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In the Holy Gospel of St. John, it says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23).

According to this biblical verse, suppose that the confessional father puts us under a test to see if we will make the mistake again, will our sin not be forgiven until we pass that test?

The context of the Holy Gospel of St John 20:23 is the appearance of Our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples and commissioning them to continue His Holy mission on earth, granting them the Holy Spirit, in essence, along with this the power to forgive sins (verse 23). Through the empowerment of the apostles by the Lord and their ordination of others (such as the bishops and priests of the Church) the apostolic mission will be continued. Thus the Lord Jesus Christ's own Holy Priesthood is verbally communicated to the bishops and priests.

This encompasses the Biblical context and meaning of the verse. It gives us the scriptural foundations of the Sacraments of the Holy Orders (Priesthood) and specifically addresses repentance.

If a priest puts you under a test this should not obstruct forgiveness as long as you live a life of repentance. St. Isaac said; “There is no sin without forgiveness except the sin without repentance."
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