Why do we Confess our Sins and Hear the Absolution?
Does your church confess your sins together?
An early church writing called the Didache, admonished early Christians to “Assemble on the day of the Lord, break bread and celebrate the Eucharist; but first confess your sins, that your sacrifice may be holy.” However, the earliest forms of confession were not connected to corporate divine worship but were a rite of the sacristy (the place where the pastor prepares for the service). Early pastors, as they prepare for worship, would pray a confession of sin. It wasn’t until closer to the 11th century that confession became a mainstay in the church, but even then, it was private confession. In the grand scheme of things in the liturgy where many of the elements are millenia old, corporate confession is a fairly new liturgical trend.
To understand why we confess our sins together, we must first understand why we confess our sins at all. The short answer is that it applies the forgiveness of sins purchased on the cross to the person confessing. When a Christian confesses their sins to their pastor or to another Christian, the forgiveness of sins that is applied is not done in a generic way, but in a very pointed way.
Think about this. When you have sinned and your conscience is weighing you down, what a great comfort it is to be able to say, “I have sinned in such and such a way a way.” Then instead of simply acknowledging your sin and not hearing anything in return, you hear the pastor or the Christian hearing your confession say to you, “God forgives you for that specific sin.”
Confession is found throughout scripture. In the Old Testament, we see David confess his sin to Nathan the prophet who then forgives David (2 Samuel 12). In the New Testament, we have a very clear passage in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Both of these instances teach us that God’s desire is to forgive sinners and declare them righteous.
Martin Luther wrote of confession in his Small Catechism. “What is Confession? Answer: Confession has two parts: the one is that we confess our sins; the other is that we receive Absolution, or forgiveness, from the confessor, as from God Himself, and in no way doubt, but firmly believe that our sins are forgiven before God in heaven by this.” When I was a baby Lutheran, I found Luther’s teaching pretty radical to my evangelically tuned ears. Luther connects the confession of sin to the forgiveness of sins so that you cannot have confession without forgiveness immediately following. It is automatic. You confess; you are forgiven.
It took me a while to really understand this, but when I looked at passages such as 1 John 1:9, it began to sink in. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, ESV) There is no condition set on the forgiveness other than the confession itself. To confess your sins is simply to pray to God for His forgiveness. This prayer is nothing other than faith that believes God is gracious and for the sake of Jesus Christ, He does forgive sins. What freedom this brings to the broken and contrite sinner!
So, if confession is such a freeing and direct application of the gospel in the life of a Christian, why doesn’t it appear in Christian services until later in history? The answer, it seems, is because private confession was still a very regular part of the Christian’s life. It is a sad development to see this useful practice fall out of regular use in the congregation’s life.
However, private confession is still something that happens and which we should encourage one another to practice. In some congregations, it is still a regular occurrence. Private confession these days may look different than in the movies. Instead of a confessional booth where the conversation happens in a veiled way, it is usually over a cup of coffee or even standing in the entry to the sanctuary before or after the service.
Despite this, private confession is still an irregular practice in the church today and so on Sunday mornings we gather and prepare our hearts and minds for worship. We incorporate the confession of our sins together in the service and we hear the words of the Gospel, that for Christ’s sake, you are forgiven. In this way, the old Adam is put to death and we arise again in the righteousness of Christ. Having been declared righteous, we are now prepared to offer prayers, praise, and thanksgiving to God. And though our sacrifices are meager compared to the gifts we receive from God, our sacrifices are found acceptable to God because they are offered in faith.
