Good morning,
Can man forgive sin, or God alone? What I was wanting to know is about the scripture “what is bound on earth is bound in heaven”? From what I have heard, we the saints have that authority to bind someone. It is hard for me to imagine that being the case, due to the fact that some of the saints have wrong ideas about what is what with another person and wouldn’t be able to judge righteously. If that be so, makes it sound as if all this would have to be decided by Jesus alone.
Thanks Maria
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A body of believers, walking together in the Spirit, has great authority over any individual member of the body. It can forgive or not forgive sin. Individual men whom God has anointed and sent also have that authority. The fact that some children of God cannot make righteous judgments has nothing to do with the question you asked.
I am not certain what your last sentence means. But in general, we know that God has appointed Jesus as Judge of the whole earth, and we know that he has appointed certain men, under him, to exercise his judgments.
Pastor John
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Good morning John,
I’m not sure I know how to get my thought across on this. What I want to know is with the authority to forgive, then does it say you cannot make it with Jesus in the end. If a person decides not to forgive, does it send a person to the lake of fire.
Thanks again Maria
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You seem not to understand the authority that accompanies any judgment that true men of God make. If a man is truly a man of God, he does not represent his own thoughts and feelings any more than Jesus did. Such anointed men represent God’s judgments and feelings. If it were otherwise, no one would need fear or even pay attention to what they say. So, it is never the case that a real man of God merely “decides not to forgive” because he misunderstands something or has a bad attitude; rather, he reflects what God has decided.
Almost all the time, in this world, God’s messengers are condemned, if not ignored, because most of the time, in this world, God Himself is condemned, if not ignored. But their judgments will stand because God’s judgment stands. In the Final Judgment, everything will be revealed. In the meantime, God’s servants must continue their work to reflect the heart and mind of God, enduring the same contempt which Jesus suffered at the hands of carnally-minded men.
In short, if a messenger of God does not forgive, it is because God has not forgiven.
Pastor John