And the Scriptures tell us that as Christ met the apostles on the shore on Easter, “He breathed on them (imparting the Holy Spirit) saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall bind, they are bound.”
My addition in parenthesis.
Thus Christ gave the Apostles, the first Bishops the power to forgive or not forgive sins and the priesthood and the Sacrament of Confession was thus founded.
I’ll take Christ’s words any day over Paul’s words.
Nice. But wrong. Since Paul’s words ARE Christ’s words. As given to him by direct revelation of Christ.
It seems quite apparent to even the casual reader that the Catholic organization would like to see Paul's writings put into a box and buried. But, both of those writings come from the whole cloth of Scripture, according to that same organization. They brag about being the compilers and arbiters of those God-breathed writings.
Once again, Rome makes a claim not based clearly on the word, but on assumption of what they think it means. So, the proper Catholic trained up with a catechism of Roman theology, denied by the magisterium to decide for themselves, fall back into the error of the organization.
In the upper room, all those present were filled with the Holy Spirit. If, the Holy Spirit was given to only those apostles walking with Jesus, what you say might be true. But, Jesus never gave mortal men the role of priest. Just after what is referred to as the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6, reads ...14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Again, against the claims of the Catholic organization, the alleged role of the clergy is invalid and unnecessary.
But, even before the Lord's prayer, and that book of Matthew, Jesus tells us even more:
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Parsing those words, it appears that the prayers should be to God the father, and not to some cleric poseur. You are told to go into YOUR room, not a confessional booth in some remote building. Your clerics tell you that you can recite repetitious prayers for penance. Jesus talked about that as well, and called it empty and worthless.
Roman Catholics can look towards the organization for salvation. I'll continue to thank God for His coming to earth and saving my soul. He came to set us free, not to bind us with silly doctrines and empty promises. The prophets told us he was coming, as messengers. The New Testament gives us glimpses into his life on earth, and Paul's letters give us the clearest explanation of why!
In the second Timothy 3:16, we are told that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. I don't try to pick and choose which one fits my fancy. I don't try to pick and choose what words can explain things which obviously say something different. I rely on God's Holy Spirit to provide me with direction into his word, so I can grow in faith.
Jesus is our high priest. He told us that we can approach him boldly. I will take Paul's words alongside those words reportedly spoken by our Lord. But, I will parse them without trying to separate them from the truth. A proper exegesis of Scripture will always reveal the errors of you are man made institution and organization.
God breathed on me. He gave me the Holy Spirit. I have the same rights and responsibilities as every other Christian. My burden is easy. I must believe. And when I believed, he gave the Holy Spirit to me as confirmation that I have entered into eternal life and then I do not walk alone. I have been grafted into the family of God and I will continue along the road where he leads. It will never end and Rome!
He did so not only to to the apostles, but that meeting also included other disciples, as context indicates, (Mt. 18:18; Jn. 20:23) and it does not mean God must subscribe to any sentence of the priest (besides NT pastors never distinctively being called priests).
Ill take Christs words any day over Pauls words.
As if one had to. A very revealing statement testifying to the opposition RCs see btwn the gospels and Paul, and preference they have for the former, as they see them supporting Rome more, as they are in theologically need of explanation, which Christ promised, and which the epistles are, without which we would lack much.
Acts 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the holy Spirit just as he did us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts.
>> Ill take Christs words any day over Pauls words.<<
Wow! Thats very telling. So you dont believe the scriptures are actually the words of the Holy Spirit aka inspired?