Penance and Good Works
What is penance?
The Catholic Catechism teaches the following:
“Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must ‘make satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins. This satisfaction is called ‘penance’ ” (para. 1459).
And,
“The Church, who through the bishop and his priests forgives sins in the name of Jesus Christ and determines the manner of satisfaction...” (para. 1448).
It is true that something had to be done to make amends for our sins, because as the Bible teaches,
“...the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
But instead of telling us that we must make amends, expiate, or make satisfaction for our sins, 1 John 2:2 teaches that Jesus is the expiation for our sins:
“He [Jesus] is expiation for our sins...” (1 John 2:2).
And Romans 3:24 and 25 teach that Christians
“...are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness...”
When the Bible tells us that Jesus is the expiation for our sins, it means that He has paid the entire penalty and has made complete satisfaction for our sins. Therefore, since there is nothing more for us to do to expiate our sins, we are justified freely. If there was something more for us to do, we would have to pay a price, and we would not be justified freely. We do not need to expiate our own sins, because Jesus already has. We do not have to do anything to earn that expiation; all we have to do is accept it. That is why the Bible tells us,
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Eternal life is not something we can earn; it is a free gift from God.
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