Just when do we need to go to confession?

[ceasar]

thessalonian:

That’s what we are doing when we go to confessoin Caesar. When the priest hears our sins it is in persona Christi and we know that Christ hears them as well and forgives them. John 20:21 says “RECIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT, who’s SINS YOU FORGIVE THEY ARE FORGIVEN…” so we obey his words to ask for such forgiveness. By the way have you come up for an answer as to why we can’t use the scripture where Peter denied our Lord 3 times to disprove OSAS because it is before the resurrection while you can use John 3:16 to defend the doctrine even though it is before the resurrection as well. I’ve been waiting a long time on that one.

what does someone hearing your confession have to do with receiving forgiveness…i mean…don’t you know that god hears you when you pray???..quote John 20:21 KJV “Then said jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my father hath sent me, even so send i you” you mean verse 22-23 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the holy ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” next scripture

1 john 1:9 .9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

clearly your interpretation of john 20:22 would be in direct contradiction to 1 john 1:9, you have to accept that 1 john 1:9 is irrefutable…the “he” he is referring to in this passage is undoubtably “God” and never gives you any indication in this passage to confess to a priest. now about the OSAS you’ll have to refresh my memory…i usually get on here about once a week and reply to 10-15 different posts…please send me a link if you have one…thanks, and God Bless

Ceasar

 

[NotWorthy]

ceasar:

what does someone hearing your confession have to do with receiving forgiveness…i mean…don’t you know that god hears you when you pray???..quote John 20:21 KJV “Then said jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my father hath sent me, even so send i you” you mean verse 22-23 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the holy ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” next scripture

Ceasar

How can they retain someone’s sins, if they don’t know what those sins are? Shouldn’t they have to have some indication of the nature of someone’s sins in order to determine whether to remit or retain?

“And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:18-20).

In the Didache (circa 90AD), “In the congregation thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and thou shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the Way of Life” (4:14).

Pope St. Clement (circa 90AD) "Ye therefore, who laid the foundation of this sedition, submit yourselves ot the presbyters (priests), and receive correction so as to repent, bending the knees of your hearts.

This sure seems pretty clear to me.

Caesar, my question to you: If I confess my sins to a priest with the heartfelt belief that I am confessing them to God, and I fully trust that Jesus is forgiving my sins (after all, He IS my Mediator), is Jesus going to withold forgiveness?

God Bless,

NotWorthy

 

[gardenswithkids]

piety101:

Where do I get this examination of conscience booklet?

Most any Catholic bookstore should have them for one or two dollars. I’ve also seen them available for the taking outside of confessionals or at the back where pamplets are given away free at some parishes. Sometimes they are written for specific people such as parents or children. I like to look through one to prepare for confession. Although I prefer the booklet I use better, here’s one I found online: cin.org/avatar/examcon.html

 

[gardenswithkids]

ceasar:

what does someone hearing your confession have to do with receiving forgiveness…i mean…don’t you know that god hears you when you pray???..
…clearly your interpretation of john 20:22 would be in direct contradiction to 1 john 1:9,

Caesar, you are right, this was posted in apologetics. (Perhaps we should apologize for that ) Welcome to the discussion and I hope we can share our interpretation of scriptures with you, as you share yours with us in a respectful manner.

Of course, we believe as you do that God hears our prayers. The Catholic church teaches that if a person is unable to get to the sacrament of confession before they die but has perfect contrition for their sins, God forgives those sins.

I see no contradiction between John 20 and the letter of John with Catholic interpretation. If I confess, my sins are forgiven. Catholics believe that when we confess to a priest, that priest is acting in the person of Christ, so we believe that we are in fact going before God for confession. Unlike the silent prayers of confession you may say, we actually utter the words of what our sins are and hear in response very audible words, “Your sins are forgiven.”

I do however, see potential contradiction in your posts and wonder what is your interpretation of the second part of John 20:22-23 KJV “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the holy ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained”
Who do you think Jesus intended this scripture verse to be meant for? Do you think Jesus gave no one or everyone the power to forgive and retain sins? Catholics believe that power was given to the apostles and their successors (bishops and priests.). Do you believe that you or just anybody has the power to retain someone’s sin? If so, how would that interpretation reconcile with 1 john 1:9 .9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I don’t mean this to sound unkind, but I really do wonder how you reconcile those two verses, and how do *you *interpret John 20:23?