What Does John 20:23 Mean?
I was recently asked what John 20:23 means:
“If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
This is not an easy verse to understand, but I will provide my understanding.
The topic of forgiveness is developed as the Bible unfolds. So we must interpret this verse in light of the verses that proceed it in other books, such as Acts, Ephesians, Colossians, and Hebrews.
Just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, Jesus was with his disciples in the upper room. He talked to them about the new testament that he would establish in his blood, bringing forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:26-28 and Luke 22:19-20).
The forgiveness of sins Jesus is talking to his disciples about in Matthew 26 and Luke 20 is forgiveness that is different than forgiveness under the old covenant of law, which was temporal forgiveness based upon the sacrifices as seen in Leviticus.
This forgiveness under the law was continual forgiveness, on-going forgiveness, day after day and year after forgiveness (see Leviticus and Hebrews).
Yet the new testament of grace forgiveness Jesus was establishing in his blood was eternal forgiveness based upon the one-time sacrifice of Jesus for all sins and for all people (Hebrews 7:27; Hebrews 8-10).
So when Jesus is having a conversation about forgiveness with his disciples in John 20:23, it is the forgiveness of the new testament that he first communicated to them while in the upper room.
With this understanding, let’s continue to look at verses on forgiveness which appear in the Bible after the resurrection of Jesus. By examining these verses, I believe we can arrive at the meaning of John 20:23.
In Acts 2, we see Peter communicating with the Jewish people about how they asked for Jesus to be crucified. However, Jesus is the one who they needed call to be saved, yet they called for him to be crucified.
In Acts 2:36-38, they were cut to the heart over this and repented by acknowledging they were wrong in calling for Jesus to be crucified. They then believed in Jesus and were baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism was a picture of the forgiveness of sins not the process by which they were forgiven.
Later, in Acts 10:43, Peter is at a Gentile's house and tells the Gentiles who are there that forgiveness is received through believing in Jesus.
Jesus, in Acts 26:18, tells Paul the message he is to take to Jews and Gentiles is that forgiveness is received by faith. Paul expounds upon this forgiveness in Ephesians 1:6-8, Colossians 1:13-14, and Colossians 2:13-14. In these verses, he communicates the fullness of forgiveness that comes to us in Jesus and is received by believing.
In 2 Corinthians 5:19, we see that God is no longer counting people's sins against them. Paul and his missionary team were ambassadors of Jesus (speaking on behalf of Jesus) of the message of the cross...that God was not holding our sins against us but was holding out forgiveness to us based upon the cross.
This forgiveness could be received by faith or rejected.
In Hebrews 8 and 10:17-18, we see forgiveness is complete in the new testament of grace. Forgiveness is NOT given by God on a daily basis in the new testament of grace. Rather, forgiveness is received one time for eternity based upon the one-time sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Forgiveness is not something we request from God daily, but we receive from God as a one-time gift, which is the day we believe in Jesus.
So we can conclude that those who believe/faith in Jesus receive eternal forgiveness of sins and God remembers their sins no more.
This forgiveness is based upon Jesus' payment for our sins on the cross.
In John 20:23, Jesus empowered the disciples to communicate the message of forgiveness under the new testament of grace.
The verses in Acts 10:43 and 26:18 teach us that forgiveness is received by believing...by faith.
The message of Peter in Acts 10:43 is that forgiveness comes through belief in Jesus.
The message of Paul that Jesus gave him in Acts 26:18 is that forgiveness comes by faith in Jesus.
In John 20:29, Jesus says "Blessed are those who believe."
One of the blessings would be that of forgiveness, mentioned in John 20:23.
By believing, once receives the eternal blessing of forgiveness.
So I believe in John 20:23 that Jesus was telling the disciples to take the message of of new testament forgiveness to others. They would communicate the good news that forgiveness comes through faith/belief in Jesus, which is what Peter did in Acts 10:43.
Those who believed, received forgiveness.
Those who refused to believe, rejected forgiveness.
It is not my view that John 20:23 is the establishment of any religious position, such as the Pope or other priests that have the authority to forgive or withhold forgiveness of sins.
The emphasis in context is Jesus convincing the disciples of his resurrection by showing them his hands that were nail-pierced and side that was stabbed.
The emphasis is speaking as ambassadors of Jesus the good news of forgiveness through the cross (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-21), not the establishment of religious positions.
Sadly, those who see this as the establishment of religious positions giving people the authority to forgive sins on earth miss the full picture of forgiveness as more light is given about forgiveness in Matthew 26:26-28, Luke 20:19-20, Acts 10:43, Acts 26:18, Hebrews 7:27; 8; 9:12; and 10, as well as in Ephesians and Colossians.
Many ministry and church leaders teach on forgiveness in Matthew 6 and 18 that say unless you forgive others their sins, God will not forgive you. And you must forgive 70 x 7 to be forgiven by God.
Bible teachers and pastors ignore the unfolding of forgiveness after the cross and mistakenly establish Matthew 6 and 18 as the basis for being forgiven by God. Matthew 6 and 18 are old testament of law verses (meaning before the cross) and are not applicable to us who live in the new testament of grace.
So to correctly interpret John 20:23 and Matthew 6 and 18, we must look at forgiveness as it unfolds after the cross and not mix pre-cross verses on forgiveness with post-cross verses on forgiveness.
Bible teachers and pastors who do this cause great confusion among believers - which is what was happening in Galatia.
Forgiveness in the new testament of grace is simple - forgiveness is received by faith in Jesus.
NOTE: By new testament, I am not referring to books of the Bible but the cross of Jesus where his blood secured eternal forgiveness of sins that is freely and fully offered to all and is received simply by faith.
This forgiveness was established at the cross.
Prior to the cross, the law was in effect, where forgiveness was NOT full, not forever, not free, and not received by faith.
If you would like to read other blogs I have written on forgiveness, click below.
Also, you may be interested in my book, Forgiven and Cleansed: 1 John In Context.
Click below to check out the book.
