A common objection: confession should be directly to God, not to a priest. The verse usually cited is 1 John 1:9 — “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
That verse is true. But it’s not the whole story Scripture tells.
The actual establishment of the sacrament — what the Catholic Church calls Reconciliation — is direct, explicit, and apostolic.
Christ gives the apostles authority to forgive sins.
“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:22-23)
This isn’t subtle. On the evening of the Resurrection — the first thing Jesus does after rising from the dead — he breathes the Holy Spirit on the apostles and explicitly gives them the authority to forgive or retain sins. He says it twice. The breath itself recalls Genesis 2:7 — God breathing life into man. Jesus is breathing a new authority into the apostles, and that authority concerns the forgiveness of sins.
Paul names what Christ gave them: the ministry of reconciliation.
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… we are ambassadors for Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)
Paul uses the word reconciliation explicitly — which is what the Catholic Church calls the sacrament today. The apostles received this ministry directly from Christ; they handed it on to their successors (cf. 2 Timothy 2:2); the Church preserves it through apostolic succession.
James commands the practical form: confess to one another.
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)
James writes this to the early Christian community as straightforward practical instruction. Confession out loud — to one another — not just internal repentance. The verb is plain. The early Christians were doing this.
1 John 1:9 promises forgiveness for those who confess.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
This verse is sometimes used against the sacrament — as if it makes the priest unnecessary. But here is where the Greek word matters.
The Greek verb translated “confess” is homologeō (ὁμολογέω) — literally “to say the same thing as,” to acknowledge openly, to speak out in the open. It is the same verb Paul uses in Romans 10:9 (“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord”) and that Christ uses in Matthew 10:32 (“whoever acknowledges me before men”). The verb describes a spoken acknowledgment — public, audible, in front of others.
It cannot describe a silent, internal admission to God alone. By the very meaning of the word, that would be a contradiction in terms — you cannot publicly proclaim something privately in the silence of your own heart.
So when 1 John tells us to confess our sins, the verb itself names what James 5:16 commands directly: out loud, to one another. The verse usually cited against the sacrament turns out to be one more witness for it.
The apostolic answer, attested across all four passages: confess your sins out loud, through the ministry of reconciliation Christ specifically gave to the apostles. And receive forgiveness through their authority.
A brief note on how the practice developed
In the early Church, confession was often public — made before the whole assembly of believers. As congregations grew and the practical needs of pastoral life changed, the practice moved toward private confession to a mature Christian set apart for that work. The sacramental form Catholics know today is that biblical pattern fully developed and handed down for two thousand years.
The principle is unchanged. Confess your sins. Receive forgiveness through Christ’s appointed ministers. Be healed.
Scripture. As the apostolic Church read it.
