Catholicism - Sacraments & Penance

Justification through Sacraments

The grace that is received through infusion (mentioned in the baptism section) is by no means immutable. When Roman Catholics speak of their sacramental theology, they use quantitative terms with respect to grace, saying that there can be an increase or a diminution of it.

Grace only comes by faith.  Salvation is a free gift that only comes by faith alone:

[Eph 2:8-9 LSB]  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9]  not of works, so that no one may boast.

In other words, a baptized person can lose some of his infused grace. In fact, it may be lost entirely, removing the person from a state of justification and putting him or her under the threat of damnation.

This loss of saving grace takes place when the person commits a particular type of sin—a mortal sin.

Roman Catholic theology distinguishes venial sins and mortal sins, with mortal sins being more egregious.  Mortal sin is so named because it is serious enough to cause the death of the justifying grace that was infused to a person at baptism.

Scripturally, ALL sin is mortal sin in that the penalty is death.

[Rom 6:23 LSB]  For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Yeshua our Lord.

This has remained a constant since the first sin of Adam and Eve.

[Gen 2:17b LSB]  ... for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

[Eze 18:4b LSB]  ... The soul who sins will die.

This means that even the smallest sin is an act of rebellion against God’s sovereign rule and therefore deserving of death.  While every sin is mortal in the sense that it deserves death, no sin is mortal in the sense that it destroys the saving grace that a Christian receives upon his or her justification.

[Psa 130:3 LSB]  If You Yah, should keep iniquities, O Adonai, who could stand?

If we have to stand before God and face His perfect justice and perfect judgment of our performance, none of us would be able to pass His review.  This is the pressing question of justification - how can an unjust person ever be justified in the presence of a righteous and holy God?

Catholicism has a way to correct mortal sins.  Justification can be restored via a sacrament.

Sacraments

The sacrament of penance, which the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century defined as "a second plank" of justification for those who have made shipwreck of their souls, that is, those who have committed mortal sins and lost the grace of justification.

Adding penance turns Grace into works:

[Rom 11:6 LSB]  But if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Justification cannot be lost for those who truly follow Yeshua:

[Eph 1:13 LSB]  In Him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

[Heb 10:10-11 LSB]  By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Yeshua Christ ONCE for all. [11]  And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;

[Heb 10:14 LSB]  For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

There's a danger in trusting of rituals instead of Christ:

[Gal 5:2-5 LSB]  Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. [3]  And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. [4]  You have been severed from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace! [5]  For we through the Spirit, by faith, are eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness.

Confession, of course, was followed by priestly absolution, whereby the priest would say to the penitent person, "Te absolvo", or, "I absolve you".

If you're trusting in a priest to forgive your sin, or even believing that he has authority to do so, you're in trouble:

[Mar 2:5-7 LSB]  And Yeshua seeing their faith *said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” [6]  But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, [7]  “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Nowhere in the New Testament are believers commanded to confess their sins privately to a priest or ordained minister in order to receive forgiveness.

Instead, we are repeatedly told to confess sins directly to God:

[1Jn 1:9 LSB]  If we confess our sins, He [Yahweh] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[Psa 32:5 LSB]  I acknowledged my sin to You [Yahweh], and my iniquity I did not cover up; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh;” and You [Yahweh] forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[Psa 51:4 LSB]  Against You, You only [Yahweh], I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And pure when You judge.

Confession of sin to others is not necessarily a bad thing.  It's a great way to be held accountable and to request prayer from others:

[Jas 5:16 LSB]  Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed [G2390 - ἰάομαι]. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

James doesn't say "so that you may be absolved of your sin".  What does this verse mean then?  Go back to verse 13 and read through the context.

It's the Te absolvo that I have a problem with.  NO MAN has the ability to forgive sin no matter how many robes, rosaries, crowns, or titles they wear.

There is only one Mediator between God and man.  You don't need a pope or a priest:

[1Ti 2:5 LSB]  For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Yeshua,

We ARE priests!  Not catholic priests, but ROYAL priests!

[1Pe 2:9 LSB]  But you are A CHOSEN FAMILY, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

[Rev 1:6 LSB]  and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.

[Rev 5:10 LSB]  “And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

We have direct access to the Throne through Yeshua:

[Heb 4:16 LSB]  Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[Heb 10:19-22 LSB]  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Yeshua, [20]  by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, [21]  and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22]  let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Believers are invited to come directly to God through Christ’s blood — not through a priestly system of confession and absolution.
Which brings us to the next step in the sacrament of penance. In order to be restored to a state of grace, the repentant sinner has to perform works of satisfaction.

Rome says that justification requires faith plus works, grace plus merit, Christ plus inherent righteousness.

Scripture says that adding all of the above undermines the Gospel:

[Gal 2:20-21 LSB]  “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. [21]  “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Rome teaches that works of satisfaction produce merit, but it makes a sharp distinction between kinds of merit. Condign merit is so meritorious it demands a reward. God would be unjust if He did not reward works that were condignly meritorious.

However, the merit that is acquired through works of satisfaction in the sacrament of penance do not rise to the level of condign merit; these works produce congruous merit. This is real merit, but it is dependent on previous grace.  Is anyone as confused as I am by this point?  I don't remember reading about ANY of this in Scripture... do you?

So, long story short (too late?), if a person goes through the sacrament of penance, and does the works of satisfaction prescribed by the priest, it is congruous (or fitting) for God to restore that person to a state of justification.

Mankind should never be taught that any work they do can add in any way to the satisfaction for our sin that was accomplished by Christ ALONE.  Nevertheless, Rome continues to teach that works are involved in justification.

Yeshua's sacrifice was complete and sufficient:

[Heb 9:12 LSB]  and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy places once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

[Heb 10:18 LSB]  Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

If Christ’s one sacrifice perfectly and eternally paid for sin, then no additional works of satisfaction are needed from us. Adding them implies Christ’s work was incomplete. Salvation and forgiveness are free gifts which can come from Yahweh through Yeshua. Nobody can earn either by any type of work. [Rom 4:4-5 LSB]  Now to the one who works, his wage is not counted according to grace, but according to what is due. [5]  But to the one who does not work, but believes upon Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,