# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1860_S51
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— Page 51 —

Fifth Thesis: The effect of absolution is not grounded on
man's contrition, confession, and satisfaction; absolution
does, however, require faith, and works and strengthens
that faith — without faith it is of no use to a person,
though it is not therefore a skeleton key [that opens
regardless of the condition of the one receiving it].

Concerning the first part of this thesis — "The effect of
absolution is not grounded on man's contrition,
confession, and satisfaction" — it was stated: the
teaching that no one can experience the comfort of absolution except
one who stands in true contrition is often misunderstood to mean that
contrition is a meritorious condition for the power and fruit of
absolution. True faith can, of course, take root in no heart that is
still carnally secure and without contrition, but the comfort of
absolution is not to be grounded on one's having contrition. It is
therefore dangerous to preach in such a way that, instead of working
contrition through one's preaching, one constantly only demands
contrition; this leads people to think that contrition is a
meritorious condition of forgiveness.

The second part of the thesis — "Absolution requires
faith, and works and strengthens it" — was explained as
follows: however self-evident this may seem, it is of great
importance. Very many awakened souls stumble over the Lutheran
teaching on the means of grace, because they imagine we believe that
a person can come to heaven through the bare external means
themselves; for we do indeed say that baptism saves, that absolution
saves, that the Holy Supper saves — and so, they think, we make the
use of these external means into an opus operatum (that is, we teach
that the mere external use of the means of grace is meritorious for
obtaining salvation). But such people should consider that the charge
of opus operatum applies only to the papists, who say: as long as we
put up no obstacle, the use of baptism, absolution, and communion
saves. We, by contrast, say: it is by no means enough merely to put
up no obstacle (even if we were able to put up no obstacle at all);
rather, much more is required, namely that faith be present, if we
are to use the means of grace to salutary effect and be saved. But
what more should be necessary than faith? Are not all the powers of
living Christianity contained in faith? It is certainly true that
baptism, absolution, and the Supper save us — but only when we
believe. In this way every misgiving that we make the use of the
means of grace into an opus operatum is removed. — When it is said
that absolution requires faith, and works and strengthens it, then by
"requires" one is not to understand a legal demand, but the demand
[offer] of the Gospel; it means simply this: faith is required in
order to enjoy the fruit of absolution. As for the thesis as a whole,
it is beautifully illustrated by the example of a rich man who holds
out a gift to a poor man. By the holding-out, the poor man is moved
to stretch out his hand, and in stretching it out he receives the
gift at the same time.