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Did the prodigal son lose his Father? Or was the man his father all along?
It's clear that no, he did not lose his standing. When he came home the Father RAN to him. Just the same, if we are children of God, we won't be tossed aside because of some stupid silly sin. Jesus is bigger than our sin.
Yes, he was his father all along; but what if the prodigal son had died before he returned home?
The reason I was asking is because the promise of Scripture is that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9). Therefore, whether we confess our sins out loud in front of a Priest or confess them silently to God, are we not still forgiven?
Yes. Confession and repentance is what happens when we turn to Christ.
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But at any rate, ultimately we're confessing our sins to God. As you know, every sacramental confession is completed with the Act of Contrition on the part of the penitent..."O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee..."
We absolutely can confess our sins directly to Jesus, and many of us do all the time. We don't necessarily need the Priest if we are truly sorry for our sins and confess to Christ. However, perfect contrition is a gift from God that not everyone is blessed with. We are not always truly sorry for our sins. Oftentimes we fail to see the gravity of our sins. Sometimes we're just sorry we got caught. Even so, God in His mercy has offered us a means of forgiveness.
The ability to confess our sins sacramentally to a Priest is a great gift Christ has given to us in which we can actually hear the words of absolution with our own ears. Rather than confessing our sins silently and getting nothing but silence in return, we have objective assurance of forgiveness and absolution. It's also an excellent way to grow in humility, which is the most important and the source of all other virtues.
"Jesus was not content with giving us his assurance that if, after having sinned, we have recourse, with humble repentance, to the Divine Majesty, we shall obtain pardon: as the sentence of God’s mercy would thus be without any outward sign, a cruel anxiety would have ever been upon us, leaving us in doubt of our forgiveness. Therefore did this loving Savior ordain that men should give us pardon, in his name. That we might know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he gave power to his delegates to pronounce over us a sentence of absolution, which our very ears might hear, and which would convey to our souls the sweet confidence of pardon."
You want to confess your sins to another man? Ok. Nothing wrong with that. I can't disagree that it's a good thing. But you don't need that man to forgive you. I'm glad you recognize that you can go directly to Jesus.
Yes. Confession and repentance is what happens when we turn to Christ.
You want to confess your sins to another man? Ok. Nothing wrong with that. I can't disagree that it's a good thing. But you don't need that man to forgive you. I'm glad you recognize that you can go directly to Jesus.
I just wish you could see that the Catholic way of Confession and Penance is a gift and not a burden.
"O irresistible power of the words of absolution, which, deriving their efficacy from the Blood of our Redeemer, take away all our iniquities, and plunge them into the abyss of Divine Mercy! The eternity of torments due to these iniquities would never have expiated them; and yet these few words of the Priest: I absolve thee, have utterly annihilated them.
Such is the Sacrament of Penance. In return for the humble confession of our sins and the sincere sorrow for having committed them, we receive pardon, and this not for once or twice only, but as often as we approach the sacred tribunal; not for this or that kind of sin only, but for every sin whatsoever... the Sacrament of Penance is especially welcome to a man of faith, because it so thoroughly humbles human pride. It sends man to ask of his fellow man what God could have given directly himself. Jesus said to the lepers, whom he wished to cure: Go, show yourselves to the priests! Surely, he has a right to act in the same manner, when there is question of spiritual leprosy." - Dom Prosper Gueranger
As a side note, No! I don't want to! But that's exactly why it's so good for me!
It's much easier to just confess my sins silently to God in secret where nobody has to know about it. But that does nothing to help me grow in virtue; nor do I have objective assurance of absolution.
It's true that God never disowns us. But it is possible to reject God as our Father and all the benefits that go along with it.
The prodigal son's father never stopped loving him; but for a time, the son wanted nothing to do with his father's love.
Weird. The Bible says that Jesus loses none that the Father gives him. So you believe that Jesus would let you reject him, why? Your free will to reject him is more important than Jesus obeying the Father?
Weird. The Bible says that Jesus loses none that the Father gives him. So you believe that Jesus would let you reject him, why? Your free will to reject him is more important than Jesus obeying the Father?
If one were to ultimately reject Jesus and die in that state, then it's proof that that person was never one of the sheep. We do believe in predestination, just not in the way Calvin did.
You want to confess your sins to another man? Ok. Nothing wrong with that. I can't disagree that it's a good thing. But you don't need that man to forgive you. I'm glad you recognize that you can go directly to Jesus.
I find Jesus instructed to go directly to his God at John 4:23-24.
Pray to his God in Jesus' name. Jesus is the mediator (or go between) according to 1st Timothy 2:5
Weird. The Bible says that Jesus loses none that the Father gives him. So you believe that Jesus would let you reject him, why? Your free will to reject him is more important than Jesus obeying the Father?
Yes, a person can fall away ( aka reject ) according to Hebrews 6:4-6; Matthew 12:32.
True, Not another person, but only the person himself would or could do the moving away - John 10:28-29
This is why there is the warning given at 1 Corinthians 10:12 to beware......
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