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At the Final Judgment, when all our sins will
be shown, will it also include the sins we mentioned
in Confession?
We had a good discussion about this in our Bible
study class.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
David
{
At the
Final Judgment, will we be responsible for the sins
we mentioned in Confession? }
Eric replied:
Well, . . . that's a good question.
I sought, and expected to find, Scripture texts that explicitly say, all our deeds
will be revealed (in public) but was not able to specifically locate it.
I did find some partially relevant
verses; for example, Romans 2:16 and 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 discuss God judging men's
secrets, and hidden things being revealed:
678 Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment of the Last Day in his preaching. (cf. Daniel 7:10; Joel 3:4; Malachi 3:19; Matthew 3:7-12) Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light. (cf. Mark 12:38-40; Luke 12:1-3; John 3:20-21; Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 4:5) Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's grace as nothing be condemned. (cf. Matthew 11:20-24; Matthew 12:41-42) Our attitude to our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love.(cf. Matthew 5:22; Matthew 7:1-5) On the Last Day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40)
Also, Luke says:
2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed,
or hidden that will not be known. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark shall
be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall
be proclaimed upon the housetops.
See also John 3:20 and Romans 2:16. This begs the question though of whether only those things
that are hidden (i.e. unconfessed) will be revealed, and revealed only
to God, or whether all sins will be revealed, and whether they will be
revealed publicly.
13 Nothing in all
creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare
before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Now, understanding that our sins which are forgiven will not be held against
us, and that the purpose of judgment is to discern between the wicked and
the just by their deeds, our forgiven deeds would not seem relevant to
the matter. The focus of all these (judgment and Revelation) passages
is on the wicked and those who keep their deeds hidden (i.e. unconfessed).
I also think an argument can be made that God forgets those sins, that he
forgives, although we do not forget them and part of judgment may involve
having to face our own memories of all of our sins. Whether all of our
sins, the forgiven and the unforgiven, will be revealed for all to see
— I couldn't answer that question definitively from Scripture or Tradition
at this point.
I really don't suspect that this is an issue the Magisterium
has touched upon, but I don't think we should let the sins which
we have confessed and repented of hold us down, because we
are set free from them (perhaps an argument, in itself, that they will not
be revealed). Moreover, we should focus on avoiding sin in the first place
rather than worrying about what will and will not be revealed.
Yours in Christ,
Eric
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