A SHORT SUMMARY[21] OF THE SERMON OF DR. M. LUTHER DELIVERED ON
REMINISCERE SUNDAY ON PRIVATE CONFESSION
[Sidenote: Confession before the Congregation]
Now we have heard all the things which ought to be considered here,
except confession. Of this we shall speak now. In the first place,
There is a confession which is founded on the Scriptures; namely, when
some one commits a sin publicly, or with other men's knowledge, and is
accused before the congregation. If he abandons his sin, they
intercede for him with God. But if he will not hear the congregation,
he is excluded from the church and cast out, so that no one will have
anything to do with him. And this confession is commanded by God in
Matthew xviii, "If thy brother trespass against thee (so that thou and
others are offended), go and tell him his fault between thee and him
alone." [Matt. 18:15] Of this confession there is no longer even a
trace to be found, and in this particular the Gospel is put aside in
this place. He who could reestablish it would perform a good work.
Here is where you ought to have taken pains and reestablished this
kind of confession, and let the other things go. For by this no one
would have been offended, and it would have been accomplished without
disturbance. It should be done in this way: When you see a usurer,
adulterer, thief or drunkard, you should go to him in secret and
admonish him to give up his sin. If he will not hear, you should take
two others with you and admonish him once more, in a brotherly way, to
give up his sin. But if he scorns that, you should tell the pastor
before the whole congregation, have your witnesses with you, and
accuse him before the pastor in the presence of the people, saying:
"Dear pastor, this man has done this and that, and would not receive
our brotherly admonition to give up his sin. Therefore I accuse him,
together with my witnesses who were present." And then, if he will not
give up and willingly acknowledge his guilt, the pastor should exclude
him and put him under the ban before the whole assembly, for the sake
of the congregation, until he comes to himself and is received back
again. This would be Christian. But I cannot undertake to carry it out
single-handed.
[Sidneote: Confession to God]
Secondly, A confession is necessary for us, when we go away in a corner
by ourselves, and confess to God Himself and pour out before Him all
our faults. And this confession is also commanded. From this comes the
familiar word of Scripture: "_Facite judicium et justitiam_." [Gen.
18:19] _Judicium acere est nos ipsos accusare et damnare; justitiam
autem acere est idere misericordiae Dei_[22]. As it is written,
"Blessed are they that keep judgment and do righteousness at all
times." [Ps. 106:3] The judgment is nothing else than a man's knowing
and judging and condemning himself, and this is true humility and
self-abasement. The righteousness is nothing else than a man's knowing
himself and praying to God or the mercy and help through which God
raises him up again. This is what David means when he says: "I have
sinned; I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord," [Ps. 32:5 f.]
and, "Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin; for this all Thy saints
shall pray unto Thee."
[Sidenote: Confession to a Brother]
Thirdly, There is also a confession when one takes another aside, and
tells him what troubles him, so that he may hear from him a word of
comfort; and this confession is commanded by the pope. It is this
urging and forcing which I condemned when I wrote concerning
confession[23], and I refuse to go to confession just because the pope
wishes it and has commanded it. For I wish him to keep his hands of
the confession and not make of it a compulsion or command, which he
has not the power to do. Yet I will let no man take private confession
away from me, and I would not give it up for all the treasures in the
world, since I know what comfort and strength it has given me. No one
knows what it can do or him except one who has struggled much with the
devil. Yea, the devil would have slain me long ago, if the confession
had not sustained me. For there are many doubts which a man cannot
resolve by himself, and so he takes a brother aside and tells him his
trouble. What harm is there, if he humbles himself a little before his
neighbor, puts himself to shame, looks or a word of comfort from him,
and takes it to himself and believes it, as if he heard it from God
himself, as we read in Matthew xviii: "If two of you shall agree as
touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them."
[Matt. 18:19]
[Sidenote: Many Absolutions]
And we must have many absolutions, so that we may strengthen our timid
consciences and despairing hearts against the devil and against God.
Therefore no man shall forbid the confession nor keep or drive any one
away from it. And if any one wrestles with his sins, is eager to be
rid of them and looks or some assurance from the Scriptures, let him
go and confess to another in secret, and receive what is said to him
there as if it came directly from God's own lips. Whoever has the
strong and firm faith that his sins are forgiven, may ignore this
confession and confess to God alone. But how many have such a strong
faith? Therefore, as I have said, I will not let this private
confession be taken from me. Yet I would force no one to it, but leave
the matter to every one's free will.
[Sidenote: Five Comforts for the Conscience]
For our God is not so miserly that He has left us with only one
comfort or strengthening for our conscience, or one absolution, but we
have many absolutions in the Gospel, and are showered richly with
them. For instance, we have this in the Gospel: "If ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." [Matt.
6:14] Another comfort we have in the Lord's Prayer: "Forgive us our
trespasses," [Matt. 6:12] etc. A third is our baptism, when I reason
thus: See, my Lord, I am baptized in Thy name so that I may be assured
of Thy grace and mercy. After that we have the private confession,
when I go and receive a sure absolution as if God Himself spake it, so
that I may be assured that my sins are forgiven. Finally I take to
myself the blessed sacrament, when I eat His body and drink His blood
as a sign that I am rid of my sins and God has freed me from all my
frailties; and in order to make me sure of this, He gives me His body
to eat and His blood to drink, so that I shall not and cannot despair:
I cannot doubt I have a gracious God. Thus we see that confession must
not be despised, but that it is a true comfort. And since we need many
absolutions and comforts, because we must fight against the devil,
death, hell and sin, we must not allow any of our weapons to be taken
away, but keep intact the whole armor and equipment which God has
given us or use against our enemies. For you do not yet know what work
it is to fight with the devil and to overcome him. I know it well; I
have eaten salt with him once or twice[24]. I know him well, and he
knows me well, too. I only you knew him, you would not in this manner
drive out confession.