Pope Tells Catholics Not To Seek Forgiveness Directly From God!
28. ... It is good to renew and reaffirm this faith at a moment when it might be weakening, losing something of its completeness or entering into an area of shadow and silence, threatened as it is by the negative elements of the above-mentioned crisis. For the sacrament of confession is indeed being undermined, on the one hand by the obscuring of the mortal and religious conscience, the lessening of a sense of sin, the distortion of the concept of repentance and the lack of effort to live an authentically Christian life. And on the other hand, it is being undermined by the sometimes widespread idea that one can obtain forgiveness directly from God, even in a habitual way, without approaching the sacrament of reconciliation. A further negative influence is the routine of a sacramental practice sometimes lacking in fervor and real spontaneity, deriving perhaps from a mistaken and distorted idea of the effects of the sacrament.
Source: Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation
RECONCILIATION AND PENANCE, dated December 2nd, 1984.
The Pope is saying that a Catholic must seek out a priest to confess their sins and ask forgiveness only through the priest, and that this "sacrament" of confession / penance is undermined by those who think they can approach God directly for forgiveness. This makes the Catholic priest essential in the process of salvation, since he stands in the place of God, as another mediator between man and God. This is not a novel teaching in the Catholic Church, is has a long history:
St. Leo the Great (440-461) writes: "God in His abundant mercy has provided two remedies for the sins of men; that they may gain eternal life by the grace of Baptism, and also by the remedy of Penance. Those who have violated the vows of their Baptism may obtain the remission of their sins by condemning themselves; the divine goodness has so decreed that [pg. 284] the pardon of God can only be obtained by sinners through the prayers of the priests. Jesus Christ Himself has conferred upon the rulers of the Church the power of imposing canonical penance upon sinners who confess their sins, and of allowing them to receive the Sacraments of Christ, after they have purified their souls by a salutary satisfaction. . . . " (
Epis. cviii.). [Emphasis supplied]
Source: The Question Box, New Edition, by Rev. Bertrand L. Conway, Copyright 1929 by "The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, New York, published by The Paulist Press, 401 West 59th Street, New York, pages 283-284.
Note what scripture says about confessing our sins to God:
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
In Matt 9:2-6,
Mark 2:5-12, and
Luke 5:18-25 Christ publicly forgives a man's sins, and the scribes and Pharisees thinking Christ a mere man, accuse Him of blasphemy, because as they reasoned: Who can forgive sins, but God alone? Claiming to be able to forgive a man's sins is called blasphemy, it is something only God can do.
The Catholic teaching cited above is clearly in direct opposition to scripture.
This leaves the 4th commandment to be found in
Daniel 8.
Dan 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
Note that in verse 11 we again have two points, the daily and the sanctuary. As we have seen previously, the parallel to times in
Daniel 7:25 is the cleansing of the sanctuary after 2300 days (years) in verse 14, the judgment on the day of atonement. So for the parallel to laws in
Daniel 7:25, let's now examine the daily. The word translated daily [
H8548 - tamiyd] can also have the meaning perpetual (
Exo. 30:8,
Lev. 6:20). The word sacrifice in the above verse is supplied by the translators, it is not in the original text and should be ignored.
Dan 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily [perpetual] sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
Dan 8:12 And an host was given him against the daily [perpetual] sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.
Dan 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily [perpetual] sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
We can see above that the daily / perpetual is taken away and replaced by what is called the transgression of desolation. What truth is cast to the ground by the transgression?
Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Clearly the transgression of desolation involves transgressing the law of God. If we use the definition of perpetual instead of daily, does that lead us to the Sabbath? Yes it does!
Exo 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
Exo 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
The word tamid in
Daniel 8, 11, and 12 should be translated as perpetual, referring to the perpetual covenant of the Sabbath commandment. The transgression which replaces the perpetual covenant and results in desolation is also mentioned in Isaiah.
Isa 24:1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
Isa 24:2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
Isa 24:3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
Isa 24:4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
Isa 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isa 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
So the mark of the beast, the little horn, is indeed found in
Daniel 8, it is the transgression of desolation. It is also the abomination that maketh desolate in
Daniel 11:31 and
Daniel 12:11 and the abomination of desolation in
Matthew 24:15 and
Mark 13:14.
THE SEAL OF GOD
If we also now apply the refined definitions of "times and laws" of Dan 7:25 provided to us by
Revelation 12:17, 14:7 and 19:10, and read them into
Isaiah 8, notice the result:
Isa 8:16 Bind up the testimony (of Jesus, the spirit of prophecy), seal the law (7th day Sabbath) among my disciples.
Isa 8:20 To the law (7th day Sabbath) and to the testimony (2300 day prophecy / pre-advent judgment): if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
In conjunction with
Exodus 31:16-17, this clearly confirms the 7th day Sabbath to be the sign or seal of God, the perpetual covenant of
Daniel 8.
In the very time in which we live, the Lord has called His people and has given them a message to bear. He has called them to expose the wickedness of the man of sin who has made the Sunday law a distinctive power, who has thought to change times and laws, and to oppress the people of God who stand firmly to honor Him by keeping the only true Sabbath, the Sabbath of creation, as holy unto the Lord. He has called them to bear the sign of God, to exalt the Lord in keeping holy His law; for it is a transcript of His character. No part of the law of God and their covenant obligation to keep that law holy is to lose its binding claims upon all the world. Those who have had the light upon keeping the law of Jehovah are to stand firmly in the faith, and to make that light shine forth in clear, distinct rays. {18MR 33.1} (
Biblelight)
Something to think about.
