Msg Base:  AREA 3  - ASK FATHER (AMDG)
  Msg No: 111.  Tue  10-19-92  0:49  (NO KILL)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Scott Horn
 Subject: Forgiveness of Sins after

SH|  Hello Father,
  |    I am a Lutheran.  My grandfather is 91 years old and has been teaching
  |a Sunday School class for 58 years.  Obviously, I think he is very wise.
  |The last four Sundays he has been discussing the blood of Jesus - mainly,
  |"How long does the power of Jesus' blood last?"  By the shedding of His
  |blood, Jesus paid for our sins, correct?  Once we accept Jesus as our
  |saviour, we are saved.  Why then does the Catholic church require
  |confessions on a regular basis (as does my own Lutheran church, in a
  |collective manner every Sunday) and a request to be forgiven for the sins
  |we have committed since our last confession?
  |   You probably see that it is my Grandfather's contention that this is
  |all nonsense.  We are not "poor sinners in bondage to sin" as our liturgy
  |says, but rather we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus irreversibly,
  |now and forever.
 
SH|    I look forward to your reply.
 
 
re: Forgiveness of Sins after Baptism
 
 
Dear Scott,
 
That Christian believers continue to fall into small faults and sins
at least--and sometimes into greater ones--is a matter of Christian
experience, which is recognized in Holy Scripture.
 
"For the just man falls seven times and rises again" (Prov. 24:16).
"When someone falls, does he not rise again?  If he goes astray, does
he not turn back?" (Jer. 8:4).
 
Ezechiel 33 is exceptionally clear in verses 11-20.  Please read this
passage, too long to quote here.
 
The Apostles believed and loved the Lord, yet all but John ran away
when His hour came.  Peter denied--a serious sin--yet Jesus forgave
Peter (John 21:15-19).  In John 20:23, Our Lord gave the Apostles
power to forgive sin or to retain it.  In James 5:14-16, sins of
believers are forgiven in the context of the anointing of the sick
and of confession of sins.
 
Jesus died for our salvation.  His merits are infinite and more than
enough to forgive our sins.  But these merits are applied to us over
our whole lifetime, not once for all upon belief in Christ.
 
The Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim 3:15),
not the Bible, and especially not a selection of one's favorite texts
to the exclusion of all the rest.
 
                                        Sincerely in Christ,
 
 
                                                Father Mateo