# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1860_S36
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— Page 36 —

God is the judge; He has not given the apostles the office of
judging, but has commanded the execution of grace, to pronounce
absolution upon those who desire it."

On b. and c., House Postil for the 19th Sunday after Trinity:
"When you ask your pastor to absolve you, and he says: 'I, in God's
stead, proclaim to you through Christ the forgiveness of all your
sins,' etc." "But thank God, that He has given such power to forgive
sin to man."

Note: Here Luther indeed calls absolution a proclamation of the
forgiveness of sins, but such a proclamation as actually conveys the
forgiveness of sins.

5. The effect of absolution a., is not founded on man's own
contrition, confession, and satisfaction; b., absolution,
however, requires faith, and works and strengthens that same
faith; c., without faith it is of no use to man; d., though
it is not for that reason a false key.

On a., House Postil, Quasimodogeniti: "Under the papacy it was
preached that whoever desired forgiveness of sins should reflect on
his sin and produce in himself a contrition and sorrow. Upon such
contrition forgiveness of sins was then founded. Now it may be that
this practice was taken from the example of the ancients, who, just
as we do, were unwilling to pronounce absolution on anyone unless he
confessed himself a sinner and showed that his sin grieved him. This
is right and ought to be so. But to say that such contrition and
sorrow merit the forgiveness of sins on their account — that is
false and wrong. For contrition is no merit; rather it is sin,
rightly felt in the heart, and the power and dominion of sin. On
that one must not build the forgiveness of sin and grace."

On b., House Postil, Quasimodogeniti: "Faith alone is able to
grasp such a word. And the heart alone is the proper little casket
for it, into which it lets itself be locked, so that it is thus
clear and certain that we must be justified through faith alone.
There must indeed be contrition and sorrow, for otherwise you cannot
become an enemy of sin from the heart, nor will you ever desire from
the heart that it be forgiven you. But this is the right way: that
you find yourself where my Word is, and hear it, and receive it with
faith — thereby you become free of sin."

House Postil, Mary Magdalene['s Day]: "Absolution is a divine
word, in which the sins of each person individually are forgiven and
pronounced remitted, whereby faith is strengthened and moved."

On c., Concerning the Sacrament of Penance: "But where faith is
not present, nothing helps, even if Christ and God Himself
pronounced the verdict. For God can give to no one who does not want
to have it. But he does not want to have it who does not believe
that it is given to him, and thereby does the Word of God a great
dishonor."

On d., Concerning the Keys: "But if you say, as the fanatics and
sophists also do: many indeed hear the binding and loosing of the
keys, yet do not heed it and remain unbound