Carnal Church and its Teachings!

Many people have started false churches in the name of God.  Carnal church has created a form of entertainment that attracts carnally-minded people .Too many churches have become nothing more than social clubs, entertainment centers, activity centers of sports like Golf, etc and gossip forums. Many of the church worship services are nothing more than rock concert and have become a business for many people. Some churches even require speaking in tongues as evidence of salvation. When the Bible speaks of "tongues," is always   referring to a known earthly language never some mysterious, unknown, ununderstandable language without an of an interpreter.

 God wanted to reach the world with Godliness but today’s churches are filled with greedy wealthy carnal preachers who reach the people to lure young people to come to church with worldliness by tampering with the Word of God by strengthening the hands of evildoers, they justify their disobedience to the Word of God by twisting the Scriptures to justify their lifestyle. They preach the doctrine of devils by preaching the false gospel. “In Jeremiah 23:14 Says But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were.” They keep one foot in Gods word and another foot in devils world. They enjoy everything in the world like heathens yet they say they are Christians? These are the false teachers who are carnal in nature who have come into the churches with their books, music, literature, movies, psychology, and seminars, and have turned the Father's house into a den of thieves. Some of the preachers even defend such false preachers and pastors because they themselves are living in rebellion or wickedness, and they want the people to join them in their rebellion and wickedness.
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's Table, and of the table of devils.1 Corinthians 10:21

Anyone who claims as a Christian yet follows world ways are not a true Christian Because 1st John 2:15 says "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

These carnal false preachers are living a life of luxurious, driving brand new cars, having big houses making frequent trips to Europe, Hawaii, Holy land etc on vacation in the name of preaching the gospel while most of his church members can barely afford to have a health insurance or can barely afford to drive to the next town have to finance pastor’s selfish interests in the form of donation or tithing? Philippians 3:18-19, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” Some of them even teach new doctrines about tithing and add a undue financial stress to the church members by pressuring them to give what they don't have .With lesser paying jobs  , property taxes  increasing tremendously, health care premiums soaring, and a cost of  living increasing to the sky , people being laid off from the jobs . People struggle for existence and survival in this tight economy. The world today is filled with carnal apostles.. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof..." (2nd Timothy 3:5). Proverb 28:4, "They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contends with them." The Bible speaks of those that are "double-minded," and warns that they are "unstable" in all their ways and receive nothing from the Lord (James 1:7, 8).

 A true Preacher will be normal person not living  wealthy like a carnal false preacher, will tell the people the truth and he stands uncompromisingly against the works of flesh, expose their sins, errors, darkness and works of Satan. Such true preachers are falsely accused of being legalistic, narrow-minded, sinner, teacher of false doctrine, judgmental, self righteous and unloving. The truth they preach with all humility is quite offensive to the people who are living in fleshy desires. Some passages of Scripture seem to forbid judging, while others clearly require it. God hates hypocritical judging. But God loves righteous judgment on the part of His children. Godly people will be ridiculed by their friends and families for their Christian beliefs & teachings. They are accused and described as Paranoids, self righteous, judgmental fanatics, narrow-minded, extreme, ridiculous, "sinners" & as teaching the "doctrine of devils.

 But a Carnal false preacher will be silent concerning the sins, wickedness, and legalizing all the evil things which god told not to do it. Some are even afraid to publicly take a stand, suppress the truth and their Gospel message never leaves the comfortable zones of their church walls. God hates lukewarm Christianity (Revelation 3:14-16).

We also know that Jesus hates wickedness in Hebrews 1:9: You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." His heart is grieved over those who sin and Jesus hates the sin within each one of us. Jesus hated sin so much that He went to the cross to do away with sin. We mustn't make excuses for our sins nor should we hide our sins (Psalm 32:5) but we should confess our sins to the Father (1 John 1:9) and remain in faith in Jesus who alone can wash our sins away.

I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:7) Holy Spirit convicts people of their of sin and righteousness but evil spirit justifies and defends their sin.  True Christians are led by the Spirit of God and live a life of holiness but carnal Christians claim to be saved Christians profess godliness but not practicing in actions .They do merely do lip service of repentance. .They  partly serve God yet they  do not have the fruits of the spirit but have   the evidence of works of flesh   such as adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lasciviousness, drunkenness, alcohol and drugs, addictions such as smoking, pornography, gambling, sexual perversion, lying cheating , stealing using profane language etc. .Such carnal Christians have no fear of God (Matt 7:21-23) which the Bible says is a sign of an unregenerate mind (Romans 3:18) a rebellious and stiff-necked people prone to sin. They quench the Holy Spirit and listen to the evil spirit and disobey God’s commandments. There are few others who think that by saying formula of sinners prayer will save them without being genuinely repented of their sins. Some false preachers say that you can gladly receive Christ without following Him or without obeying his commandments they strengthen the hands of evildoers, comforting them in their sin rather than calling them to repentance humble themselves to turn from sin. Having a right relationship with God begins with acknowledging your sin. God is love (1 John 4:8), but God also punishes the sinner and hates all who do iniquity. To sin is to break God's Law and offend His character. Next comes a humble confession of your sin to God (Isaiah 57:15) and a determination to forsake the sin.

True repentance is that we must first acknowledge our sins or wrong doing in our heart and have sincere remorse or regret about one’s wrong doing. Then the Holy Spirit draws us to Jesus Christ by convicting us of sin which produces a life of holiness and righteousness that comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As a result of false teachings by carnal preachers  who are wolf in sheep's clothing, deceiving many.,  have assured people  that they have been born-again  they do not need to repent of their sins  which  has made easier for people to sin, or to explain their sin, or to excuse their sin. No truly born again Christian can live their lives in continual, habitual sin. Many of today’s churches have a false conversions, false gospels with contradictions, confusions, divisions, hypocrisy, lukewormness, false repentance which proceeds from momentary emotions and feelings. They confess that there is sin but they fail to acknowledge sins in their lives and are controlled by the sins without any grief or true repentance. People have become stiff necked materialistic and self-willed can’t deal with criticism anymore. They rationalize evil into good and are easily offended, intolerant of the truth when some one preaches against sin or rebukes their sinful lifestyle. Such carnal people say that it’s unloving to tell people that they are sinners. Such people   have no genuine faith.

If any one profess to know God, and His Son Jesus Christ. They will be busy in seeking his will in every area of their life not yielding to their personal opinion but for Gods opinion. The Bible commands men to depart from all sin, to keep God's commandments, to be holy because God is holy, and to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. The Bible teaches that all men ought to live without sin and that they can live without sin by God's grace and the power of his indwelling Holy Spirit and by the Blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible also teaches that Christians do live without sin and can overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have been commanded by God to live lives of holiness, set apart from the world. Awake to righteousness, and sin not 1 Cor. 15:34

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." -1st Timothy 6:10, 11 

We remember Jezebel in Thyatira called herself a "prophetess." she was a false prophet.  Her teachings taught that it was all right for Christians to indulge in sexual immorality and in idolatry. Do not be a lukewarm Christian rebuke the sin, judge righteously. One does not need to have lived all his life without sin in order to rebuke others. Jesus knew His disciples had committed sins, yet he still ordered them to rebuke sin (Matthew 18:15, Ephesians 5:11, John 7:24, James 5:19, 20).If we fail to rebuke others when they sin, then we ourselves have committed the sin of disobeying the above verses. We learn that the Bible forbids certain kinds of judgment, but it also requires us to rebuke sin in order to help people please God and be saved. God commands everyone to repent and believe in the true Gospel it is our duty, responsibility to obey. Failure to do so is sin .There are some Preachers quit preaching against sins and some preachers themselves live in sin henceforth allowed sinners to stop feeling like sinners which allowed the sinner to continue to live in sin and justifying their sins hence they hardly repent for their sins.

Christian churches stand guilty before Christ for perverting the Gospel, because they teach the doctrine of Balaam, putting a stumbling block of sin before people, seducing people into sin, deceiving people into believing, even with God's Spirit, it is still spiritually impossible to live one's live without breaking God's commandments, and to teach people they can continue to sin without sin's consequences, and receiving the judgment of Christ and that Rom. 6:23 does not apply to their sins. Lasciviousness is shameless conduct that breaks God's Commandments without shame, or repentance, and creates a false obedience of teaching that does not recognize sin, nor defines sin as God's Word defines sin.

True repentance is turning from sin, and turning from sin means to stop sinning, then a person must live a sinless life in order to be saved. Jesus Christ began His ministry of preaching the Gospel by teaching the doctrine of repentance (Mat. 4:17), and everyone that does not repent of his sins which is the breaking of God's commandments cannot enter His Kingdom. Christ later said and taught everyone that does not repent will perish, Luke 13: 3.

If all these Christian Preachers and members don’t repent of these sins, and begin now to teach, preach and obey the true Gospel, they all will soon come under the curse of God--the coming tribulation of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. Mal. 4:1-4, Mat. 3:10-12, Rev. 2:14-15. I Peter 4:17, says " For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall be the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?" When you follow the desires of your Sinful Nature, your lives will produce these Evil Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,[a] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. “Galatians 5:19–21.

Source: Please visit my other articles written on similar topics.God bless!

WHY DO I HAVE TO CONFESS MY SINS TO A PRIEST?

Any forgiving I have done has been for your sakes, and, before Christ, to prevent Satan -- whose guile we know too well -- from outwitting us."(2 Corinthians 2:10-11)
We confess our sins to a priest simply because Jesus said so. He gave the apostles authority to forgive sins in His name. (Jn 20:23) God, of course, does all the forgiving and all the healing, teaching, counseling, feeding, etc. Everything good is done by God's power, but He often works through people, members of the body of Christ, and He has decided to use people as His instruments in teaching, feeding, counseling, etc., and even in forgiving. We are open to God using a person to feed us but when it comes to forgiveness, we are reluctant to involve other people and think we should talk to God alone. But God commands: "Declare your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may find healing." (Jas 5:16)
So, Biblically, we are to confess our sins not only to God but also to other human beings. But why a priest? A priest represents the family of God, our community, the local body of Christ. We confess our sins to a representative of the Christian family because our sins hurt others in the family, and to be reconciled fully we must ask forgiveness not only of God Whom we have disobeyed and those immediately affected by our sins but also of the church family hurt by our sins. It's impossible to apologize to each and every one, but at least we can talk to a representative of the family and ask forgiveness. Unless we confess our sins to a priest, we feel like there's something missing because there is something missing: reconciliation with the church family.

Can you be forgiven of all sins or not?

All sins not forgiven
(Matthew 12:31) - "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven."
(Mark 3:29) - "but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. 32And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come."
All sins forgiven
(Acts 13:39) - "and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses."
(Titus 2:13-14) - "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; 14who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."
(1 John 1:9) - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
When interpreting the Bible, context is everything. Anyone can take a verse out of context in one place and compare it to another verse out of context in another. Such is often the case when critics quote these types of scriptures listed above as criticism of the Bible.
The answer is simple. We are to take all of God's word into account, in context, when developing a teaching. Therefore, the Bible teaches us that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. All other sins are forgivable. However, this does not mean that all sins will be forgiven. It means that all these other sins can be forgiven. We are forgiven only when we trust in Christ and Him alone for the forgiveness of our sins. Those who have committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit will never seek Christ because the Holy Spirit will not work on them

The Bible teaches us to Confess our sins to Priest

As proven using quotations from the 1611 King James version of the Bible, a famous Protestant translation.
Many non-Catholics say that confession to a priest is not taught in the Bible. They say that to be forgiven of even mortal sin, all one need to do is believe in Jesus, or at the most, to confess those sins directly to God. But this position which holds that confession to a priest is not necessary for forgiveness of mortal sins committed after baptism contradicts what is taught in the Bible.

The Old Law required confession of sins to a priestFirst, in the Old Testament, if one committed a sin, he couldn't just confess the sin to God and be done with it. No, he had to go to the priest. This is taught throughout the book of Leviticus, the third book of the Old Testament. Here is one good example of this:
Leviticus 5:1: And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. 2: Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty. 3: Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. 4: Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. 5: And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: 6: And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin. 7: And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 8: And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder: 9: And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering. 10: And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.
In this passage we see that the priest's role was indispensible in the forgiveness of sin. This is taught throughout Leviticus and throughout the other foundational books of the Old Testament. Here is another example:
Leviticus 19:21: And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering. 22: And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.
Not only did a person have to go to the priest to be forgiven of sin, as these and other passages make clear, but also to become clean. Jesus makes reference to this in the following verse from the New Tesatment:
Luke 5:13: And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. 14: And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
In the Old Testament, people would become unclean after having done certain things which God said made a person unclean. To become clean, the priest would have to be involved.
Leviticus 12:6: And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: 7: Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female. 8: And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
Leviticus 13:27: And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
Leviticus 14:11: And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
Leviticus 14:19: And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: 20: And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
Leviticus 14:31: Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the LORD.
These points from the Old Testament demonstrate how God works and how He has worked throughout salvation history. God had priests. God set up a priesthood. God forgives and reconciled through priests. People had to go to the priests to be forgiven.
In Numbers 3, we see a reference to a special line of priests, who alone are able to handle this ministry.
Numbers 3:10: And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
Numbers 3:3: also says that priests hands were consecrated, but that has been removed from the Protestant Bible.

We also see a specific reference to the necessity of confession of sin.In Numbers 5:6: Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty;
7: Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
The rest of the chapter contains instructions, which involve priests at every turn. For example:
Numbers 5:14: And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: 15: Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16: And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:
In this verse we see a clear example of confession as well as the intercession of priests. In Numbers 6:11, in the very next chapter we see that if a man becomes defiled by a certain action, “11: And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him,”
In Numbers 15, we again see that sins are forgiven through the priests.
Number 15:22: And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses, 23: Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations; 24: Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. 25: And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them;
This is also repeated in Number 15:28.
We read also in Exodus about the office of priests and that priests wear special garments.Exodus 28:1: And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. 2: And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. 3: And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
We read about this in Leviticus as well.
Leviticus 16:32: And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
We also read about special feast days, or holy days of obligation, which were to be observed.
Leviticus 23:4: These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
In Deuteronomy 17:9 and 24:8, we also read about the necessity to follow the instructions of the priests. In Deuteronomy 26:1-5, we read about offering the first fruits through the priests. There is no doubt that God established it so that men were forgiven, reconciled and made clean through the ministry of the priests.
That was how God worked in the Old Law, now what about in the New Law?In Matthew 5:17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Jesus came not to destroy the Law and the prophets, but to fulfill. There is no doubt that the New Law surpasses the old. It surpasses it so much that it makes it obsolete. Jesus accomplished all the figures and prophesies in the Old Law, and made it perfect, rendering the old thereby void. But the New Law has similarities to the Old Law, being its fulfillment.
For example, in the Old Testament there were twelve tribes with twelve tribal leaders. Likewise, in the New Testament, Jesus has twelve Apostles.
Another example would be how Jesus inherits the throne of David, as we read in Luke 1:32 and Acts 2:30. Jesus and His spiritual kingdom, which is the Church, fulfill what was prefigured in the earthly kingdom of the Davidic monarchy. Another example would be how in the Old Testament a father passed his blessing on to his son through the laying on of hands. In Deuteronomy 34:9 we see that spiritual authority is passed on to Joshua through the laying on of hands. Likewise, in the New Testament priests were ordained through the laying on of hands, as we read in 2 Timonthy 1:6. So the point is that while Jesus’ kingdom and New Law surpass and make void the old, the New Law nevertheless fulfills, perfects and corresponds to the Old Law in many ways. So just as there was definitely a priesthood in the Old Testament, there is a priesthood in the New Testament. The Apostles were made priests and bishops by Jesus Christ, and just as the priests were involved in the process of the covering or forgiveness of sin in the Old Testament, Jesus gave priests the power to forgive sins in the New Testament.
John 20:21: Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22: And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Jesus says that whose so ever sins the Apostles forgive, they are forgiven, and whose soever sins they retain (do not forgive), they are retained (not forgiven). Nothing could be more clear. The only way the Apostles could be expected to know which sins to forgive and which sins to retain is obviously if they heard a confession of those sins. This passage proves that Jesus instituted confession to priests.
Even though the meaning of the passage is obvious, there is another point that must be noted in this regard.
Matthew 9:6: But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7: And he arose, and departed to his house. 8: But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
This passage notes that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sin and the multitudes marvelled how God had given such authority and power to men. Jesus is both God and man, but notice that this passage emphasizes that he had the authority as the Son of Man to forgive sins. Since Jesus had authority to forgive sins as the Son of Man, as is also made clear in Matthew 28, when Jesus says that He has been given all power in heaven and in earth, then He can transfer that authority to forgive sins to others. Look at this verse again:
John 20:21: Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Just as Jesus was sent as the Son of Man with power on earth to forgive sins, He sends His Apostles to dispense His forgiveness to others. That’s why St. Paul, who was made apriest and bishop in the Church, says this:
2 Corinthians 5:18: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19: To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Jesus sends His Apostles to be the ministers of His reconciliation and His forgiveness as this passage makes clear. That is why the Church has taught that priests, in hearing confessions, stand in the place of Christ. They are not a barrier to Christ, but an avenue, a conduit of His reconciliation, just as St. Paul says “we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God”
So that’s why right after sending His Apostles in John 20:21, as His Father has sent Him, Jesus gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. All of this proves without any doubt that Jesus instituted confession to priests for the forgiveness of sins.
As a further demonstration of this fact, we see that the Apostles were given the power to bind and to loose.
Matthew 16:18: Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This has application to the forgiveness of sins and to the fact that Jesus dispensed this authority to valid bishops and priests in His one true Church. But this authority must be used under the unique authority of the keys which were given alone to St. Peter in Matthew 16:18-20.
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Notice that the passage says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. It does not say He will forgive us whether or not we forgive our sins, or so long as we believe. In James 5, we also see a refernce to confessing sins, priests and the forgiveness of sins.
James 5: 14: Is any sick among you? 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: 15: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16: Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
This passage is a classic proof for the Catholic sacrament of Extreme Unction, a priestly anointing and rite, which, if properly received in danger of death strengthens man in the final combat of life and forgives him his sin.
In this passage if James 5 we read that you should “confess your faults to one another”. That instruction comes directly after making reference to calling for the elders or priests of the Church, showing once again the necessity of confession and priests and the link between the two.
All of this shows that the New Testament teaches that confession to a priest is necessary for serious (mortal) sins committed after baptism. That is why the Catholic Church, the one true Church of Jesus Christ, has taught this for 2000 years.