Psalm 82:6
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
The persons being addressed here are the Judges of Israel. They were those set apart to act as God in judgeing the people. This is the same as a Bishop in our day.
D&C 107:74
74 Thus shall he be a judge, even a common judge among the inhabitants of Zion, or in a stake of Zion, or in any branch of the church where he shall be set apart unto this ministry, until the borders of Zion are enlarged and it becomes necessary to have other bishops or judges in Zion or elsewhere.
President Stephen L Richards, First Counselor to David O. McKay, stated:
To whom should confession be made?
To the Lord, of coarce, whose law has been violated.
To the aggrieved person or persons, as an essential in making due retribution if that is necessary. And then certainly to the Lord's representative, his appointed Judge in Israel, under whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction the offender lives and holds membership in the kingdom.
Is the offender justified in bypassing the immediate church authority and judge, and going to those who do not know him so well to make the confession? Almost universally, I think the answer should be No, for the local tribunals are in position to know the individual, his history and environs far better than those who have not had close contact with him, and in consequence the local authorities have a background which will enable them to pass judgment with more justice, and also mercy, than might be reasonably expected from any other source. It follows that
it is the order of the Church for confession to be made to the Bishop, which entails heavy and exacting responsibilities on the part of the bishop, the first of which is that every confession should be received and held in the utmost confidence. A bishop who violates such a sacred confidence is himself guilty of an offence before God and the Church. Where it becomes neccesary to take councelors into his confidence, as it frequesntly does, and where it is necessary to organize tribunals, the bishop should inform the confessor, and if possible obtain his permission so to do.
Why is confession essential? First, because the Lord has commanded it, and secondly, because the offendor cannot live and participate in the kingdom of God, to receive the blessings therefrom, with a lie in his heart.
Now the confessed offender is not left without hope, for he can obtain forgiveness by following the cource outlined, and by forsaking sins comparable to that commited, as well as all other sin, and living before the Church and the Lord in such manner as to win approbation of both. The offender who has brought stigma and affront to the ward, the stake or the missionj should seek the forgiveness of those he has thus offended. That may be had at times through the presiding authorities of the various divisions of the Church. At other times it may be appropriate and quite necessary to make amends for public offences and seek forgiveness before organizations of the people. The judges of Israel will determine this matter. (Conf. Rep. Apr., 1954, p.10-13)
it should be clear that bishops and other church officers, when confessions are made to them, do not forgive sins except in the sence that they forgive them as far as the Church is concerned; they remit any penalty which the Church on earth might impose; they adjudge that repentant persons are worthy of full fellowship in the earthly kingdom.
Ultimate forgivenes is reserved to the Lord Jesus Christ. Though at times he has given authority to his eartly agents. (John 20:21-23)
Gaz
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato