Seeking forgiveness of sin from God

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Raxus said:
With so many denominations reading different things out of the Bible in so many different ways, Calvin’s take on the matter ultimately doesn’t seem to mean much.
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I can only agree, but I’m a bad representative for my church’s position 😅
 
lanman87 said:
I believe my explanation will line up pretty closely with pretty much any American Evangelical denomination.
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I saw a traditional Lutheran service where there was a reconciliation service and the absolution prayer for those present was given by the Lutheran priest/minister.
OddBird said:
What my own current denomination would answer to this is that sins are forgiven through the minister, in the absolution that concludes the penitential rite at the beginning of the liturgy.
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Would that absolution extend to everyone present, provided they were baptized and with proper disposition, and not just official members of your denomination? And to those who were watching the service live online (because of covid 19)?
 
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Evan said:
Confessing directly to God leaves a small problem. When God gave his apostles the authority over sin He said “to forgive OR RETAIN” How do you know if your sins were forgiven or retained? The priest, acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) announces your sins forgiveness or not. So I know.
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There is no evidence that the apostles held confessional say on a Saturday afternoon or evening to prepare for Sunday mass communion.

We do see a practice of said command to remit sin right away in Acts 2:38,

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, "

It is explicit that forgiving or retaining of sin is related to the acceptance or rejection of the preached Gospel ( His blood on Calvary washing, remitting sin). The acceptance of such is demonstrated by the obedience to baptism, a proclamation of new faith and life in Christ.

Beyond that we are told to confess sin/ fault one to another, not so much for absolution but for help / healing of such affirmities.

We are also told to examine ourselves for any wrongdoing to anyone and repent. Again doesn’t use word of absolution but for righteousness sake.

Finally we are admonished to confess before God who is then just to forgive us in the name of Jesus.

The confessional came much later (centuries). It was preceeded by priestly absolution, which was preceeded by confessing in front of the entire congregation. All these are not necesarily apostolic, but certainly church developments from my limited understanding.
 
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Julius_Caesar said:
And even then, the understanding was that the Apostle remits your sins.
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I will agree the agree the apostles were very busy that first year. You do hear of them going to house to house to break bread, to give the Word, to help the sick and widowed, so much so they had to appoint helpers. No where do you read they were busy with remitting sins, other than the first way, thru the gospel and faith followed with baptism.
 
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Julius_Caesar said:
James has an explicit instance where Apostles remit sins.
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Yes, but no mention of a sacramental confession/ penance. I see a prayer for the sick by the elders, a confessing one to another for help and healing (not for the words to say your sin is remitted, though that may be). I also see bringing back a wayward brother…is that thru the sacrament…does not say that.
 
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You aren’t trying the old fallacy of argument from silence, are you?
 
stpurl said:
You aren’t trying the old fallacy of argument from silence, are you?
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No. Just don’t say it is explicit in bible.

The bible is explicit to confess to God for forgiveness. It is explicit that thru obedience to the gospel our sins are forgiven. The bible is explicit to confess our faults/ sins one to another, for mutual help and healing.
 
stpurl said:
I asked you a question, you answered.
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It has been suggested we truncate (take away from) the gospel and the CC augments ( add on ) it (that the CC is “fuller”). The more the Written Word of God is the norm/ rule, the more difficult or restricted truncating or augmenting become. The more we make what we say is the rule/ norm, the easier.
 
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You claim you have not taken away books of the Bible (truncated it) because you use a different canon. The Catholic Church —and the Orthodox which AFAIK has even MORE books it deems authentic—claim that their canon is both fuller, more correct, and certainly longer-lasting.

Plus various Protestant denominations run the gamut from accepting the Catholic version (albeit calling 7 books ‘not quite quite canon) to adding in 1, 2, 3 and 4 Esdras, and even things like the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache as ‘inspired Scripture’. And let’s not forget Martin Luther and his attempt to turn James into an ‘epistle of straw’ because it completely denied ‘faith alone’.

And of course, where did we ‘get’ Scripture’? And where does Scripture claim the authority to be the ‘only’ truth and to be ‘self defined’?
 
Julius_Caesar said:
The elders pray and the sins of the sick are forgiven. Yeah, not explicit. :roll_eyes:
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No, the elders pray for the sick and they are healed, and if they have sinned, it is forgiven. Not at all like going to the confessional and doing penance.
 
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