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Page 32
Then follows, on the part of the whole congregation, a united,
audible and public confession of sin, of sorrow because of it, of
earnest desire for forgiveness, of faith in Christ as the divine
Saviour, and of an earnest purpose to hate and avoid all sin in the
future. After this public confession in the presence of the pastor and
of one another, the same confession is repeated, on bended knees,
directly to God. This two-fold confession--first in the presence of
the pastor and of one another, and then directly to God--is followed
by the words of absolution from the pastor.
In pronouncing the absolution the minister uses the following, or
words to the same effect: "Almighty God, our heavenly Father, having
of His great mercy promised the forgiveness of sins to all those who
with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto Him, and having
authorized His ministers to declare the same, I pronounce, to all who
do truly repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and are
sincerely determined to amend their ways and lead a godly and pious
life, the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
Then follow a few words in which he assures the impenitent and
hypocritical that their sins are not forgiven, but will certainly
bring upon them the fearful wrath of Almighty God, unless they
speedily repent, turn from their sins, and fly to the Lord Jesus
Christ for refuge and salvation. This is the closing part of the
preparatory service, which is called Confession and Absolution.
Some time ago we were asked, by a minister of another
denomination, why Lutherans retained and practiced Romish confession,
and forgiveness by the minister. We gave him our formula for
Confession and Absolution, and asked him to examine it and point out
to us wherein it was Romish or unscriptural. After examination he
handed it back, saying: "I cannot say that it is exactly unscriptural.
In fact, I can easily see how you can quote Scripture in its defense."
And so we can. In Matt. xvi. 19, Jesus says to Peter: _"I will
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shalt be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."_ In Matt. xviii. 18,
the Saviour gives the same power in the same words to all the
disciples as representatives of the Christian congregation. In John
xx. 21-23, He says again to the disciples: _"As my Father hath sent
me, even so send I you, ... whosesoever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are
retained."_
What do these words of Christ mean? They must mean something.
They must be of some use. Our Lord certainly does confer some kind of
authority or power on His Church, which is His Bride. Does He hereby
give into her hand the keys of His kingdom, and authorize her to
dispense its treasures? Does she, through her ministry, employ these
keys, bring forth heavenly treasures, and distribute and withhold them
among the children of men? To the Church's ministers Christ says, Luke
x. 16; _"He that heareth you, heareth Me: and he that despiseth you,
despiseth me."_ One of these ministers, who certainly understood his
office and its prerogatives, speaking in the name of all true
ministers of Christ, says, 2 Cor. v. 20: _"Now then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in
Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."_ If we would see how this
ambassador exercised his high authority in an individual case, he
tells us in 2 Cor. ii. 10: _"If I forgave anything, to whom I forgave
it for your sakes forgave I it, in the person of Christ."_
If now we take these passages together, we must admit that in
their plain literal sense; they do teach that Christ, the Head of the
Church, has _in some sense_ committed to His Church the power to
remit and retain sins, and that this power is exercised in the Church
through its ministry.
In what sense then has a minister power to remit sin? Certainly
not by any inherent virtue of his own, nor by any power originating in
his own person. In this sense only God can forgive sin, as all sin is
committed against Him. But God can _delegate_ that power to
another, and permit him to use it _in His name_. And this is all
the power any human being can have in this matter. It would indeed be
blasphemy for any man to claim that he had power in _himself_ to
forgive sins. If he can have any power at all, it must be
_Christ's_ power. He can only use it as a deputy, as an
ambassador, or as an agent. And this is exactly what the Word teaches.
The minister is Christ's ambassador. He beseeches and speaks in
Christ's stead, as though God were speaking by him. Paul forgave the
penitent Corinthian, not in his own name or by his own authority, but
"_in the person of Christ_."
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