I absolutely and passionately disagree.. Either going to confession is the truth or the Way i am following is the truth.. There cannot be two opposing truths.. Either Jesus wants us to go to a priest in a confessional and do penance to pay for our sins or He wants us to acknowledge our Sins to Him directly and thank Him for the atonement He provided us that Pays for our sins..
If a person is in a state of ignorance of the true Way of salvation then i make no definite conclusion to their eternal destination.. But if they have been told the truth and reject it, Then they are responsible for their response to the will of God that was revealed to them..
Hi Adstar,
I fear getting into this because I don't agree with Catholic theology. But here goes:
I know what you're talking about. There CANNOT be two different truths. So...if we want to apply this here, re confession, then we have to do a study on WHO IS RIGHT.
How would you explain away John 20:23?
Jesus had authority as God. He GAVE and PASSED ON that authority to the Apostles. They could heal, remove demons, preach the word of God, baptize and FORGIVE SIN. It is plainly stated. In Mathew 10 Jesus sends out the disciples and annoints them with the same powers He had. In acts, some were healed by Peter, so the authority was passed on.
Now, we'd have to get into church history and how confession evolved and changed over the centuries. I really wouldn't want to do this here since I'm not even Catholic but do know the doctrines they uphold.
SO, HOW do we know for SURE, who is right? I agree that God forgives sin and that I do not need an intermediary. Hebrews makes that clear. But Catholics also have a very strong argument for confession.
IN THIS CASE, or other cases like it, it is our heart condition and our honest belief in Jesus that will save us.
Are you trying to tell me that every born again Catholic that goes to confession is going to end up lost???
I sure hope this is not what you're trying to say because it is THE LORD who saves us, NOT DOCTRINE.
Fran