Understanding our Faith

The Forgiveness of Sins

The two creeds use different phrases to describe the forgiveness of sins.  The Apostles’ Creed simply says “I believe… in the forgiveness of sins”; whereas the Nicene Creed says “I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins”.  These reflect different situations.

The Nicene Creed is written at a time when there were those who thought that baptism could be repeated.  Whereas the faith of the Church was, and is, that baptism is never repeated because it involves the action of the faithful God who never goes back on what he says or does.  Whatever the human response to baptism is, the baptised person is always the beloved child of the Father.

The experience of the Church in those early centuries made it clear that there needed to be some way of dealing with the sin of Christians after their baptism and this opened the door for the rise of the sacrament of penance.

There is something wonderful about the simple statement of the Apostles’ Creed – believing in the forgiveness of sins.  We do not believe in sin; we believe in God’s forgiveness of sin.  We believe that often despite appearances, God’s way will ultimately prevail.

Sin, for the Scriptures, is always about separation from God which in turn creates separation between human beings.  Sinfulness is like a wave that moves through the human race and has great and small manifestations.  But God has created a greater wave that moves through the human race, the wave or breath of his Spirit.  That Spirit hovers over everything which is human and seeks to turn it towards the Father.  This is the Spirit of forgiveness who brings the reconciliation and peace of Christ into human hearts.  The Spirit of Christ never ceases to be at work.  We believe that this Spirit is stronger than sin.

The Preface of the Second Eucharistic Prayer of Reconciliation puts all this beautifully: “Your Spirit changes our hearts: enemies begin to speak to one another, those who are estranged join hands in friendship, and nations seek the way of peace together.  Your Spirit is at work when understanding puts an end to strife, when hatred is quenched by mercy, and when vengeance gives way to forgiveness”.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

Published: 3 May 2024