." That is, Jeremiah did do that by the message of God. If the kingdoms heard his word and turned from their evil ways, they would be built up; if they rejected his word, they would be destroyed. See Jer. 18: 7-10.