Look, it is possible to obtain forgiveness of sins directly from God without human intermediaries. But, if that's the final state of that forgiveness, you'd better be dying with no priest around! The ordinary means of forgiveness is through priests who have this power transmitted through the ages by apostolic succession. As I and others here have made clear many times, it is God who forgives sins, but He chooses to forgive them through His priests. This is because all of his Sacraments interact with human beings in some material or visible way.
When I have gone to confession, I know my sins are forgiven, because He said so. It's cheap as pizza to just look up to Heaven and say "Sorry, Lord" after committing any sin, from simple theft to murder. Yes, they can all be forgiven, but securing God's forgiveness in the way He intended forces one to have some introspection and real contrition. No one likes going to another man and baring his sinful soul, so this fact alone helps one try to create a "firm purpose of amendment," with a view to sinning no more. Jesus, as a Man, knows our human nature perfectly, and built His means of forgiveness around it. It costs something spiritually and emotionally to confess our sins through a man who is a sinner too! It is simultaneously humbling and awe-inspiring that Jesus would have us do this to obtain His forgiveness. And, when done, we know we have been forgiven! A system that has abandoned this method, ordained by Christ, fifteen hundred years after He established it, is on very sandy ground, with a foundation built entirely of presumption. I'll stick with what He has clearly established, thank you.
***A system that has abandoned this method, ordained by Christ, fifteen hundred years after He established it, is on very sandy ground, with a foundation built entirely of presumption. I’ll stick with what He has clearly established, thank you.***
Scripturally and traditionally sound. I compliment you sir.