Actually I feel that is is being taken out of context. Timothy is being plagued with issues within the church, and St Paul is setting forth some rules. Polygamy was still a popular practice back then, St Paul just stated that they could not have more then 1 wife, he is not making a commandment that they have to be married. Otherwise he himself would be in violation of his own rule, so as would some of the other apostles.

Beyond that no one has still given a answer as why Cor 7 and Matt 19 is being totally ignored.

If you mean to forgive sins so one can be made righteous before God.  The answer is an astounding NO.

1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

1 John 1:9 Tells us we can Confess our sins to God (Not a Priest)

and we can now aproach the Throne of God with boldness. (Hebrews 4:16)

No need for a Priest, Jesus Christ is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15; 10:21)

The concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture.

Plus as far as Sola Scriptura:  Paul being Timothy's mentor, the person Timothy turned to, knows he is going to die soon so he advised Timothy to seek Scriptures for the truth for teaching and correction.  He didn't mention some High Priest.

1 Tim 3:16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

MM,

Greetings EE,

The scripture fit within the theoligy of Penance without issue, its called a Perfect Act of Contrition. You should read up on Scott Hahn a little, he had a lot of the same notions that you have.

Cheerio Jag,

I'm sure you know it's the other methods of reptenances that the Protestants have issues with.  There are no biblical support for them.  Nowhere in scripture does it tell us to confess our sins to anybody else but directly to God so we can be forgiven. 

Even the verse you posted doesn't tell Christians to confess to the apostles.

Even if it did, there are no apostles today.  If there were, they would be able to perform miracles to prove it.

Posted By moinmoin on 07/08/2008 2:42 PM
The apostles are in Salt Lake City, EEE!

Would miracles from apostles prove the reality of their calling? Didn't Jesus say something about seeking signs and an adulterous generation?

Do you believe that the times of biblical miracles are past?

Yes, I am a cessationalist.  Both Jesus and the Apostles used their gifts given by the Holy Spirit to validate their ministry.  With the completion of the Bible, there is no need for such things today.

That being said, I still believe in Miracles done by God today.  I just don't get down with what's happening in churches today.  It's what I like to call Phoney Baloney (ie. speaking in tongues, slain in the spirit, laying of hands, prophecy,etc)  All this stuff can be traced back to the beginning of the  Pentecostal movement. After the disciples, For nearly 2000 years, these gifts(not including slain in the spirit, that's some new made up garbage) ceased, now all of a sudden they appear again?   This is where a study of church history can benefit people. 

Here is a must watch video discussing these issues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azo7nWRXjYw

Yikes, I feel like I may need to duck and cover for joining in the religion foray, but here's what I know (from a Catholic standpoint) about confession.  I became Catholic as an adult, and we were taught that the reason for confession is not only for forgiveness of sins, but it is for the benefit of face to face admittance of fault.  The theory behind this is that if you verbally have to tell another human (in close proximity and sometimes face to face if you choose) that you have sinned, you will give it considerably more thought before you do it again.  It's similar to saying "I'm sorry" when you are a kid.  If you have to say I'm sorry, especially if you really did something wrong, you are far less likely to repeat your actions.  Whether it's in the Bible or not, I don't know, nor has it ever mattered to me.  I truly believe that standing up for your actions and being accountable to another human makes you stronger.  All that and a dollar will get you a bag of chips at Circle K if you don't believe in it, but it seems to work for me!

Greeting Cindi,

You pretty much nailed it. You should read Lord have Mercy by Scott Hahn. He goes in great detail on the history of confession throughout the judia/christian faith and shows the connection to our modern act. http://books.google.com/books?id=ADgL6NTcxzYC&dq=inauthor:Scott+inauthor:Hahn

You haven't provided any command from scripture that people are to confess sins to another human being.

If I lied to you, I still would ask for your forgiveness.  However I'm not forgiven of my sin against God by you forgiving me.  That confession of sin to a human being does not forgive me of my sin against God until I ask for him to forgive me, because it is his commandment I broke.  I sinned against God and I must ask God to forgive me ultimately. 

But that's not the issue.  The issue is the Catholic church using a different mediator besides Jesus Christ when repenting of their sins.  This is unbiblical.  Again, it's God's commandment that is broke.

And as for John 20:23, This verse does not give authority to Christians to forgive sins.  Jesus was saying that the believer can boldly declare the certainty of a sinner's forgiveness by the Father because of the work of His Son if that sinner has repented and believed the gospel.  The believer with certainity can also tell those who do not respond to the message of God's forgiveness through faith in Christ that their sins, as a result, are not forgiven.

This is also proven by the writings of the Apostles to the churches.  As they help build new churches, they don't tell the early Christians to confess their sins to themselves or any man, but only to God.

If we are not supposed to seek forgivness from those we have sined on. Then why was it commanded that we must forgive him 77 times? Or why must we go to the Church if our brother sins against us? Or why make a notion about bounding things on earth being bound in heavan?

The early Church did in fact ask for group forgiveness and you can referance that thru some of St Augustines writings, and St Carps I believe.

Finally, how can you remotely even state that Jesus did not give the power of forgivenee to the Apostles in this scripture?

" 21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Where does it say somebody needs to confess their sins they have committed against you for you to forgive them 70 times 7?  We are to forgive regardless.  Again please recognize you haven't supplied any scripture that we are to confess to anybody but God to have our sins forgiven.  You are following a man made doctrine, and it's proven by the lack of scriptural support.

(according to your church doctrine) you are picking verses here and there, ripping them out of context trying to support your views.    You would think that it would be a good time for the apostles to talk about the authority God gave them in their writings, because that would be important for the church if that was truley the case.  However, nowhere did the apostles tell the people in their writing for them to confess their sins to anybody but God.

Please do not accuse me to picking and choosing scripture if you are doing the same.

Read the scripture again. If God did not want us to be grounded through the apostles, then why would He say such a thing? Basically you are saying that Jesus lied and that  the sins would be forgiven even if the apostles did not forgive them?

Please read Matt 18, its very specific on earthly sin and how it can hold us to earth. It also has the 77 mention.

Also read James 5: 13-16 its very specific in why we should ask forgiveness of others. Seeking forgiveness from the congregation is more for your own heart. A True Judge would not Judge a man based on another man, but only the mans true heart and the Law.

To remind you again, that a Perfect Act of Contrition does not need a priest or anyone else other then the person and Christ.

Finally you still have not yet given substantial rebuttal on why Protestants totally and utterly ignore calls for celibacy when doing work of God. 2 of the most influential persons in the bible were celibate, why not mimic them?