To Non-Catholics: The Biblical Sacrement of Confession

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The logic behind confession is from the root word itself “confess”–to make known (in public). The sacrament is for the purpose of reconciling ourselves to God by confessing our sins.

The first ever recorded confession is found in the Bible itself by Adam and Eve. When God asked them what happened after they ate the forbidden fruit, they responded by telling God the truth. And this, in my opinion, paved the way for the promise of salvation because of their confession. Imagine if they kept the sins for themselves, they would not have received God’s forgiveness–how can God forgive if one doesn’t confess and acknowledge that he/she sinned?

Now, in the OT, it followed the public confession of sins. Let’s take a look:

…if someone, without being aware of it, rashly utters an oath to do good or evil, such as men are accustomed to utter rashly, and then recognizes that he is guilty of such an oath; then whoever is guilty in any of these cases shall confess the sin he has incurred, and as his sin offering for the sin he has committed he shall bring to the LORD a female animal from the flock, a ewe lamb or a she-goat. The priest shall then make atonement for his sin. (Lev. 5:4-6)

If a man (or a woman) commits a fault against his fellow man and wrongs him, thus breaking faith with the LORD, he shall confess the wrong he has done, restore his ill-gotten goods in full, and in addition give one fifth of their value to the one he has wronged. (Num. 5:7) Now, this supports the Sacrament of Reconciliation and restitution thereafter, as taught by the Catholic Church.

continued…

Pio
 
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yochumjy:
Take a look at James 5:14-16

\I]16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.
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This does not talk about confessing your sins to God alone. Granted it also talks about the sacrament of the sick, but the forgiving of sins is mentioned twice. A presbyter was the equivalent of todays priest.

John

yes, but james isn’t talking to the prebyters when he says confess your sins to one another, he is addressing the congregation at large. he is saying that we should (as hlgomez says) make them public meaning we can confess them to each other, or to a priest, and directly to God (1Jn. 1:9, “if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just and will cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”). just a thought as to why people think they don’t have to go directly to a priest but may approach God directly.
 
Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all who were of foreign extraction, then stood forward and confessed their sins and the guilty deeds of their fathers. When they had taken their places, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, for a fourth part of the day, and during another fourth part they made their confession and prostrated themselves before the LORD their God. (Neh. 9:2-3) --This is a public confession demonstrated by the people of God.

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. (2Cor 5:18)

This ministry is the Sacrament of Reconcilitation, administered by the priests and bishops as successors to the apostles which was given by Christ.

Of course there is the great words of the Lord Himself, when He gave authority to the apostles to forgive or retain sins. “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:22-23)

Pio
 
To continue where pio left off, to understand Confession, you must study the OT. Here is a post I used in anohter thread…

Matthew 8:3-4 KJVA
(3) And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
(4) And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Notice Jesus sends the now Clean leper to the Priest to show himself to him. The Levites were the choosen priests of the OT, under the Law, the Priests had the power to deem one clean or unclean by the Laws set in Leviticus, thus allowing those they deemed Clean back into the communion with Israel. Of course Jesus could have just said, hey, you are Clean, go and be merry, but Jesus followed the Law perfectly, that is why He sent the cured leper to the Priest.

Now in the New Covenant, Christ gave the Apostles the ability to Bind and Loose, (see the connection) and the Apostles are the start of the New Priesthood, after all,Christ is the High Priest is He not? If Christ is the High Priest, then the Apostles are His Priests, and the new Priesthood.*

John 13:5 KJVA
(5) After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.*

By the washing of the feet of his Apostles, Christ instituded the Priesthood, and this Priesthood has been given the Power Loosen our sins and leave them behind on this earth, so that we can enter into full Comunion with Christ in His eternal Kingdom.

Joao

Original Thread
 
I brought up The Lords Prayer,The OUR FATHER, but no one made a comment on it. Our Lord gave us the perfect prayer which was directed to our heavenly Father. In that prayer we find the forgiveness of our sins. Ask and you shall recieve. The Our Father is the perfect prayer. 👍
 
brought up The Lords Prayer,The OUR FATHER, but no one made a comment on it. Our Lord gave us the perfect prayer which was directed to our heavenly Father. In that prayer we find the forgiveness of our sins. Ask and you shall recieve. The Our Father is the perfect prayer. 👍
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Amen to that, Spokenword. Do you tell the Lord in the Our Father prayer what particular sins that you will want the Lord to forgive you? Do you also pray other form of prayers?

Also, does it invalidate the Lord’s commandment to the apostles when he said “…whose sins you forgive, it will be forgiven them, and whose sins you retain it will be retained…”?

Pio
 
So what do we have in the Catholic Church?

We can confess our sins straight to God in our bedroom.

We can pray the Our Father alone or in a group and ask for forgiveness.

**And **we can go to a priest, confess our sins straight to God, and receive forgiveness as showed to us in the Bible in John.

These all work together. Just as all the teachings of the Apostles work together, and do not contradict, all of these ways seek forgiveness and do not contradict.

God Bless
 
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hlgomez:
Amen to that, Spokenword. Do you tell the Lord in the Our Father prayer what particular sins that you will want the Lord to forgive you? Do you also pray other form of prayers?

Also, does it invalidate the Lord’s commandment to the apostles when he said “…whose sins you forgive, it will be forgiven them, and whose sins you retain it will be retained…”?

Pio
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Our Lord already knows our sins before they are even committed. I pray alot of spontanious prayers lead by the Holy Spirit. Was it a commandment? I only know of the 10 He said to obey. I believe when the Lord said that to the apostles He was sayiny it to all christians. 👍
 
Was it a commandment? I only know of the 10 He said to obey.
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Are you referring to the 10 Commandments? Can you quote Jesus saying these commandments?
I believe when the Lord said that to the apostles He was sayiny it to all christians. 👍
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So you are saying that all Christians (including you and me who are not priests) can withold sins of anyone…:ehh: Did you ever withold sins of anybody? If you did, in what way?

Pio
 
Was it a commandment?
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Yes it was, in particular to the apostles. “Recieve the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive it will be forgiven… whose sins you retain it will be retained…” How can you view this as something other than a commandment? Take note of the preceding statement. To receive first the holy Spirit, and then to administer the Sacrament.

Pio
 
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Anglo-catholic:
The power to forgive sins is a Divine Power that can be delegated to His disciples - but in no way does God give up His ultimate right to judgement.

In the Anglican Church, the priest (Catholics read minister) gives the congregation absolution following this biblical directive.

**Caution - Inflammatory Statements Follow: **

John 20:24 - But Thomas was not with them when Jesus came so he didn’t receive this power]

(Even when forgiven - Catholics don’t believe they are forgiven - See purgatory)
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When you commit a sin there are two parts to the reconciliation after your confession. The forgiveness of the sin by God and the penance offered by you. When your mother scolded you for taking a cookie without asking, she forgave you, but you still got a spanking/put in timeout/etc did you not?

If when we die, there is penance still to be made, then it is completed in purgatory. In the future, please study up a little more before you make a statement like that.

In Christ,
Hans
 
I think the benefits of confession can best be illustrated by a couple of anecdotes. I was listening to an Evangelical radio station one time and I heard this minister say that the hardest thing for people to realize is that they have been forgiven. I also recall hearing a story about this little girl who was afraid of the dark. Her parents told her Jesus would be with, but she replied, “I want somebody with arms.”

This, I think, is the beauty of confession: the priest gives God’s love human ‘arms’ and the sinner is told that God has in fact forgiven him or her.

We can and should, confess our sins directly to God, but confession has yet another benefit. Many times in our life we ‘play games’ with God; we have favorite sins we don’t wish to give up, and on our own we can make excuses of it (I’m reminded of St Augustine, who as a young man, prayed “Lord, make me chaste, but not yet”). In the confessional the priest can see through our excuses and cut to the heart of the matter.

G.K. Chesterton wrote that whatever the Protestants threw out of their churches, the secular world reintroduced, because it couldn’t live without them. So nowadays the psychiatrist’s couch has replaced the confessional. As for me I’ll stick with the confessional- I’m told my sins are forgiven and that God loves me and it doesn’t cost $100 a pop! :clapping:
 
Hans:

“If when we die, there is penance still to be made, then it is completed in purgatory. In the future, please study up a little more before you make a statement like that.”

So when Jesus said “Go! your sins are forgiven” - they were but the sinner still had to do penance - in purgatory Hmm?

Remember that most sinner did not even ask Jesus for forgiveness (and certainly none confessed) but He forgave them freely.

Wait - the good thief did confess (that Jesus was Lord)
- that he had sinned (we are getting what we deserve)
and Jesus forgave him (you will be with Me in Paradise)

Hans - What should I study? :hmmm:
 
Andrew Larkoski:
Where do non-Catholics get the idea
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I think that various Protestant Articles of Faith were chopping out so much (buying indulgences, purgatory, Transubstantiation, Eucharistic Adoration, praying to saints, saying Mass for the dead, relics of dead Saints) that they just didn’t know where to stop chopping.
I suppose it comes down to this – if it made them feel good about getting rid of something because they thought there was an abuse – then they got rid of it.

The Methodists (Discipline of 1808) can be found at godonthe.net/cme/methdist/articles.htm
A good understanding of the “Methodist Articles of Religion” would require knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican Church (Wesley was Anglican at first). Because many of the articles describe what Catholic doctrine or practice was being rejected (instead of describing what was replacing it). For example, Article #14 gets rid of purgatory, pardons, Eucharistic Adoration (and anything similar), icons, relics and invocation of saints (calling it repugnant to the Word of God). But explains nothing else.

Article 12 of the Methodist Articles of Religion says in part “…After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives. …” It also seems to indicate that there may be an unpardonable sin after justification of the faithful (it would seem that somebody could lose their salvation).

I’m only 50 (not 150). In the Methodist Church of my youth, the litergy always had a “Prayer of Confession” where the whole congregation prayed together the words in the bulletin. I am fairly certain that Methodists never had confessionals nor penance.
 
I find it interesting (and shows the importance of it), that the Sacrement of confession was the first thing our risen Lord instituted. I also love the creation story in Genesis. Before I came to the Catholic church, God breathing into the nostrils of Adam was (and still is!) so cool to me. Once I realized the first thing Christ did was to breathe on the Apostles, it gave me chills. Biblical confession. It is one of my favorite things to show my “Bible alone” fundamentalist Christian friends.🙂
 
Hans A.:
When you commit a sin there are two parts to the reconciliation after your confession. The forgiveness of the sin by God and the penance offered by you. When your mother scolded you for taking a cookie without asking, she forgave you, but you still got a spanking/put in timeout/etc did you not?

If when we die, there is penance still to be made, then it is completed in purgatory. In the future, please study up a little more before you make a statement like that.

In Christ,
Hans
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Agreed … I’d say there are 5 parts to forgiveness from anyone

1 - KNOWING you did wrong
2 - BEING SORRY for doing wrong
3 - SAYING you did wrong to the one you wronged
4 - ASKING for forgiveness from the one you wronged
5 - PAYING for the wrong done as prescribed by the one you wronged

To explain part 5: You might forgive the neighbor, little billy, for breaking your window, but you still want him (or his parents) to pay for the window.
 
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Anglo-catholic:
Hans:

“If when we die, there is penance still to be made, then it is completed in purgatory. In the future, please study up a little more before you make a statement like that.”

So when Jesus said “Go! your sins are forgiven” - they were but the sinner still had to do penance - in purgatory Hmm?

Remember that most sinner did not even ask Jesus for forgiveness (and certainly none confessed) but He forgave them freely.

Wait - the good thief did confess (that Jesus was Lord)
- that he had sinned (we are getting what we deserve)
and Jesus forgave him (you will be with Me in Paradise)

Hans - What should I study? :hmmm:
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Brother Anglo, since you say that you were a cradle Catholic, then I would suggest brushing up on The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Click here) , The Catholic Encyclopedia (And here) , and Catholic.com (Lastly here and And Here).

I never said that the people you mentioned were not forgiven. I was replying to your statement that Catholics don’t believe we are forgiven when told so. How do we know that the “Good Thief” did not pay the satisfaction due for his transgressions in purgatory prior to entering Paradise? Do you really believe that you should not receive any punishment for the wrongs you commit against Almighty God? I accept my penance with a humble heart and think about what I need to do to strengthen myself so that I may amend my life. :gopray2:

In Christ,
Hans
 
Hans A.:
How do we know that the “Good Thief” did not pay the satisfaction due for his transgressions in purgatory prior to entering Paradise?
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Interesting question with the answer actually in the Bible. The “Good Thief” had no time for purgatory. Bishop Sheen once noted that he was a really good thief. He stole heaven.

Luke 23:43 "He [Jesus] replied to him, ‘Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ The cultural context of Jesus saying “today” means before sunset (not before midnight). Because in Jewish tradition the next day begins at sunset.

Jesus died before the “Good Thief” – Saint Dimas. John 19:31-32 makes it fairly clear that the “Good Thief” was still alive near the end of the day. They had to break his legs, to make sure he would die quickly (stop breathing) and be taken down before the death before the Sabbath day (a solemn one).

I suppose the Roman Catholic explanation would be this: since the “Good Thief” died in like manner and while observing Our Lord, he probably had perfect remorse for all he had done wrong in his life. Certainly a plenary indulgence could easily have been granted St. Dimas. He spent more than a “Holy Hour” in Eucharistic Adoration (instead of his knees he was on on his cross).
 
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jmm08:
Interesting question with the answer actually in the Bible. The “Good Thief” had no time for purgatory. Bishop Sheen once noted that he was a really good thief. He stole heaven.
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Actually, the afterlife is not bound by “time” as we, being creatures of matter, know it. Therefore, he had all the “time” in heaven that was (if) needed to be purged of his love for self.

In Christ,
Hans
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Our Lord already knows our sins before they are even committed. I pray alot of spontanious prayers lead by the Holy Spirit. Was it a commandment? I only know of the 10 He said to obey. I believe when the Lord said that to the apostles He was sayiny it to all christians. 👍
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To say that God knows all Sin before it is comitted is to deny free will isn’t it?
 
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