When you may be clearly demonstrating your disregard for the actual sin itself, and doing what is right. it seems like it is just that simple, say you are sorry and you are forgiven. or in some cases, just tell a priest. That makes the entire bible seem pointless to me. Im not christian, (and i DO believe in God) but I am looking for some understanding for the purpose of formal or informal confession. If you want to insult, go for it. Just keep in mind you do not have to answer me, unless you only want the points. You will only be solidifying my misunderstanding if it in fact a such.
123905
The deal is, you yourself are supposed to feel more inclined to not do the sin again. You are supposed to feel regret, and say, damn, thats a sin, im not doing that again.\n\nBut if you keep doing it, then it probably doesnt mean much to you if you confess. If this is true, then there isnt a real reason to confess your sins. Repent yourself if you feel you did wrong, and if you feel you did nothing wrong, live your life as you want to.
611967
the bible says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forrgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. \nrighteousness means right standing with god.\n it also says what soever you sow you will also reap in THIS lifetime.\nthat means no free lunch, here and now. if you want to be bad you still have to pay for it. before the judgement. and no priest can change that. so start praying for crop failure.
553586
It is only an aid in establishing a "turning point" from a life in sin to a life in service.  The criteria is in Romans 10:8,9\n\nSalvation that comes from trusting Christ-which is the message we preach-is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, "The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart."\nFor if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
585005
The Necessity and Practice of Orally Confessing Sins\n\nJames 5:16 - James clearly teaches us that we must “confess our sins to one another,” not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which is referring to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Hence, when James says “therefore” in verse 16, he must be referring to the men he was writing about in verses 14 and 15 – these men are the ordained priests of the Church, to whom we must confess our sins.\n\nActs 19:18 - many came to orally confess sins and divulge their sinful practices. Oral confession was the practice of the early Church just as it is today. \n\nMatt. 3:6; Mark 1:5 - again, this shows people confessing their sins before others as an historical practice (here to John the Baptist). \n\n1 Tim. 6:12 - this verse also refers to the historical practice of confessing both faith and sins in the presence of many witnesses. \n\n1 John 1:9 - if we confess are sins, God is faithful to us and forgives us and cleanse us. But we must confess our sins to one another. \n\nNum. 5:7 - this shows the historical practice of publicly confessing sins, and making public restitution. \n\n2 Sam. 12:14 - even though the sin is forgiven, there is punishment due for the forgiven sin. David is forgiven but his child was still taken (the consequence of his sin). \n\nNeh. 9:2-3 - the Israelites stood before the assembly and confessed sins publicly and interceded for each other. \n\nSir. 4:26 - God tells us not to be ashamed to confess our sins, and not to try to stop the current of a river. Anyone who has experienced the sacrament of reconciliation understands the import of this verse. \n\nBaruch 1:14 - again, this shows that the people made confession in the house of the Lord, before the assembly. \n\n1 John 5:16-17; Luke 12:47-48 - there is a distinction between mortal and venial sins. This has been the teaching of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years, but, today, most Protestants no longer agree that there is such a distinction. Mortal sins lead to death and must be absolved in the sacrament of reconciliation. Venial sins do not have to be confessed to a priest, but the pious Catholic practice is to do so in order to advance in our journey to holiness. \n\nMatt. 5:19 - Jesus teaches that breaking the least of commandments is venial sin (the person is still saved but is least in the kingdom), versus mortal sin (the person is not saved).
422789
because the real christian bible says what good deeds you do you do in Private. so that only the father knows. and don't do good deeds that everyone sees to get the praise of man. [oh and by the way the only bible they hand out in jail is the Gideon bible [i think] so i guess they forgive the unforgivable!]
273766
Makes sense to me.  Some think they have sinned too much and can't be forgiven when the scripture says flat out they can and will if they just accept the forgiveness and repent.  They doubt God which is exactly what Satan wants you to do.  Think you are too far gone to get any forgiveness.  Is Jesus' sacrifice enough or would He have to hang for longer for you to think it is enough to cover YOUR sin?  Maybe not the best example but could you think of a better one?
110281
When you forget sins during confession, its not your fault. Just confess them the next time you go to confession. When you hold back sins though... thats bad. You recieve twice the load.
629118
"Why would born again Christians say that they are no better a person than say a child rapist and a murderer if they repented?"\n\nRepentance does not change a sinner into a non-sinner. What repentance does is "clothe" us in the righteousness of Christ, so that what God sees is not our righteousness (or lack of) but His. There is no gray-scale for sin in God's eyes, it is all black. From the casual liar, to the murderer, it is all sin. Were it not for the grace of God through Christ, we would still be in that mire. But we have been washed, and clothed in His righteousness. That does not make us "better" than any other sinner out there. That just makes us thankful and humbled, because it has nothing to do with anything we have done. It was all through the work of Jesus and God's grace and mercy.\n\n"What should be the motivation for all us sinners not going out raping and killing, why don't we?"\n\nFor every action, there is a reaction. Even though we have been forgiven, there are still reprocutions of our sin. God delivers us from the eternal consequences of our sin, but not the terrestrial. If you rape, or murder, you must pay the price. Ted Bundy accepted Christ while in prison, and God told him he must confess all of his crimes. Doing so would guarantee the death penalty. He confessed anyway and was justly put to death for his crimes.\n\n"And does that also suggest that one who never gets caught for commiting acts of savagry but later repents really never gets any punishment for their actions?"\n\nIf a person repents, God will not let them rest until they confess their crimes. Chuck Colson was easily able to "lawyer out" of his part in Watergate. But one question by Dan Rather convinced him that he must go to prison for his part in the coverup. True repentance opens your communication with God, and He has ways of dealing with your past.\n\n"OMG. what a horrible religion, but anyway."\n\nIf I had read this first, I would not have bothered with taking time to answer. People who commit crimes are in bondage to sin. Those who commit heinous crimes are manipulated by the devil, for he was a murderer from the beginning. When Christ came to set us free, it changed everything. If you think that murderers and the like deserve hell no matter what, that just shows that your mercy is limited.
327815
Christ died to cover all sin past, present and future. That doesn't give you a license to sin though. If you love God and have truly been "born again" then you will find all sin as offensive once you see it as sin. Once a person who is "born again" realizes that they have sinned they have a conviction burning inside of themselves to ask for forgiveness, and to permanently separate themselves from the sin forever. I would say that all of us struggle with sin but some of us have chosen not to fight it and instead just simply give in to it. I think that is the difference also in someone who loves God (the one that struggles and hates the sin) and someone who just wants to get to heaven (the one that seeks forgiveness knowing that they will in the future seek out to do the same sin again and again). I don't want to go to heaven just for the sake of going to heaven. I want to go to heaven to be with the One that my heart desires. I want to know God as I am known and see His face. The only way that I can see His face is to hate sin in the way that He hates sin.
173986
This type of sin, confess and receive repentance most rezembles the Cathlic faith.  It was started and practiced as a physical way to do the same thing we are suppose to be doing in the spiritual as well. "That which is done in the physical relm, through prayer, is also done in the spiritual relm."  \n\nThis is done by cathlics and not many others.  It has been done for so long that many do it now as a ritual and not as a whole hearted confession and turning away from the sin.  I agree with what you're saying and it will not end until Jesus returns.  Even then... For the ones who miss the boat, still may not change!?
480482
we have all sinned, and therefore all deserve to go to hell.  but that is the beauty of christianity, that it is no doing of your own to go to heven accept for accepting Christ as your lord and saviour.  it is that simple...so whether it is sexual sin, or stealing, or lieing, we have all sinned, and are there for in the same till we ask Christ into our lives...it is that simple.
290468
In the book of James we are told to "confess your sins, one to another".  This is also one of the ways people get sober and stay that way in AA. We put our shortcomings into perspective and get our guilt out. So yes appropriate, at least at times, and certainly usefull for spiritual health.
324007
i think just by asking the question realy reveals your answer, because it is impossible to be a christian and a whore as you put it, the bible says how can sweet and bitter water come out of the same fountain, this person needs to come clean with herself first because god knows. then repent, but at the same time we must remember that we are still human and fallible
359252
"God forgives those who forgive themselves".\n\nI wonder, could that person ever, in retrospect, manage to forgive himself or would he carry the guilt?\n\nAnother way to look at it is, if he has no remorse, he is unlikely to ask for forgiveness, which is also a requirement. You not only have to forgive yourself, you have to ask for forgiveness.\n\nThis makes me think there is little chance for this person to ever receive God's forgiveness.
386237
It is a matter of God. If you choose to confess to a priest or other religious leader they can/should/will tell you that you are forgiven because scripture says God forgives all who confess and repent but it is God that forgives not the religious leader.
571519
Confession is one of the seven Sacraments.  It is a Sacrament of Mercy and of Love.  It is not magic, or mechanical.  What matters most is the true sorrow for having committed one's sins.  If one is truly repentant for one's sins, then that is the essence of Confession.  If one is not, but just goes to the priest to be "magically" absolved, then he will get nothing out of it.  Remember, God sees what is inside the human heart.  We can only truly be repentant of our sins if we have the firm desire not to commit them again.  Of course, this does not mean that we won't -- we may fall again into sin -- but at least there should be a firm desire, at the time of confession, to refrain from all future sin.\n\nIt is a Sacrament of Mercy.  God forgives us, even when man cannot sometimes forgive.  God's merciful Love is infinite.  But He wants us to co-operate with Him.  Our co-operation is our firm resolution to turn away from sin, and our sincere sorrow for having sinned.\n\nWe go to a priest not because a man can forgive sins.  Only God can do this.  But Christ (who is fully God) entrusted this Authority to forgive sins to His ministers through His Church.  The priest is absolving you IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST.  He becomes Christ for you in the confessional.  His personal holiness is not the issue here.  What matters is that he is absolving you in Christ's person.  He has that Authority.  It was given to him by his bishop, who in turn received it through apostolic succession (handed down from Christ to His apostles to their successors, the bishops).\n\nSo next time you go to Confession, remember that love is at the core of the sacrament:  the infinite love of Christ for you.  He is transmitting that love to you through His Church in the Sacrament of Confession.  That is why it is also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation:  it reconciles the sinner to Christ.
28997
But your sin isn't finite, because it's a sin against God's holy standard.  He set the way things are to be, if you do something contrary to that, you've sinned against God, not a finite being.  I saw an article that said if you slap a foreign dignitary or someone in authority, that is a worse offense than slapping joe blow down the street.  Both slaps took the same time to commit, but one is a greater transgression.  So it is with God, only God's nature is infinite, so wouldn't that make the sin infinite?  If the sin is infinite, so the punishment must be.  \n\nJesus suffered an finite amount of time, but he was an infinite being (Christians believe Jesus was God).  So his sacrifice was infinite to atone for our sins that were infinite.  I'm not really well versed in the theology of this, but basic Christian teaching is that the only one who could atone for our sins was an infinite being, thats why it's wrong for a Christian to teach that Jesus was not God, but that he atoned for our sins.  Logically, it would be impossible.\n\nIf you want, email me, and I can ask my pastor, he has a Ph.D in philosophy and is a Christian.  I realize you may not agree with what he has to say, but in any case, you could hear a logical answer to your question to better understand what Christians believe.