Fathers Forgive sins but

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How can a father forgive sins yet
Romans 9:16 says

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

dosent this essentially mean God chooses to have mercy on who he wills, not whither a priest can forgive sins or not
 
Yes. However, apart from God, the person would not be moved to confess and repent. God has commanded us to repent of our sins and he promised to forgive us when we do. This is precisely WHY he gave us the priesthood…and a priest can forgive sins because Jesus said so.
 
It takes a movement of Grace from God.

But tho God wishes all men to be saved, not all men avail themselves of his grace.
 
ThunderFox said:
How can a father forgive sins yet
Romans 9:16 says

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

dosent this essentially mean God chooses to have mercy on who he wills, not whither a priest can forgive sins or not
Click to expand...
It’s a theological reminder of mankind’s dependency on God’s charitable graces.

When we repent, it is not as though the action of repentance forces God to act, as though it were an exchange between a buyer and a seller. We cannot make God indebted to us. It is done out of a Father’s joy to see His child reconciled.
 
Huh, I am asking a similar question from a different angle in my last thread entitled : Where is the Harmony.

Well, if God selects who He will have mercy and move to be reconciled; isn’t this unfair and wouldn’t this take away some responsibility for sin from sinners? They can argue that God simply did not give them the grace as he gave to others.

I wonder what it all means that Jesus prayed for Peter but not for Judas. How guilty was Judas and how Holy was Peter if Jesus prayed for one and not the other…
 
From my understanding God does His selection based on His knowing who will respond to His grace.
Judas removed himself from God’s grace(favor) through his own free will by deciding to betray Jesus. Afterwards Judas realizing his wrong did not seek forgiveness rather he destroyed himself.
 
ThunderFox said:
How can a father forgive sins yet
Romans 9:16 says

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

dosent this essentially mean God chooses to have mercy on who he wills, not whither a priest can forgive sins or not
Click to expand...
 
God alone has authority to forgive sins (CCC 1441) However, Jesus gave the authority to priests to act in His behalf in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. CCC 1461 says "Since Christ entrusted to his apostles the ministry of reconciliation, bishops who are their successors, and priests, the bishops’ collaborators, continue to exercise this ministry. Indeed bishops and priests, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, have the power to forgive all sins “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” When the priests says “I absolve you…”, he is acting in the person of Christ (in persona Christi–CCC 1548).

Jesus gave this authority in a couple different passages. In Matthew 16 we see Him give authority to the Church (with Peter as the primary “steward”) when He says " I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”". Then later in John, He breathed on the Apostles and said "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

It was God’s will to allow the Church to have binding and loosing authority, thus we can be assured that He will honor the absolution given by priests.
 
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