A Brief Lesson in Confession
by John Rogers
As we read Psalm 32 this week, to see confession and forgiveness in action, I thought it would be helpful to do a brief lesson on confession using Martin Luther’s A Brief Exhortation to Confession. The version I will be using is from a Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord, the statement of faith of the Lutheran Church. We could compare it to our Baptist Faith and Message 2000, but much larger. This exhortation made its first appearance in the 1529 edition of Luther’s Large Catechism, but never showed up in the original 1580 or 1584 publications of the Book of Concord. So, it is included in this edition of the Book of Concord as an appendix. The exhortation has been modified from the 1978 version of Luther’s Larger Catechism if you wanted to go read it for yourself.
Why Should We Read Classic Christian Literature?
First, I want to answer the question: why should we read classic Christian literature like this work from Luther (especially when we are not Lutheran)? First, Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” While Luther may not be an immediate leader of ours, he played an integral part in the Protestant Reformation. He, along with Calvin (who we quote a lot at this church), was instrumental in rediscovering biblical truth and thus the principles of the Reformation. He was a faithful servant of God who, in a lot of respects, should be remembered, listened to, and imitated. Even if we do not share everything in common with Lutherans (i.e. infant baptism and the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper), there is an abundance of solid teaching from Luther that we can build our lives upon.
To illustrate this point, when we were about to have Sophia (our first child), I wanted to make her crib with the help of a friend (I am not a woodworker). On my way to my friend’s house, I came across pieces of an old wooden fence that someone had put by the curb. After inspecting it with my friend, we took it back to his house and built most of her crib with that wood. While ideally, I would have preferred to buy hand-picked, new wood for her crib, my friend and I found an abundance of solid wood to build this crib. Similarly, in Luther we may not find our exact preference, but we find an abundance of solid words to guide us in this lesson of confession.
C.S. Lewis, in On the Reading of Old Books, wrote, “If you join at eleven o’clock a conversation which began at eight you will often not see the real bearing of what is said.”
What he means is that if you only read new and not old books, you will have less understanding of what you think you know. You will only have an outlook of your time. This can be dangerous. Lewis says, “The only palliative [relief] is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through your minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.”
Another reason we should read “the dead guys” is because they lived in a time where they had more time to sit and think deeply about the things of God. Psalm 32:6 says, “Surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.” We live in a constant state of rush and distraction. While we would be wrong to say that they were never rushed or distracted, it is fair to say that they were less rushed and distracted. Therefore, they took more time to think deeply on the things of God. As we jet ski through life, they scuba dived. Therefore, we need to read them to go deeper and below the superficiality of our age.
Why Should We Read This Classic?
Now, I want to answer the question: why should we read this classic? First, its brevity. This piece of writing is just over 3,000 words. It is akin to a blog or magazine article. For those who have not read much Christian classics, this is a great introduction. Second, clarity. Luther does not just call us to confession but clarifies what confession is. It is this clarification that invites us to confession. Third, its practicality. After you get done reading it, you can immediately put it into practice.
Luther’s Main Points
Luther’s particular area of concern is to give the reader an “exhortation [or encouragement] to confession.” He does this by doing two things:
Luther says that there are three “oppressive things” about this type of confession:
Because of these three things, Luther says that confession “was turned into sheer terror and a hellish torture that one had to go through even if one detested confession more than anything.”
The Liberating Confession
Luther says there are two parts to this type of confession—the confession of sin to God and the Confession of sin to others. “These two kinds of confession,” Luther says, “are included in the Lord's Prayer, in which we pray, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’ (Matthew 6:12).” These two kinds of confession are a declaration that “we neither have nor do what we ought.” This continual “Christian way essentially consists in acknowledging ourselves to be sinner and in praying for grace.” Luther continues,
“Besides this public, daily, and necessary confession, there is also the confidential confession that is only made before a single brother. If something particularly weighs upon us or troubles us, something with which we keep torturing ourselves and can find no rest, and we do not find our faith to be strong enough to cope with it, then this private form of confession gives us the opportunity of laying the matter before some brother.”
Now so far, this doesn’t sound very inviting. I mean, who enjoys showing everyone how poor and dirty he is? But let’s keep going. Luther says that the inviting thing about this confession is what should come next—the absolution of sin from God through others. “Christ Himself placed His absolution into the hands of His Christian people with the command that they should absolve one another of their sins (Ephesians 4:32).” Combine this with confession and you see that confession, Luther says, is made up of two parts:
With this kind of confession, we don’t just have to show people how poor and dirty we are, but we receive Christ’s riches and robes of righteousness anew. With this type of confession, we don’t just lament, but are comforted. Luther uses this illustration of a poor beggar. He says no beggar would obey your command to go somewhere if he didn’t know what he was going to receive. However, if he knew he was to receive clothing, food, or medicine, he would gladly go. In the same way, no one is going to gladly confess just because the Bible tells us so, but because biblical confession also includes the gift of absolution, we should gladly go. Seen this way, confession is not by coercion but by invitation.
“To sum it up,” Luther says, “we want to have nothing to do with coercion.” This type of confession is an invitation. “If you were a Christian,” Luther says, “then you ought to be happy to run more than a hundred miles to confession and not let yourself be urged to come. You should rather come and compel us to give you the opportunity.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Life Together, “Confession as a work is spiritual death; confession in answer to God’s promise is life. The forgiveness of sins is alone the ground and goal of confession.”
Putting It Into Practice
James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Find a brother or sister in Christ (guys with guys, girls with girls). Person 1 will confess sin to person 2. Person 2 will then declare the forgiveness of God to that person using Ephesians 1:7 and pray for person 1. Then switch roles.
Record your experience.
Why Should We Read Classic Christian Literature?
First, I want to answer the question: why should we read classic Christian literature like this work from Luther (especially when we are not Lutheran)? First, Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” While Luther may not be an immediate leader of ours, he played an integral part in the Protestant Reformation. He, along with Calvin (who we quote a lot at this church), was instrumental in rediscovering biblical truth and thus the principles of the Reformation. He was a faithful servant of God who, in a lot of respects, should be remembered, listened to, and imitated. Even if we do not share everything in common with Lutherans (i.e. infant baptism and the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper), there is an abundance of solid teaching from Luther that we can build our lives upon.
To illustrate this point, when we were about to have Sophia (our first child), I wanted to make her crib with the help of a friend (I am not a woodworker). On my way to my friend’s house, I came across pieces of an old wooden fence that someone had put by the curb. After inspecting it with my friend, we took it back to his house and built most of her crib with that wood. While ideally, I would have preferred to buy hand-picked, new wood for her crib, my friend and I found an abundance of solid wood to build this crib. Similarly, in Luther we may not find our exact preference, but we find an abundance of solid words to guide us in this lesson of confession.
C.S. Lewis, in On the Reading of Old Books, wrote, “If you join at eleven o’clock a conversation which began at eight you will often not see the real bearing of what is said.”
What he means is that if you only read new and not old books, you will have less understanding of what you think you know. You will only have an outlook of your time. This can be dangerous. Lewis says, “The only palliative [relief] is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through your minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.”
Another reason we should read “the dead guys” is because they lived in a time where they had more time to sit and think deeply about the things of God. Psalm 32:6 says, “Surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.” We live in a constant state of rush and distraction. While we would be wrong to say that they were never rushed or distracted, it is fair to say that they were less rushed and distracted. Therefore, they took more time to think deeply on the things of God. As we jet ski through life, they scuba dived. Therefore, we need to read them to go deeper and below the superficiality of our age.
Why Should We Read This Classic?
Now, I want to answer the question: why should we read this classic? First, its brevity. This piece of writing is just over 3,000 words. It is akin to a blog or magazine article. For those who have not read much Christian classics, this is a great introduction. Second, clarity. Luther does not just call us to confession but clarifies what confession is. It is this clarification that invites us to confession. Third, its practicality. After you get done reading it, you can immediately put it into practice.
Luther’s Main Points
Luther’s particular area of concern is to give the reader an “exhortation [or encouragement] to confession.” He does this by doing two things:
- Calling them away from a soul-crushing practice of confession
- Calling them to a liberating practice of confession
Luther says that there are three “oppressive things” about this type of confession:
- Confession is a requirement. It is a “rule so burdensome [that it forces] everyone to go to Confession on pain of committing the most serious of mortal sins.”
- Confession is a law. It is a “law” that “placed on consciences the heavy burden and torture of having to list all kinds of sins, so that no one was ever able to confess perfectly enough.”
- Confession was an unknown subject. “No one taught or even knew what confession [was] or what help and comfort it could give.”
Because of these three things, Luther says that confession “was turned into sheer terror and a hellish torture that one had to go through even if one detested confession more than anything.”
The Liberating Confession
Luther says there are two parts to this type of confession—the confession of sin to God and the Confession of sin to others. “These two kinds of confession,” Luther says, “are included in the Lord's Prayer, in which we pray, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’ (Matthew 6:12).” These two kinds of confession are a declaration that “we neither have nor do what we ought.” This continual “Christian way essentially consists in acknowledging ourselves to be sinner and in praying for grace.” Luther continues,
“Besides this public, daily, and necessary confession, there is also the confidential confession that is only made before a single brother. If something particularly weighs upon us or troubles us, something with which we keep torturing ourselves and can find no rest, and we do not find our faith to be strong enough to cope with it, then this private form of confession gives us the opportunity of laying the matter before some brother.”
Now so far, this doesn’t sound very inviting. I mean, who enjoys showing everyone how poor and dirty he is? But let’s keep going. Luther says that the inviting thing about this confession is what should come next—the absolution of sin from God through others. “Christ Himself placed His absolution into the hands of His Christian people with the command that they should absolve one another of their sins (Ephesians 4:32).” Combine this with confession and you see that confession, Luther says, is made up of two parts:
- “The first is my own work and action, when I lament my sins and desire comfort and refreshment for my soul.”
- “The other part is a work that God does when He declares me free of my sin through His Word placed in the mouth of a man.”
With this kind of confession, we don’t just have to show people how poor and dirty we are, but we receive Christ’s riches and robes of righteousness anew. With this type of confession, we don’t just lament, but are comforted. Luther uses this illustration of a poor beggar. He says no beggar would obey your command to go somewhere if he didn’t know what he was going to receive. However, if he knew he was to receive clothing, food, or medicine, he would gladly go. In the same way, no one is going to gladly confess just because the Bible tells us so, but because biblical confession also includes the gift of absolution, we should gladly go. Seen this way, confession is not by coercion but by invitation.
“To sum it up,” Luther says, “we want to have nothing to do with coercion.” This type of confession is an invitation. “If you were a Christian,” Luther says, “then you ought to be happy to run more than a hundred miles to confession and not let yourself be urged to come. You should rather come and compel us to give you the opportunity.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Life Together, “Confession as a work is spiritual death; confession in answer to God’s promise is life. The forgiveness of sins is alone the ground and goal of confession.”
Putting It Into Practice
James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Find a brother or sister in Christ (guys with guys, girls with girls). Person 1 will confess sin to person 2. Person 2 will then declare the forgiveness of God to that person using Ephesians 1:7 and pray for person 1. Then switch roles.
Record your experience.
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