Why? Don't you ask for forgiveness in "Our Father..."? We can ask, provided we have forgiven those who trespassed against us.
Sure, but what good does it do? Apparently, one needs a priest to actually get forgiveness because that is how the Church set up the rules for itself. IIRC, if one is delinquent in making confession, he is not even supposed to take communion. If true, that sounds pretty forced to me.
The Bible tells us to confess to others. Confessing to God directly is like loving those who love you; no big deal.
What??? :) The Bible does tell us to confess to others, but for the sins we have committed against them. I have no issue with confessing all sins to another person if one is so moved, but confessing directly to God is taking a shortcut? That's ridiculous. :) Are you telling me that God would rather have us go through a middle man than to man up and confess what we did to Him directly? Where does this come from? Doesn't this go against everything we teach our children? If your child has wronged someone and wants to apologize face to face do you tell her to instead tell a friend to pass along the message? :)
FK:The verse is making a statement of fact, not an offer. It is akin to "If you eat from the tree, then you will surely die"
If-then is a conditional statement no matter how you look at it. A statement of what would have been "when you eat [in other words: you will eat] from the tree you're dead!"
I'm not arguing that it isn't a conditional statement, it is. I'm saying it's not an offer. When I tell my son "If it snows tonight, then you will be shoveling in the morning", I am not making him an offer, I am stating a matter of fact because I have the authority to do so.
Not the Church. Jesus Christ instructed Peter and the Apostles. If you have a problem with the forgiveness of sin by the ordained, you’ll have to take it up with Him. We’re following His instructions, not Calvin’s or anybody else’s.
The priest absolves you (binds on earth and it is bound in heaven) because you ask him to as part of the confession. The priest approves your request knowing God shall approve it provided your confession is true, and provided the priest's intentions are true.
if one is delinquent in making confession, he is not even supposed to take communion. If true, that sounds pretty forced to me
Confession is repentance, FK. If you repent, you are forgiven. Should you receive Christ without repentance?
The Bible does tell us to confess to others, but for the sins we have committed against them
Sins committed against God or others are still sin against God.
I have no issue with confessing all sins to another person if one is so moved, but confessing directly to God is taking a shortcut?
Where does it say in the Bible we should confess sins (only) directly to God? Confession to God is no effort, no fruit of repentance, because he already knows your sins. You don't have to tell Him anything! But if you are really sorry and you tell someone else about how wrong you were, that's an honest desire to "get it off your chest" and repent. That's why the Lord says that loving those who love you is no effort. The real challenge is loving those who hate you. Likewise, confessing to Him who knows your sins is no effort.
Doesn't this go against everything we teach our children? If your child has wronged someone and wants to apologize face to face do you tell her to instead tell a friend to pass along the message?
There you go with your children examples again. It's not the same, FK. God already knows. It's no effort 'fessing up to God. Loving those who love you is no accomplishment.
I'm not arguing that it isn't a conditional statement, it is. I'm saying it's not an offer. When I tell my son "If it snows tonight, then you will be shoveling in the morning", I am not making him an offer, I am stating a matter of fact because I have the authority to do so
More children examples...okay, it is not an offer if you say "if the earth is hit by a comet tomorrow, you don't have to go to work." But if God makes a promise to someone, "If you do this, I will raise you" it is a promisary conditional offer.