Confession vs. asking God directly

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ecrowley001

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I know that confession is the only way to be truly forgiven of sins, but then what happens when you just sincerely ask God for forgiveness? Are you not forgiven by this, and still have to go to confession? I dont get how that works. If just asking God does nothing, then why does one even need to pray to Him for forgiveness; they could just go to confession instead right?
 
This is all taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. However, there is a lot more there then what I will post. You should read more of it.

Basically what it comes down to is that ultimately it is God that forgives you, but it is through the Priest in the sacrament of confession. This comes from the Bible in Matthew 16:18 when God makes Peter the first Pope, gives him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and gives Peter the power to Bind and Loose.

Also, because of our human nature, the sacraments have a human or physical aspect to them, whether it is the water of Baptism, the Oils used in Confirmation or Bread turned into the Body of Christ. Confessing to a Priest is the physical aspect of Confession. Now there is probably a better explanation for this, but I know this has helped people understand before.

The same logic follows for why two people cannot declared themselves married. There has to be a Priest.

Reconciliation with the Church

1443 During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God’s forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God.44

1444 In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ’s solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."45 "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head."46

1445 The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God.
 
There is also a difference in the severity of the sin that guidelines the Church gives.
 
Confession is not the ONLY way for God to forgive sins. God can do whatever he wants. So he can forgive sins any way he desires. Confession is the way that God chose to forgive sins.

If you were dying of cancer and you prayed everyday for God to heal you, God could easily heal you instantly. But before that happens you will no doubt constantly visit the doctor for him to help you. Now say you are healed by the doctors help. It is not the doctor that healed you, it was God. The doctor was just the intermediary for God. God used the doctor to perform his miracle. This is the same way that God uses a Priest to administer the sacrament of confession to us. Sin is like a cancer and we need to go to the doctor(Priest) to be healed.

So if you sincerely ask for Gods forgiveness I have no doubt God CAN forgive you. But why would you not want to go to the Sacrament of Confession that God gave us for this purpose of reconciliation with him. This is the way that God desired it.
 
Ok thanks so much, those answers REALLY helped me! Thank the Lord for the sacrament of Confession!!!
 
I don’t know if it helps or not, but if your worried to go, so am I! But I am sure that nothing you or I say can match what the Priest has heard before. He is there to forgive you, nothing more.
 
ecrowley001 said:
I know that confession is the only way to be truly forgiven of sins, but then what happens when you just sincerely ask God for forgiveness? Are you not forgiven by this, and still have to go to confession? I dont get how that works. If just asking God does nothing, then why does one even need to pray to Him for forgiveness; they could just go to confession instead right?
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An act of perfect contrition (sorry for your sins because you have offended God as the primary reason) will forgive sins conditional upon firm intent to go to Confession as soon as possible so if you die before getting to Confession you would be saved.

An act of imperfect contrition (sorry for your sins because you are afraid of going to Hell as the primary reason) does not forgive sins which are only forgiven at Confession.
 
thistle said:
An act of perfect contrition (sorry for your sins because you have offended God as the primary reason) will forgive sins conditional upon firm intent to go to Confession as soon as possible so if you die before getting to Confession you would be saved.
Click to expand...
Is this what happens when a person is becoming Catholic but is still unable to partake of all the Sacraments? Thanx-KChan
 
You can understand Catholicism (and the errors of Protestantism) much better if you simply understand one fact: God wants his children to join with him in his good work whenever possible. Thus he has made it such that we join with him in bringing forth physical life, and we join with him in bringing forth spiritual life (baptism and the other sacraments), and we join with him in spreading knowledge of his gospel, and we join with him in making present his one sacrifice throughout time and location.

Seen in this light, confession to a priest is not a burden, as so many think, but rather another gift of God to his children. He invites them to join with him in the forgiveness of sin, which is a tremendously good work, everyone would agree.

Of course like any father, God can and will take care of matters himself if need be. He never needs our assistance. But his wish is that we join with him in this whenever and wherever possible, because his nature is to share all that is good with those whom he loves.

BTW, this also applies to angels. God certainly doesn’t need angels to do his bidding. Rather, he grants them the wonderful gift of joining with him in bringing about his will.

It’s all quite wonderful when you think about it.
 
VociMike said:
You can understand Catholicism (and the errors of Protestantism) much better if you simply understand one fact: God wants his children to join with him in his good work whenever possible. Thus he has made it such that we join with him in bringing forth physical life, and we join with him in bringing forth spiritual life (baptism and the other sacraments), and we join with him in spreading knowledge of his gospel, and we join with him in making present his one sacrifice throughout time and location.

Seen in this light, confession to a priest is not a burden, as so many think, but rather another gift of God to his children. He invites them to join with him in the forgiveness of sin, which is a tremendously good work, everyone would agree.

Of course like any father, God can and will take care of matters himself if need be. He never needs our assistance. But his wish is that we join with him in this whenever and wherever possible, because his nature is to share all that is good with those whom he loves.

BTW, this also applies to angels. God certainly doesn’t need angels to do his bidding. Rather, he grants them the wonderful gift of joining with him in bringing about his will.

It’s all quite wonderful when you think about it.
Click to expand...
Those opposed to the Catholic notion of our participation in salvation, while intending to honor God’s sovereignty, do a disservice to His generosity.
 
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