The fourth sip from Babylon's cup we shall I name "Penance." The Council of Trent, in its fourteenth session, issued its famous decree on penance as a sacrament:
"Whoever shall affirm that penance, as used in the [Roman] Catholic Church is not truly and properly a sacrament, instituted by Christ our Lord, for the benefit of the faithful, to reconcile them to God, as often as they shall fall into sin after baptism: let him be accursed.
"Whoever, confounding the sacraments, shall affirm that baptism itself is a penance, as if those two sacraments were not distinct, and penance were not rightly called a 'second plank after shipwreck': let him be accursed. ...
"Whoever shall deny, that in order to the full and perfect forgiveness of sins, three acts are required of the penitent, constituting as it were the matter of the sacrament of penance, namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction, which are called t the three parts of penance. Or shall affirm that there are only two parts of penance, namely, terrors wherewith the conscience is smitten by the sense of sin, and faith, produced by the gospel, or by absolution, whereby the person believes that his sins are forgiven him through Christ: let him be accursed."[1]
An examination of this doctrine reveals that it contains many ingredients, "namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction." The definition in the Roman Catholic Catechism is as follows:
"Q. What do we mean by penance? A. By a penance we mean the prayers of good works imposed by the priest in confession. It is intended as satisfaction for our sins.... Q. What punishment for sin is taken away by the sacrament of penance? A. The eternal punishment for sin is taken away in the sacrament of penance. Q. What is meant by the temporal punishment of sin? A. The temporal punishment of sin is that punishment which is due after the guilt of the sin is forgiven."[2]
"In this sacrament sins are forgiven by the priest's absolution, joined with contrition, confession and satisfaction on the part of the penitent. ... It also remits the eternal, and at least a part of the temporal, punishment due to our past sins."[3]
The sacraments of penance and auricular confession are very closely connected. It is in the confessional that penance is imposed by the priest. By performing the good works, the penal suffering is offered as satisfaction for sin to God by the penitent, which is truly an admission by the priest that they have not full faith in their absolution.
What a picture to hang before a poor soul who is weighted down with the burden of sin! What is left after confession but to resort to his own works to redeem himself from sin? The round of meritorious works keeps the soul bound to its sins, wearies the body, and banishes peace from the mind. What a different experience comes with the knowledge of sins forgiven by the Redeemer of the world!
The doctrine of penance is diametrically opposed to what the Holy Scriptures teach on justification by faith. It does away with a loving and merciful Savior, and causes the individual to lose confidence in the assurance of full salvation through Him. The papal church has left nothing undone to elevate man and his own works, thereby robbing God of His rightful place in the hearts of men. How tragic to see souls laboring under such false delusions and trying to offer meaningless works as a satisfaction to an all-loving God! God asks us: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." (Jeremiah 13:23) "Without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
God never intended that His children should be kept in doubt as to their eternal salvation. The promise of God's complete forgiveness is as certain as His word, so that not only mortal but venial sins will be pardoned, as the word "all" in the following text indicates: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:17-19)
It is the rending of the heart and not outward works for which God calls. "Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn you even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents Him of the evil." (Joel 2:12,13) From the days of Cain, who was the first to introduce his own works as a substitute for Christ's pardoning power, until now the enemy of all righteousness has left nothing undone to blind man to his utter dependence upon God alone for salvation.
John the Baptist did not impose penance, but he taught repentance to those who came to him for baptism. "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." (Matthew 3:8)[4] When Christ pardoned the adulterous woman, penance was not meted by Him to the penitent, but He did require repentance, as His words of counsel attest: "Go, and sin no more." (John 8:11)
In replying to the question, "What shall we do?" asked by hearts convicted of sin, the apostle Peter said nothing about the sacrament of penance, as his inspired reply discloses: " Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter, said unto them, Repent." (Acts 2:37,38)[5]
The doctrine of repentance was the great burden of Peter's teaching. " Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." (Acts 3:19)[6] There is a vast difference between doing penance and repenting of sins. It is easier for the carnal mind to repeat the litany or rosary than to surrender the will to God and relinquish cherished sins. By one's own works of penance he virtually denies the redemption accomplished by Christ on the cross. justification, and not satisfaction, is the teaching of the Holy Bible. What can the good works of a poor mortal accomplish in satisfying the claims of the broken law of a holy and merciful, but just God?
In the papal " tribunal of penance" the priestly scale measures out to the penitent an amount of good works to be done not only for the purpose of satisfying the justice of God, but also for expiating the sins that he has committed. Here is the way Roman Catholics are taught to regard it:
"Penance is a sacrament of the new law instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest's absolution to those who with true sorrow confess their sins and promise to satisfy for the same. It is called a 'sacrament' not simply a function or ceremony, because it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace to the soul. As an outward sign it comprises the actions of the penitent in presenting himself to the priest and accusing himself of his sins, and the actions of the priest in pronouncing absolution and imposing satisfaction. The whole procedure is usually called, from one of its parts, 'confession'. And it is said to take place in the 'tribunal of penance,' because it is a judicial process in which the penitent is at once the accuser, the person accused, and the witness, while the priest pronounces judgment and sentence. The grace conferred is deliverance from the guilt of sin and, in the case of mortal sin, from its eternal punishment; hence also reconciliation with God, justification. Finally, the confession is made not in the secrecy of the penitent's heart nor to a layman's friend and advocate, nor to a representative of human authority, but to a duly ordained priest with requisite jurisdiction and with the 'power of the keys,' i.e., the power to forgive sins, which Christ granted to His church."[7]
In the Roman Catholic Church the inflexible requirements imposed in the sacrament of penance cannot be averted, however contrite the heart of the sinner may be in the confessional. Jesus, who "died for our sins," and who says to the sinner, "I, even I, am He that blots out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins," (1 Corinthians 15:3; Isaiah 43:25) is never held up by the priest as man's perfect atonement.
The Inspired Word teaches that it is either grace absolutely, or works absolutely: "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." (Romans 11:6) Not until confession of sin and the entire renunciation of everything that is offensive to God is made, will the imputed righteousness of Christ be credited, without works, to the account of the sinner. " Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." (Romans 4:6,7)
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that it is not only necessary to receive absolution in the confessional, but that through the sacrament of penance the imposing of the performance of good works is essential, thus advocating salvation through a combination of grace and works.
It is our acceptance of Christ by faith as our propitiation that brings about the remission of our sins. For it is He "whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God." (Romans 3:25) There is no more condemnation, fear is an gone, and the peace of heaven abides in the heart of those who accept God's plan. " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1)
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