In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
The day was
Dr. Christian Beyer read aloud in German twenty one articles
on which there was apparent agreement with the Church of Rome and seven others
over which there was great disagreement.
Seven princes and representatives of two cities declared themselves in
agreement with the document, as were the theologians who had prepared it and
thousands of Lutheran Christians who accepted it with their mouths and actions.
And so was issued the first of the great Confessions of the
Today marks the 476th anniversary of the Augsburg
Confession and the 426th anniversary of the Book of Concord. Even though these documents are nearly half a
millennium old, they still hold a central place in the mission and ministry of
our congregations and our synod.
We confess that the Confessions are “a true exposition of
the Word of God and a correct presentation of the doctrine of the
Confessing, however, is not just a Lutheran thing. Confessing is something that believers
naturally do. If you want proof, all you
have to do is open up your Bibles. The
Old and New Testaments are filled with bold and beautiful confessions of faith. It is good for us to read them, to remember
them and to make them our own. And as we
do we will come to appreciate the fact that…
CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR OUR SOULS
Before we can talk about confessions and confessing, we need
to make sure that we understand our terms.
Luther’s catechism lists two very different definitions for the word,
“confession”: 1. an admission of sin; and 2. a statement of faith.
I think that most people today associate “confession” with
the first definition. On television, the
detective coaxes the suspect into confessing to the crime. In real life, mom sees the guilt on her son’s
face and encourages him to confess what he has done.
The Bible records these kinds of confessions as well. When the prophet Nathan confronted David with
his sins of deception and adultery and murder, the king was convicted of his
sin and confessed: “I have sinned
against the Lord” (II Samuel
After the Pharisee stood up in the temple and thanked God
for how good he was and how much good he had done, it was the tax collector’s
turn to pray. He didn’t draw attention
to himself. He didn’t stand up in front
of everyone. He didn’t even look up to
heaven. Instead he beat his chest and
said: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”
(Luke
The apostle Paul was perhaps the greatest Christian
missionary of all time. He carried the
gospel to places where it had never been heard before. He was willing to sacrifice everything, even
his life, for his Lord and Savior.
And do you know what this great hero of faith had to say
about himself? “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do
what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want
to do—this I keep on doing…What a wretched man I am” (Romans 7:18,19,24)!
The authors and adherents to the Lutheran Confessions were
not just good at writing confessions.
They did not hesitate to make confession. There is ample evidence of this in the body
of the Augsburg Confession.
Article II (Original Sin) states: Our churches teach that since the fall of Adam (Romans
What was true for David and Paul, what was true for men like
Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon (the author of the Augsburg Confession),
is no less true for us. We need to
confess. We need to confess our
sins. We have not loved God with our whole
hearts. We have not loved others as we
should. We have fallen far short of the
perfection God demands. And attached to every single sin we commit is an
eternal death sentence.
As hard as it is for us to admit that we are sinful through
and through, as hard as it is for us to acknowledge that we are hopeless and
helpless on our own, as difficult as it is to say with Paul: “What a wretched man/woman I am,” confession
is good for our souls.
When we confess our sins, the Lord immediately replaces the
sting of his law with the soothing salve of his gospel. Jesus comes to us and says: “What you could
not do, what you could never do, I have done for you. I lived a perfect life for you. I died a sacrificial death for you. You are forgiven. You are free. You are mine.”
That changes things, doesn’t it? The hope of eternal life gives new meaning
and purpose to this life. We want to
thank our Savior. We want to serve our
Savior. We want to tell others that
Jesus is their Savior. And that brings
us to Luther’s second definition of confession, which is “a statement of
faith.”
There is no shortage of powerful faith statements in the
Bible. Sometimes believers can make a
personal confession without saying a word.
When the Lord told the childless and beyond childbearing age Abram that
his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, he didn’t argue
or ask questions. In simple, humble
faith “Abram believed the LORD, and he
credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
At other times God allows his people to make an impact on
others by their confession. In his
farewell address to the twelve tribes of
There are also times when the primary beneficiary of a
confession is the person who makes it.
When Jesus’ popularity began to wane, at a time when many of Jesus’
so-called disciples were deserting him, he asked the Twelve: “You do not want to leave too, do you”
(John 6:68)?
This
question forced the disciples to declare where they stood in relation to their
Lord. And speaking on behalf of the
group, Peter made this beautiful confession of faith: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We
believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68,69).
The
Augsburg Confession was not inspired by God, but we hold it in high regard
because it is a true and accurate exposition of the Word of God. And the conviction of the men who presented
this confession continues to inspire us today.
They
weren’t afraid. They weren’t afraid to
stand up to the Holy Roman Emperor, one of the most powerful men in the world.
They weren’t afraid to take their stand against the errors and abuses that had
corrupted the church. They weren’t
afraid to stand up for the truth, no matter what the consequences.
What can
we do to honor those who have gone before us?
How can we thank the Lord for the lasting legacy that is ours in the
Lutheran Confessions? What can
twenty-first century Lutherans do today to commemorate the 476th
anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession?
We can
confess. We can confess the truth that
God has revealed to us in his Word, the truth that sets us free from sin, the
truth that is so clearly presented in the Augsburg Confession. And so I invite you to take out the insert
included in your service folder and join me in confessing our common faith…
(The following
confession includes excerpts
from the Augsburg Confession, as taken from the
Kolb-Wengert translation
of the Book of Concord).
M: It is with one accord taught and held
that there is one divine essence which is named God and truly is God. But there
are three persons in the same one essence, equally powerful, equally eternal:
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
C: All three are one divine essence,
eternal, undivided, unending, of immeasurable power, wisdom, and goodness, the
creator and preserver of all visible and invisible things.
M: It is taught among us that since the
fall of Adam, all human beings who are born in the natural way are conceived
and born in sin. This means that from birth they are full of evil lust and
inclination and cannot by nature possess true fear of God and true faith in
God.
C: Moreover, this same original sin is truly sin and condemns to God’s eternal wrath
all who are not in turn born anew through baptism and the Holy Spirit.
M: Likewise, it is taught that God the
Son became a human being, born of the virgin Mary, and that the two natures,
the divine and the human, are so inseparably united in one person that there is
one Christ.
C: He is true God and true human being who
truly “was born, suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried” in order both
to be a sacrifice not only for original sin but also for all other sins and to
conciliate God’s wrath.
M: Moreover, the same Christ “descended
into hell, truly rose from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven, is
sitting at the right hand of God” in order to rule and reign forever over all creatures,
so that through the Holy Spirit he may make holy, purify, strengthen, and
comfort all who believe in him, also distribute to them life and various gifts
and benefits, and shield and protect them against the devil and sin.
C: Finally, the same Lord Christ “will
come” in full view of all “to judge the living and the dead.”
M: It is taught that we cannot obtain
forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God through our merit, work, or
satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous
before God out of grace for Christ’s sake through faith when we believe that
Christ has suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and
righteousness and eternal life are given to us.
C: For God will regard and reckon this faith
as righteousness in his sight.
M: To obtain such faith God instituted
the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments.
C: Through these,
as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when
he wills, in those who hear the gospel.
M: It is also taught that at all times
there must be and remain one holy, Christian church.
It is the assembly of all believers among whom the gospel is purely preached
and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel.
C: For it is
enough for the true unity of the Christian church that the gospel is preached
harmoniously according to a pure understanding, and the sacraments are
administered in conformity with the divine Word.
M: Concerning baptism it is taught that
it is necessary, that grace is offered through it, and that one should also
baptize children, who through baptism are entrusted to God and become pleasing
to him.
C: Concerning the Lord’s Supper it is
taught that the true body and blood of Christ are truly present under the form
of bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper and are distributed and received there.
M: Concerning confession it is taught that
private absolution should be retained and not abolished.
C: However, it is not necessary to
enumerate all misdeeds and sins, since it is not possible to do so.
M: Concerning repentance it is taught
that those who have sinned after baptism obtain forgiveness of sins whenever
they come to repentance and that absolution should not be denied them by the
church.
C: True repentance is nothing else than to
have contrition and sorrow, or terror about sin, and yet at the same time to
believe in the gospel and absolution that sin is forgiven and grace is obtained
through Christ.
M: Concerning church government it is
taught that no one should publicly teach, preach, or administer the sacraments
without a proper call.
C: Concerning church regulations made by
human beings, it is taught to keep those that may be kept without sin and that
serve to maintain peace and good order in the church, such as specific
celebrations and festivals.
M: This is a summary of what is preached
and taught in our churches for proper Christian instruction and the comfort of
consciences, as well as for the improvement of believers.
C: This teaching is clearly grounded in
Holy Scripture and is, moreover, neither against nor contrary to the universal
Christian church. Amen.