Many Protestants reject the Catholic teaching on penance because they think it implies Jesus’ death on the cross was not enough. Are Catholics denying the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice? Karlo Broussard gives reasons why the answer is no.
Transcript:
Many Protestants object to the Catholic practice of penance because they think Christ has done it all on the cross and there’s nothing left for us to do.
But is this true? Of course not, and here are some reasons why.
First, penance has nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins and paying off the eternal debt that sin incurs. Christ did that once and for all on the cross and those graces are applied to us when we repent.
Penance comes after forgiveness and has to do with repairing the harm that sin causes. For example, a father may discipline his son by giving him extra chores to help pay for the window the child broke, even though he’s forgiven his son. Such parental discipline is how Hebrews 12:10 describes God’s interaction with us.
Penance also repairs the harm that sin causes within us. St. Paul teaches in Philippians 1:6 that God works to bring to completion the good work that he has begun in us. Even though we’re forgiven, sin leaves us weak and with unhealthy attachments to created goods.
The traditional forms of penance—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, all of which Jesus commands his disciples to practice—are simply the means by which we cooperate with God to complete the work of recovering full spiritual health. As St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:1: “Working together with him…do not accept the grace of God in vain.”
Finally, penitential acts express our sorrow for sin, which is not something foreign to the Bible. John the Baptist says in Luke 3:8, “bear fruits that befit repentance.”
If you want to learn more about this topic and others like it, visit our website at catholic.com.
For Catholic Answers, I’m Karlo Broussard. Thanks for watching.