Replies

Pretty sure that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New. Beyond that, your argument against that text doesn’t make sense because it creates a situation in which whereas before we could go directly to God and pray to Him for our forgiveness, now that we have been reconciled to Christ we can go to a priest. That’s a downgrade if you ask me.

As to the rest of your post...
1) I didn’t say you prayed to priests. I said that Christ is the only Mediator. Not priests. Not Mary. Not some saint. Christ alone. I also noted that Scripture says that WE may go boldly to the throne of grace. We may confess our faults to one another, but it isn’t an absolute requirement and no priest has some extra power beyond that which a layperson has to forgive sin.

2)I am not married, but that is irrelevant to the interpretation that Christ gave explicit power to pastors to marry people. I am not opposed to being married by a pastor by any means, but I think you’re reading into the text a little there. If you go over to 1 Corinthians 7, Paul says are you bound to a wife, seek not to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife, seek not a wife. But and if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. If you go to the greek, the loosed part is the same as in the passage you quote. Marriage vows are sacred, to be sure. They are not, however, eternal. (As in, we aren’t Mormons). Binding and loosing in Scripture is not confined to marriage is my point here. And apostles aren’t the only ones who can do it. See for example, Matthew 12 where Christ speaks of binding the strongman. His audience is disciples and Pharisees, and in this he is talking about His own practice of binding the strongman, but He is also giving out a general principle that we can draw inference from. Satan can be bound by the power of God. When Christ later gives the church the authority, it is not just to apostles that that authority is given - but to the church. Essentially, He is saying that anything the church rightly decides on earth has the power of Heaven behind it. If the church decides to bind something, it is bound. If it decides to loose something, it is loosed. This does not mean that there is some hierarchy being set up by Christ. Individual believers have access and are part of Christ’s church. They may bind and loose individually. If you disagree, consider this, we are priests if we are in Christ. So even there, there is an issue with what the Catholic church has taught. Bottom line, we don’t need a priest to access Christ. He is our elder brother and our God. His Father is our Father. We have been adopted. Children don’t have to go through a servant to reach a loving Father.

1 Peter 2

2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

3If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

4To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

6Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

7Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

8And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

10Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.