Certainty of God's Forgiveness

Earlier this month I wrote about forgiveness of sins – specifically the question: how can I know when I have been forgiven of sins by God? As I have continued to study, pray about, and reflect on this question, some insights about how Latter-day Saints approach this question have become clearer.

I think this question really has another question implied within it. It's not just about whether we can know if we've been forgiven, but also about whether we can know if we have truly repented. Even if forgiveness is certain, it will be of little consequence if we have not repented. We'll just go and commit the same sin again.

Latter-day Saints have a scripture that is pretty clear on the repentance question:

Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them. (D&C 58:42-43)

For Latter-day Saints, confessing sins usually means admitting to yourself that you have sinned and confessing your sins to God in sincere prayer. And in cases of serious sin, confessing it to the bishop of your ward.

To forsake a sin is more than just not committing the sin again. It's renouncing it. Abandoning it. Turning entirely away from it.

Our internal disposition has much to do with the process of repentance, of course, and it is important. But for Latter-day Saints, confessing and forsaking our sins is a sure way to know whether one has repented.

Now about the forgiveness question. In my last post about this, I was fixated on one aspect of the LDS perspective – that we can know God has forgiven us when we have truly repented (see above) and when we feel feelings of peace and joy through the Holy Spirit. I think that can be true, but I worry that feelings can also be misleading – that we can “feel” we have been forgiven when we truly haven't.

And so I have been interested in the Catholic sacrament of Reconciliation. From the Catholic perspective, when you confess your sins to a Catholic priest acting on behalf of Jesus Christ and he pronounces the words of absolution, you are truly forgiven, whether you feel you are forgiven or not. I find that certainty of God's forgiveness appealing.

But as I attended my LDS sacrament meeting today, as we prepared to partake of the Sacrament (of the Lord's Supper), I had a powerful moment of realization: the Sacrament is what provides certainty of God's forgiveness for Latter-day Saints.

LDS believe that partaking of the Sacrament constitutes a renewal of the covenants you have made with God, including the covenant of baptism for the remission of sins. In fact, LDS often mention specifically in sacrament meeting talks and prayers that the Sacrament represents a renewal of the baptismal covenant.

A very basic way to think about a covenant from a LDS perspective is that it is a two-way promise between us and God.

LDS believe that when we are baptized, we covenant with God to:

And God covenants with us that:

Catholics believe Reconciliation is a tangible, outward act providing certainty that God has forgiven you of sins, regardless of whether or not you feel forgiven. For Latter-day Saints, the ordinance of the Sacrament (of the Lord's Supper), in conjunction with sincere repentance, provides that same certainty.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 186) #faith #Christianity