livingword26 said:
Agreed that we, as Christians are called to lay down sin, though it be by Gods Spirit that we are able to do so.
Yes, it is by God's grace, but also by cooperating with God in His will. This, at least as far as I understand, is the main aspect of perfection (or better known as holiness) that we are called to. On one hand, there are the natural virtues, such as prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance that are habits that come from human effort. On the other are the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity that, as the Catechims notes, are "infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life" (CCC 1813). While the natural virtues come by human effort, they are "rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's faculties for participation in the divine nature" (CCC 1812). So basically, we do have virtues by nature that come out of habit and human effort. However, there are the virtues of faith, hope, and charity that come directly from God, are the basis for the human virtues, and aid us to be able to cooperate in God's divine grace.
Even so, it is a process of learning and growing and dying to ourselves. His Spirit agrees with His Word that calls us towards perfection.
Indeed.
In the end, when what Pauls calls our vile bodies are redeemed, then we will be without sin, until then, we struggle towards it, but will not obtain it until that day.
Well, this may be partially a difference between Catholic and Protestant doctrine. As a Catholic, I do not believe in total depravity, nor the quasi Manichaean view that the "flesh" is evil. God created all things, visible and invisible. Our Lord was incarnated in human flesh and spoke of his own body as a temple. The body which we dwell in, the Apostle says the following:
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." (I Cor. 3:16-17)
So in understanding the rotoric that the Apostle uses regarding life in the Spirit and life according to the flesh should not be considered as literally meaning that the fleshly body that we dwell in (and is a part of us) is evil. Rather, it is used by St. Paul to compare and contrast life that is directed toward God and life that is directed toward more worldly endeavors. For the life in the Spirit means one that is ordered toward God's will while life according to the flesh means one that is ordered toward worldly desires, and thus things that are finite, rather that what is infinite and leads to eternal life.
So that being said, to make the perfect confession....I don't think that any of us really know what that is. We can only confess as the Spirit reveals truth to us, and wait in faith.
Well, we do have some understanding as to whether we confess more for worldly reasons or more for reasons that seek closer relationship with God. Perfect contrition is to confess toward the things concerning God while the imperfect contrition is primarily things concerning worldly affairs.
For instance, if one goes to Confession because they desire to give their sins up to the Lord (as the Tax Collector did) in order to recieve God's mercy and grace, then that person has given a perfect contrition. However, if a person goes to to confession merely because they want to prove their holiness (such as the Pharisee did) and merely seeks the pennance due to some personal gain (such as to fast as a pennance primarily because it seems to make for a good way to lose weight), then this would be considered an imperfect contrition. The goal in Confession is to give a perfect contrition and to do the pennance because it aids in bringing a person to a closer relationship with God and to further be able to cooperate in God's will.
Pax Tecum,
John