{"id":369,"date":"2026-09-26T03:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/?p=369"},"modified":"2026-09-26T03:46:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:46:47","slug":"luke-520-friend-your-sins-are-forgiven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/?p=369","title":{"rendered":"Luke 5:20  Friend, your sins are forgiven"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"493\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/conffess51-493x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-370\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/conffess51-493x1024.jpg 493w, https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/conffess51-144x300-1.jpg 144w, https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/conffess51.jpg 531w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 493px) 100vw, 493px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-blue-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Luke 5:20 says, \u201cWhen Jesus saw their faith, he said, \u2018Friend, your sins are forgiven\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Setting:<\/strong> Jesus was teaching in a crowded house. Four friends carried a paralyzed man on a mat. Because the crowd blocked the door, they climbed to the roof. They dug through the roof tiles and lowered the man right in front of Jesus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Seeing Their Faith:<\/strong> Jesus noticed the bold effort of the friends. He responded to their spiritual need before their physical one.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Reaction: <\/strong>The religious leaders (Pharisees and teachers of the law) watched closely. They thought Jesus committed blasphemy because they believed only God can forgive sins.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Miracle<\/strong>: To prove He had the authority to forgive sins, Jesus told the paralyzed man to get up, take his mat, and walk home, and the man did immediately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Catholic Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (Confession) is a spiritual healing where a person confesses their sins to a priest and receives God&#8217;s forgiveness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Before Confession<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Examine your conscience<\/strong>: Review your thoughts, words, and actions using the Ten Commandments to identify sins.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Be truly sorry:<\/strong> Feel genuine contrition for your wrongs and resolve not to repeat them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Steps During Confession<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Go behind a screen or face-to-face.<\/strong> Make the Sign of the Cross and say, &#8220;Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been [length of time] since my last confession&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Confess your sins<\/strong>: State your sins simply, clearly, and honestly (mortal sins must be stated in kind and approximate number)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Receive penance<\/strong>: The priest gives advice and assigns an act of penance (such as specific prayers or a good deed).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Act of Contrition:<\/strong> Pray aloud to express your sorrow.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-blue-color\">The priest extends his hands and prays the Prayer of Absolution, freeing you from sin. You respond, &#8220;Amen.&#8221;<\/mark><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Departure:<\/strong> The priest says, &#8220;Go in peace,&#8221; and you reply, &#8220;Thanks be to God,&#8221; then complete your penance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luke 5:20 says, \u201cWhen Jesus saw their faith, he said, \u2018Friend, your sins are forgiven\u2019\u201d The Catholic Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (Confession) is a spiritual healing where a person confesses their sins to a priest and receives God&#8217;s forgiveness. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/?p=369\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emmi-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericmichelministries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}