One of the striking differences between Protestants and Roman Catholics is our approach to the confession of sin.  Rome has its adherents confess sins to priest confessors, who prescribe penance and decree absolution.  So heated is the Protestant rejection of this practice that it is the subject of the very first of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Thesis, which many consider to have launched Protestantism.

The Roman Catholic practice is based on their belief that Christ and the Church are one.  Rome says that Christ has so completely invested the pope with his authority – and through the pope to the local priests – that priests have Christ’s own authority to forgive sins.  Based on this belief, Rome practices the sacrament of penance, in which the Church itself, in Christ’s name, “forgives sins… and determines the manner of satisfaction” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1448).  When the requisite Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s have been prayed and good works have been performed, the priest utters the formula of absolution, which concludes: “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Catechism, 1449).

At the heart of the Protestant rejection of sacramental confession and penance is our rejection of Rome’s claims to such authority.  On the basis of biblical teaching, we reject that the church has authority to act on its own in Christ’s name.  It is for this same reason that we reject Rome’s teaching that the pope has authority to sell indulgences for the forgiveness of sin.  Since the Bible teaches that sins are forgiven through faith alone in Christ (see Gal. 2:16), we deny that the pope or any priest has authority to prescribe some other method to make satisfaction for sin.  Indeed, Protestants particularly loathe the way popes and priests have often oppressed their people by lording over them their supposed power to cast into hell or have St. Peter open heaven’s doors.

The main biblical support for this Roman Catholic practice is found in Jesus’ statement to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16:19).  Rome says that Jesus was telling Peter, and through him the pope, “whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his” (Catechism, 1445).  Protestants note that Jesus grants this authority not merely to Peter but to all of the twelve disciples, but also to “two or more who are gathered in my name” (Mt. 18:18-19).  So just as we deny that the pope inherits Peter’s throne, we also deny that Peter had exclusive “binding” power. 

Moreover, we believe that by granting power to “bind” and “loose,” Jesus spoke of the church’s declarative authority with respect to God’s Word.  We formally declare what God has taught in Scripture as it pertains to an individual; we do not, however, determine God’s will for that person.  The church is just as bound to God’s Word as its people are.  Perhaps the classic biblical refutation of the Roman Catholic view is found in Galatians 2:11-14, where Paul tells us that Peter himself sinned by allowing the Judaizers in Antioch to exclude uncircumcised believers from their table.  Far from Peter’s word binding God’s will in the matter, Paul called him publicly to repent.  Even Peter (whose fallibility is openly assumed in the Bible) could only teach and exercise church authority in keeping with God’s teaching in Scripture.

The Bible says, “There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).  Jesus remains head of his church, and he has not delegated this headship to the pope or any other person.  Therefore, we must confess our sins to God through Christ. We need not perform any acts of penance, but only offer up sincere repentance and faith in Christ’s blood.  1 John 1:9 tells us to confess our sins to him: “If we confess our sins, he [Jesus] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).  Any sacramental system of confession – including Rome’s – that would have us appeal to anyone other than Jesus and to seek any other satisfaction than his finished work on the cross is an abomination to God that perverts the gospel and leaves the sinner in bondage not merely to his or her sins but to the Church as well.

Rev. Richard Phillips is the chair of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology and senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church Coral Springs, Margate, Florida.

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