This is why the apostles constantly directed attention away from themselves and toward the Lord Jesus. Even when miracles came through them, they preached Christ, not apostolic power. After the lame man was healed, Peter said:
Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? (Acts 3:12)
Peter refused to let people think the power rested in the apostles themselves, and then he preached Christ. The same pattern holds with forgiveness. The apostles were servants and witnesses, sent by Christ; their authority was real, but it did not make them the source of saving grace. As Peter said:
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
No apostle ever replaced Christ as the source of forgiveness. No apostle became the savior. No church officer was placed between the sinner and the finished work of Christ.
The apostles announced remission through the name of Jesus Christ, and that is what John 20:23 is describing. The sinner's hope is not in human authority, not in sacramental control, not in a religious system that claims power to dispense forgiveness.
The sinner's hope is in the risen Christ, who gives forgiveness to the one who believes on Him.
John 20:23 does not move forgiveness away from Christ. It sends Christ's witnesses into the world to proclaim where forgiveness is found.
Read the Full Bible Proof
WHAT WOULD HAVE TO BE TRUE
The argument must prove the stronger saving-causation conclusion from the words and logic of the passage, not merely show that baptism, obedience, faith, church life, or salvation are closely associated.
START WITH THE BIBLE TEXT
Key control passages: John 20:23, Acts 10:43, Acts 13:38-39, John 20:21, John 20:22, Acts 16:31, Mark 2:7, John 3:16
The governing teaching for this objection is John 20:23 — Whose Sins Ye Remit. Read the actual biblical foundation before letting the objection redefine the terms.
Forgiveness Comes Through Christ
Peter preached:
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)
Remission comes through His name, not through a church officer, not through a sacramental process, not through a baptistry. Paul preached:
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things. (Acts 13:38-39)
Forgiveness and justification come through Christ to the believer. Scripture does not contradict itself. If forgiveness is received through faith in Christ, then John 20:23 cannot mean the apostles became independent sources of saving forgiveness.
The Context Explains the Authority
The context explains the passage. In John 20 the risen Christ appears to His disciples after the resurrection, shows them His hands and His side, and speaks peace to them. Then He says:
As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (John 20:21)
The focus is mission. The disciples are being sent out with Christ's message into the world. Then Jesus breathed on them and said:
Receive ye the Holy Ghost. (John 20:22)
Immediately after that comes the statement about remitting and retaining sins, and the order is not accidental. The passage is bound to the proclamation of the gospel. The apostles were being sent as Christ's representatives to declare the terms of forgiveness through Him, and that is exactly what happens throughout Acts.
They preached Christ publicly and declared forgiveness through His name. Those who believed the message received remission of sins; those who rejected it remained in their sins because they rejected the Savior. The apostles did not walk around granting personal forgiveness by their own authority.
They proclaimed God's terms of forgiveness through Christ. Paul said the same to the jailer:
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31)
That is the apostolic message: forgiveness through Christ, salvation through faith. John 20:23 fits naturally inside that mission. When the apostles proclaimed forgiveness through Christ, those who believed truly had their sins remitted, and those who rejected the message remained in their sins.
The authority is declarative, not magical. The apostles were not creating forgiveness; they were announcing God's forgiveness through Christ.
FULL BIBLE ANSWER — “Whose Sins Ye Remit”
CLEARLY STATED
John 20:23 gives the apostles a real authority connected with the risen Christ's commission: "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." The verse should not be emptied of force. The question is what kind of authority the apostles exercise.
John's Gospel repeatedly locates eternal life in believing on Christ (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; 20:31). In Acts, the apostles announce remission through Christ's name to those who believe (Acts 10:43) and proclaim forgiveness and justification through Him (Acts 13:38-39). The apostolic mission therefore includes authoritative proclamation of the terms on which sins are remitted, not personal priestly control over Christ's blood.
STRONGLY SUPPORTED
John 20:23 is best read within the apostolic commission to proclaim the risen Christ and authoritatively declare the gospel verdict. Those who receive the apostolic Christ receive remission; those who reject Him remain in their sins.
KEEP THE BIBLE’S CATEGORIES CLEAR
Keep status and conduct, cause and evidence, existence and function, justification and discipleship, and sign and reality in their proper categories.
THE STRONGEST ARGUMENT — AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY PROVES
Grant every observation the text actually makes. The point is not to weaken baptism but to prevent a true observation from becoming a stronger conclusion the passage never states.
Bible Check: Even after granting that point, does the passage actually say that the believer lacks eternal life, remission, justification, sonship, or the Spirit until the water act occurs? If that sentence is missing, the system still has to supply the causal step rather than read it from the page.
WHAT THE TEXT DOES NOT PROVE
A repeated practice, a command, a symbol, or a close sequence does not by itself identify the efficient cause of regeneration or justification.
BOTTOM LINE
NOT PROVED BY THE TEXT AS A SAVING-CAUSATION CLAIM — the objection may contain a true observation, but the stronger conclusion must be proved from the text.
The core reading must stand even if a disputed lexical, historical, or theological support is removed. The burden remains on the stronger claim to show its saving mechanism in the inspired text.
Read the Complete Bible Study
FOUNDATION: John 20:23 — Whose Sins Ye Remit
Whose soever sins ye remit.
John 20:23 is often used to support the idea that men possess special authority to forgive sins through church systems, sacraments, or religious acts. Jesus said to His disciples:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. (John 20:23)
At first glance, some assume this means the apostles were given personal power to forgive sins directly, almost as though forgiveness itself rested in the hands of religious authorities. That interpretation creates serious problems with the rest of Scripture, because again and again the Bible says forgiveness comes through Christ Himself.
Christ authorized His witnesses to announce the forgiveness found in Him; He did not transfer God's saving authority into human hands or church ritual. The apostles consistently pointed sinners away from themselves and toward Christ.
FULL NOT BY WATER STUDY — Chapter 29: Whose Sins Ye Remit
BOOK FIDELITY: This is the full original chapter treatment so the illustrations, argument flow, and examples are not lost in the shorter teaching format.