Forgiving sins

 Jesus said:  

"Peace be with you! 

After He said this, He showed them his hands 

and side. 

The disciples were overjoyed when they saw 

the Lord. 

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. 

If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven;

if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

(John 20-23)

Jesus thus instituted the Sacrament of Confession, 

the authority to forgive sins.

This authority accorded to the priests, does not

have it's source in the human person of the priest, 

who is of course himself a sinner,

it is Jesus, in the power 

of the Holy Spirit, in the priest, who forgives.

The priest can also withold absolution, if there is an 

absence of resolve to re-offend. 

We belong to God, who has authority over us.

The authority is retained in the Church He Himself 

established; The Catholic Church.

 

Protestants claim that they live by 

following the Bible.

However they say that they confess their sins 

directly to God, that they do not need to confess 

them to a priest, but this is in direct contradiction 

to the word of Jesus in the Bible, which they claim 

to adhere to.

Adam and Eve; the first humans, lived in perfect 

harmony with God, God who had created them in 

His own image, man broke this harmony 

when he wanted himself to be God, to be 

"independent". Man revolted against God.

God took on human form in Jesus Christ 2026 years

ago, and from this event, His Church was founded.

After 1500 years there was again revolt against 

God; from within the Church He had established.

 

Martin Luther broke away and made up his own

church, fashioned in his own image and according

to his own desires. Under the pretext of corruption

in the Church.

(This does not mean that there was no corruption 

in the Church! There was, and there still is.)

Henry the 8th, a great Catholic, also broke away, 

to establish a church in his own image, then

there was Calvin and others.

Each of these denominations have continued ever 

since to branch off into other new denominations, 

there are now well over 40 000 different ones, 

each one creating their own subjective version of 

"the truth",  

proof of the diabolical power of human pride and 

division. 

Pride separates us from God, and true humility 

brings us close.

Examining our conscience, seeing our errors and 

our sins, taking responsibility for them,

regretting them, and confessing them to a priest

is a humbling experience, an exercise in humility 

and truth. 

Which is a solid reason why the Sacrament 

of Confession is necessary to be a good Christian.

 

The change that happens in our souls

when the priest gives us absolution, the literal 

disappearance of our guilt, has profound healing

power. 

Regularly making use of the Sacrament of Confession 

has an enormous positive effect on mental health, as 

many mental health issues have their roots in sin.

The truth is neither relative nor subjective.

It is objective, it cannot change, nor be modified. 

It can be hard to face the truth, we have a human 

resistance to the truth, we speak often about people 

"living in denial", guarding their illusions, as if their 

life depends on it.

However the truth sets us free.

When we die to ourselves, like Jesus spoke about

in John 12:24: 

"Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel 

of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only 

a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." 

Humans are comparable to grains of wheat. 

In order to have New life, Real life, God's life,

God's power, sprout and grow within us, we need

to die to ourselves, empty ourselves of ourselves,

to make room. 

Because God does not impose Himself, 

He proposes Himself.

He needs our co-operation. 

 

Jesus Christ is the Only Son of God, meaning 

that there are no other ways to God other than 

through Him.

Jesus is the Way, The Truth and The Life.