People Who Confessed but Were Not Forgiven Their Sins
People Who Confessed but Were Not Forgiven Their Sins
Question:
What is the explanation for people who confessed but were not forgiven for their sins, such as Pharaoh who confessed his sin to Moses (Ex 9:27), Achan son of Carmi who confessed to Joshua (Josh 7), and King Saul who confessed to the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 15:24–26)?
Answer:
The sacrament of confession in the Church is also called the sacrament of repentance. Therefore, a person must repent and then come to confess his sins. Confession without repentance has no value, and the penitent cannot receive forgiveness unless he is truly repentant.
Those you mentioned were not truly repentant.
Pharaoh cried out, “I have sinned”, while his heart remained hardened. His words were not driven by repentance but by fear of the plagues. As soon as the plague was lifted, he returned to his true nature.
Achan son of Carmi did not come in repentance and confession; rather, God exposed him despite himself, forcing him to admit his sin. The people were defeated, yet Achan did not confess. The Lord said, “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel” (Josh 7:13), but Achan did not confess. Even when the lot fell on his tribe, his clan, and his household, he still did not confess. Only when God revealed him by name did he finally admit it—but was that true repentance?
King Saul also was not repentant. When he said, “I have sinned,” his only goal was for the prophet Samuel to accompany him, not out of repentance but to preserve his honor and restore his standing before the people. He said, “Honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel” (1 Sam 15:30).
