The Real reason why one cannot be saved by faith alone.

[beng]

This is how the word “works” pop up again and again : the sacraments come with condemnations. The sacraments are called sacrament of faith because we have to receive it out of faith, not out of fear of punishments.

“works” pop out every where in Scripture. Paul advise people to “work your salvation” (Phil 2:12)

These condemnations will have to go. Let the people receive sacraments because they believe, not because of fear of some law. Let those who does not believe be condemned because of their own disbelief (John 3:18).

[continue…]

The condemnation shall stay because God is just judged. If you belief and act otherwise than you will also be condemned for your own defiant.

Continue below

 

[RMP]

Therefore, the means to restore initial grace ( the unmerited kind ) is by the sacrament of baptism. However, you will need to wrestle him down because he won’t know he needs it. Yes, this is not a a practice of the rcc, but it obviously needs to be.

Baptism does not give you intial grace. If that was the case, no one would have the grace to enter the church and become baptised!

Try refreshing your memory with the CREED- “ONE baptism for the forgiveness of sins”…Even heretical baptism are valid if done in the name of the trinity. Aparently, ALL the apostolic fathers rejected your conclusion.

“No man can come to me, except it were given unto him of my FATHER.” God calls us before we are baptised. But this CALL does not give us forgiveness of sins.

 

[beng]

francisca:

…continue]

Exactly. But to what extent that this revelation about faith (by Paul and James) shall be? Let’s say that I have faith. But does this faith set me free from my sins? This is what James was talking about. Or, rather, the faith condemns me to death (evil faith), so that my works shows it.

Where in the world did you get this theology?

The tricky part of the bible teaching about Justification is

• if you believe, you will be set free. It means that not only that my sins are erased from “memory” but sin’s power is defeated as well resulting that I am FREE. No one can condemn me if God Himself free me : so If I believe, and therefore I am free, no human nor satan can condemn me anymore. The condemnation to the believers who put confidence in Divine Mercy (read Trent Council canon 12 about Justification) is not God’s will. God wills freedom for those who believe (having confidence in Divine Mercy)

You said that Canon XII is not God’s will?

I wonder, do you defy the Canon set by the Holy Counilc Of Trent presided by Bishops, sucessor of the Apostles and the Pope as successor of St Peter? Do you defy the infallibility of the Canon set under the protection from the Holy Spirit who is the spirit of truth?

What you have uttered above is the error of Protestantism that was exactly condemend by the Council that was guided by the Holy Spirit.

John 8:36
"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

As long as you believe in what Jesus said and do what He said than He will be true and set you free (Luk 6:47). But if you defy the Holy Spirit guidance through the Holy Councils then you are just defying Jesus. The Holy Council is, again, presided by Bishops (sucessor of the apostles) and Pope (sucessor of St Peter) and if you don’t hear their words you also defying Jesus’ words (Luke 10:16).

Further you might want to read about “the law of freedom” that James wrote :

James 1
25 But the one who peers into the perfect law 12 of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.

James 2
10 For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it.
11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not kill.” Even if you do not commit adultery but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. 5
13 For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

What is the “law of FREEDOM” that James was talking about? The way that James teaches in 1:25 is the exact teaching of Paul in Roman 6:15-18

Romans 6
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. 3
18 Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness .

Here Paul use word “slave” to determine who would do righteous deeds : those who are free are the ones to be righteous (do righteous deeds because they are slaves to righteousness). James use the word “law of freedom” to show who will do the commandment : those who “persevere” in the perfect “law of freedom” are the DOERS of the law.

I think it’s OK.

continue below

 

[beng]

Final

• Conclusion : if we say that Justification is by Grace (and we know that we can’t earn Grace) yet “I still need to work it out a little bit”… this latter part (red color) is not the official teaching of the church about Justification. Instead, this is an indication that the church is not in its fullness of faith of its own teaching.

May God bless us all.

Grace is UNMERITED, yet human have FREE WILL that enable them TO REJECT the grace.

So in order to be justified, human must CO-OPERATE with that grace.

Human’s cooperation however is iluminated and isnpired by that unmerited Grace. If there’s no grace to begin withhuman would not even think of co-operating with that grace. But there’s a very very small part which is determine to our FREE WILL.

So in an unperfect analogy, in order to be justified we need:

1. 99.99999999999% unmerited grace from God
2. 0.000000000001% human’s FREE WILL.

 

[beng]

exrc:

beng, How can you go to confession if you are once again dead spiritually.

Duh, that is why I go to confession. So I can be forgiven and thus at peace with God again.

Do you not repent after comitting a sin? wow, how mighty of you.

Spiritually dead are incapable of doing anything truly good.

If you’re saying that a non justified man can not do any good, then how in the world did the heathens get converted?

Confession is truly a good thing.

No argument here.

Spiritually dead people have no regard for Gods laws , and do not know they are breaking them .Only sons of God are able to do his will,not dead people. Are you saying then that sin doesn’t really cause spiritual death in a true believer as we do. You can’t have it both ways buddy. If you remove the Holy Spirit from ones body, you remove the grace to be able to confess. Therefore, the means to restore initial grace ( the unmerited kind ) is by the sacrament of baptism. However, you will need to wrestle him down because he won’t know he needs it.

LOL LOL LOL

If this is what you have after leaving the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, I feel pity for you.

Again, I must ask, how in the world do you think heathens become Christian if they do not have the Holy Spirit?

Your deficient understanding of grace have left you clueless.

God gives rain to the rightoues and the wicked. There are graces given to those who are not justified call ACTUAL GRACE. This grace sufficiently compells people to move them toward justification when they will have the SANCTIFYING GRACE that is salvic.

Yes, this is not a a practice of the rcc, but it obviously needs to be.

You are clueles not only about the Catholic Faith but also of the Christian Faith.

In grace, to a very clueless seperated brethren, not dumb enough to be Protestant, beng.

 

[RBushlow]

[Catholicism starts off with a false premise. Your born-again by WORKS ALONE

exrc, you are starting off with a false premise. Catholicism does NOT teach salvation by works. You need to do a little homework my friend.

God be with you.
[/quote]

 

[exrc]

beng:

Duh, that is why I go to confession. So I can be forgiven and thus at peace with God again.

Do you not repent after comitting a sin? wow, how mighty of you.

If you’re saying that a non justified man can not do any good, then how in the world did the heathens get converted?

No argument here.

LOL LOL LOL

If this is what you have after leaving the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, I feel pity for you.

Again, I must ask, how in the world do you think heathens become Christian if they do not have the Holy Spirit?

Your deficient understanding of grace have left you clueless.

God gives rain to the rightoues and the wicked. There are graces given to those who are not justified call ACTUAL GRACE. This grace sufficiently compells people to move them toward justification when they will have the SANCTIFYING GRACE that is salvic.

You are clueles not only about the Catholic Faith but also of the Christian Faith.

In grace, to a very clueless seperated brethren, not dumb enough to be Protestant, beng.

beng,It is quite obvious to any logical thinking person that you cannot follow an argument. I’m talking oranges and you answer in apples. I don’t know if you are doing this purposely as a smoke screen or you are truly that logically inept. I hope neither.

Heathens are not sons of God,they are sons of the devil. When they receive the Holy Spirit they become sons of God. If they could do any good thing to merit initial grace ( be justified ), then 1996 ccc would have no meaning. Again you debunk the rcc.

Romans8:9 explains that heathens do not posess the Holy spirit.
Because they are not sons of God!

This is why we have to define the terms, or we only make sense to ourselves.

I’m trying to speak your language ,but you are not responding.

In love Dan!

 

[beng]

exrc:

beng,It is quite obvious to any logical thinking person that you cannot follow an argument. I’m talking oranges and you answer in apples. I don’t know if you are doing this purposely as a smoke screen or you are truly that logically inept. I hope neither.

Heathens are not sons of God,they are sons of the devil. When they receive the Holy Spirit they become sons of God. If they could do any good thing to merit initial grace ( be justified ), then 1996 ccc would have no meaning. Again you debunk the rcc.

Romans8:9 explains that heathens do not posess the Holy spirit.
Because they are not sons of God!

This is why we have to define the terms, or we only make sense to ourselves.

I’m trying to speak your language ,but you are not responding.

In love Dan!

Let me get this staright.

So you are proposing that a justified man who has fallen from grace by sinning is spiritually dead. And therefore he can not repent and go back to the state of grace?

 

[SocaliCatholic]

YAQUBOS:

Peace!

“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” ( 2 Peter 1:20-21 )

In Love,
Yaqubos†

Please explain how this verse means Scripture interprets Scripture. I could not find Scripture interprets Scripture after reading it three times.

 

[exrc]

beng:

Let me get this staright.

So you are proposing that a justified man who has fallen from grace by sinning is spiritually dead. And therefore he can not repent and go back to the state of grace?

---

My quote

---

No, I believe you are.( 1st half)

I believe:
The born-again are sons of God, they have life, because they are temples of the Holy Spirit.Can we agree here?

you think losing your salvation = being unborn again or( Initially unjustified), am I correct?

(2nd half)
Therefore how can he repent if he is spiritually dead towards God, and has no regard for the law (lawless).

Can you follow this so far?

 

[beng]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My quote

---

No, I believe you are.( 1st half)

I believe:
The born-again are sons of God, they have life, because they are temples of the Holy Spirit.Can we agree here?

Yes. But I do not agree with your definition of HOW a person can be born again (and may also not agree with your definition of born again, but lets put that aside).

you think losing your salvation = being unborn again or( Initially unjustified), am I correct?

Losing salvation is losing your justification because you’re again not at peace with God because you commit sin which are basically transgressing God’s ordinance.

I do not think that after we are born again (thorugh Baptism) that we can be UN-born again. Baptism leave an indellible mark on a person and can not be repeated. However it’s possible that a born again person commit sin (have you not comitted any sin after you’re born again?)

(2nd half)
Therefore how can he repent if he is spiritually dead towards God, and has no regard for the law (lawless).

Can you follow this so far?

One can repent because God gives ACTUAL grace to ALL people who are NOT under the state of grace. This would include heathens and justified people who just lost his justification because he comitted sin (grace and sin can not co-exist).

 

[exrc]

beng,

When we are physically born, we become naturally alive, meaning bodily. This being the first birth. Am I correct?

logically then when we are born spiritually, we become spiritually alive. This being the second birth. Am I correct?

Again, logical progression leads us to reason that if we die spiritually we also become unborn spiritually.Am I correct ?

When we are physically dead, we are no longer alive to what we are physically born to.

When we are spiritually dead, we are no longer alive to what we are spiritually born to.

The spiritually dead are not justified, so they are equally not born-again.

Therefore, not justified=not born-again=spiritally dead=not saved=lawless

And, conversely, justified=born-again=spirituallyalive=saved=lawful

In love Dan!

 

[beng]

exrc:

beng,

When we are physically born, we become naturally alive, meaning bodily. This being the first birth. Am I correct?

Human is not a creature of body only. We do have spirit.

logically then when we are born spiritually, we become spiritually alive. This being the second birth. Am I correct?

Do you think that when a person is born again than he begins to have spirit?

Again, logical progression leads us to reason that if we die spiritually we also become unborn spiritually.Am I correct ?

Non sequitur.

Your reasoning is not the only asnwer and can not be drawn form the previous premises.

When we are physically dead, we are no longer alive to what we are physically born to.

There’s resurrection of the Body. This will not be only for the righteous but also for the wicked.

On the last die, all the spirit of the dead saint and sinners will be re-united with their bodies. Because of this, those who receive heavenly bliss will experience greater bliss and those who experience eternal torment will receive more torment.

When we are spiritually dead, we are no longer alive to what we are spiritually born to.

Non sequitur.

The spiritually dead are not justified, so they are equally not born-again.

Non sequitur.

Therefore, not justified=not born-again=spiritally dead=not saved=lawless

And, conversely, justified=born-again=spirituallyalive=saved=lawful

In love Dan!

Non sequitur.

Oh man. Not only that you don’t know much about theology but your logic fails terribly. It makes me consider whether to engage with you further…

anyway,

In grace. Not dumb enough to be Protestant, beng

 

[Pax]

francisca:

Exactly. But when Reformation broke out this was not the case. There were some abuses using the sacrament of penance and indulgences. They had people work their own salvation out of their own efforts.

These abuses were not done out of nothing.

There were and still ARE condemnations in the law of grace. The abuses were done using those condemnations to burden the people.

…]

Francisca,

There is much about your lengthy post that I dearly loved, but the above was not part of it. You need to do some careful research on the Reformation to appreciate what was going on in terms of abuses vs. what the “constant” teaching of the Church. Abuses concerning indulgences do not justify [no pun intended] Luther’s creation of a “new” doctrine of justification. One simply does not follow the other. You also contend that there still ARE condemnations of the law of grace. That is not nonsense and this has been clearly demonstrated over the course of this and other threads.

You quoted much scripture concerning freedom by grace and this is wonderful. I do not believe that you fully grasp what you quoted. Grace enables us to stop sinning. It is by the power of grace that we do not have to fall into the trap of lust, anger, fornication, and greed among other things. Study the scriptures you quoted for this truth. You have rightly noted that both Paul and James make reference to this freedom by grace. We know what this freedom by grace means when we look at the words of Jesus, Himself.

In John 8: 31-36 we read, "Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "**If you continue ** in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, **“Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ** The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” Jesus is telling us that we will be free from “committing” sin. That is the power we are given under grace.

cont. on next post:

 

[Pax]

cont. from prior post:

Now read the following verses in the light of what Jesus said.

Rom 6: 6
We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.

Rom 6:14-16
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

1 Jn 3: 4-9
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God.

Acts 13:39
by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

1 Peter 4:1-2
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God.

So there something that grace enables us to do. Under grace we are able to avoid sin and do the will of God. This is what the Old Law could not do. Yes, we are to obey and not sin. This is not some version of “earning salvation” like a wage. This is scripture! We must do God’s will and it is by God’s gift of grace that we do so. It is for this reason that we are “justified by works and not by faith alone.”[James 2:24]

 

[Pax]

francisca:

…continue]

…

• Conclusion : if we say that Justification is by Grace (and we know that we can’t earn Grace) yet “I still need to work it out a little bit”… this latter part (red color) is not the official teaching of the church about Justification. Instead, this is an indication that the church is not in its fullness of faith of its own teaching.

May God bless us all.

If you can find what you are talking about in Catholic teaching, please show it to me. If you are making a reference to Philippians 2:12 where Paul says, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence,** work out your own salvation ** with fear and trembling;” then your argument is not with me or the Catholic Church. Instead, your argument is with scripture.

The Church says that everything is by grace. Our fallen nature does not allow us to do anything on our own. We cannot work our way into heaven. The works we do are by grace and they are the crowning of the Father’s work in our hearts. But if we do not have them because we turn from the Lord and spurn the Holy Spirit, then we are in danger of losing our salvation. This is made clear in Hebrews 10:26-29 where we are told, "For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?"

Francisca, could it really be any more clear than this?

 

[Pax]

exrc:

beng,

When we are physically born, we become naturally alive, meaning bodily. This being the first birth. Am I correct?

logically then when we are born spiritually, we become spiritually alive. This being the second birth. Am I correct?

Again, logical progression leads us to reason that if we die spiritually we also become unborn spiritually.Am I correct ?

When we are physically dead, we are no longer alive to what we are physically born to.

When we are spiritually dead, we are no longer alive to what we are spiritually born to.

The spiritually dead are not justified, so they are equally not born-again.

Therefore, not justified=not born-again=spiritally dead=not saved=lawless

And, conversely, justified=born-again=spirituallyalive=saved=lawful

In love Dan!

Dan,

Rather than attempting to play the sophist, try referring to scripture. Try these references:

Luke 15:4-7
"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

James 5:19-20
My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

The above verses speak to repentence on the part of a sinner. Yes, sinners can go to hell and sinners can also repent. There is much more scripture in this regard, but these passages should be enough to make the point.

 

[Pax]

Dan,

Since you mock all things Catholic and you have no sense of sin and repentence, I’m sure that you lack an understanding of the sacrament of penance. Try the following which I have borrowed from one of my posts on another thread.

“Confessing our sins to a priest.”

The reason we do this is because that is the way God set things up. Let me explain.

In the book of Genesis we read all about the fall of Adam and Eve and about Cain killing Abel. While God knew exactly what had happened and what sins had been committed, God still asks Adam and Eve [see Gen 3:11-14] what they had done. Again, when Cain kills Abel in Gen 4:10, God asks Cain “What have you done?” God wants us to confess and it is therefore necessary for us to do so.

So where does the priest fit in? In Leviticus 5:5-6 we have a solid prefiguring/foreshadowing of confession and this is carried over into the New Covenant. In Lev. 5:5-6 it says, “When a man is guilty in any of these, he shall confess the sin he has committed, and he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.” Note how the penitent must confess and take his sin offering to the priest, and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin. This requires knowledge of the sin on the part of the priest.

In the New Testament we have a number of verses that refer to the authority to forgive sins. In Matthew 9:6-8, we read “But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–he then said to the paralytic --“Rise, take up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men." Notice how scripture says that such authority had been given to men. This is significant and is not merely a coincidence. This is the inspired word of God.

The question of authority and power to forgive sin is given obviously to Jesus and this is further affirmed in Matthew 28:18 where we are told, "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

So just how is this authority transfered to the apostles and their successors? In John 20:21-23 "Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” This is an incredible set of verses. They are rich in meaning and power. Notice that Jesus sends the apostles in the same way that the Father sent Him. The Father sent Jesus with all power and authority which included the power to forgive sins. So also Jesus sends the apostles. Jesus breathes on the apostles and says, “receive the Holy Spirit.” There is only one other time in all of scripture where God breathes on man, and that is in Genesis when God breathes life into Adam. This is a significant moment in the upper room and it is at this moment that Jesus says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven: if you retain the sins of any they are retained.”

cont. on next post:

 

[Pax]

cont. from prior post:

Later in the new testament scriptures we find additional verses that speak to confession and reconciliation. The most significant are the following:

2 Corinthians 5: 17-20
Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

James 5:14-15
Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters [priests] of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (“presbyter” is the root word from which we get the term priest)

James 5:16
Therefore confess you sins to one another….

Matthew 18:18
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (In Jewish culture and faith the power to bind and loose carries a juridical dimension and has application to the forgiveness of sin)

I hope this helps.

 

[mayra_hart]

**Why do we have to go to confession to reBecause God wants to reach us through the Church, the community of believers (1 Thess. 5:12–13). He wants us to be a family (1 Tim. 3:15). So He gave us spiritual fathers in the priesthood. The priests have the authority to administer His forgiveness to us (CCC 1461). “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they are retained,” Jesus told the apostles (Jn. 20:23). **

Actually, we can go “directly” to God, but also through His Church. God sees the two as linked (Lk. 10:16, CCC 858). Our sin, even if we suppose it is only “against God,” robs our fellow believers of something — of our being in communion with God and them. It diminishes the power of the Church because sin cuts us off from full communion together in the Holy Spirit (CCC 953). We become like a dead limb, just barely hanging on. Dead limbs can be harmful to the tree (Rom. 11:20–22).

The Church, you see, is like a body (Eph. 5:23, CCC 817). When one member suffers, the whole body suffers. To be reconciled, we must not only repent before God, we must also have reconciliation with the Church. That’s the way God wants it (CCC 1469).

Remember what Jesus said we must do if we’re making an offering to God and we recall that someone has a grievance against us? He said we should be reconciled with our brother first, then make our offering to God (Mt. 5:21–26). Why is that? Because reconciliation with God and with His people are tied together.

Confession also helps build the virtue of humility. Humility is the first step towards true repentance (Mt. 23:12). Because pride is the root of all sin, an act of humility such as confessing to a priest will help push out the pride in our lives (Ez.16:49–50). St. Teresa of Avila described humility as “honesty.” We are able to honestly focus on our faults. In addition, the priest can keep us more objective about our sins. The priest can also give you a concrete “plan of action” to avoid sin in the future. If we go directly to God in the privacy of our own home, we can deceive ourselves. We can either be too harsh or lenient.