There is a catch. The catch is that the Bible says there are several clear and definite steps we must take in order to receive God's forgiveness. Confession is the first essential step we must take if you and I want to find God's forgiveness. To confess our sins is to say the same word as God does about them. It is to agree that we have done wrong, that we have sinned against God and against others in thought, word, and deed, and that we have acted in angry rebellion against Him, or that we have walked away from Him in passive indifference.
Confession is the first step.
The second step we need to take in order to receive God's forgiveness is repentance . It is coming to understand that when we sin, we not only break God's law, we also break His heart, as well. In the Christian life, real repentance is not only being sorry that God caught you, but also being sorry that you sinned in the first place. This son took his inheritance and went away from home and his father's control, but after squandering all of his inheritance, he ended up feeding pigs and eating their leftovers. He finally came to his senses and realized how foolish he had been, and he decided to go back home and ask his father to forgive him and hire him on as a servant.