God is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY. We cannot be in His presence with one speck of sin on us. That is why we need the Advocate.
I see a problem with the basic understanding of man and redemption in these discussions.
Seems that the Catholics have this view of the inherent, basic goodness of man who sometimes sins and needs redemption. That man is a sinner because he sins.
Non-Catholics here see man as inherently sinful, sin prone because of a sin nature. That man sins because he is a sinner.
With the Catholic viewpoint, man is therefore capable of being somehow good enough through his own efforts, which can be pure as they are not tainted by sin, to merit God’s grace and ultimately, salvation.
With the non-Catholic position, man is inherently sinful, even the best of his works being tainted by sin and therefore unacceptable to merit salvation.
Problem is, regardless of whether man is inherently good and sins or is inherently sinful and sometimes can do good, Scripture is quite clear that ONE sin is enough to condemn someone to hell and they need forgiveness and redemption.
Man CANNOT earn his way to heaven. He cannot earn the right to stand in God’s presence because of the sin which he committed. It must be ALL based on God’s grace and mercy in forgiving our sins and imputing His righteousness to us.
Additionally, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Therefore works, even if a person only sinned ONCE in their lives and the rest of the time lived a perfectly sinless life, CANNOT obtain forgiveness or heaven.
It’s the wrong mechanism for dealing with sin.