Catholic? Hell? Me?

[Alyssa97]

When I lived in Illinois, i went to a Catholic church with my dad. But in Texas my mom and step dad took me to a Baptist church. From what i know in the catholic church i don't get. That you have to go through a middleman to be forgiven. But from what i learned in the Baptist church is that, no matter what you do your forgiven when you ask god to forgive you. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So why do we have to ask a man (Priest) for forgiveness? He's not God. We were all created equally, right? So why are Priest so special? I don't mean mean to be disrespectful, to any religion. I'm just confused. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for us to be forgiven. So why do we have to be punished by man, and forgiven by man, before God can forgive us (as in the catholic religion). So does that mean Jesus dying on the cross wasn't enough, for us to be forgiven? He was a perfect person, who had done no wrong, he was the son of Christ. He was born to die. For what? For us to be forgiven. And after all that we have to be punished by a man, who has sinned. And be forgiven by man, who has sinned. All before God to forgive us. Who gave his only son. Jesus to die on the Cross. For us to be forgiven of our sins.
Can someone please help me understand this. I am only 14 and am so confused. I don't know who to talk to about this. A Catholic Priest might think I'm trying to be disrespectful and I'm not. I just moved to a new state and am not going to church, yet. Can someone please help me understand.

 

[NiceneChristian]

Hi, just read this link, its straight from the horses mouth:

Confession | Catholic Answers

 

[rodogg]

It originates from what Jesus said to the disciples at Pentecost: "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." - John 20:23. Priests continue that. It is given by Jesus, not something man-made.

 

[kayem77]

Alyssa I see that you're new, so first off let me say welcome to CC!

About forgiveness, only God can grant forgiveness for sins as is stated in the Bible lots of times.

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him(Jesus) receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Acts 10:43

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:4-5

And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” Luke 5:20

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (by faith) Colossians 2:13


As you see in all those verses(and I think this is the core of the gospel) forgiveness is earned by faith in Jesus, he who believes in Him has eternal life. When we confess Jesus as our Savior in our hearts, our sins are nailed to the cross and we are forgiven. If we don't accept Jesus as our Saviour, we are still living in sin, hence we are not forgiven. Even Jesus said it in John 8:24 :

I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

Now, when we receive the Holy Spirit (when we are born-again) , we are called to share the gospel message, with the HS guiding us. We are commanded to tell people if their sins are forgiven (which you can know if a persons has or not accepted Jesus as saviour) or not so they can repent, and proceed to accept Jesus as their Savior for the forgiveness of sins and salvation. It's not that WE have the power to forgive sins, even the Pharisees knew that a man can't forgive sins and that's why they said that Jesus was speaking blasphemies in Luke 5:21 (but we know He wasnt, since He is God indeed )

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

What we CAN do is share the gospel, and tell those who haven't accepted Jesus to repent because they are living in sin according to the Word.
Hope that helped you. God bless you!!

 

[hislastwalk]

be careful even as a baptist (I use to be baptist) most believe once saved always saved.... but that's not true according to the bible.(I don't believe you ever lose Jesus, but you CAN forfeit Jesus [I.E: backsliding).and a lot of Baptist talk bad about speaking in tongues (not all, just in general) the bible clearly says "do not forbid speaking in tongues" and speaking against it, is blasphemy, and blasphemy is unforgivable. I do believe there will be baptist in Heaven though

 

[Ramon]

When I lived in Illinois, i went to a Catholic church with my dad. But in Texas my mom and step dad took me to a Baptist church. From what i know in the catholic church i don't get. That you have to go through a middleman to be forgiven. But from what i learned in the Baptist church is that, no matter what you do your forgiven when you ask god to forgive you. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So why do we have to ask a man (Priest) for forgiveness? He's not God. We were all created equally, right? So why are Priest so special? I don't mean mean to be disrespectful, to any religion. I'm just confused. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for us to be forgiven. So why do we have to be punished by man, and forgiven by man, before God can forgive us (as in the catholic religion). So does that mean Jesus dying on the cross wasn't enough, for us to be forgiven? He was a perfect person, who had done no wrong, he was the son of Christ. He was born to die. For what? For us to be forgiven. And after all that we have to be punished by a man, who has sinned. And be forgiven by man, who has sinned. All before God to forgive us. Who gave his only son. Jesus to die on the Cross. For us to be forgiven of our sins.
Can someone please help me understand this. I am only 14 and am so confused. I don't know who to talk to about this. A Catholic Priest might think I'm trying to be disrespectful and I'm not. I just moved to a new state and am not going to church, yet. Can someone please help me understand.

Jesus not only died to forgive us of our sins, he also rose for our justification. This was a picture of what he would do in your own life. His flesh died, be he was raised again by the Spirit of God, (the power of God).

The religions of men are the most hostile sects to Jesus Christ, and the main reason is that, although they appear righteous on the outside, they are like dead bones on the inside.

Jesus speaks on a very personal level, but false righteous men assume he is speaking to someone else (else they wouldn't be so righteous).

So, when I say that you don't need a priest as a middle man, that is true, and anyone who disagrees with me shows that they also disagree with Jesus Christ.

The only priest you need is Jesus Christ. He is the way to heaven. He forgives you of sins. He makes atonement by his blood for sins done. He speaks to God on your behalf.

It was written to call no man on this earth father, for you have only one father, and that is He who is from Heaven.

Now, if I walked into a Catholic church and preached this, what do you think they would do? Would they love me or kick me out? Might they not kill me if I went too far? Maybe.

False righteous people say much, but the biggest way they deny Jesus is in deed, but do you obey him in deed?

May Jesus bless you.

 

[EnlightenedInsanity]

Catholicism is a satanic cult disguised as Christianity. Don't listen to it.

 

[TheAristocat]

When I lived in Illinois, i went to a Catholic church with my dad. But in Texas my mom and step dad took me to a Baptist church. From what i know in the catholic church i don't get. That you have to go through a middleman to be forgiven. But from what i learned in the Baptist church is that, no matter what you do your forgiven when you ask god to forgive you. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So why do we have to ask a man (Priest) for forgiveness? He's not God. We were all created equally, right? So why are Priest so special? I don't mean mean to be disrespectful, to any religion. I'm just confused. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for us to be forgiven. So why do we have to be punished by man, and forgiven by man, before God can forgive us (as in the catholic religion). So does that mean Jesus dying on the cross wasn't enough, for us to be forgiven? He was a perfect person, who had done no wrong, he was the son of Christ. He was born to die. For what? For us to be forgiven. And after all that we have to be punished by a man, who has sinned. And be forgiven by man, who has sinned. All before God to forgive us. Who gave his only son. Jesus to die on the Cross. For us to be forgiven of our sins.
Can someone please help me understand this. I am only 14 and am so confused. I don't know who to talk to about this. A Catholic Priest might think I'm trying to be disrespectful and I'm not. I just moved to a new state and am not going to church, yet. Can someone please help me understand.

In the end the only one who can really forgive a sin is God since a sin is by definition a sin against God and not against a priest or another man. But if God says that he will forgive people's sins if someone else forgives them then I'd believe him. I just think that was a specific instance in which Jesus was instructing his disciples. Jesus also taught us to ask God the Father directly for our sins to be forgiven in the Lord's Prayer.

I think the litmus test for who is going to "hell or heaven" is checking to see if someone believes in the Gospel message rather than who has had water sprinkled on them or who has been circumcised or eaten communion. If we lived in a society that did not readily have the bread and wine of Communion available would this turn Christ's sacrifice into nothing? No. So we need to be careful what we accept as necessary for salvation. I do believe that a certain level of faith is required to be saved though, and that faith expresses itself through good deeds such as obeying God in Communion or baptism, etc. But those acts themselves have no bearing on our salvation and one should not place our trust in them but rather our trust in God's work through Christ.

I find it interesting to note that those who believe that baptism is necessary for salvation have quite possibly never been baptized in the appropriate fashion. Baptism used to be a Jewish ritual called a mikvah or an "immersion" where one was supposed to be immersed completely in running water (i.e. "living water" that is aerated and not stagnant so it can support life). Those who sprinkle themselves with water are not being baptized according to the earliest regulation for it. So if they believe it is necessary for salvation then they are already damned.

 

[rodogg]

Catholicism is a satanic cult disguised as Christianity. Don't listen to it.

I'm offended by that, just so you know. And it is not a satanic cult disguised as Christianity. Please don't say such things, we are all Christians, where is the love?

 

[Tobby17]

When I lived in Illinois, i went to a Catholic church with my dad. But in Texas my mom and step dad took me to a Baptist church. From what i know in the catholic church i don't get. That you have to go through a middleman to be forgiven. But from what i learned in the Baptist church is that, no matter what you do your forgiven when you ask god to forgive you. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So why do we have to ask a man (Priest) for forgiveness? He's not God. We were all created equally, right? So why are Priest so special? I don't mean mean to be disrespectful, to any religion. I'm just confused. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for us to be forgiven. So why do we have to be punished by man, and forgiven by man, before God can forgive us (as in the catholic religion). So does that mean Jesus dying on the cross wasn't enough, for us to be forgiven? He was a perfect person, who had done no wrong, he was the son of Christ. He was born to die. For what? For us to be forgiven. And after all that we have to be punished by a man, who has sinned. And be forgiven by man, who has sinned. All before God to forgive us. Who gave his only son. Jesus to die on the Cross. For us to be forgiven of our sins.
Can someone please help me understand this. I am only 14 and am so confused. I don't know who to talk to about this. A Catholic Priest might think I'm trying to be disrespectful and I'm not. I just moved to a new state and am not going to church, yet. Can someone please help me understand.

Hi, welcome to CC ..

If ur spirit convicts u of something, then listen to it, that's all i can say

God Bless

 

[zeroturbulence]

When I lived in Illinois, i went to a Catholic church with my dad. But in Texas my mom and step dad took me to a Baptist church. From what i know in the catholic church i don't get. That you have to go through a middleman to be forgiven. But from what i learned in the Baptist church is that, no matter what you do your forgiven when you ask god to forgive you. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So why do we have to ask a man (Priest) for forgiveness? He's not God. We were all created equally, right? So why are Priest so special? I don't mean mean to be disrespectful, to any religion. I'm just confused. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for us to be forgiven. So why do we have to be punished by man, and forgiven by man, before God can forgive us (as in the catholic religion). So does that mean Jesus dying on the cross wasn't enough, for us to be forgiven? He was a perfect person, who had done no wrong, he was the son of Christ. He was born to die. For what? For us to be forgiven. And after all that we have to be punished by a man, who has sinned. And be forgiven by man, who has sinned. All before God to forgive us. Who gave his only son. Jesus to die on the Cross. For us to be forgiven of our sins.
Can someone please help me understand this. I am only 14 and am so confused. I don't know who to talk to about this. A Catholic Priest might think I'm trying to be disrespectful and I'm not. I just moved to a new state and am not going to church, yet. Can someone please help me understand.

And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." - John 20:21-22 NIV

"If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, " - (words of Paul) 2 Corinthians 2:10 NIV

"And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him." 2 Coninthians 5:18 NLT

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." - James 5:16 NIV

"The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." Mark 1:5

 

[TheAristocat]

And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." - John 20:21-22 NIV

"If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, " - (words of Paul) 2 Corinthians 2:10 NIV

"And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him." 2 Coninthians 5:18 NLT

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." - James 5:16 NIV

"The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." Mark 1:5

James 5:16 implies that forgiveness comes from God even if it starts with Man, right? No other verse denies this though it does not explicitly state it either.