Will I still go to Hell if I confess mortal sin?

[OldArmyDog]

This was posted in the threads, names removed:

The good news of the gospel is that sin has forever been dealt with. It no longer can keep us from God. Jesus has paid it all! The only thing that can keep us out of heaven is failure to trust in Jesus and His righteousness.

St. Paul said in 1Cor. 15:1,2. “Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel…by which ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

Also, I like what St. Bonaventure said “By one little devout ptayer (the prayer of faith) it is possible for a man to gain heaven.”

This was the response:

Not quite.

“For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Gal 6:8). Whoever sows good works, will reap rewards; whoever sows sins, will reap chastisements. In Job is written: “Their hope is the abomination of the soul” (Job 11:20). Yes, the hope of those who sin thinking that God forgives them is abominable before God."

• St. Alphonsus

“When a man dies in mortal sin, he is perpetually separated from eternal glory, and his soul is condemned to eternal fire unto the end of the world, and then [after the resurrection of the body] he will be punished also in his body.”

• St. Bonaventure

My question is whether the second writer is correct in what I interpret to mean that if we sin and even if we confess, repent and beg forgiveness for our sins from Christ Jesus that we can still be condemned for eternity?

Please tell me that this is not true; that since I have gotten back my mind after decades of depression and serious mental issues from my military service, that since I have turned my life back over to Christ Jesus and through Him to his Father God Almighty that I might have my sins forgiven and though I might spend considerable time in Purgatory for my years outside of the Way, the Truth and the Life, that I might one day be permitted to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I will worship Almighty God and Christ Jesus wherever I wind up when I am called for Judgement but my great hope is that one day I might be able to Worship God Almighty and Christ Jesus along with my beloved wife who never left the paths of Righteousness and stepped into the Darkness. I do not believe in excuses. I might have been ill for a long time but I still did not stay the Path and I fully deserve anything that God Almighty and Christ Jesus set in my path but I need to know that there is a possibility of being Forgiven for the sins of my life.

 

[Karlo_Broussard]

Mortal sin is a grave offense against God that if committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent, sanctifying grace (God’s life) ceases to exist in the soul. If an individual dies in such a state, then he will experience eternal damnation.

However, the guilt of mortal sin can be forgiven. Ordinarily, it is absolved in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If you confess mortal sin (or sins) in confession with a contrite heart and firm purpose of amendment, then you can be sure the guilt is removed and you are restored to God’s friendship.

The guilt of mortal sin can be forgiven without the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but only under certain circumstances. For example, if the individual is aware of the Sacrament, the intention to receive the Sacrament has to be present. For someone who is ignorant of the Sacrament, and not culpable for that ignorance, then the desire would have to be implicit, which only God can judge. Finally, in both cases, the individual would have to have perfect contrition, which is sorrow for sin out of love instead of fear.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to worry about not being forgiven. If you confessed your sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and had a contrite heart with a firm purpose of amendment, then you are good to go.

As St. John writes in 1Jn 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”