Question about Confession after conversion

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oremus247

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Hi,

As I understand it (please correct any of my understandings), Catholics accept that Protestants can have salvation, and that when a Baptist (for example) who is validly baptized commits what a Catholic would consider a mortal sin, but then repents and confesses it directly to God in prayer is forgiven of that sin, and would go to heaven if he died afterward.

If instead, that Baptist later converted to Catholicism, as I understand it (again, please correct me if I am wrong) at his first confession he should confess all the sins he can remember since being baptized. Does he need to confess the sins he previously had forgiven as a Baptist? Weren’t they already forgiven?

Thank you.

Oremus
 
oremus247 said:
Hi,

As I understand it (please correct any of my understandings), Catholics accept that Protestants can have salvation,
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Yes: Unitatis Redintegratio acknowledges this. God’s salvation in Jesus Christ is not limited to the Catholic Church, and still, most Protestant churches share in our own sacramental life (e.g., Baptism).
oremus247 said:
and that when a Baptist (for example) who is validly baptized commits what a Catholic would consider a mortal sin, but then repents and confesses it directly to God in prayer is forgiven of that sin, and would go to heaven if he died afterward.
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I don’t think God’s mercy is quite as mechanical as that. He looks at the heart. Catholics don’t really know how the plan of salvation works for Protestants.
oremus247 said:
If instead, that Baptist later converted to Catholicism, as I understand it (again, please correct me if I am wrong) at his first confession he should confess all the sins he can remember since being baptized. Does he need to confess the sins he previously had forgiven as a Baptist? Weren’t they already forgiven?
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Sins prior to Baptism are remitted (both the sin and the eternal and temporal punishment). Sins commited after Baptism might be confessed by way of a general confession… but the formula ends “for these and all other sins that have escaped my memory…” : inother words a general confession will suffice that is Plain, Entire, and Prudent.

Hope this helps.
 
Jesus established the Sacrament of Reconciliation as the normative means of being forgiven by (reconciled to) God. Outside of the Sacrament, one needs to make an act of perfect contrition - yet even this includes a firm intention to seek sacramental confession.

However, how does one know during their lifetime that they were actually forgiven? If there was no repentance, the sins are held bound. It was for this reason that Jesus spoke the words of absolution “Your sins are forgiven” to the repentant sinner. He did that because we need to hear those words as assurance of forgiveness from on high. Sections 1440-1458 of the Catechism deal with this. Search it out online here. The entire Catechism is available here.

Do you have a copy of Catholicism for Dummies? A great resource, and will answer many, if not all of your questions.
 
Hi Oremus,

Anyone who does not receive reconciliation cannot be sure that their sins are forgiven. For God to forgive a mortal sin, one must have perfect contrition, which is regretting your sins because of the love of God and not merely for fear of eternal punishment. You can never be sure of that. So anyone converting should confess all thelr mortal sins, as far as they can remember.

So, although the Church says that all men can be saved without being Catholic, they can never be sure without becoming Catholic and confessing their sins.

Verbum
 
Thanks for the answers. Very helpful! 🙂

However, 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Is this not how one can be sure they are forgiven, because scripture simply tells us?
 
It’s also good for Catholics to make a general confession which is a confession of one’s entire life and the sins they have committed. This confession is great for converts to the Church or Catholics who have not received the sacrament of reconciliation for a long time. Catholics should make a General confession before they get married: they are also made before ordination.
 
Hi Oremus,

However, 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Is this not how one can be sure they are forgiven, because scripture simply tells us?

Consider the context.

8. If we say We have no sin… truth is not in us.

9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful etc.

In other words, if we want to be in a position to be forgiven by God, we must first of all ADMIT that we sin. St. John is not talking about the actual forgiving here.

Verbum
 
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