After your post here, I answered in a parallel post that you were pinged to. However, I have to say that I have heard a few new (to me) interpretations, that sound reasonable to me, over the last several days, so in truth I haven't actually worked all the way through it yet. I suppose I've spent more time on finding out what it doesn't mean. :)
FK: "Why "must" it be the priest who asks for forgiveness?"
Because different people have been ordained different roles in the church, and binding and loosening is part of the apostolic clergy. Because God wants the Church to do His work on earth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
So, are God's children NOT ordained to ask forgiveness from their Father directly? I'm still struggling with this. I took your answer to be that it must be a priest because the Church ordained that it must be a priest. Yet, the Bible just tells us to confess our sins and to pray. I can't understand why any man would want to get in between that most intimate relationship.
You quoted: Jer 15:19 (a) : Therefore this is what the Lord says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me
Sounds like an "if-then" works-based salvation to me. Why are you quoting it? It also leaves the decision to repent to man. Oh, no! Does that mean we are in control? You may wish to retract this verse...
LOL! Nah, I can't run away from God's word. :) The verse is making a statement of fact, not an offer. It is akin to "If you eat from the tree, then you will surely die". God wasn't trying to make a deal here, He was laying out the facts.
When we read it, and many others like it, they sure sound like offers. There is no denying that. And, that "sound" has certainly had a motivational influence through the ages. People have always understood what it is to bargain, if you do this then I'll do that. Our limited minds can understand that, so it doesn't surprise me at all that the Bible has many examples of this. It makes sense and sounds fair to the human mind. My guess is that most believers continue with this for the rest of their lives. God did His part, they did their part, and it was a fair and square deal. Of course it is not a fatal error, and someday we will all know for sure one way or the other.
I see...
So, are God's children NOT ordained to ask forgiveness from their Father directly? I'm still struggling with this. Why? Don't you ask for forgiveness in "Our Father..."? We can ask, provided we have forgiven those who trespassed against us.
Yet, the Bible just tells us to confess our sins and to pray
The Bible tells us to confess to others. Confessing to God directly is like loving those who love you; no big deal.
Kosta to FK: You quoted Jer 15:19 (a) : Therefore this is what the Lord says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me." Sounds like an "if-then" works-based salvation to me. Why are you quoting it? It also leaves the decision to repent to man
FK:The verse is making a statement of fact, not an offer. It is akin to "If you eat from the tree, then you will surely die"
If-then is a conditional statement no matter how you look at it. A statement of what would have been "when you eat [in other words: you will eat] from the tree you're dead!"
In Jer 15:19, like in Genesis and numerous other places in the Bible, man's free will is affirmed by these "if-then" statements. We condemn ourselves when given a clear chocie and knowingly choose to oppose God. Otherwise, the cocept of sin is meaningless.