A Quick Study on Law and Gospel, Thesis 9, Part 3, July 8, 2018

This quick study on Law and Gospel was given at the end of service at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on July 8, 2018. The text of the study is included and you may play the audio of the study here.




 We’re going to go a minute longer today, just to finish this all up. Thesis 9 continues this idea of not pointing someone to their own self to get them back to grace by pointing specifically at the Office of the Keys. Now, if you studied your catechisms, you probably recognize this term. It’s demonstrated in so many places, even on our wall of Apostles behind me, in this symbol of St. Peter, top left as you’re looking at it. Two keys, one key to loose sins, the other key to bind sins. The Office of the Keys isn’t given to a specific pastor or person, but it is given to the entire Church. From there, as servants of the Church, pastors are given the special authority to exercise this office. The Office of the Keys is this: that the Church, by the authority of Christ, and not by any authority of man, forgives the sins of the repentant person and withholds forgiveness from those who refuse to repent. This means that if you are repenting of your sins, turning from them, desiring to do them no more, the command has been given by Christ to the Church to forgive those sins in His name. It is not a power held by one person, but that we each can sit in the Office and exercise the duties thereof. In this way, it may help to think of the presidency: we have had 45 different presidents of the United States who have occupied the Office of the Presidency, each with their own skills, talents, abilities, sins, and shortcomings, and no matter how long they last in that office, they still serve as the president while elected. The office is the position that confers the authority to act in the role. The Office of the Keys, then, confers authority to act, specifically in regards to sin. When a pastor speaks that absolution, that forgiveness, it is as if it is the very voice of Christ Himself. We all actually can do this for each other, really. When my wife forgives me, which, believe me, I need often and much, it is the voice of Christ speaking through her that my sins are forgiven. Even when I sin against my children, and they say, even not knowing fully what it means, that they forgive me, it is Christ speaking through them. Yet, when we gather as the Church, we set one man in front of us to speak for Jesus, for the sake of good order. The Church can do this because, one, Christ took every sin to Himself and counts them as His own, two, by doing so, Christ erased the record of sins for the whole world, three, the Father approved of the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice by raising Him from the dead, and four, that Christ, now having the sins of the world upon Himself, owning those sins and doing what He wishes with them, commands that we preach to forgiveness of sins to every person. We have the authority to do this, and it really is an amazing thing, because this places the Church in the convenient and enviable task of being a presence, outside of a person, that assures them of the love and forgiveness of Christ towards them. This is an amazingly comforting doctrine, that when you are truly terrified of your sins, and, if you are honest with yourself, you should be, that God has sent a person, really any person, but also specifically your pastor, to hear your confession and pronounce the absolution of Christ to you, to you personally. Your only duty in this is to actually believe the words that are spoken, that they are the very words of Christ that He is speaking to you. It is to our shame that we American Lutherans have let private confession fall to the wayside; it is there if you ever should need it, if ever a sin is particularly burdening you, or if you just want to hear Jesus speaking to you, you should avail yourself of it. I’ll do it for anyone, anywhere. But you see, even though you may feel comforted in confession and absolution, the reality of the absolution is not dependent on how you feel; it is real to you, and for you, when it is announced. You don’t have to feel forgiven, you don’t even have to feel as if you got everything off your conscience. Christ forgives sinners without anything being done on their part; repentance is a work of faith, a gift from God, that brings to you the forgiveness of sins. Going from that place and living sanctified lives, yes, that is cooperation with the Holy Spirit, but receiving the gift of God is His work alone in you. This is why we sometimes say that Confession is kind of like our third sacrament, because, like the other two, Baptism and the Supper, it is the Word of God which comes from outside of us, to deliver to gifts of Christ. We do not trust ourselves or our feelings; instead, we should turn to the Word of God to determine what our feelings are. If you are convicted under the Law, you should feel sorrow. If you are repentant, you should feel expectation. If you are forgiven, you should feel joyful. This information even comes from outside of you, informing you of who you are in Christ Jesus. Of course, the unrepentant person doesn’t care; they will not search the Word of God, but rely upon themselves for their own forgiveness. That is why the Church binds their sins to them; not in anger or haste, but threatens them that, if they will not turn, they will spend eternity in hell, and this is not because we hate them, but because we love them and want to scare them straight with the Law right into the arms of Christ. While this doctrine is a heavy burden that must be exercised rightly, it is not just mere stuff, but the stuff of eternal life, and we would do well to ponder the Office of the Keys rightly and often.