Forgiveness Essay

Forgiveness is not just practiced by saints and not only benefits its recipients but have strong connection with person’s physical, mental and spiritual health. It plays a great role in the health of families, communities and nations. Forgiveness provides common ground for love, acceptance, harmony and true happiness Most spiritual and religious leaders of the world will agree that forgiveness of oneself and others is one way to clear the mind, heart and soul and may result in a feeling of increased peace and happiness.

Repentance is a concept of turning away from sin, which paves the way to salvation and thus eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Most denominations have the belief that one renounces from sin and aims to live a life according to the work of the Holy Spirit, with the exception of Baptist and Pentecostal who view Baptism as the complete submission to the will of God. Salvation is the means to eternal life in the Kingdom of God, and thus baptism becomes a meaning of initiating into the Christian community. “Forgive anyone who offends you” (Colossians 3) suggest that baptised individuals need to forgive those who offend them, as

Baptism has many inextricable ties to the beliefs that are held so very tightly by the Christian church and its adherents. It is one of the many traditions of the faith that seeks to express aspects of the religion that are essential to its practice. Baptism is linked to beliefs about: spiritual rebirth through Christ who seeks to cleanse and purify each individual from their sins, admission into the Christian Church and its mission, faith in the Holy Trinity, particularly in the power of the Holy Spirit which seeks to bring knowledge of God to the world as well as the need for salvation from eternal damnation as emphasised in Lewis Sperry Chafer’s book Major Bible Themes which states that: “...baptism when practiced can be no more than an expression of faith and the hope...that the child will ultimately be saved.” Baptism also highlights the Christian beliefs based on faith and repentance-reconciling with God and accepting one’s role as His son/daughter, participation in the life, death and resurrection of Christ by being able to partake in celebrating His sacrifice for mankind, and finally the forgiveness of sins- turning towards a life filled with God’s guidance and righteous presence.

Catholics go through a cycle of events in their spiritual lives known as the seven sacraments. Although all Catholics can not partake in each sacrament, the majority receive the Holy Eucharist and are baptized as children. The sacraments are the rites of passage in the Catholic faith. Some of the sacraments require proper preparation and knowledge of the one’s faith. The seven sacraments include Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick, and the Holy Orders. Faith ties the people of God together. We are united through our belief in faith. I see the sacraments as the acceptance of faith in God and of our faith. With all the diversity that exists among God’s people,

Evidence of religious authority is observable in the Roman Catholic Church’s “notion that doing penance contributed to one’s salvation” (Goff & Harvey, 2004, p. 10). This notion furnished the Catholic Church with authority over its congregation. In fact, it was the Catholic Church’s clergy that administered confessionals as well as assigned tasks to invalidate the consequences of the confessed

Baptism was/is the first sacrament needed to become a Catholic, it relieves a person from any sins that were committed in a former life; this creates a

John Wesley wrote in his Sermon 16 that the means of grace are understood as “outward signs, words, or actions ordained by God… to be the ordinary channels whereby (God) might convey to men preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.” Means are what happen outside of oneself and the grace is what does the work inside of ourselves or another way to say this is to say the ways we receive and experience grace. When we speak of the sacraments we refer to them as outward signs of an inward and spiritual grace. The means of grace in the sacraments, means are the bread and cup of communion and the water of the baptism and the liturgy spoken. These act in an outward and physical way, but the real work is that of the invisible grace we receive.

Vicarious atonement and salvation by grace (cf. 1 Pet. 2:24, 2 Cor. 5:21, Rom. 4:25, 1 John 2:2, 4:10; John 11:25-26; 14:6; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:21, 5:4; Rom. 3:20; 4:1-11; 10:1-13).

Often held as a rite of passage and entrance into the Christian church, baptism is much more than just symbolic ritual. Baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ in the Great Commission recounted in the book of Matthew. Even though we are simplistically called to be obedient by being baptized the Christian church has long debated the aspects of this ordinance. Denominations are divided on the basic meaning, types and modes of baptism even two thousand years after the founding of the Christian church. Just as the other ordinance, the Lord’s Supper, congregations find themselves at odd with tradition, biblical interpretation and even individual understanding. However, the simple message of this awe inspiring act can be explained out of the

The author (2007) also points out the importance of the Roman Catholic views point about confession and penance has three significate merits to confession. The first significate merit is that consistent confession forces one to confront one’s sin, meaning that one will not merely overlook or diminish one’s transgressions; instead it will cause one to take their sin more earnestly (p 213). The second significate is that the act of penance, paying a price for sin, creates a mindfulness of the significance of sin, meaning that it will not allow one to have a carelessness understanding toward sin of thinking that one will always be simply forgiven; instead penance combats this predisposition by arresting consequences for one’s sin (p 213). The third Significate merit is that it lifts the burned of guilt by forgiveness being granted during the ritual of penance, which can be extremely redemptive for some individuals (p

for which the Sacrament of Penance shall be exposed. Within the scope of this discourse in

Throughout the course of organized religion both present and past, ritualistic acts of praise and worship have been practiced as a sign of both love and honor to God. Catholicism refers to these rituals as sacraments. As Christians and members of this faith, the first sacrament received by each member is Baptism. This sacrament has not only been practiced since the beginning of our faith, but has deep meaning and symbolic ties to the start of creation with Adam and Eve. I hope to prove through both illustration and published works how Baptism as a sacrament is both a sign and symbol of humanities desire to become closer to God by cleansing them of original sin through this ritual and rite of passage.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also known as the Sacrament of Penance or Confession. It shows that God is forgiving and loving, and that every time we confess our sins, we reconcile with God. Many Catholics participate in this Sacrament because after they confess, they experience great feelings such as relief, peace, freedom, and love. Public sins are confessed within a group, publicly. However, private sins are confessed during private confessions in which the sinner is anonymous to the priest and they would confess individually.

There are seven official sacraments in the Catholic Church, but actually, there are an unlimited number of sacraments in the universe. The love of God is not limited to the seven official sacraments. The love of God is infinite, and He can show it to us anyway he chooses. Over the course of my life, God has revealed himself to me during my travels. During the summer of 2016, I had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica with my mother, and my grandmother was able to join us as well. We went on a tour, with about two dozen strangers. A few native Costa Ricans guided us through the country. We were able to interact with new people, see the wildlife, and explore the country. This is what life is about, traveling to new places, meeting new people, exploring other cultures. We could not have gone on such an amazing trip if God had not allowed us to do so. It was truly a blessing. God was present in all of the trees, the animals, the rivers and oceans, and all of the people. I remember going ziplining on that trip. It was the longest zipline in the country, one line was over half a mile long. It was high in the mountains, you could go very fast, and you could see for miles. You could even see the ocean, even though we weren’t near the coast. I was very high up, and the wind in my face was

“There are seven sacraments in the Catholic Church (in order); Baptism, Penance/Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick” These sacraments help build up the body of Christ, make people holy, and to give worship to God. Baptism is the very first sacrament and the first step towards a lifelong journey of commitment and discipleship. People usually get baptized as babies but it does not have any age limit. When babies get baptized, the priest sprinkles holy water upon your forehead but sometimes when you’re older, you put in your whole body. “The very last sacrament is the Anointing of the Sick, administered to bring spiritual and physical strength during an illness, especially near to the time of death.”