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Matthew 10:7-8 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

God is not a stingy miser with forgiveness. He grants it freely because He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103)

Catholic mentality is that God is a God of judgment and condemnation and is just waiting for us to make a mistake or sin and zap us. There's always the threat of hellfire and brimstone for those whose lives are not perfect (oops that's all of us). There's always the demand for going to confession and doing penance to appease Him and try to earn forgiveness for the sin we confessed in confession, shorten the time in purgatory. Nothing any person can do is good enough for God according to the Catholic church.

It's like God is up there just about fed up with us and waiting for a chance to zap us.

Perhaps it would do Catholics some good to concentrate on the fact that God is a God of mercy and forgiveness. He's looking for reasons to save us, not condemn us.

He doesn't have His finger on the heavenly zot button. No decent earthly father would disown his own child for disobedience, even when it IS willful, and how many children even sin willfully? Or rather, how many children DON'T ever sin willfully, and are not disowned by their fathers? God our heavenly Father does not either.

Sin interferes with our relationship with God, messing up the lines of communication but once we've repented and ARE saved. Sin, even willful sin, does not damn us or cause us to no longer be His children.

"Sin, even willful sin, does not damn us or cause us to no longer be His children."

All future sins are not reconciled by declaring our Salvation or final judgment would not await any of us. Your interpretation is not substantiated by Scripture or the teachings of the Church from the first Pentecost until today.

Indeed, it is Jesus who saves us, but it is we who damn ourselves. "The root of sin is in the heart of man, in our free will. To the eyes of faith no evil is graver than sin and nothing has worse consequences for sinners themselves, for the Church, and for the whole world. We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him, but we cannot love God if we choose to gravely sin against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves.

All are called to Salvation and sufficient Grace exists for the Salvation of all, yet all are not saved. To gain Salvation we must cooperate with Grace. Failure, in our thoughts and our words, in what we do and what we fail to to to affirm God and cooperate with His Grace is a sin.

Sin is a conscious choice. To choose deliberately, both knowingly it and willingly, something gravely contrary to the divine law and to the ultimate end of man is to commit a mortal sin. This destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible. Sin and the burden of its consequences constantly threaten the gift of unity. Unrepented, it brings eternal death.

"He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." - 1 John 3:15

What I am getting at is not to be too mild about it. Of course he forgives. But do not make it so casual without profound sadness. You act like it's not much. I have met too many who just do not have a heartfelt contrition.

Just make sure you are truly sorry for the sin as a Christian. My most profound moments with the Lord has been after deep heartfelt contrition. After these moments the most beautiful miracles. He lifts us up like no one else.

Psalm51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart,4 O God, you will not despise.

Romans 2: 4,

"Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance."

"God resist the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5

Praise Jesus! Amen!

Freeper Cheers

Absolutely! The problem some people see in that - for which it is NOT the fault of the truth - is it seems to be saying God doesn't care when we sin or that such a gospel is "cheap grace" or a license to sin. Of course Paul dealt with the same exact contentions in his day but it seems no matter what he said or what other Scriptures say, there will always be those who interpret it wrong. Most, of course, are those who do not understand the gospel of grace in the first place because they have been taught (or it's just human nature) that nothing is free in life. They see the greatest thing in all the world - eternal life in Heaven - as something to be earned or deserved.

We know where such false teaching comes from - the father of lies himself. Satan's very first lie to humans was, "Did God really say...?". He caused doubt and from that doubt the first humans sinned against God. They doubted God's word just as those do today who insist that eternal life can not possibly be a gift of grace. Man always has to put in his two cents. It boils down to pride - an inability to accept we cannot merit Heaven. It is SO hard to admit our impotence or to submit ourselves to mercy by first admitting we NEED it. Even Satan's sin was the sin of pride - thinking HE could be as great and good as God. That HE was somehow above all the other created beings and equal to God. How far he fell from his lofty position! But fall he did and the rest of his existence is spent in drawing as many away from God as he can. He is VERY successful especially with those who esteem their own merit and goodness and rely upon it to earn eternal life.

It is ONLY when we submit ourselves humbly before God, acknowledging our sinfulness and what we REALLY deserve that God can lift us up and seat us with Christ in the heavenlies, make us his children and indwell us with His Spirit. He who humbles himself will God lift up. We learn to walk as he would have us by submitting ourselves to His discipline, knowing that He loves us and wants what is best for us. How much is missed by those who live in fear of a judgmental, condemning God who, as you say, sits by the zot button waiting to catch us in a sin. The Holy Spirit, which God gives to those who are His, is within us for keeps - never to leave us or forsake us - as the "earnest of our inheritance". There is nothing we can do to separate us from the love of God.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38,39)