have you ever believed that you could forgive someone and god would forgive them too? maybe you believe the apostles could decide who was forgiven and who was not. maybe you believe a priest can forgive you. all of these are false doctrine. these false doctrines come from john 20:22-23. some people believe jesus is talking to the apostles in verse 23 that is the mistake. so who is jesus talking to if not the apostles? well, who else is there? the holy spirit is there! john 20:22 and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, receive the holy spirit. nkjv now jesus is talking to the holy spirit. john 20:23 if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. nkjv the holy spirit was in jesus breath and that is who jesus was talking to in verse 23. no man can decide if someone is forgiven by god or not but god the holy spirit can. p.s. sorry about the lower case i am using my cellphone to post.
