This is a continuation of my response to indecisivenerd’s questions on this post.
http://discoverthefaith.com/2008/03/06/john-hagee-an-anti-catholic-bigot/
I have tried to wrap up my answer with an explanation and Biblical support for confession. I have also answered the questions on prayers to the saints.
Here is a link to my first post that answered his questions on purgatory.
http://discoverthefaith.com/2008/07/15/proving-purgatory-from-the-bible/
Here is the latest response:
Indecisivenerd,
I finally found some time to continue answering some of your questions. Sorry for the delay. Hopefully this will answer some of your questions about confession. Confession is one of the seven “sacraments of faith” in the Catholic Church.
The Bible gives ample evidence of the authority given to the Church to forgive and retain sins. Let us look at several of these passages.
Matthew 16:19
19: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 18:18
18: Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
John:20:23
23: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Acts 19:18
18: Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.
2Corinthians 2:18
10: Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,
James 5:15
15: and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16: Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.
1 John 1:9
9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Here you have various passages that infer that confession of sins was practiced in the early Christian Church of the Bible. We also clearly see that there were those who were given the authority to bind and loose This was authority which also included the forgiveness of sins. I think that John 20:23 shows that Jesus gave authority to the disciples to go out and not just forgive, but also retain sins. I will agree that this practice developed over time but the practice of confession was part of the early Church.
I also would like to point out that 1 John 1:9 places an “if” condition on forgiveness of sins. The passage clearly says “if” we confess our sins. That Jesus will forgive our sins. It clearly says that we have to do something. This is part of the obedience of Faith that Paul talks about in Romans 1:5. Belief is not just acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord, it is obedience to what he taught. Baptism, the Eucharist, confession of sins, and all of Jesus’ teachings are part of this obedience. These are not the “works of the law” that Paul is talking about.
Since I already brought up the passage that talks about the prayer of the righteous (James 5:16), I will give a brief answer to your question about intercessory prayer.
“Intercessory prayer” is the type of prayer that are given to the Saints in heaven that have been perfected in Jesus Christ. We ask them to intercede on our behalf. 1 Tim 2:1-4 says:
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Do you ever ask anyone to pray for you in a time of need? Have you ever prayed for anyone in a time of need? If so, does this squander the wonderful connection God gave to us? Not at all. As Christians we are all part of the Body of Christ? I like to look at 1 Corinthians 12:26 to help explain this.
If one member suffers all suffer together, if one member is honored all rejoice together. Jesus rejoices any time anyone of his body is honored and it does not take away from the special connection by asking those in heaven to pray for us just as it does not by asking our brethren on Earth to pray for us. The word pray literally means “to ask”. And that is all we are doing when we ask the Saints in heaven to pray for us.
Revelation 8:3-4 and Rev 5:8 both indicate that those in heaven are aware of our prayers and that they present them to God.
Rev 8:3-4
[3] And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne;
[4] and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.
Rev 5:8
[8] And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;
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Hopefully I have helped you understand the Catholic view on the various topics that you inquired about. If you have anymore questions or if I left something out, please let me know. There are plenty of Catholic resources that can give a more in depth explanation for all these topics. Catholic Answers, EWTN and many other sights provide excellent information on the Catholic Church.
