Since, according to Scripture, our Lord entrusted the power to forgive or retain sins to His Apostles and their followers, why not follow Chris's instructions? How do you know if your sins are forgiven?
Since, according to Scripture, our Lord entrusted the power to forgive or retain sins to His Apostles and their followers, why not follow Chris's instructions? How do you know if your sins are forgiven?"
I'll repeat a question I asked earlier.
If Christ intended that human beings ask for forgiveness (and receive forgiveness) through the agency of ordained human beings, and not directly from God Himself, why does the Lord's Prayer, which is addressed to "Our Father", include a petition to have one's "trespasses" or "debts" forgiven?
Wouldn't it have made more sense to have Jesus, when He was responding to a request from His followers to show them how to pray, not include a direct petition to God to have their trespasses forgiven?
Hi NYer. I was away for a week.
I know my sins are forgiven because Scripture tells me that if I ask that He is faithful and forgives me. I only know it based on God’s promises and not because of anything that I do on my own. I trust in God that he is faithful to his promises and covenants. That is all.
I will say this, however. I had a talk with one of my pastors about this years ago and we both agreed that confession to a Priest is a good thing in the sense that it helps discipline people to ASK for the forgiveness and that it is often very helpful for a person to discuss things with another person, especially a trained religious person (Priest, Pastor, etc.). Therefore, while I think confession is a beautiful institution that the Catholic church offers and if I were a Catholic, I would probably, from time-to-time, take advantage of it, I do not believe one MUST confess their sins in this manner.
I am sure you and I disagree but that is okay.