Is Penance Required?

The idea of penance has been around from the beginning of the Church.


There was a mention of penance in the Old Testament, regarding animal sacrifices, but they were symbolic sacrifices. However, there was the cost of them and the time to go buy 1 and take it to the priest. A Catholic might say that Matthew 3:7-8 is proof that penance is required but what about Micah 6:6-8? That verse could be saying "what's enough?" (it mentioned thousands of rams and the firstborn which he'd only have 1 of).


Some of the suffering Christians experience could be seen as God forcing penance on people.


A person could never make up for their wrongs, considering how God feels about justice. But that’s a standard of justice. So God could still want you to make things up to him.


If you are not a Catholic and you sin, I think you can have a feeling of wanting to quickly do something to make up for it, since you might die soon after.


If you sin, you can naturally feel that you want to make it up to God/make up for the hurt you caused him.


I discovered, all on my own, that 1 Timothy 2:14-15 is an example of penance.


What would happen if a person died before they had enough time to make up for their sin? God could detect their heart. God could've foreseen what good they would've done, if they had lived.

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