IF a priest is not available, a sincere Act of Contrition will suffice. WE should never doubt the mercy of God. IT's a tall order but we should never doubt.
Also, when we confess our sins to a priest, we're reconciling ourselves not only with God, but also with His Church. Simply asking God for forgiveness is a good thing to do, and He will forgive you beyond a doubt, but you still need to go to confession to repair the damage you did to His body, the Church.
+Ephraim Adwell God blots out the guilt (and therefore the necessity of punishment) of sin, not the affects of sin. If the Church is the Body of Christ, then my sins not only damage my relationship with God, but also the Church His Body as well. For example, lets say that I intentionally throw a rock through a Church window out of spite. I feel sorry for the act and go to the Priest for Confession. I may receive absolution for the act of vandalism and therefore my guilt is no more, but the window is still broken, the damage remains. I might have to pay money, not as a punishment but as restitution to repair the damage my sin caused. Now again, the guilt has been wiped away, but the damage still needed to be fixed. A priest also explained it this way to a group of young men. He was talking about habitual sin and for today's audience, he brought up pornography. He said that while the guilt of impurity would be forgiven in Confession, there remains the reality that habitual use of porn damages the brain as it re-wires the synapses in your frontal lobe making you addicted to the visual stimuli. Your guilt is wiped away sure enough, but the damage remains and you then need to seek professional recovery assistance elsewhere. I hope those two examples help to show how the guilt we endure is wiped out after Confession but the damage may still well remain.
+Notthefather Look harder. The part where Jesus breathed on the Apostles and said, "receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." Why did Jesus give the Apostles the authority to forgive sins if we could go directly to him in personal prayer? Because as a Church we are united in one body. It's not just about you and Jesus. There is no such thing as a private sin. All sins, however hidden in secret, are felt by the whole Church. When the hand is hurting, does not the mouth complain?
Smooth Jazz Where does it say anything about confessing sins to a priest. You're attempting to use the Bible to justify that man-made doctrine, but it's man-made. I don't care what the reasons are. You worship a Church, you don't worship God.
Catholic confession is the guaranteed way that your mortal sin is forgiven. Jesus promised that. That said, not everyone can go to confession every day. I make it a habit to recall my day/evening, and do an act of contrition and penance prayers every morning and every night. That way if I die in my sleep, or get into a car accident, have a heart attack, etc... my hope is that God will accept this as a valid confession and forgive me. I make sure that these items are all covered in my next ACTUAL confession with a priest, so I don't rely on it... it's just a buffer in case the worst happens.
1 John 5:16 (Mortal and Venial Sins in the Bible) 6 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
What if I confessed my sins through confession, but the priest didnt gave me a prayer of absolution, but I am doing the penance the priest gave me, am I forgiven or not?
Rita McDonald It's wrong because you had the intention to go to confession, it's just like you had gone to confession. That is why the Church allows the confession of many persons at once when they are in danger of death. But they would still need to go to confession if they don't die.
+Ephraim Adwell Going to confession is the way you ask Jesus to forgive you, cause is not actually the priest forgiving anything, is Jesus through the priest.. People can be sincere when they ask Jesus in their prayers to forgive them, but to actually go to a confessional, and tell the priest all you've done, with a repented heart, THAT takes courage, and Jesus appreciates that.
Only God can forgive sins, and Christ, being God, has the power to do so as well, but He never communicated any such power to His disciples, nor did they ever assume any such power to themselves. The key to understanding the meaning of John 20:23 lies in the previous two verses: “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” He sent them, as He is sending us, to bring the good news of the way to salvation and heaven to the whole world. Jesus was leaving the earth physically but promised God would be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit living in them. As they proclaimed the gospel, they could honestly tell people who believed in that message that their sins were forgiven, and they could honestly tell people that did not believe in the message that their sins were not forgiven and that they stand condemned in God’s eyes. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36).
BlazingLove316 "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." (John 20:23).
This is weak sauce. Pope Pius IX syllabus of errors makes it clear that we should not concern ourselves with those who have a conversation at death. It is clear from Catholic teaching that those who die under a mortal sin go to Hell, barring an extreme act from God, which again we should not concern ourselves with. Be clear on this: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell... Go to Confession and be returned to a state of Grace, so that you can enter Heaven -- how hard is that to say, @CatholicAnswers?
1 John 1:9 Says confess your sin to God. Never mention a priest. What you say? And can you provide a list of Mortal Sins. And the Bible says we are also a priest unto God. Thank you.
+Tgastt Batangueno I just asked this question before scrolling and seeing your comment. I was raised Catholic and it never made sense to me how you can say this faith is based on the Bible, but you have all these extra-biblical doctrines that are not in the Bible.
Tgastt Batangueno Yes but the bible has another verse, one talked about Jesus sending His apostles as His Father sent Him. "And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, *their* sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, *they* are not forgiven."" (Emphasis added) -John 20:22-23 Bible Offline
Mortal Sins are any sin that is grave and done with full knowledge and full consent of the will. in lighter terms; the sin can cause you *eternal* death penalty, you know it, you *chose* to do it anyway. it's hard to call something mortal sin, because a lot of factors can affect the culpability like anxiety or mental disorder or didn’t know it was wrong. if there's a list that can be made easily, it's grave sins not mortal sin
***** you're Catholic? if you are then you are actually supposed to believe in this. I believe that would be a very bad case if a priest refuses to forgive you for his personal reasons. furthermore, it is Christ forgiving you, all the priest is doing is communicating that to you ("as my Father sent me, so *I am sending you*" says our Savior) Also if one refuses to repent therefore the priest denies him absolution, there's nothing wrong with that. God knows the heart, would He forgive not-even-trying-fully-unrepentant sinners? Heb. 10:26 Why do you have to confess to another person? Because God says so. it is even in the bible where it is mentioned "confess your sins to one another". What if you're dying like the thief on the cross? If there is such a thing as the baptism of desire (the will to be baptized yet incapable) I believe that is the case for the thief on the cross. As apologists say it, He binds the sacraments to His grace but He, Himself, is not bound by the sacraments. And since He knows the heart of every human, if the person by all means necessary want to obey but honestly cannot, He will be just in His judgement; He is God after all. Of course I'm not sinless, some of the things I called out to be sins right now I'm probably guilty. mentioned it for argument's sake.
the heart of repentance is good enough for god. you dont need to go to a bishop or pastor to confess sins because you can confess them before an altar of god himself and it still works, and your still forgiven.
joshua pryce but that's not what Jesus commanded and that's why we do this. of course as this man said, the thief on the cross is proof that God is not bound to the sacrament of confession but that thief did not have the possibility of doing so. He did what he can and yes that was enough. But can we do more than the good thief? Of course we can, we're not nailed to the cross can't move and can't reach a church. As the bible says "to whom much is given, much will be asked."
Bound to His sacraments, but not bound by His sacraments. Profound!
IF a priest is not available, a sincere Act of Contrition will suffice. WE should never doubt the mercy of God. IT's a tall order but we should never doubt.
Also, when we confess our sins to a priest, we're reconciling ourselves not only with God, but also with His Church. Simply asking God for forgiveness is a good thing to do, and He will forgive you beyond a doubt, but you still need to go to confession to repair the damage you did to His body, the Church.
+Ephraim Adwell God blots out the guilt (and therefore the necessity of punishment) of sin, not the affects of sin. If the Church is the Body of Christ, then my sins not only damage my relationship with God, but also the Church His Body as well. For example, lets say that I intentionally throw a rock through a Church window out of spite. I feel sorry for the act and go to the Priest for Confession. I may receive absolution for the act of vandalism and therefore my guilt is no more, but the window is still broken, the damage remains. I might have to pay money, not as a punishment but as restitution to repair the damage my sin caused. Now again, the guilt has been wiped away, but the damage still needed to be fixed. A priest also explained it this way to a group of young men. He was talking about habitual sin and for today's audience, he brought up pornography. He said that while the guilt of impurity would be forgiven in Confession, there remains the reality that habitual use of porn damages the brain as it re-wires the synapses in your frontal lobe making you addicted to the visual stimuli. Your guilt is wiped away sure enough, but the damage remains and you then need to seek professional recovery assistance elsewhere. I hope those two examples help to show how the guilt we endure is wiped out after Confession but the damage may still well remain.
+magalahi02 That's just made up Catholic doctrine. There's nowhere in the Bible. Sorry, I don't see the difference between Catholics and Mormons.
+Notthefather
Look harder. The part where Jesus breathed on the Apostles and said, "receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." Why did Jesus give the Apostles the authority to forgive sins if we could go directly to him in personal prayer? Because as a Church we are united in one body. It's not just about you and Jesus. There is no such thing as a private sin. All sins, however hidden in secret, are felt by the whole Church. When the hand is hurting, does not the mouth complain?
Smooth Jazz Where does it say anything about confessing sins to a priest. You're attempting to use the Bible to justify that man-made doctrine, but it's man-made. I don't care what the reasons are. You worship a Church, you don't worship God.
Catholic confession is the guaranteed way that your mortal sin is forgiven. Jesus promised that. That said, not everyone can go to confession every day. I make it a habit to recall my day/evening, and do an act of contrition and penance prayers every morning and every night. That way if I die in my sleep, or get into a car accident, have a heart attack, etc... my hope is that God will accept this as a valid confession and forgive me. I make sure that these items are all covered in my next ACTUAL confession with a priest, so I don't rely on it... it's just a buffer in case the worst happens.
1 John 5:16 (Mortal and Venial Sins in the Bible)
6 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
What if I confessed my sins through confession, but the priest didnt gave me a prayer of absolution, but I am doing the penance the priest gave me, am I forgiven or not?
What happens if I don't remember one of my mortal sins?
Joshua MacLeod If you forget accidentally it's forgiven; if you omit it intentionally, it is not.
I'm really interested of the Greek class story. I wonder what happened to those protestants...
Let us not forget Jesus died in the cross for our sins and by grace we are save not by our own work🙌🏼💯
So if I commit a mortal sin and get killed on my way to confession, I'm going to hell, is that right or wrong ???
Rita McDonald wrong
Rita McDonald It's wrong because you had the intention to go to confession, it's just like you had gone to confession. That is why the Church allows the confession of many persons at once when they are in danger of death. But they would still need to go to confession if they don't die.
Rita McDonald Wrong. you had confession of desire.
Thank you.
+Ephraim Adwell Going to confession is the way you ask Jesus to forgive you, cause is not actually the priest forgiving anything, is Jesus through the priest.. People can be sincere when they ask Jesus in their prayers to forgive them, but to actually go to a confessional, and tell the priest all you've done, with a repented heart, THAT takes courage, and Jesus appreciates that.
Maybe I missed it, but where in the Bible does it say that you must confess your sins to a priest?
Only God can forgive sins, and Christ, being God, has the power to do so as well, but He never communicated any such power to His disciples, nor did they ever assume any such power to themselves. The key to understanding the meaning of John 20:23 lies in the previous two verses: “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” He sent them, as He is sending us, to bring the good news of the way to salvation and heaven to the whole world. Jesus was leaving the earth physically but promised God would be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit living in them. As they proclaimed the gospel, they could honestly tell people who believed in that message that their sins were forgiven, and they could honestly tell people that did not believe in the message that their sins were not forgiven and that they stand condemned in God’s eyes. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36).
BlazingLove316 "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." (John 20:23).
This is weak sauce. Pope Pius IX syllabus of errors makes it clear that we should not concern ourselves with those who have a conversation at death. It is clear from Catholic teaching that those who die under a mortal sin go to Hell, barring an extreme act from God, which again we should not concern ourselves with. Be clear on this: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell... Go to Confession and be returned to a state of Grace, so that you can enter Heaven -- how hard is that to say, @CatholicAnswers?
1 John 1:9 Says confess your sin to God. Never mention a priest. What you say? And can you provide a list of Mortal Sins. And the Bible says we are also a priest unto God. Thank you.
+Tgastt Batangueno I just asked this question before scrolling and seeing your comment. I was raised Catholic and it never made sense to me how you can say this faith is based on the Bible, but you have all these extra-biblical doctrines that are not in the Bible.
Tgastt Batangueno Yes but the bible has another verse, one talked about Jesus sending His apostles as His Father sent Him.
"And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, *their* sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, *they* are not forgiven."" (Emphasis added)
-John 20:22-23
Bible Offline
Mortal Sins are any sin that is grave and done with full knowledge and full consent of the will.
in lighter terms; the sin can cause you *eternal* death penalty, you know it, you *chose* to do it anyway. it's hard to call something mortal sin, because a lot of factors can affect the culpability like anxiety or mental disorder or didn’t know it was wrong. if there's a list that can be made easily, it's grave sins not mortal sin
***** you're Catholic? if you are then you are actually supposed to believe in this.
I believe that would be a very bad case if a priest refuses to forgive you for his personal reasons. furthermore, it is Christ forgiving you, all the priest is doing is communicating that to you ("as my Father sent me, so *I am sending you*" says our Savior)
Also if one refuses to repent therefore the priest denies him absolution, there's nothing wrong with that. God knows the heart, would He forgive not-even-trying-fully-unrepentant sinners? Heb. 10:26
Why do you have to confess to another person? Because God says so. it is even in the bible where it is mentioned "confess your sins to one another".
What if you're dying like the thief on the cross? If there is such a thing as the baptism of desire (the will to be baptized yet incapable) I believe that is the case for the thief on the cross. As apologists say it, He binds the sacraments to His grace but He, Himself, is not bound by the sacraments. And since He knows the heart of every human, if the person by all means necessary want to obey but honestly cannot, He will be just in His judgement; He is God after all.
Of course I'm not sinless, some of the things I called out to be sins right now I'm probably guilty. mentioned it for argument's sake.
the heart of repentance is good enough for god. you dont need to go to a bishop or pastor to confess sins because you can confess them before an altar of god himself and it still works, and your still forgiven.
joshua pryce but that's not what Jesus commanded and that's why we do this. of course as this man said, the thief on the cross is proof that God is not bound to the sacrament of confession but that thief did not have the possibility of doing so. He did what he can and yes that was enough. But can we do more than the good thief? Of course we can, we're not nailed to the cross can't move and can't reach a church. As the bible says "to whom much is given, much will be asked."
A lot if double talk. All you had to say is no one knows except God.
Biggest cop-out ever. "You have to do this, but not really."
In other words, Catholic theology is binding on forgiveness unless you are not a catholic, the only God knows LOL how transparently false!
As long as you confess it to God no problem. Confessing to a priest is not necessary.
The concept of sin is an invention of the clergy to keep their power base. The confessional is how they keep tabs on you. It's about control.
Propaganda lol