When the disciple of Jesus known as “His beloved Disciple” wrote letters to a little church, here is one of the first things he wanted them to know: “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:7-12). There is a link between “catholicity” and the forgiveness of sins – that link is the Holy Spirit who both unites us and brings to us the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection. Over and over, scripture links our personal salvation with our relationship to each other. Jesus said as much in His Sermon on the Mount: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” So, there are two aspects of what we need to understand about the ministry of the Holy Spirit as it relates to the forgiveness of sin:
Passages: Luke 24:44-49, John 20:19-23, James 5:13-16, 1 John 1:8-12
Luke and John’s Gospels both see a link between our being filled with the Holy Spirit and our preaching or offering forgiveness to others: “Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.'” (Luke 24:44-49), “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending 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 withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.’” (John 20:19-23). This is why forgiveness offered and even promised is a central part of historic Christian worship (the words we say during communion), should be a normal part of Christian relationships and why confession (in things like accountability relationships) are all normal outworking of Christian faith. We are, if we’ve responded to the Gospel in Jesus, a people who have had the new life of the Spirit breathed into us making us new creations in the likeness of Jesus. “As the Father has sent me, even s I am sending you.” We are birthed by the Spirit into a ministry of the forgiveness of sin.
