Can someone explain Lutheran confession/absolution?

[jinc1019]

I have read the LC-MS website on this issue but I am still a little confused. My question is ultimately this: For a Christian's sins to be forgiven, must he or she confess them to a pastor and receive absolution? If not, which is to say that our sins can be forgiven simply by confessing them privately without a pastor, then why should we go to confession at all?

I have read several of Luther's writings on this but still need to dig into it deeper. He seems to, at times, contradict himself on this one. Therefore, it would be helpful to have a very simple explanation of it given here.

Justin

 

[Edward65]

I have read the LC-MS website on this issue but I am still a little confused. My question is ultimately this: For a Christian's sins to be forgiven, must he or she confess them to a pastor and receive absolution? If not, which is to say that our sins can be forgiven simply by confessing them privately without a pastor, then why should we go to confession at all?

I have read several of Luther's writings on this but still need to dig into it deeper. He seems to, at times, contradict himself on this one. Therefore, it would be helpful to have a very simple explanation of it given here.

Justin

I'm not in full agreement with the Book of Concord because I disagree with its teaching on predestination (I agree with Luther's teaching in The Bondage of the Will that God predestines people to both heaven and hell), but the BoC contains a lot of valuable teaching, and Luther's catechisms are also included in it. Have you read this?:

1529 Luther's Exhortation to Confession

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

I have read the LC-MS website on this issue but I am still a little confused. My question is ultimately this: For a Christian's sins to be forgiven, must he or she confess them to a pastor and receive absolution? If not, which is to say that our sins can be forgiven simply by confessing them privately without a pastor, then why should we go to confession at all?
I have read several of Luther's writings on this but still need to dig into it deeper. He seems to, at times, contradict himself on this one. Therefore, it would be helpful to have a very simple explanation of it given here.
Justin

I grew up in, my whole extended(most relatives) family was in, LCMS churches in st.louis missouri. I was confirmed and even for a while aimed at being a Lutheran pastot, but
I never heard of, and no one in my family not in the church as far as I know ever 'confessed' to a pastor(any more than to another person), nor sought nor expected absolution from a pastor, (nor have I ever seen this in Scripture(the way mankind has used such practices) btw).
It is written "confess your faults (sins?) to one another" and "judge yourself now as it is much better(life and death?) to be judged now instead of later" ,
but no incorporated groups nor any church out of thousands I've seen in the usa does this.

 

[Kalevalatar]

My question is ultimately this: For a Christian's sins to be forgiven, must he or she confess them to a pastor and receive absolution?

No. We must confess our sins to God.

If not, which is to say that our sins can be forgiven simply by confessing them privately without a pastor, then why should we go to confession at all?

If I understood your question correctly, we don't have to go to confession per se. However, insofar as confession is understood collectively, we should try to go as often as possible to receive the gift of communion.

It's okay to confess your daily sins -- those that you recognize that you have committeed as well as those that you're unaware of -- privately and silently, say, in your Evening Prayer. Collectively, we do confess our sins before God and the congregation as part of the Mass (and other services), the Lord's Prayer, the declaration of forgiveness, and the Sacrament of the Altar, given and shed for us, for the remission of our sins.

It's equally okay to confess specific sin(s) to a pastor or to a fellow Christian, if you feel the need for that.

In other words, by yourself, collectively, or in private confession; it's the intent that matters, not the form. And communion as of often as possible is good for the soul.

 

[jinc1019]

I'm not in full agreement with the Book of Concord because I disagree with its teaching on predestination (I agree with Luther's teaching in The Bondage of the Will that God predestines people to both heaven and hell), but the BoC contains a lot of valuable teaching, and Luther's catechisms are also included in it. Have you read this?:

1529 Luther's Exhortation to Confession

I read Luther's 1529 instruction on confession but still don't understand what he is getting at. I understand that confessing sins is part of being a Christian, and that one should ask for forgiveness in order to be forgiven. However, I don't understand what that has to do with public confession or the "keys" of the pastoral office. I don't feel Luther explains his position very well.

Why can't Christians just confess their sins privately or to one another? Must a pastor be involved in the process at all? I can't tell whether Luther is saying a pastor needs to be involved or not.

Can someone explain this a bit further?

 

[jinc1019]

I grew up in, my whole extended(most relatives) family was in, LCMS churches in st.louis missouri. I was confirmed and even for a while aimed at being a Lutheran pastot, but
I never heard of, and no one in my family not in the church as far as I know ever 'confessed' to a pastor(any more than to another person), nor sought nor expected absolution from a pastor, (nor have I ever seen this in Scripture(the way mankind has used such practices) btw).
It is written "confess your faults (sins?) to one another" and "judge yourself now as it is much better(life and death?) to be judged now instead of later" ,
but no incorporated groups nor any church out of thousands I've seen in the usa does this.

No, but at virtually every single church service, you would say a general confession and be asked to privately ask for sins...and then the pastor would tell you that by the authority of his office as a key holder, your sins are forgiven. This is the piece I don't understand. What exactly is the pastor's role in all of this? Must he be present for sins to be forgiven? If not, why does Luther spend so much time talking about the "keys" given to the pastor?

 

[jinc1019]

My question is ultimately this: For a Christian's sins to be forgiven, must he or she confess them to a pastor and receive absolution?

No. We must confess our sins to God.

If not, which is to say that our sins can be forgiven simply by confessing them privately without a pastor, then why should we go to confession at all?

If I understood your question correctly, we don't have to go to confession per se. However, insofar as confession is understood collectively, we should try to go as often as possible to receive the gift of communion.

It's okay to confess your daily sins -- those that you recognize that you have committeed as well as those that you're unaware of -- privately and silently, say, in your Evening Prayer. Collectively, we do confess our sins before God and the congregation as part of the Mass (and other services), the Lord's Prayer, the declaration of forgiveness, and the Sacrament of the Altar, given and shed for us, for the remission of our sins.

It's equally okay to confess specific sin(s) to a pastor or to a fellow Christian, if you feel the need for that.

In other words, by yourself, collectively, or in private confession; it's the intent that matters, not the form. And communion as of often as possible is good for the soul.

Thanks for this explanation....but what still confuses me is...If what you are saying is true, why does the liturgy in confessional Lutheran churches include language that suggests the pastor has the authority, the "keys," to forgive sins? Why does the pastor say after the general confession in LC-MS services?:

“Upon this your confession, I, as a called and
ordained servant of the Word,announce the grace of God to all of you,and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

 

[Moses Medina]

I hope I can help...

God is just to forgive your sins if you confess them to him. So no you dont have to go to confession. However, sometimes our sins can burden us so much that we keep praying for forgiveness and it yet we continue to feel guilty. So you confess before a pastor, and you hear the wonderful words, you are forgiven. You are hearing the gospel, as another tangible goft God gives us, through speech.

Same for Sunday applies. You confess before God and so you can hear the gospel and be of good conscience, the words you are forgiven are said.

 

[Tangible]

I hope I can help...

God is just to forgive your sins if you confess them to him. So no you dont have to go to confession. However, sometimes our sins can burden us so much that we keep praying for forgiveness and it yet we continue to feel guilty. So you confess before a pastor, and you hear the wonderful words, you are forgiven. You are hearing the gospel, as another tangible goft God gives us, through speech.

Same for Sunday applies. You confess before God and so you can hear the gospel and be of good conscience, the words you are forgiven are said.

Please don't be confused by the non-Lutherans posting in this thread.

Dario has it right. Confession and Absolution is not a have-to thing, it's a get-to thing. It's not Law, it's Gospel.

 

[jinc1019]

Please don't be confused by the non-Lutherans posting in this thread.

Dario has it right. Confession and Absolution is not a have-to thing, it's a get-to thing. It's not Law, it's Gospel.

I appreciate both you and Dario's responses (as well as everyone else's). Having read deeper into the issue, and having read the responses on this thread, I am beginning to understand it. Coming from the Catholic background, my preconceived notions about confession taint the language in the Lutheran confessions, as you might imagine, so it's difficult for me to know exactly what is being taught. Thank you for your understanding of this and for all of your responses.

 

[Edward65]

I read Luther's 1529 instruction on confession but still don't understand what he is getting at. I understand that confessing sins is part of being a Christian, and that one should ask for forgiveness in order to be forgiven. However, I don't understand what that has to do with public confession or the "keys" of the pastoral office. I don't feel Luther explains his position very well.

Why can't Christians just confess their sins privately or to one another? Must a pastor be involved in the process at all? I can't tell whether Luther is saying a pastor needs to be involved or not.

Can someone explain this a bit further?

The keys are held jointly by all Christians and pastors only exercise them on behalf of everyone else, so it’s a case of confessing to a pastor who communicates God’s forgiveness to a person on behalf of everyone else, who all individually are also able to communicate God’s forgiveness to a person if so required.

I don’t actually belong to any church myself so I don’t have any pastor to confess to. I only confess my sins to God directly, and ask forgiveness of people if I feel I should do so because I’ve wronged them in some way. It’s not an absolute requirement that one confesses ones sins to a pastor in order to be a Christian.

Have you read Luther’s Small catechism on The Office of the Keys and Confession by the way? If not I’ve copied it below:

What is the Office of the Keys?

The Office of the Keys is the special authority which Christ has given to His Church on earth: to forgive the sins of the penitent sinners, but to retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent.

Where is this written?

The evangelist writes, John 20:22-23: “Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; and if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”

What is Confession?

Confession consists of two parts: one, that we confess our sins; the other, that we receive absolution, or forgiveness, from the pastor or confessor as from God himself, and in no way doubt, but firmly believe that our sins are thereby forgiven before God in heaven.

What sins should we confess?

Before God we should acknowledge ourselves guilty of all sins, even of those which we do not know about, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer. But before the pastor or confessor we should acknowledge those sins only which we know and feel in our hearts.

Which are these?

Here consider your own situation according to the Ten Commandments, whether you are a father, mother, son, daughter, employer, employee; whether you have been disobedient, dishonest, lazy; whether you have injured anyone by word or deed; whether you have stolen, neglected, wasted anything, or done any harm.


I live in England so I've no first hand knowledge of the LCMS, but if it has discontinued or never ever practised confession before a pastor I'd be interested to know why that is.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

.... If not, why does Luther spend so much time talking about the "keys" given to the pastor?

Luther had just been freed from one of the worst situations a person on earth can be in. (we aren't supposed to talk / post about it on this site, but you can get and read any of thousands of books about it as God provides them) .

He still had a lot of 'carry-over' sin from his past, some of which he never got passed. Apparently from what others wrote later he went much farther in grace than his congregations did (they may have hung on to some of past sins for fear of changing too much or whatever reason). It was a miracle of God's that he was called and saved and listened and obeyed by faith in God through grace in Jesus Christ to be saved !
Thank God for His Own Plan and Purpose, Amen.

 

[wondrousgnat]

I am not a Lutheran but my wife is and sometimes I attend services at her church (ELCA). The pastor there sometimes gives blanket absolutions to the entire congregation. But we didn't confess our sins and frankly I may not be feeling repentant for the sins I am being absolved of. I don't understand how I can be forgiven then.

 

[jinc1019]

Thank you Edward for your response. I appreciate your help on this...what is still unclear to me though is the following, which you rightly showed is in Luther's Small Catechism:

The Office of the Keys is the special authority which Christ has given to His Church on earth: to forgive the sins of the penitent sinners, but to retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent.

If the office of the keys is a "special authority" given to the Church to forgive and retain sins, how is it possible that it's not necessary to do? Further, and more importantly, how can it also be said that any Christian can essentially play this role if pastors have the "special authority?" It's this kind of language that confuses me.

 

[Edward65]

Thank you Edward for your response. I appreciate your help on this...what is still unclear to me though is the following, which you rightly showed is in Luther's Small Catechism:


If the office of the keys is a "special authority" given to the Church to forgive and retain sins, how is it possible that it's not necessary to do? Further, and more importantly, how can it also be said that any Christian can essentially play this role if pastors have the "special authority?" It's this kind of language that confuses me.

Coming from an RC background, which I came from myself, I can appreciate that it’s a bit of a wrench to free oneself from RC teaching on clerical authority and come to a Biblical and Lutheran understanding where every Christian is equal, and a pastor is simply a representative of the rest. A pastor doesn’t have any special authority as in the RC system. The decision making ability he has is merely delegated to him from those Christians who agree to elect him to his position.

The “special authority” is given to the church as a whole not just to the clergy as some supposed superior elite as in RCism. So all Christians are priests, and they merely elect one of their number as a pastor to act for them. So the authority to speak on God’s behalf and forgive the sins of those who are repentant belongs to every Christian and not just the clergy as in RCism.

In a broader sense the keys don’t just refer to confession before a pastor but also to the Gospel and Sacraments because they unlock heaven and confer forgiveness through faith in Christ, so confession before a pastor isn’t essential, but on the other hand it’s something which is desirable to have.

 

[Tangible]

I am not a Lutheran but my wife is and sometimes I attend services at her church (ELCA). The pastor there sometimes gives blanket absolutions to the entire congregation. But we didn't confess our sins and frankly I may not be feeling repentant for the sins I am being absolved of. I don't understand how I can be forgiven then.

We should distinguish here between corporate confession and absolution and private confession and absolution. In private C&A there is an opportunity to enumerate sins that are particularly burdensome or for which we feel particularly guilty. After giving absolution the minister may spend time using scripture to encourage and speak to the specific struggles of the penitent.

I can't speak to your specific experience in that particular church because I don't know what was included in their liturgy, but in correct liturgical practice there is always a corporate confession before general absolution is given. In some congregations there is a moment of silence before the corporate confession to give an opportunity for prayerful confession of specific sins to God. The corporate confession only speaks of sins in a general sense, more our innate sinfulness common to all men rather than specific sins which may vary from person to person. This is what it sounds like in the liturgy probably most widely used in the LCMS ...

P. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
C. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

P. Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
C. Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.

P. Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C. Amen.

 

[jinc1019]

Coming from an RC background, which I came from myself, I can appreciate that it’s a bit of a wrench to free oneself from RC teaching on clerical authority and come to a Biblical and Lutheran understanding where every Christian is equal, and a pastor is simply a representative of the rest. A pastor doesn’t have any special authority as in the RC system. The decision making ability he has is merely delegated to him from those Christians who agree to elect him to his position.

The “special authority” is given to the church as a whole not just to the clergy as some supposed superior elite as in RCism. So all Christians are priests, and they merely elect one of their number as a pastor to act for them. So the authority to speak on God’s behalf and forgive the sins of those who are repentant belongs to every Christian and not just the clergy as in RCism.

In a broader sense the keys don’t just refer to confession before a pastor but also to the Gospel and Sacraments because they unlock heaven and confer forgiveness through faith in Christ, so confession before a pastor isn’t essential, but on the other hand it’s something which is desirable to have.

All very well said Edward and very helpful. Thank you again!

 

[godenver1]

How exactly is Priv. C&A conducted within the Lutheran church?

Is it by appointment, and where does one begin?

 

[Moses Medina]

Yes, it is usually done through appt. I call my pastor directly and set up an appt for confession. Its done through the LSB.

 

[Kalevalatar]

Alternative liturgies for private confession in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (.PDF, in English). Not limited to a pastor, as the confession can be received by a pastor, another church worker or a fellow Christian.

For example, the declaration of forgiveness can take this form:

The one who has heard confession says:

Jesus Christ has given his church
the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and he has said:
“Whose sins you forgive,
to that one they are forgiven.”
Do you believe that when I declare forgiveness to you,
it is forgiveness from God himself?

The one who made confession replies:

Yes, I believe.

The one who heard confession continues:

Let it be done for you according to your faith.
According to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I declare
that your sins are forgiven
in the name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The one who made confession replies:

Amen.


But again, private confessions to a third party, if you will, are not required, and a silent confession of your sins is just as valid.