Forgiveness.
The Catholic goes to a priest, and the Protestant thinks he does better by appealing
directly to God. But any system that doesn’t factor in once-for-all forgiveness is
intrinsically flawed.
God doesn’t want us to think that human priests apportion forgiveness to us. Nor
does he want us to envision his doling out forgiveness from Heaven on a “first come,
first serve” basis.
Instead, he wants us to ascribe real meaning to Jesus’ declaration, “It is finished.”
Along with this radical, unconditional forgiveness come some surprising revelations
concerning the Holy Spirit, the final judgment, and rewards in Heaven.