We Believe, Teach, and Confess – Part 9 | What Do The Lutheran Confessions Say About Confession and Absolution?
As indicated by Martin Luther in the first of his 95 theses of 1517, the ecclesiastical meaning of repentance is based on the New Testament call to repentance (here the Greek term has the meaning of “to change your attitude, alter your lifestyle/behaviour, turn around, do penance, reform;” cf. Acts 2:38; 8:22; 17:30; 26:20 etc.).
Why is man called to repentance, to conversion? It is common knowledge that life does not always run smoothly and without problems. The Bible identifies this problem and labels it guilt against our neighbours and sin against God. When the Bible speaks of guilt and sin it is not guided by human standards, such as: “I am a decent person, I keep the law, I donate to charity, as a rule, I treat my fellow humans decently.” No one will deny this, yet these are human guidelines. By God’s standards (10 Commandments) the picture is different. In God’s eyes, we fail to uphold the 10 Commandments day in and day out. In biblical terms, man’s main problem is that of guilt and sin. The Bible sees this realistically. It is pointless to repress this fact, since it continues to cause turmoil in our lives. The Lutheran Confessions refer to guilt and sin because the Bible does so, but also because it is a reality of human existence. The Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions take man seriously in all his deficiencies and transgressions. Guilt and sin on one hand and fellowship with God on the other do not go together. The question is how to bridge this separating gap and restore fellowship between God and man.
Jesus Christ commanded the church and gave it authority to forgive sins, but also to retain sins for unrepenting persons. “Jesus said to them: Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me even so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:21-23).
In the Lutheran Confessions, Absolution (Forgiveness) is the central issue of Confession. God acts through the words of absolution spoken by the pastor (“your sins are forgiven”). The Word of God achieves what it says. God absolves man from his sin, the separating gap is bridged, fellowship between God and man is restored. In pronouncing the words of forgiveness over the head of a person, God proclaims that anything in the life of that person, which cannot exist in His eyes, is irrevocably deleted. The core issue in Confession is that God is at work.
In the theory and practice of confession during the Middle Ages, the absolution was, for Luther, hidden and suppressed. One was at pains to ensure that the individual showed sufficient remorse and that he confessed his sins in full, whereupon a carefully calculated atonement was to follow. The character of Confession was thereby changed from Gospel to Law.
Whereas repentance is a confrontation with God’s judgement and awareness of our own sin, the most important and supreme Word is the Gospel, in which man is assured of God’s unconditional grace. Thus Luther, in his Large Catechism, can state that “confession consists of two parts. The first is our work and act, when I lament my sin and desire comfort and restoration for my soul. The second is a work that God does, when he absolves me of my sins through the Word placed on the lips of another person… We should, therefore, take care to keep the two parts clearly separate. We should set little value on our work but exalt and magnify God’s Word. We should not go to confession as if we wanted to perform a magnificent work to present to God, but simply to accept and receive something from him.”
“Our work and act” is, however, no active repentance, but rather a passive repentance, brought about by the “fire,” the “hammer” of His Word, that “breaks a rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29), as impressively portrayed by Luther in the Smalcald Articles. True repentance is thus not a work of man, but a gift of God in His mercy.
What happens during confession is, in essence, a combination of Law and Gospel in the Word of God, that is, in His two modes of action: “But where the law exercises such an office alone, without the addition of the gospel, there is death and hell, and the human creature must despair, like Saul and Judas… Moreover, the gospel does not give consolation and forgiveness is only one way – but rather through
the Word, Sacraments, and the like.” (Smalcald Articles, Part III, Article 3). In addition, there is “satisfaction” in confession, rendered not by the sinful person, but by Christ: “Thus, satisfaction can never be uncertain either. For it consists not in our uncertain, sinful works but rather in the suffering and blood of the innocent ‘Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29).” (Smalcald Articles, Part III, Article 3).
This basic insight is acknowledged in Article 25 of the Augsburg Confession: “At the same time, the people are diligently instructed how comforting the word of absolution is and how highly and dearly absolution is to be esteemed. For it is not the voice or word of the person speaking it, but it is the Word of God, who forgives sin. For it is spoken in God’s stead and by God’s command.” At the end of the article, it is noted that the Confession should be retained for the sake of the Absolution.
Confession is the continuation of Holy Baptism, in which the Old Adam is drowned and a new person in Christ arises. Through Absolution we receive God’s gift, namely forgiveness of sins and “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Luther explains this clearly in the Large Catechism: “Here you see that baptism, both by its power and by its signification, comprehends also the third sacrament, formerly called penance, which is really nothing else than baptism… Repentance, therefore, is nothing else than a return and approach to baptism, to resume and practice what has earlier been begun but abandoned.”
Absolution is the justification of the sinner through grace alone, for Christ’s sake, through faith. Confession is followed by “fruits of repentance,” which do not constitute or question absolution and certainly do not have own merit, as stated in Article 12 of the Augsburg Confession: “Then improvement should also follow, and a person should refrain from sins. For these should be the fruits of repentance, as John says in Matthew 3[:8]: ‘Bear fruit worthy of repentance.’”
Finally, it should be mentioned that according to the Lutheran Confessions, Confession is not compulsory. Certainly, it is not fear that should be driving us to Confession. On the contrary, it is the pleasure of anticipation that God, in His forbearance gathers us in His arms, again and again, to let us look forward calmly and comforted, so that we may face the future with assurance. In the words of Luther in the Large Catechism: “If you are a Christian, you should be glad to run more than a hundred miles for confession, not under compulsion but rather coming and compelling us (the pastors) to offer it.”
Pastor Martin Paul, Pretoria
