When Protestants began to separate from the errors of believing Catholics have a replacement theology instead of a fulfillment theology is when they would begin to understand Catholicism.
There are many images in the Old Covenant which show us how the sacraments effect our souls in the spiritual reality of the New Covenant.
It was Augustine who said,refering to the Old and New Testament, “the new is in the old concealed, the old is in the new revealed.”
Protestantism to a point has to be ignorant in order to separate from 1500 years of truth. It began to be developed when most people could not even read and offered a religion of candy instead of vegetables to the people and People need to eat their vegetables. I do not say this to be cruel, I say it because God wants us all to be one and there is no true oneness separated from truth. Catholicism is the truth.
Paul writes:
Obey your prelates who have the rule over you for they watch over your souls.
He says he has been given a ministry of reconciliation.
But all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ; and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Cor 5:18
If you believe the scriptures are supposed to be an infallible revelation in order to be saved then why would you ignore what God wrote into scripture that assists us on this salvation journey?
Why would you ignore the physical church God established as the reestablished Kingdom of David? Why do you ignore the religion and ritual that is all across the New Testament that Jesus put in place through an agonizing death on the cross ( It is finished) Why do you ignore the sacerdotal office of Bishops, Priests and Deacons in scripture ? Why do you ignore Paul’s call to obedience to the faith? Why do you ignore God incarnate who is the word through which all things were made saying, “ receive the Holy Spirit whose sins you forgive are forgiven whose sins you bind our bound.”
Sins cannot to bound unless they are first confessed.
There was one church of one doctrine formed at Pentecost. Paul was a priest in this one church . Irenaeus said, “ all of the apostles were priests.” There is no reconciliation, restoration of grace for those who have already been baptized who fell into mortal sin without confession. This is terrible and ominous for those who leave the church. This is how detrimental living in truth as it is exposed to the soul is. We are called to live in truth as it is exposed to the soul and not living in truth is falling from grace.
He who knows what is right and refuses to do so for him this is sin. James 4:17
When Paul says , “Obey your prelates who have the rule over you for they watch over your souls. “ He would have called it an extreme heresy to obey an authority of Christian matters of anyone who was not of the one church of one doctrine formed in the supernatural sacramental nature by God as the reestablished Kingdom of David.
The apostles as part of the gospel believed they were in a time when prophecy was fulfilled which included the restoration of the Kingdom of David in the church.
3And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying: Men, brethren, hear me. 14Simon hath related how God first visited to take to the Gentiles, a people to his name. 15And to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written:
16After these things I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and the ruins thereof I will rebuild. And I will set it up:
17That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, and all nations upon whom my name is invoked, saith the Lord, who doth these things.
Acts 15
When the Jews for longing for the Kingdom to return, they were not thinking of the kingdom of heaven above but they also did not comprehend how the Kingdom would not be of this world but sacramental in nature. The phrase kingdom of heaven does not refer to a place we go to after death but the rule of God, Mount Sion, being established on earth. Therefore in the Lord’s Prayer the Our Father we hear: “ Thy kingdom come thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
To be born again through water and spirit into the Kingdom of Heaven is to enter the sacramental reestablished kingdom of David where we live obedience to the faith in the sacramental life in our process of transforming grace through which we are saved.
Jesus said there are weeds planted by Satan in the Kingdom. He can only be referring to the reestablished kingdom of David in the church because Satan cannot plant weeds in the eternal state of heaven.
So it is in the kingdom where we are called in a practice of humility and in a mercy of God, where we have confession to a priest of apostolic succession.
In the reestablished kingdom of David is where Paul said these words.
And they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers Acts 2:42
I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, 2With all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. 3Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4One body and one Spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling. 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all. Eph 4:1
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgment. 1 Cor 1:10
God would not have establish an old covenant priesthood who offered sacrifice for the sins of the Israelites unless it was going to be fulfilled in a supernatural reality in the new. In the mystery of sacrament we go from the physical in the Old Covenant to a physical sign that gives spiritual grace in the new.
We see the New Covenant priesthood in type in Leviticus and Numbers.
20If a man carnally lie with a woman that is a bondservant and marriageable, and yet not redeemed with a price, nor made free: they both shall be scourged: and they shall not be put to death, because she was not a free woman. 21And for his trespass he shall offer a ram to the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. 22And the priest shall pray for him: and for his sin before the Lord: and he shall have mercy on him, and the sin shall be forgiven.
Leviticus 19:20
The person that sweareth, and uttereth with his lips, that he would do either evil or good, and bindeth the same with an oath, and his word: and having forgotten it afterwards understandeth his offence, 5Let him do penance for his sin: 6And offer of the flocks an ewe lamb, or a she goat, and the priest shall pray for him and for his sin.
Leviticus 5:4
5And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6Say to the children of Israel: When a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and offended, 7They shall confess their sin, and restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over and above, to him against whom they have sinned. 8But if there be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest's, besides the ram that is offered for expiation, to be an atoning sacrifice. 9All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong to the priest: 10And whatsoever is offered into the sanctuary by every one, and is delivered into the hands of the priest, it shall be his.
Numbers 5:5-10
When Israel Zolli the Chief Rabbi of Rome during world war 11 converted to the Catholic faith, he was asked why he left his Jewish faith. He responded:
But I have not given it up. Christianity is the integration (completion or crown) of the Synagogue. For, the Synagogue was a promise, and Christianity is the fulfillment of that promise. The Synagogue pointed to Christianity: Christianity presupposes the Synagogue. So you see, one cannot exist without the other. What I converted to was the living Christianity."
So in this living Christianity we should truly see what Jesus meant when He said, I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law.
So in the fulfillment of the law of confessions for the Jews is confession to those of the New Covenant priesthood.
This is really easy to see, if you respect Augustine’s image of type and fulfillment which is obviously draws from Paul’s images of type and fulfillment in Hebrew 9.
1The former indeed had also justifications of divine service and a sanctuary. 2For there was a tabernacle made the first, wherein were the candlesticks and the table and the setting forth of loaves, which is called the Holy. 3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies: 4Having a golden censer and the ark of the testament covered about on every part with gold, in which was a golden pot that had manna and the rod of Aaron that had blossomed and the tables of the testament. 5And over it were the cherubims of glory overshadowing the propitiatory: of which it is not needful to speak now particularly.
Notice how Paul says, “ of which it is not needful to speak now particularly.”
There is no where else in scripture where he does so. This is a death blow to Sola Scriptura.
So,
I have noticed a pattern in the tradition of how Protestantism denies confession and the priesthood. In the process of separation from the church through man’s lower nature, over the last 500 years they have separated from the spiritual reality of Christianity.
Through their false understanding of works they have separated from Paul’s call to obedience to the faith. It is a call to live the sacramental life and there is no living as a Christian of the New Covenant without living obedience to the faith.
So when it comes to confession in the New Testament they choose not to see more than one application for confession and think confession simply means confessing to the congregation of believers or to God alone in prayer. And yet even with this argument, have you seen any Protestants confessing their intimate sins lately among their congregations?
When Paul tells us to confess to each other, he does so for the peace of the church so that we clear our hearts with our brothers in faith before we bring our gifts to the altar. The laity brought the bread and wine to be consecrated. It is the same 2000 years later.
Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.
Matthew 5:24
This is different from the confession to the priest for the absolution of sins.
Paul tells Titus the bishop of Crete:
For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and shouldest ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee:
Titus 1:5
Paul was appointing bishops who would ordain priests everywhere he went.
The word priest is in the etymology of elder, presbyter and presbyteros and the earliest historical records show us priests consecrating the Eucharist through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus shows us the establishment of confession in John 20:21
He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
John 20:21
Jesus is telling the apostles that they are being given the authority of the Father who sent Christ into the world, so that they could forgive man’s sins. He does so by way of power of the Holy Spirit through breathing or giving of the nature of God.
“the breath of the Almighty gives me life” [Job 33:4
“But it is a spirit in man,
And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.
Job 32:8
In the same way God breaths life into man He breathes the sacramental realities into the church which is His flesh.
Protestants quote the Pharisees that only God can forgive sins while they ignore the words of God. Protestantism limits its capacity for faith in scripture by rationalizing away Catholic concepts. It’s a Judeo Catholic book. It is a sad state of affairs because it is a psychological conditioning that leads to not truly seeing scripture. They can’t, it’s Catholic.
At the beginning of Mass the church has general confession and during Holy Mass is spiritually sprinkled with the blood that speaks better than that of Able for atonement of venial sins ( Hebrews 12:22) so that Jesus presents his bride to his father without spot or wrinkle. Therefore Paul tells us, the one church God established:
25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and delivered himself up for it: 26That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: 27That he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Ephesians 5:23
We began the Holy Mass with…
“I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.”
In spiritually entering the veil through the laver of baptism we are given the graces to celebrate the true Passover through our high priest with the hosts of heaven. ( Nothing unclean can enter it) Therefore in Hebrews 10, Paul shows us how we entered the veil. In Hebrews 12, he shows us our heavenly reality we come to in every Holy Mass where through our high priest we offer the true Passover for the world.
“ You have come to Mount Sion to the New Jerusalem…
It begins with baptism which Paul shows us is type fulfilled of the bronze laver the Levitical priests needed to wash In before sacrificing or entering through the veil into the Holies .
Not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Ghost.
Titus 3:5
The meeting tent holds the mystery of salvation through Christ and his body, his bride, his church.
The laver before entering the veil is baptism into the flesh of Christ.
But you are come to mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, 23And to the church of the firstborn who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, 24And to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and to the sprinkling of blood which speaketh better than that of Abel.
But yet this spiritual reality does not occur if you are not in a state of grace. If you have fallen into mortal sin. Therefore there needs to be the ministry of reconciliation.
The “ way” was not a name but a practice of faith. The narrow road of transforming grace through which we are saved.
Confession is part of the way.
God knows what we need to heal and nurture our souls in a perfect understanding; which is much better than we do.
The Didache
"Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the (((way )))of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).
The Letter of Barnabas
"You shall judge righteously. You shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify those that contend by bringing them together. You shall confess your sins. You shall not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the (((way )))of light" (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).
IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
“For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of penance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ” (Letter to the Philadelphians 3 [A.D. 110]).
“For where there is division and wrath, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop” (ibid., 8).
IRENAEUS
“[The Gnostic disciples of Marcus] have deluded many women. . . . Their consciences have been branded as with a hot iron. Some of these women make a public confession, but others are ashamed to do this, and in silence, as if withdrawing from themselves the hope of the life of God, they either apostatize entirely or hesitate between the two courses” (Against Heresies 1:22 [A.D. 189]).
TERTULLIAN
“[Regarding confession, some] flee from this work as being an exposure of themselves, or they put it off from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty than of salvation, like those who contract a disease in the more shameful parts of the body and shun making themselves known to the physicians; and thus they perish along with their own bashfulness” (Repentance 10:1 [A.D. 203]).
HIPPOLYTUS
“[The bishop conducting the ordination of the new bishop shall pray:] God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Pour forth now that power which comes from you, from your royal Spirit, which you gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and which he bestowed upon his holy apostles . . . and grant this your servant, whom you have chosen for the episcopate, [the power] to feed your holy flock and to serve without blame as your high priest, ministering night and day to propitiate unceasingly before your face and to offer to you the gifts of your holy Church, and by the Spirit of the high priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command” (Apostolic Tradition 3 [A.D. 215]).
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