I Confess...........[The Complete Biblical Basis for Confession]

You've decided to help out on a confirmation retreat at your parish.You're a small group leader with five candidates in your group. The youth are responding well until the time comes to go to confession. One of the girls in your group, Michelle, has an objection to going to confession.

Her Evangelical boyfriend has apparently convinced her she has no need of a priest to confess her sins. "Why can't I confess my sins directly to God?" Michelle protests.

Evidently, Michelle was waiting for this opportunity to make her stand, because she immediately reels off five Scripture passages that she had no doubt memorized for the occasion.

"Isaiah 43:25 says, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.' It's God who forgives sins," she confidently proclaims. You notice she is quoting from the King James Bible.

"Further, Hebrews 3:1 and 7:22-27 tell us Jesus is our one and only true High Priest and that there are not many priests, but one in the New Testament. The Bible makes it clear in 1 John 2:2 that Jesus 'is the propitiation for our sins,' and not some priest, 'and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world'. And how can we Catholics claim priests act in the role of mediator in confession when 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us, 'For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus'?"

You begin by complimenting Michelle on her knowledge of Scripture, and encourage the rest of your group to imitate her in the practice of memorizing Sacred Scripture. You thank her for both her honesty and for bringing up these objections to confession. In answering them, these objections can serve to deepen our understanding of the One, True Faith established by Jesus Christ.

Step One: After thanking Michelle once again for bringing up Isaiah 43:25, which teaches us that it is, in fact, God Who forgives our sins, you ask another member of the group, Mark, to read Leviticus 19:20-22:"If a man lies carnally with a woman . . . they shall not be put to death . . . but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him . . . before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him."

Remember, Isaiah 43:25 is an Old Testament passage. It declares that God forgives our sins. On that point all Christians agree. However, here in Leviticus, also in the Old Testament, the priest has been given the ministry of reconciliation. He mediates God's forgiveness to the sinner. Obviously, this does not take away from the fact that it is God Who does the forgiving. God is the efficient, or ultimate, cause of forgiveness. The priest is the instrumental cause

Michelle immediately objects. "But Jesus is our priest and mediator in the New Testament."

You respond, "We'll get to that in a minute, Michelle, but first I want to make sure everyone understands what we're saying." Now, in order to keep this from becoming a confrontation between yourself and Michelle, you turn to the rest of the group and say, "God indeed forgives us our sins, as Isaiah 43:25 teaches. However, that doesn't eliminate the possibility of using priests to mediate that forgiveness to the world as Leviticus 19:20-22 teaches. Right?"

You notice Michelle responds affirmatively with the others, so you quickly move ahead.

"Michelle brought up another excellent point we need to address. How can we Catholics have priests to forgive our sins, when Hebrews 3:1 says Jesus is the apostle and High Priest of our confession? And what about Hebrews 7:22-27?" At this point, you ask another member of your small group, Kendra, to read the text.

"This makes Jesus the surety of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever . . . For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself."

At this point, you see all five of your group members absorbed in thought. Jennifer suddenly pipes up and says, "How do we answer that one? It seems that Jesus is our only priest."

"And like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ . . . But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people . . ."

If Jesus is the one and only priest in the New Testament in the strict sense that Protestants believe, then we have a contradiction in Sacred Scripture, because 1 Peter teaches that all believers are members of a holy priesthood. The key to clearing up this difficulty is in understanding the nature of the Body of Christ. Believers do not take away from Christ's unique Priesthood, rather, as members of His Body, we establish His Priesthood on earth. We are His hands and feet.Michelle jumps in, "That doesn't say there's any special priesthood we have to go to in order to have our mortal sins forgiven. That text says we're all priests.

"We'll get to that," you assure her, "but we are making progress. A moment ago we couldn't see how anyone could be a priest in the New Testament other than Christ, and now we see how all believers are priests.

"Before we move on to demonstrate a special priesthood, can we all see how Christ being the true High Priest does not eliminate the possibility of there being many priests? We are priests as believers inasmuch as we participate in the one priesthood of Christ, as members of His Body."At this point you clear up the difficulty of 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Yes, Jesus is the one mediator between God and men. However, Christians are also called to be mediators in Him. When we intercede for one another or share the gospel with someone, we act as mediators of God's love and grace in the one true Mediator, Christ Jesus (cf. 1 Tim. 2:1-7, 4:16, Rom. 10:9-14).

Now what about 1 John 2:2? "He is the expiation [propitiation] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." How can we demonstrate from Scripture the existence of a priesthood with the power to forgive sins, within the universal priesthood of all believers?

Now show the context of 1 Peter 2:5, 9. When St. Peter teaches us about the universal priesthood of all believers, he refers to Exodus 19:6 where God speaks of ancient Israel as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," a reference to the universal priesthood in the Old Testament "church." But this did not preclude the existence of the Aaronic and Levitical priesthoods within that universal priesthood (cf. Ex. 28 and Num. 3:1-12).

In an analogous way, we have a universal "royal priesthood" in the New Testament, but we also have an ordained clergy who have priestly authority given to them by Christ to carry out His ministry of reconciliation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17-21, John 20:21-23, James 5:16). Michelle once again protests. "But you still haven't answered the Scripture I quoted earlier. 1 John 2:2 says Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, not a priest. And in Mark 2:5-10, Jesus forgives the sins of a paralytic. When the scribes object to that and call it blasphemy, Jesus says: ' "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth," he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home."' Scripture is clear. Jesus is the One we go to for forgiveness. Where does the Bible say there's a priesthood with the authority to forgive sins

Now ask Mark to read John 20:21-23 to the group: "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.' "

"What does this text say to you?" you ask. Andrea speaks up: "I think it says Jesus gave His authority to forgive sins to His disciples, which we read about in Mark 2." The rest of the group agrees, except for Michelle, who had been listening attentively, but is now studying the text intensely.

You point out the setting: Jesus has risen from the dead and is about to ascend to the Father. In verse 21, Jesus says, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." What did the Father send Jesus to do? He came to be the one true mediator between God and men: proclaiming the gospel (cf. Luke 4:16-21), reigning supreme as King of kings and Lord of lords (cf. Rev. 19:16), and especially, redeeming the world through the forgiveness of sins (cf. 1 Peter 2:21-25, Mark 2:5-10). So this is what Christ is sending the apostles to do in His name: To proclaim the gospel with His authority (cf. Matt. 18:15-17), to govern the Church in His stead (cf. Luke 22:29-30), and to sanctify the Church through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist (cf. John 6:54, 1 Cor. 11:24-29) and confession.

Christ, the High Priest of the New Covenant, ordained the apostles to continue His priestly mission. In John 20:22-23, Jesus then emphasizes this essential part of the priestly ministry of the apostles: forgiving men's sins in the name of Christ. "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." This is confession. The only way the apostles can either forgive or retain sins is by first hearing those sins confessed, and then making a judgement as to whether or not the penitent should be absolved.

"You mean it's up to the priest to decide whether or not I'm going to be forgiven?" Michelle queries indignantly.

"Let's say a woman confesses adultery," you continue. "When the priest asks her if she's sorry for her sin and resolved to turn away from it, she says she's not. The priest would then be bound to 'retain' her sins. One has to be truly sorry for his or her sins in order to be forgiven." "What if she lies to the priest and says she's sorry when she's not, and then the priest absolves her?" Jennifer asks. "Will she be forgiven?" "No," you respond. "The sacrament does not take effect unless the penitent is truly sorry for his or her sins. In fact, lying in confession is another serious sin, called the sin of sacrilege.

You notice Michelle is much less defensive when she asks her next question. "Do we see any examples of the apostles or church elders actually forgiving sins?"

You have Andrea read 2 Corinthians 2:10: "Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ."

Actually, a better translation of the phrase "in the presence of Christ" is "in the person of Christ." The Greek word in the passage is prosopon. The Latin word persona comes from this word. The Greek prefix pro translates to Latin as per. The Greek sopon becomes sona in Latin. Interestingly, the King James Bible renders the better translation of "person."

You read James 5:14-16 aloud: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects."

You point out Scripture teaches us we must go to the "elders," not just anyone, to receive this "anointing" and the forgiveness of our sins.Michelle objects. "In verse 16 it says to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. James is just encouraging us to confess our sins to a close friend so we can help one another to overcome our faults."

You respond, "We have to examine the context of Scripture in order to understand it properly. There are two reasons we know St. James is not saying we should confess our sins to just anyone. First, he's just told us to go to the elder, or priest, in verse 14. Then, verse 16 begins with the word "therefore." That word is a conjunction that connects verse 16 back to verses 14 and 15. It's the elder to whom St. James is telling us to confess our sins.

At this point, there's a break and you decide to take Michelle outside for a little one on one. You ask her, "Well, what do you think?"She replies thoughtfully, "I have to admit, John 20:21-23 and all the rest of the verses you pointed out make it awfully clear. But it's so hard to confess your sins to a man."

"Yep, I agree," you say. "But I guarantee you, you will walk out of that confessional feeling like you're walking on air. And remember, when the priest says, 'I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,' there are two people speaking at the same time: the priest, and Jesus Himself, Who loves you more than words could ever say."

After the break, it's time for confession. You're watching for Michelle. As soon as she comes out of the confessional, she looks right at you with a bright, beaming smile. As she approaches, you tease, "Was I right?"

The smile never leaves her face as she slaps you a high five and walks toward the chapel to pray.

You mean "A History of Christianity" by Paul Johnson? No, but I put it in my cart at Amazon. I'm still on "Windswept House" and not making good progress. It's a great book, but I'm reading it slowly so I don't miss anything. The thing is, now I think just about everything in life has an underlying meaning I can't figure out and I think the whole world is embroiled in some sort of conspiracy (although fortunately not against me --- unless I get gas at the dentist, that is). It's that kind of book... Then I have to read a "fluffy book" probably "Back when we were grownups" by Anne Tyler and I have a couple of up and comers after that. But "The History of Christianity" is under my skin, so all pre-thoughtout plans might be moot...

"We share a name:>) .....Teresa....Theresa.....

I say Theresa, you say Teresa! You say oh sola. I say oh NO-la!

Okay that wasn't funny. I will leave the wit to Colleen. I saw a GOOD movie today. The Road to Perdition. If you all don't go see it you will be missing one of the top 10 movies of the last two years.

I heard that was good...i need to rent men in Black 1 so I can see 2...

I am Teresa the mystic....she was close to being killed when it wasn't healthy to be a heretic :>)) (she was suspect I guess) I hated my name as a kid... I admire the lady who's name I have....

The Road to Perdition

I did hear that was supposed to be good (pre release) - hard to imagine Tom Hanks in a gangster type movie after all the sympathetic type characters he's played in the past. I have to wait until it is out on video --- kids! No more movies at the theatre unless I can take them.

Uhhh... are we off topic?

"The thing is, now I think just about everything in life has an underlying meaning I can't figure out and I think the whole world is embroiled in some sort of conspiracy (although fortunately not against me --- unless I get gas at the dentist, that is).

LOL! Well conspiracy makes for great fiction because there is always a little truth to it. Sometimes more than a little. Some questions are answered. Others come up. It's like trying to unravel a giant cable knit sweater, that someone keeps knitting, and knitting, and knitting." (Okay I stole that line from the movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure.)

"It's that kind of book... Then I have to read a "fluffy book" probably "Back when we were grownups" by Anne Tyler and I have a couple of up and comers after that."

I don't read novels like I used to. I know Anne Tyler is popular though. I like historical novels. I never read contemporary things. Is she contemporary?

"But "The History of Christianity" is under my skin, so all pre-thoughtout plans might be moot..."

It is as good as any novel. The only problem I am having is keeping a timeline in my head. It goes back and forth within say a framework of 300 years.

She was a woman that could sit in the presence of God and not say or think....just BE with him.......yea mystical

Her trouble came of not understanding that the use of the imagination could be dispensed with and that her soul could give itself directly to contemplation. During this stage, which lasted 18 years, she had transitory mystical experiences. She was held back by a strong desire to be appreciated by others, but this finally left her in an experience of conversion in the presence of an image of "the sorely wounded Christ" (V 9.2). This conversion dislodged the egoism that had hindered her spiritual development. Thus, at the age of 39, she began to enjoy a vivid experience of God's presence within her. However, the contrast between these favors and her conduct, which was more relaxed than was thought proper according to the ascetical standards of the time, caused some misunderstanding. Some of her friends, such as Francisco de Salcedo and Gaspar Daza, thought her favors were the work of the devil (V 23.14). Diego de Cetina, SJ, brought her comfort by encouraging her to continue in mental prayer and to think upon the humanity of Christ.

Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

I think we are too busy talking to God to hear or experience Him fully!

PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain;Polycarp

Please, don't spew forth your personal nonsense. Refute the article.

19 posted on 7/7/02 4:14 PM Mountain by Polycarp

Spoken as a true follower of the L-rd Jesus the Christ </sarcasm>

Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: “`Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ [Deut. 6:5].63
Matthew 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like it: `Love your neighbour as yourself.’
[Lev. 19:18]

chuck <truth@Y'shuaHaMashiach>

P>Please, don't spew forth your personal nonsense. Refute the article.

19 posted on 7/7/02 4:14 PM Mountain by Polycarp

XS>Spoken as a true follower of the L-rd Jesus the Christ </sarcasm>

===============================================================
yada yada yada
195 posted on 8/5/02 3:05 PM Mountain by Polycarp

You don't seem to be a follower of the Christ.

Perhaps you have a secret knowledge that is not available to others outside your cult.

chuck <truth@Y'shuaHaMashiach>

You don't seem to be a follower of the Christ.

I'm very much a followed of Jesus Christ. I just get tired of the same old Catholic bashing here, and those doing the bashing thinking they are simply and piously "only posting scripture, what can be wrong with that?" or simply pointing doctrines of demons" the condemned Catholics on the forum are following. I'm tired of being criticized when I cut to the quick and call a spade a spade. And I'm not going to stop being blunt regardless of your pietistic posting of these platitudes.

Perhaps you have a secret knowledge that is not available to others outside your cult.

yada yada yada

XS>others outside your cult

P>Case in point.

May God Bless you abundantly, illuminate your darkened anti-Catholic intellect, and have Mercy on your soul.

198 posted on 8/5/02 4:33 PM Mountain by Polycarp

I pray,

Abba, Father

creator of the universe send the Ru'akh haKodesh

to warm the heart of Polycarp to hear the True Word of G-d.

Please remove the scales from his eyes so he may see and read Your Word

and come to understand that which was provided for him at

Your Son's Death, atonement for all sin and His Resurrection.

I pray this in the Name of Your

Holy Son

Y'shua HaMashiach

chuck <truth@Y'shuaHaMashiach>

XS>Perhaps you have a secret knowledge that is not available to others outside your cult.

P>yada yada yada

197 posted on 8/5/02 4:31 PM Mountain by Polycarp

Are you speaking in tongues ?

1Co. 12:30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? [Or
other languages] Do all interpret?

chuck <truth@Y'shuaHaMashiach>

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