约翰福音20：22-23-Acts-13-0910
22说了这话，就向他们吹一口气，说：「你们受圣灵！23你们赦免谁的罪，谁的罪就赦免了；你们留下谁的罪，谁的罪就留下了。」
问：（i）当主耶稣基督向他们吹一口气，他们是不是在那个时刻得着圣灵?
(ii)请解释在23节，他们如何赦免人的罪并且留下人的罪。
（i）主耶稣基督在使徒行传中吩咐使徒们在耶路撒冷等待圣灵的降临。
徒1:4-54耶稣和他们聚集的时候，嘱咐他们说：「不要离开耶路撒冷，要等候父所应许的，就是你们听见我说过的。5约翰是用水施洗，但不多几日，你们要受圣灵的洗。」
主耶稣向门徒吹一口气–赐权柄给他们，要他们受圣灵。真神在五旬节，祂所预定的日子，将宝贵的圣灵降在门徒身上。
（ii）约20:23你们赦免谁的罪，谁的罪就赦免了；你们留下谁的罪，谁的罪就留下了。
这经节并不是说主耶稣基督给予我们特权、能赦免罪。某些教派认为，只要向神父诉说他们的罪状后，就能得到神父的赦免。今日我们的教会里，没有一位执事有这种权柄，能赦免人的罪，但是我们得蒙主耶稣基督赐权柄，使教会有权柄赦罪。这是如何解释呢?
太16:19我要把天国的钥匙给你，凡你在地上所捆绑的，在天上也要捆绑；凡你在地上所释放的，在天上也要释放。
当日主耶稣基督对西门彼得说:神的教会是建立在磐石上。今天神的教会，建立在主耶稣基督真神的磐石根基上。神的教会，得蒙真神所赐天国的钥匙。凡神的教会在地上所捆绑的，在天上也要捆绑。在地上所释放的，在天上也要释放。原来神的教会有如此大的权柄。
神的教会是藉着什么拥有这权柄呢？神的教会以什么方法释放人的罪呢?
徒2:38彼得说：你们各人要悔改，奉耶稣基督的名受洗，叫你们的罪得赦，就必领受所赐的圣灵；
神的教会藉着洗礼，将人的罪释放、赦免。人的罪要得释放，就必须藉着合法的大水洗，奉主耶稣基督圣名受洗。藉着主耶稣基督的血、水与圣灵的同在，发生功效，释放人的罪。
约壹5:8作见证的原来有三：就是圣灵、水，与血，这三样也都归於一。
真教会藉着合法的大水洗和主耶稣基督的恩典，释放和赦免人的罪。
路24:47并且人要奉他的名传悔改、赦罪的道，从耶路撒冷起直传到万邦。
我们不但要领受合法的大水洗，使我们的罪得到释放，也要接受赦罪的道。当奉主耶稣基督的名传悔改、赦罪的道，从耶路撒冷起直到万邦。真教会藉着洗礼，主耶稣基督宝血的功能，赦免罪使人从捆绑中得释放。
（2010年青年灵修会-圣经问答）
22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Questions:
Did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit when the Lord Jesus Christ breathed on them?
Please explain verse 23. How did they remit and retain the sins of men?
The book of Acts record the Lord Jesus Christ instructing His disciples to wait for the downpour of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.
Acts 1:4-54And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Gen. 2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God created man and man came alive when He breathed into him the breath of life. The Lord Jesus imparted eternal spiritual life through His breath. With this inbreathing came the power/authority to do God’s will on earth, to continue the mission to spread the gospel after His ascension. The disciples did not receive the Holy Spirit at that moment. The Lord Jesus bestowed the Holy Spirit upon them on the day of Pentecost but they received the authority to spread His Word.
“John 20:23” does not mean that the Lord Jesus Christ gave us special authority and power to remit sins. Some religious denominations believe that as long as they confess to their pastor their wrongdoings and sins, the pastor will then remit their sins. None of the deacons in our church today has this authority to remit sins, but the church receives the power of the Holy Spirit to carry out baptism during which the Lord Jesus remits the sins of sinners.
Matt. 16:19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The Lord Jesus Christ told Simon Peter: The church of God is built upon the rock. Today, God’s church is built upon the rock; which is the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true God. The church of God has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever the church of God shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever God’s church shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Thus, the church of God has such great power and authority.
Through what authority does the church of God remit the sins of men?
Acts 2:38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The Lord Jesus Christ, through the church of God remits and forgives the sins of men during water baptism. To obtain the remission of sin, one must undergo the correct mode of water baptism performed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The combined presence of the Lord Jesus’ blood, water and Holy Spirit are effective in remitting the sins of men. This is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1John 5:8And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
Luke 24:47And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
We should not only receive the correct mode of water baptism for the remission of our sins, we should also receive the gospel which will teach us how to live a life free from sins. We should preach the gospel of repentance and remission of sins in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ among all nations, which began at Jerusalem. The true church sets us free from the bondage of sins through water baptism and the power of the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2010 Annual Youth Spiritual Nurture Meeting)