Ask Powerball

Powerball,
Do you believe that the Catholic / Orthodox sacrament of penance is the only way to have sins forgiven in this life? What does the Catholic church teach on this?

First, thanks for the question. There are two differnet things here. There is forgiveness from our brothers and sisters in the church in this life. Then there is eternal forgiveness through the blood of Christ. So, yes I do believe you must confess and repent to be forgiven on earth.

Catholics confess theor sins to a priest in the Sacrament of Penance. There are many reason for this. First, there is the Church's guarantee of forgiveness (we are forgiven by our brothers and sisters), which private confessions do not provide; secondly, there is the sacramental grace which private confessions do not provide; and thirdly, there is the expert spiritual counseling which private confessions do not provide. I know many other Christians do not understand why we do this.

Catholics confess their sins to priests because God in the Person of Jesus Christ authorized the priests of His Church to hear confessions and empowered them to forgive sins in His Name. To the Apostles, the first priests of His Church, Christ said: ``Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.... Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.'' (John 20:21-23). Then again: ``Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.'' (Matt. 18:18).

When Catholics confess their sins to a priest they are, in reality, confessing their sins to God, for God hears their confessions and it is He who, in the final analysis, does the forgiving. If their confessions are not sincere, their sins are not forgiven.

That's not to say that Catholics not do confess their sins directly to God as Protestants do.

As for what the Church teaches, Catholics are taught to make an act of contrition at least every night to ask God to forgive them their sins of that day. Catholics are also taught to say this same prayer of contrition if they should have the misfortune to commit a serious sin (called a ``mortal sin'' by Catholics). For those of you who are wondering what an "act of contrition" is ....

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.

15 comments:

Thomas Dodds said...

Here's why I don't understand the confession to a priest:

First, there is the Church's guarantee of forgiveness (we are forgiven by our brothers and sisters), which private confessions do not provide;

But the membership is not the Church (or so I have been led to believe) in the Catholic view. Correct me if I am wrong. If I am incorrect, then how can a few speak for the many? Shouldn't sin that affects the many be confessed before the many and forgiven by the many? Sin committed 'in secret' then is confessed and forgiven 'in secret' - to whatever extent. See the progression in Matthew 18.

secondly, there is the sacramental grace which private confessions do not provide;

What? There's no grace for a private confession? Who's grace? How much grace are you referring to? What is grace?

and thirdly, there is the expert spiritual counseling which private confessions do not provide.

I suppose the repentant is outside the scope of the Holy Spirit to guide and restore such. I would never refer to a human as being able to give expert spiritual counsel. Does the preist reveal all that is in his heart - or his behavior to you before counseling you? Perhaps he's got a more egregious sin.

John 20:21-23 Jesus, therefore, said to them again, `Peace to you; according as the Father hath sent me, I also send you;' and this having said, he breathed on [them], and saith to them, `Receive the Holy Spirit; if of any ye may loose the sins, they are loosed to them; if of any ye may retain, they have been retained.'- this is a declaration of the means by which God would accept a man, it isn't a conferring of judgmental (forgiving) power to man over another. It is the preaching of the gospel that is refered to here.

The same applies for the passage in Matthew. Here the progression has the Church appealing to the highest authority - the Christ. The individual who won't place himself under that same authority(not the Church specifically; but the extension is implied) is to be put out. this is supported in Corinthians and Galatians.

Shaun Pierce said...

Member's are part of the Church. By Christ's will, the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in the Sacrament of Penance.

Those who approach the Sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins.

No sin is really commited in secret. Not that's everybody knows but sin does have an effect on the way we live and interact woth others.

Christ instituted the Sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the Sacramanet of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification.

The spiritual effects of the Sacrament of Penance are:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.


As for spiritual counsel, do you not seek the guidence of a clergy member to understand the Bible, to comfort in trying times? Do we not turn to them before we marry or when a loved one dies? I know may people who often seek guidence from a priest or pastor. A priest is still a man, but he is also to be called and therefor chosen by the Holy Spirit to serve.

Anonymous said...

Read Acts 19:18 regarding confession and the Apostles.

Thomas Dodds said...

Member's are part of the Church.

Good to hear it. I've heard some Cathlics make a distinction.

the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in the Sacrament of Penance.

There is a significant distinction to having the power to forgive and having the privilege to announce the forgiveness promised by God to the repentant. God has never relinquished his right to forgive SIN to mankind.

I say SIN as the root (disease) to distinguish from SINS the outworking (symptom of the disease).

No sin is really commited in secret.

True - I used that expression to segregate public from private sin. Your follow up comment is also true.

Christ instituted the Sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church

Do you have any Scriptural references for this institution? I'm not suggesting for a moment there are not any - just curious of the one's you use.

ecclesial communion is spoken of in Scripture, where is losing their baptismal grace explained?

To the following I would adjust ...
The spiritual effects of true repentance are:
- reconciliation with God;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

As for spiritual counsel, do you not seek the guidence of a clergy member to understand the Bible, to comfort in trying times?

Not as a sole resource or a primary resource. The same Spirit in the clergy is the same Spirit in me. I might go to one for comfort, but I don't view them as my primary resource - God the Spirit is.

Anon ...
As for Acts 19:18 - where in the passage does it say to whom the confession was made? It doesn't. The apostles were there, but it nowhere says they we the ones confessed to. It simply says confession was made. You've significantly read into the passage something you already believe to be true - isogesis at work. The passage doesn't allow me to say they weren't confessed to either. So I have no warrant to believe one way or the otheer from this passage. You'll have to give more passages so we can be clear on it.

Anonymous said...

Jesus gave the Apostles authority to forgive sins, read Matt 18:18.

The Unseen One said...

Matt 18:18
"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

It is first bound in heaven. God forgives sins.

Thomas Dodds said...

Jesus gave the Apostles authority to forgive sins, read Matt 18:18.

We have the ability to forgive offences - true. There is only One who can forgive sin.

If someone follows what is laid out by God, then God's people can offer reassurance of forgiveness. We cannot forgive sin.

We have four words for "forgive" in the Old Testament: Ka-phar, Na-sa, Ka-sah, Sa-lakh.

The first is commonly used for atonement; the sin was covered by a sacrificial act in God's sight - God was satisfied, and so forgave.

Na-sa is airo (take away), the sin was removed from God's sight, and so forgiven.

Ka-sah is "cover" - it is covered, hidden out of God's sight

The last is forgiveness commonly so used, and as the effect of ka-phar.

The main point is that when the question of righteousness was raised, the evil was there, and on the great day of atonement (kip-pur), it was a memorial, a remembrance of sin, a witness that it was not put away (though of provision made for it) nor God accessible in His holy presence. Hence for every particular sin, the atonement had to be offered (ka-phar), a renewal of the act typically which put away sin.

Forgiveness is when the mind ceases to look in judgment at the offender as under the sin, and the mind is returned to favor towards him, or holds him now in favor, if not before in it.

Hence ka-phar towards God, ka-sah as to the man.

Christianity, on the other hand, reveals the righteousness of God - the veil is rent, one full, final, unrepentable sacrifice for sin made - so much so, that repetition is the denial of its value. This has been accepted of God, as the putting away of sin ("make an end of," Daniel 9: 24).

It is into this we come as Christians, and stand in God's presence in light without veil, where sin is not - Christ having perfectly glorified God, and borne, and put away our sins. Christ has appeared in the end (the summing-up of the ages), to put away sin for God and for us, and man (the believer) is accepted as and where He is - that is his status before God according to what He has wrought, and the passing away of judgment, and forgiveness is necessarily absolute and eternal, for sin is put away, as such, according to that judgment and the nature of God, and our sins borne.

God must deny Christ's work to bring the sins up, whereas His righteousness (and He cannot but be righteous) is active and exercised in owning it there only, perfectly; this is the highest sense righteousness - "Of righteousness, because I go unto my Father," that is, righteousness as in act.

Forgiveness, when declared, is according to this passing away of judgment; this was announced in the gospel.

Anonymous said...

God forgives us of our sins, not the priest, the priest acts as a mediator.

Anonymous said...

Re. forgiveness of sins 2 Cor. 5: 18-20 Paul states (read the whole verse) and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconcilliation (the ministry of forgiving sins) to wit that God was in Christ....

Thomas Dodds said...

God forgives us of our sins, not the priest, the priest acts as a mediator.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

Thomas Dodds said...

As for 2 Cor. 5: 18-20 ...

God is the reconciler (performed through Christ), 'therefore let God be reconciled to you' is the force of the original language. The believer, realizing the power of his own reconcilation, becomes a voice and a light to a dark work, compelling others (evengelizing); thus the ministry of reconciliation. Again, it is the character of declaring, not performing.

Anonymous said...

Please read the following regarding forgiveness of sins,

11 Sam 12:13 and another verse pertaining to authority that God gave to man please read John 20: 22-23.

Thomas Dodds said...

In 2 Samuel 12:13, Nathan didn't forgive David's sin. He pronounced the forgiveness that God was faithful to perform based on hearing his confession. Nathan had no authority to forgive sin.

God's promise to forgive is stated in 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

John 20:22-23 doesn't ascribe an ounce of authority to man to forgive sin.

Again, God must deny Christ's work to bring the sins up, whereas His righteousness (and He cannot but be righteous) is active and exercised in owning it there only, perfectly; this is the highest sense righteousness - "Of righteousness, because I go unto my Father," that is, righteousness as in act.

Forgiveness, when declared, is according to this passing away of judgment; this was announced in the gospel.

Anonymous said...

I believe that John 20: 22-23 says that God gave man the authority to forgive sins, I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I interpret it different.

Thomas Dodds said...

Fine ... just don't get caught trusting a man when all you have to do is trust Christ.