The Scriptural Basis for Confession and Absolution

The Scriptural Basis for Confession and Absolution

If you can keep on eating and drinking but never go to the bathroom, what will happen?

How might you compare that same thing to confession?

1 Peter 5:5-7 "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Luke 18:9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other menCrobbers, evildoers, adulterersCor even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Is the basis of Christianity - admitting who we ARE.)

How has this idea of confession been abused in times past?

Confession is commanded by Scriptures -

Proverbs 6:2-5 If you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, 3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. 5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. (Confession of love to man.)

1 John 1:8‑9 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

What does it mean to Aconfess@?

Catholics add a third form of confession . . .

Scripture is full of examples of confessions -

Joshua 7:18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me." 20 Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

1 Samuel 15:19‑25 Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?@ ABut I did obey the LORD,@ Saul said. AI went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.@ But Samuel replied: ADoes the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.@ Then Saul said to Samuel, AI have sinned. I violated the LORD=s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD.@

2 Samuel 12:9‑14 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.= AThis is what the LORD says: >Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.=@ Then David said to Nathan, AI have sinned against the LORD.@ Nathan replied, AThe LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.@

What do you notice about these examples?

There are also confessions for or by the people -

Exodus 32: 30 The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." 31 So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sinCbut if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."

1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." 4 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. 5 Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you." 6 When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.

Daniel confessed in Daniel 9: "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shameCthe men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Nehemiah 9:1 On the twenty‑fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God.

Notice that these are in connection with . . .

Leviticus 16: 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the IsraelitesCall their sinsCand put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community.

This seems to be a more . . .

Moses records no formula for this rite, but the Mishnah stipulates these words for the priest:

O God, I have committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before Thee, I and my house. O God, forgive the iniquities and transgressions and sins which I have committed and transgressed and sinned before Thee, I and my house, as it is written in the Law of Thy servant Moses. "For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord."

The Old Testament knows nothing of the kind of general confession that we know in our worship today. Not until the mature development of the synagogue do we find anything similar. The exile had made it impossible for their ancestors to view the Temple sacrifices; in Babylon they could only review the rites. The synagogue idea was established so that there might be an opportunity for such review in localities far removed from Jerusalem. It was in the synagogue that the Word Section of our liturgy has its roots (lesson, psalm, lesson) and it is here that we find the first example of corporate confession. The TAHANUN followed a set of general prayers and preceded the reading of the first lesson. It was at first spoken only on the days nearest to the Great Day of Atonement, but eventually became a regular Monday and Thursday event. (Idelsohn, Jewish Liturgy, p. 111 ) A sample confession from the third century BC:

My God, before I was formed, I was of no worth and now that I have been formed, it is as if I had not been formed. I am dust in my life, how much more in my death. Behold I am before Thee like a vessel full of shame and reproach. May it be Thy will that I sin no more, and what I have sinned, wipe away in Thy mercy, but not through suffering. (Encyclopedia Judaeica, Vol. 5, p. 879)

What problems are there with this confession?

The only Old Testament example of a "layman" doing "confession" "in church" seems to be recorded in -

Leviticus 1:3‑4 " 'If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. 4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

(No words are stipulated, but the man who brings the burnt offering is instructed to "lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering." Surely this is an implied confession of guilt.)

The New Testament also has examples of confession -

Matthew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' " 4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Luke 15:21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.=@

Acts 2: 36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The purpose of confession -

Matthew 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

James 5:16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Acts 3:19‑20 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for youCeven Jesus.

Matthew 9:1-3 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

John 8: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Tiefel: (According to Luther) Confession/absolution was a fine and healthful spiritual custom and could be employed by a Christian before he came to the Lord's Supper, but he need not necessarily speak a confession or hear an absolution before the Sacrament. All he needed to do was believe; his pastor would help him, if he felt he needed it, to examine both the object and the strength of his believing. The Augsburg Confession and its Apology speak with the same voice. "Confession is a human right only, not commanded by Scripture but ordained by the Church." (AC 25, p. 71) "It is not usual to give the body of the Lord except to them that have been examined and absolved." (AC 25, P. 69) "But a fixed time is not prescribed because all are not ready in like manner at the same time." (AP 11, p. 249)

Jesus gave to his apostles the right to hear confession and to absolve the penitent. He surely heard thousands say "Jesus, Master, have mercy on me!" He gave a format for baptism and for prayer. But not once does the Savior encourage formal confession nor does he present us with a form for it.