"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects."
So you go to "the Elders of the Church" to confess?
I am the Elder.
1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
We can always tell who is doing things contrary to scripture can’t we.
1 Timothy 3:1 This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
How risky it would be to belong to a church who doesn’t follow the instruction for what an Elder should be.
We certainly don’t want to follow those who practice what was condemned do we.
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
Who is it again that “forbids to marry” and says to not eat meat on Friday?
BTW The words used for all leadership positions in the church are all referring to one office in the church. There has never been a hierarchy defined and all churches were autonomous and not officially organized under on earthly organization.
From scripture we can find that all of the leadership of the Catholic Church are not qualified to be in those positions.
Try reading comprehension lessons.
The passage doesn't say that people are to go to confession to the elders.
It's addressing going to the elders of the church for prayer for healing and that incidentally, IF he has committed any sins, they will also be forgiven.