SERIES INTRODUCTION
There are two very important reasons why I felt compelled to write this series of posts, and I’d like to briefly share these reasons with you now before I go any further:
1) Since I am a former Catholic who is very aware of the teachings of the Catholic Church because I attended twelve years of Catholic school, attended Catechism classes, made my First Holy Communion, was Confirmed, and faithfully attended Mass not only every Sunday for many years, but also before school began for three years (as required by the school that I attended at the time), and who came to the knowledge of who Jesus Christ truly is and what He actually accomplished for us by reading a Catholic New Testament Bible exactly like the one pictured above, I decided to write this series with the hope of reaching precious Catholics so that they can not only come to an understanding of who Jesus Christ truly is as His Word, the Bible, declares Him to be, but also so they can see by reading God’s Word that they can have complete forgiveness, lasting joy, true peace, and the assurance of salvation if they choose to believe God’s Word and place their trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. Also, since many Catholics do not realize everything that the Catholic church actually teaches (as I once did not realize until after doing research and reading the CCC), I thought that it was extremely important to share this information to make Catholics aware of many things that are quite disturbing, as you will all soon become aware of as this series continues.
2) This series of posts is also being written with the intention of helping those of you who are born-again, Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ who have no idea of what the teachings of Catholicism are so that you can become aware of their teachings and be prepared to offer hope and assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ to Catholics based solely upon the truth that is recorded in God’s Word.
As we continue on in this series together comparing Scriptures in the Catholic New Testament to teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we must keep these important thoughts in mind:
When it comes to our eternal destination — heaven or hell — we must be certain that we place our trust in solid truth and not in speculation or in the traditions of men. The Catholic church claims to be the “one true Church.” Therefore, it stands to reason that their teachings must line up with God’s Word and not contradict it since God does not change (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8), and His Word stands firm forever. (Psalm 119:89, Isaiah 40:8, 1 Peter 1:24,25) If a contradiction is found it must be rejected because God’s Word is our plumb line by which we must measure (or test) the teachings of every religion to see if it lines up or not. If it is off in one point we can be certain that it will lead us further and further away from Biblical truth and lead us into spiritual deception.
This series will cover many different subjects ranging from what does the Catholic Church teach about the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, priests, the pope, sin, forgiveness of sins, salvation, prayer, and what must a Catholic believe in order to receive eternal life. Some of these teachings will shock even many Catholics when they learn what their church actually teaches!
Lord willing, I hope to share at least one post every month with you in this new series until I have covered all the most important teachings that need to be brought to your attention. The main goal that I have in writing this series is to present the Word of God to Catholics — and to every person — in order to point everyone to Jesus Christ, who is our only hope and ‘the only name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved.’ (Acts 4:12)
Dear Catholic, please take a minute now to sincerely pray; ask God to open your mind to the Scriptures and to reveal the truth to you –whatever that may be.
Because only God can reveal the truth to you, I will refrain from making any comments unless I find it completely necessary. Since God’s Word is truth I trust that He will not only give you eyes to see the truth, but also I trust that He will give you the courage to respond to His leading. However, each one of you will find yourself having to answer this question when you come to many points that I present to you in these posts after realizing that there are oftentimes extreme differences between what the Word of God says and what Catholicism teaches, and the question that you will have to answer is:
“Are you going to believe the Word of God, or the word of man?”
For those of you who are not Catholic, and are taking the time to read these posts in order to learn what Catholicism actually teaches, please keep in mind that every time you see the word “church” spelled with a capital c they are referring to the Catholic church, since they believe that the “Catholic Church” alone is the “one true Church.”All of the information that I will be sharing with you I have obtained from the following sources:
1) CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (pictured above) – Imprimi Potest – Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict) – Interdicasterial Commission for the Catechism of the Catholic Church
2) THE WORD OF GOD – THE NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR IN TODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION – SACRED HEART LEAGUE EDITION – IMPRIMATUR JOHN FRANCIS WHEALON, ARCHBISHOP OF HARTFORD, APRIL 15, 1971 SIGNED AND SEALED BY BISHOP JOSEPH B. BRUNINI, DIOCESE OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
3) Occasionally when I share a Scripture with you from the Sacred Heart League (SHL) Catholic New Testament and notice that it lacks depth and clarity, I will then follow it with the same verse but in the King James Version in order to give you a better understanding of what is being said, and so that you can see what is missing from the SHL translation.
4) Very briefly in this series, I will also be quoting from THE CATHOLIC DOUAY RHEIMS VERSION OF THE BIBLE – in which you will find the following statements:
“EXCERPT FROM ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF OUR HOLY FATHER BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE POPE LEO XIII ON THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE:
“The God of all Providence, Who in the adorable designs of His love at first elevated the human race to the participation of the Divine nature, and afterwards delivered it from the universal guilt and ruin, restoring it to its primitive dignity, has in consequence bestowed upon man a splendid gift and safeguard–making known to him, by supernatural means, the hidden Mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy. For although in Divine revelations there are contained some things which are not beyond the reach of unassisted reason, and which are made the objects of such revelation in order “that all may come to know them with facility, certainty, and safety from error, yet not on this account can supernatural Revelation be said to be absolutely necessary; it is only necessary because God has ordained man to a supernatural end.” This supernatural revelation according to the belief of the universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition, and in written Books, which are therefore called sacred and canonical because, “being written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church.” (Page ix)
“Wherefore it must be recognised that the sacred writings are wrapt in a certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into their interior without a guide; God so disposing, as the Holy Fathers commonly teach, in order that men may investigate them with greater ardour and earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink more deeply into the mind and heart; and, most of all that they may understand that God has delivered the Holy Scriptures to the Church, and that in reading and making use of His Word, they must follow the Church as their guide and their teacher. St. Irenaeus long since laid down, that where the charismata of God were, there the truth was to be learnt, and that Holy Scripture was safely interpreted by those who had the Apostolic succession. His teaching, and that of other Holy Fathers, is taken up by the Council of the Vatican, which, in the renewing of the decree of Trent, declares its “mind” to be this–that “in things of faith and morals, belonging to the building up of Christian doctrine, that is to be considered the true sense of Holy Scripture which has been held and is held by our Holy Mother the Church whose place it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures; and therefore that it is permitted to no one to interpret Holy Scripture against such sense or also against the unanimous agreement of the Fathers.” (Page xvii)
“Wherefore the first and dearest object of the Catholic commentator should be to interpret those passages which have received an authentic interpretation either by the sacred writers themselves, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), or from the Church, under the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, whether by her solemn judgment or her ordinary and universal magisterium –to interpret those passages in that identical sense, and to prove, by all the resources of science that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no other interpretation. In the other passages, the analogy of faith should be followed, and Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme law; for seeing that the same God is the author both of the Sacred Books and of the doctrine committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can by legitimate means be extracted from the former, which shall in any respect be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows that all interpretation is foolish and false which either makes the sacred writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the Church.” (Page xviii)
“For although the studies of non-Catholics, used with prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic student, he should nevertheless, bear well in mind–as the Fathers also teach in numerous passages –that the sense of Holy Scripture can nowhere be found incorrupt outside of the Church, and cannot be expected to be found in writers who, being without the true faith, only gnaw the bark of the Sacred Scripture and never attain its pith.” (Page xix)
To read PART 1 click HERE
For PART 2 click HERE
For PART 3 click HERE
For PART 4 click HERE
For PART 5 click HERE
For PART 6 click HERE
For PART 7 click HERE
For PART 8 click HERE
For PART 9 click HERE
For PART 10 click HERE
For PART 11 click HERE
For PART 12 click HERE
For PART 13 click HERE
For PART 14 click HERE
INTRODUCTION TO PART 15
[As I have mentioned in some previous posts in this series, in order to get this entire series finished in a timely manner, from now on I will be trying to keep my comments very brief and will mainly be making them in the introduction and closing sections of these posts. I will, however, continue to keep the focus on Scripture which is where it should be. I am also trying very hard (but not succeeding) to limit these posts to no more than 5000 words which makes it rather difficult sometimes. For those of you who have busy schedules and do not have the time to read lengthy posts, I will continue to highlight just some of the many troubling things in turquoise, and anything that is Biblical I will highlight in blue in order to quickly bring these things to your attention.]
Part 15 will focus on The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation and cover pages 396 to the beginning portion of page 417.
First I would like to begin this post by sharing many Scriptures with you in order to make it very clear to you that on the basis of the truth of God’s Word we can have complete assurance of the forgiveness of sins because of everything that Jesus Christ has already done for us. There is no need for us to confess our sins to a priest or to anyone other than to God and God alone. If a person accepts the free gift of salvation paid with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, there is no punishment for sin that remains; Jesus Christ’s “once for all sacrifice” completely satisfied the just demands of a fully Holy God.
Even though the Catholic church does teach that Christ alone expiated our sins once for all (See below – Para 1460 in the CCC), their teachings of “purgatory,” “indulgences,” and “the Sacrifice of the Mass” nullify the truth of God’s Word by these “Traditions” (Matthew 15:3-9) of men that they put on the same level as Scripture. Sadly, many of the teachings that the Catholic church presents to precious Catholics do not allow them to discover the sufficiency of Jesus Christ’s “once for all” sacrifice. Instead they add man-made teachings to the truth of God’s Word, and the simplicity and joyously good news of the Biblical gospel remains hidden from them.
Keep the truth of the following Scriptures in mind as you take the time to read through Part 15 of this series in which we are continuing to compare Scriptures in a Catholic New Testament Bible to many teachings that can be found in the Catechism Of The Catholic Church not only to show precious Catholics the importance of testing what they are being taught in the Catholic church against the truth of God’s Holy Word, but also to inform Bible believing Christians what their precious Catholic friends believe because of what they are being taught:
“I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins.” (Isaiah 43:25)
“I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist: return to me, for I have redeemed thee.” (Isaiah 44:22)
“You must not be called ‘Teacher,’ because you are all brothers of one another and have only one Teacher. And you must not call anyone here on earth ‘Father’ because you have only the one Father in heaven.” (Matthew 23:8,9)
“Jesus was preaching the message to them, when a paralyzed man, carried by four men, was brought to him. Because of the crowd, however, they could not get the man to Jesus. So they made a hole in the roof right above the place where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they let the man down, lying on his mat. Jesus saw how much faith they had, and said to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Some teachers of the Law who were sitting there, thought to themselves, “How does he dare talk against God like this? No man can forgive sins; only God can!” (Mark 2:2b-7, Luke 5:17-24 )
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will never have life, but God’s wrath will remain on him forever.” (John 3:36 – SHLCNT)
Now look at how the same verse above reads in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Version below. Note the troubling difference between the two translations, the SHLCNT version above translates it as “whoever disobeys the Son will never have life, whereas the Douay-Rheims version (along with many other versions), shows that if anyone chooses not to believe in the Son they do not have life, and God’s wrath remains upon them:
“He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Continuing on with a few more verses that reveal God’s truth to us on these important eternal matters:
“A man who works is paid; his wages are not regarded as a gift, but as something that he has earned. But the man who has faith, not works, who believes in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is his faith that God takes into account in order to put him right with himself. This is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the man whom God accepts as righteous, apart from any works:
“Happy are those whose wrongs God has forgiven, whose sins he has covered over! Happy is the man whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!” (Romans 4:4-8 – SHLCNT)
“He was given over to die because of our sins, and was raised to life to put us right with God.” (Romans 4:25 – SHLCNT)
“For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked, at the time that God chose. It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us; it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! By his death we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s wrath. We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.” (Romans 5:6-11 – SHLCNT)
“And there is a difference between God’s gift and the sin of one man. After the one sin came the judgment of “Guilty”; but after so many sins comes the undeserved gift of “Not guilty!” It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule, because of that one man. But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God’s abundant grace and the free gift of his righteousness will rule in life through Christ. So then, as the one sin condemned all men, in the same way the one righteous act sets all men free and gives them life.”(Romans 5:16-18 – SHLCNT)
“Surely you know that the wicked will not receive God’s Kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral, or worship idols, or are adulterers, or homosexual perverts, or who rob, or are greedy, or are drunkards, or who slander others, or are thieves–none of these will receive God’s Kingdom. Some of you were like that. But you have been cleansed from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – SHLCNT)
“When anyone is joined to Christ he is a new being; the old has gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends, and gave us the task of making others his friends also. Our message is that God was making friends of all men through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins against them, and he has given us the message of how he makes them his friends. Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were appealing to you through us: on Christ’s behalf, we beg you, let God change you from enemies into friends.”(2 Corinthians 5:17-20 – SHLCNT)
“God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would bring us to himself as his sons–this was his pleasure and purpose. Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son! For by the death of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, which he gave to us in such large measure!” (Ephesians 1:5-8a – SHLCNT)
“For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and men together, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself to redeem all men.” (1 Timothy 2:5,6 – SHLCNT)
“For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: Who gave himself a redemption for all, a testimony in due times. ” (1 Timothy 2:5,6 – Douay-Rheims)
“I write you this, my children, so that you will not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have Jesus Christ, the righteous, who pleads for us with the Father. And Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of all men.” (1 John 2:1,2 – SHLCNT)
Now let‘s begin Part 15.
Please take a moment to pray, asking God for discernment before you begin reading:
CHAPTER TWO
THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING
Para 1421
The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health,(3 – Cf. Mk 2:1-12) has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
ARTICLE 4
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION
Para 1422
Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God’s mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins, and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion.” (4 – LG 11 § 2).
I. WHAT IS THE SACRAMENT CALLED?
Para 1424
It is called the sacrament of confession since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament.
It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest’s sacramental absolution God grants the penitent “pardon and peace.”
V. THE MANY FORMS OF PENANCE IN CHRISTIAN LIFE
Para 1435
Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right, by the admission of faults to one’s brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one’s cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance. (34 – Cf. Luke 9:23).
Para 1436
Eucharist and Penance. Daily conversion and penance find their source and nourishment in the Eucharist, for in it is made present the sacrifice of Christ which has reconciled us with God. Through the Eucharist those who live from the life of Christ are fed and strengthened. “It is a remedy to free us from our daily faults and preserve us from mortal sins.” (35 – Council of Trent (1551): DS 1638).
Para 1437
Reading Sacred Scriptures, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Our Father–every sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of conversion and repentance within us and contributes to the forgiveness of our sins.
VI. THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION
Para 1440
Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.(38 – Cf. LG 11).
Para 1445
Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God.
The sacrament of forgiveness
Para 1446
Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as “the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace.”(47 – Terrtullian, De Paenit. 4, 2: PL 1, 1343; cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1542).
Para 1447
During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the “private” practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church.
Para 1448
Beneath the changes in discipline and celebration that this sacrament has undergone over the centuries, the same fundamental structures is to be discerned. It comprises two equally essential elements; on the one hand, the acts of the man who undergoes conversion through the action of the Holy Spirit: namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction; on the other, God’s action through the intervention of the Church. The Church, who through the bishop and his priests forgive sins in the name of Jesus Christ and determines the manner of satisfaction, also prays for the sinner and does penance with him. Thus the sinner is healed and re-established in ecclesial communion.
VII. THE ACTS OF THE PENITENT
Contrition
Para 1452
When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sin; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible. (51 – Cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1677).
The confession of sins
Para 1456
Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance.
Para 1458
Without being strictly necessary, confession of every day faults (venial sins) is nevertheless is strongly recommended by the Church. (59 – Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1680; CIC, can. 988 § 2).
Satisfaction
Para 1459
But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationship with God and neighbor. Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. (62) Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must “make satisfaction for” or “expiate” his sins. This satisfaction is also called “penance.” (62 – Cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1712).
Para 1460
It can consist of prayers, an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbors, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, and above all the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, “provided we suffer with him.” (63 – Romans 8:17; Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:1-2; cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1690).
VIII. THE MINISTER OF THIS SACRAMENT
Para 1462
Forgiveness of sins brings reconciliation with God, but also with the [Catholic] Church. (67 – Cf. CIC, cann. 844; 967-969; 972; CCEO, can. 722 §§ 3-4). [NOTE: The word Catholic was inserted by me for clarification and to remind you that every time you see the word church used with a capital C, they are referring to the Catholic Church.]
IX. THE EFFECTS OF THIS SACRAMENT
Para 1468
“The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.”(73 – Roman Catechism, II, V, 18).
Para 1469
This sacrament reconciles us with the Church.
Para 1470
In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgement to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life. For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin. (79 – Cf. 1 Corin. 5:11; Gal 5:19-21; Rev 22:15). In converting to Christ through penance and faith, the sinner passes from death to life and “does not come under judgment.”(80 – Jn. 5:24).
X. INDULGENCES
Para 1471
The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance.
What is an indulgence?
An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.(82) The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.* *(82 – CIC, can. 944.)
The punishment of sin
Para 1472
To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the “eternal punishment” of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the “temporal punishment” of sin. These two punishments must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin. A conversion which proceeds from a fervent charity can attain the complete purification of the sinner in such a way that no punishment would remain.”(83 – Cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1712-1713; (1563): 1820).
Para 1473
The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the “old man” and to put on the “new man.” (84 – Eph. 4:22,24)
In the Communion of Saints
Para 1475
In the communion of saints “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.” (86 – Indulgentiarum doctrina, 5). In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishment for sin.
Para 1476
We also call these spiritual goods of the communion of saints the Church’s treasury, which is not the sum total of the material goods which have accumulated during the course of the centuries. On the contrary the ‘treasury of the Church’ is the infinite value, which can never be exhausted , which Christ’s merits have before God. They were offered so that the whole of mankind could be set free from sin and attain communion with the Father. In Christ, the Redeemer himself, the satisfactions and merits of his Redemption exist and find their efficacy.” (87 – Indulgentiarum doctrina, 5).
Para 1477
“This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasure, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission the Father entrusted to them. In this way they attained their own salvation and at the same time cooperated in saving their brothers in the unity of the Mystical Body.”(88 – Indulgentiarum doctrina, 5.)
Obtaining indulgence from God through the Church
Para 1478
An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishment due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity. (89 – Cf. Indulgentiarum doctrina, 5).
Para 1479
Since the faithful departed now being purified are also members of the same communion of saints, one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the temporal punishment due for their sins may be remitted.
XI. THE CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
Para 1480
Like all the sacraments, Penance is a liturgical action. The elements of the celebration are ordinarily these: a greeting and blessing from the priest, reading the word of God to illuminate the conscience and elicit contrition, and an exhortation to repentance; the confession, which acknowledges sins and makes them known to the priest; the imposition and acceptance of a penance; the priest’s absolution; a prayer of thanksgiving and praise and dismissal with the blessing of the priest.
Para 1491
The sacrament of Penance is a whole consisting in three actions of the penitent and the priest’s absolution. The penitent’s acts are repentance, confession or disclosure of sins to the priest, and the intention to make reparation and do works of reparation.
Para 1493
One who desires to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his conscience. The confession of venial faults, without being necessary in itself, is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.
Para 1495
Only priests who have received the faculty of absolving from the authority of the Church can forgive sins in the name of Christ.
Para 1496
The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
–reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
–reconciliation with the Church;
–remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
–remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
–peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
–an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle
Para 1497
Individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and with the Church.
Para 1498
Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory.
RELATED VIDEOS ALONG WITH A FEW MORE THOUGHTS
RICHARD BENNETT, FORMER CATHOLIC PRIEST
WALTER MARTIN, FORMER BAPTIST PASTOR AND FOUNDER OF THE ‘BIBLE ANSWER MAN’ RADIO PROGRAM
MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN
In Catholicism, sin is classified into two categories; mortal sin and venial sin. (You will hear a Catholic priest explain this in the video further below). As a young child I was taught that mortal sins are serious sins, such as murder, and venial sins are lesser sins, like fighting with your brothers and sisters, disobeying your parents, and lying. However, God’s Word makes it abundantly clear that all sin is mortal; the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). God’s Word also says that all liars will be thrown into the lake of fire –hell. (Revelation 21:8)
“Then the one who sits on the throne said, “And now I make all things new!” He also said to me, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.” And he said, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give a free drink of water from the spring of the water of life. Whoever wins the victory will receive this from me. I will be his God, and he will be my son. But the cowards, the traitors, and the perverts, the murderers, and the immoral, those who practice magic and those who worship idols, and all liars–the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:5-8 – SHLCNT)
Regardless of how minor the sin may appear to us, or how horrific the sin may be, all sin separates us from a completely Holy God and all sin can be forgiven. There is no other way for any of us (Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Hindu, Jehovah Witness, Mormon, Muslim, etc., etc.), to be forgiven for our sins and to be reconciled with God except by coming to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son — the second Person of the Trinity and only Mediator between sinful man and a thrice Holy God — and by receiving the free gift of eternal life by placing our full trust in all that Jesus Christ has already done for us. This is the only way that God has provided for us to be forgiven and to have a relationship with Him. We can neither receive forgiveness for sin by trusting in a sacramental system that is said to impart grace that can be lost again by committing more sin, nor can we receive or earn God’s forgiveness by doing good works or by going to Mass (or any church service). Only by choosing to place our full trust in the “once for all” sacrifice that Jesus Christ offered to God His Father when He willingly took upon Himself God’s full wrath that He has towards us because of our sins after He was nailed to the cross, died in our place, and arose from the dead in bodily form three days later, can we receive His forgiveness. Jesus Christ lived the perfect, sinless life that we could never live; He was the perfect, spotless Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.
In the following video, this is some of what the priest has to say:
“Venial sin wounds our friendship with God. Mortal sins, as the name implies, deals to our souls a mortal wound. That is to say it destroys the life of grace in us. It ruptures our friendship with God, and, if we have the misfortune to die in a state of mortal sin, why then, we suffer eternal death in hell. Mortal sin is something we can’t simply stumble into by accident…”
‘Hey Father! What is the difference between venial and mortal sin?’
In the following video, Pastor Dan Carpenter answers a caller’s question. He addresses apostolic succession, do priests have the power to forgive sins (as the Catholic church teaches based on John 20:23), and is there any other mediator besides Jesus Christ:
In the following video this pastor makes an excellent point regarding John 20:23 by basically saying that if Jesus truly was giving the apostles the power to forgive sins, the context of this passage of Scripture clearly shows that the apostle Thomas wasn’t present that day, and Jesus certainly wouldn’t have done something so important as that when the apostles weren’t all together.
IN CLOSING:
So much more could be said, and I could share so many more Scriptures with you, but this post is now much longer than I had intended for it to be and I must bring it to a close. I can think of no better way to end this particular post than by sharing this powerful and encouraging Scripture with you that God brought to my attention in the spring of 1980. I was at the point where I was struggling between believing the joyously good news of the Biblical gospel that I discovered as I read that little Catholic New Testament, and what I believed regarding all that I had been taught as a Catholic. As I held my little Catholic New Testament, I cried out to God and asked Him to confirm to me in His Word that what I was reading was really true. To think that Jesus Christ actually paid the debt for all of my sins — in full — and that I didn’t have to burn in purgatory for “temporal punishment still due for sins” as I was taught, just seemed too amazingly good to be true! I opened my little Catholic New Testament and saw this verse in 1 John for the very first time:
“We believe the witness that men give; the witness that God gives is much stronger, and this is the witness that God has given about His Son. So whoever believes in the Son of God has this witness in his heart; but whoever does not believe God has made a liar out of him, because he has not believed what God has said as a witness about his Son. This, then is the witness: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write you this so that you may know that you have eternal life–you that believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:9-13) [NOTE: Emphasis is mine.]
When I first read that verse, the truth about the power and splendor of who Jesus Christ really was — and is — and the reality of all that He truly accomplished for us by His once for all sacrifice on the cross (which led to His death, burial, and glorious resurrection from the dead) became crystal clear to me! I no longer had the fear of death or any doubt remaining about the sufficiency of Jesus’ once for all sacrifice because God’s Word clearly shows us that we can have the assurance of salvation now, as long as our faith and trust are only in all that Jesus Christ already did for us. I pray that your eyes will also be opened to see this amazing truth that can be found in God’s Word and that you also will choose to believe it.
Dear Catholic, (and dear reader, whoever you may be), once again I present you with this important question that I had to answer back in 1980:
Are you going to believe the Word of God (Scripture), or the word of man (Tradition)?
Mary Dalke - Living4HisGlory
Living4HisGlory 