It’s Lenten Season for Christians, commonly seen as a time of repentance, a time when one seeks to become sanctified, to become justified in the eyes of their creator and a time to reflect upon all of this and the part that Jesus Christ played in it.
Even though I was brought up in the Catholic Faith, when I see, when I know that some Catholic doctrine or policy or rite, is not in line with what Jesus teaches to his Christian apostles, and followers as one reads in the Holy Bible, I become compelled to bring this wrong teaching to God and then if God’s will is that I write about it then I write under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whatever message God desires to be conveyed to his people. This is one of those times and the Confession Rite of the Catholic Church is a topic God desires to be straightened out.
It is not the forgiveness of sins, but the cleansing from sin, that belongs solely to Jesus as God.
Any person can forgive sin, but only Jesus can cleanse you from your sins and sactify you.
Sanctification from our sins takes place one time and one time only for once we ask Jesus thru faith to cleanse our spirit he does so once and for all time every sin in our life past present and future is forgiven and cleansed and we become sanctified and sealed by God’s Holy Spirit. Yes you might and you will still sin as you go from day to day, but every sin is already cleansed away all one needs to do is to apologize to Jesus for having fallen, and promise Jesus to try harder not to do it again.
Roman Catholics from the age of about 7 years old, are taught to run to a priest to confess their sins to the priest believing that only a priest can cleanse them from their sins. As Catholics they are taught to believe that the priest is the only one that can forgive them their sins and cleanse them. This sort of teaching causes one to wonder. What did Jesus die for on the cross?
JOHN: 20:23; “Whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them; and, whose soever sins ye retain they are retained.” is the scripture the Catholic Church claims gives only priests the right and the power to hear someone confess their sins and to forgive those sins. This could not be farther from the truth.
Jesus does empower his apostles with this rite, but Jesus apostles were never ordained as priests, therefore the power and the right of forgiveness is not just theirs.
Jesus is the only one as God who has the right and the power to forgive sin from man. Being sinless and being the Son of God Jesus offered up himself as a perfect sacrifice receiving all of our sins. This act through his crucifixion empowers Jesus and only Jesus with the right and power to forgive someone their sins.
Granted the apostles as they went throughout the countries spreading the Gospel of the Lord listened to people confessing their wickedness and could forgive the wickedness in order to baptize the people as they repented, but even when an apostle forgave someone, it was conditional upon Jesus forgiveness too.
We all of us have the power to forgive someone their sins their wickedness. If we do not and cannot forgive our brother or sister, how can we ourselves expect Jesus to forgive us, since his teaching was and is to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Before his crucifixion either Jesus or Father God had the power to cleanse a person and sanctify them from their sins. After the crucifixion, only Jesus is empowered with this right or power for he had become the perfect sacrifice for sin as ordained by God. God the Father relinquishes this power of forgiving and cleansing to purify to Jesus.
As Christians, all have the power to forgive our bretheren. We are obligated to do so simply because it is the right thing to do. To hold any sin against another means we risk impairing our chance to be cleansed by Jesus. We are further obligated as Christians to forgive, if for no other reason because than Jesus commands it and as a true Christian how can we go against the teachings of Christ Jesus the founder of Christianity and Christian love.
Any Catholic person that believes that by confessing their sins to a priest makes things alright in the eyes of God is wrong, for the priest can only intercede and ask Jesus to forgive us, and if this is the case then why do we need the priest to confess? Why do we not ask Jesus who ultimately has the power of cleansing us and purifying us and sactifying us? Can we not speak to God and Jesus for ourselves?
In closing I will state it again. No priest can sanctify you from your sins. Only Jesus has this power. No priest has the power to cleanse you from your sin, justifying, and purifying you, save Jesus who is “Chief Priest”
When the priest says to you: “I absolve you of your sin through the power of Jesus.” the priest has no right to do so. He is not enpowered by Jesus to absolve you from anything. Only Jesus himself can absolve you and sanctify you. Jesus is “Chief Priest” over all, over priests and lay-persons alike.
Since a Catholic priest wields power in the teaching and forming of a child’s mind and beliefs, it is imperative, that God’s truth and not the church’s misguided dogmatic doctrines are taught.