Confession (Lutheran Church)

Religious method for seeking forgiveness

For general confession in the Lutheran Church, see Penitential Rite.

Not to be confused with Church of the Lutheran Confession.

"Private Absolution ought to be retained in the churches, although in confession an enumeration of all sins is not necessary." —Augsburg Confession, Article 11

In the Lutheran Church, Confession (also called Holy Absolution) is the method given by Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may receive the forgiveness of sins; according to the Large Catechism, the "third sacrament" of Holy Absolution is properly viewed as an extension of Holy Baptism.[1][2] Unlike Roman Catholicism, the practice of private confession in the Lutheran Church is voluntary, not obligatory.

## Beliefs

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The Lutheran Church practices "Confession and Absolution" [referred to as the Office of the Keys] with the emphasis on the absolution, which is God's word of forgiveness. Indeed, Lutherans highly regard Holy Absolution. They, like Roman Catholics, see James 5:16 and John 20:22–23 as biblical evidence for confession.[3] Confession and absolution is done in private to the pastor, called the "confessor" with the person confessing known as the "penitent". In confession, the penitent makes an act of contrition, as the pastor, acting in persona Christi, announces the formula of absolution. Prior to the confession, the penitent is to review the Ten Commandments to examine his or her conscience.[4]

In the Lutheran Church, like the Roman Catholic Church, the pastor is bound by the Seal of the Confessional. Luther's Small Catechism says "the pastor is pledged not to tell anyone else of sins to him in private confession, for those sins have been removed." If the Seal is broken, it will result in excommunication.[3] At the present time, it is, for example, expected before partaking of the Eucharist for the first time.[5][6][7] It is also encouraged to be done frequently in a year[8] (specifically before Easter). In many churches, times are set for the pastor to hear confessions.[9][10]

The Augsburg Confession divides repentance into two parts: "One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel, or of absolution, and believes that for Christ's sake, sins are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and delivers it from terrors."[11]

In line with Luther's initial statement in his Large Catechism, some Lutherans speak of only two sacraments,[12] Baptism and the Eucharist, although later in the same work he calls Confession and Absolution[13] "the third sacrament."[14] The definition of sacrament in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession lists Absolution as one of them.[15] Luther went to confession all his life.[16] Although Lutherans do not consider the other four rites as sacraments, they are still retained and used in the Lutheran church. Philipp Melanchthon speaking about the Confession in the Lutheran Church, claims that "we do not wish to sanction the torture [the tyranny of consciences] of the Summists, which notwithstanding would have been less intolerable if they had added one word concerning faith, which comforts and encourages consciences. Now, concerning this faith, which obtains the remission of sins, there is not a syllable in so great a mass of regulations, glosses, summaries, books of confession. Christ is nowhere read there".[17]

In mainstream Lutheranism, the faithful often receive the sacrament of penance from a Lutheran priest before receiving the Eucharist.[6][7] Prior to going to Confessing and receiving Absolution, the faithful are expected to examine their lives in light of the Ten Commandments.[18] The order of Confession and Absolution is contained in the Small Catechism, as well as other liturgical books of the Lutheran Churches.[18] The sacrament of confession can variously take place in a confessional, reconciliation room, or at communion rails, all during which Lutherans confess their sins. At the same time, the confessor—a Lutheran priest—listens and then offers absolution, which may include the laying of their stole on the penitent's head.[18] Clergy are prohibited from revealing anything said during private Confession and Absolution per the Seal of the Confessional, and face excommunication if it is violated. In Laestadian Lutheranism penitent sinners, in accordance with the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, practice lay confession, "confess[ing] their transgressions to other church members, who can then absolve the penitent."[19]

## Martin Luther on confession

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In his 1529 catechisms, Martin Luther praised confession (before a pastor or a fellow Christian) "for the sake of absolution", the forgiveness of sins bestowed in an audible, concrete way.[20] The Lutheran reformers held that a complete enumeration of sins is impossible[21] and that one's confidence of forgiveness is not to be based on the sincerity of one's contrition nor on one's doing works of satisfaction imposed by the confessor (penance).[22] The Roman Catholic church held confession to be composed of three parts: contritio cordis ("contrition of the heart"), confessio oris ("confession of the mouth"), and satisfactio operis ("satisfaction of deeds").[23] The Lutheran reformers abolished the "satisfaction of deeds," holding that confession and absolution consist of only two parts: the confession of the penitent and the absolution spoken by the confessor.[24] Faith and trust in Jesus' complete active and passive satisfaction is what receives the forgiveness and salvation won by him and imparted to the penitent by the word of absolution.

## References

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1. ^ "Holy Baptism".
2. ^ Barry, A. L. (2025). "What About Confession and Absolution?". Redeemer Lutheran Church. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
3. ^ a b An explanation of The Small Catechism Archived 2009-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2010-02-02.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Retrieved 2010-02-02.
5. ^ Apology of the Augsburg Confession, article 24, paragraph 1. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
6. ^ a b Richard, James William (1909). The Confessional History of the Lutheran Church. Lutheran Publication Society. p. 113. "In the Lutheran Church, private confession was at first voluntary. Later, in portions of the Lutheran Church, it was made obligatory, as a test of orthodoxy, and as a preparation of the Lord's Supper."
7. ^ a b Kolb, Robert (2008). Lutheran Ecclesiastical Culture: 1550–1675. Brill Publishers. p. 282\. ISBN 9789004166417. "The North German church ordinances of the late 16th century all include a description of private confession and absolution, which normally took place at the conclusion of Saturday afternoon vespers, and was a requirement for all who desired to commune the following day."
8. ^ The Defense of the Augsburg Confession; Article XI: Of Confession. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
9. ^ An example of a church that has a set time for confessions[permanent dead link]. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
10. ^ "St. Mark Lutheran Church". St. Mark Lutheran Church. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
11. ^ Augsburg Confession, Article XII: Of Repentance
12. ^ Luther's Large Catechism IV, 1: "We have now finished the three chief parts of the common Christian doctrine. Besides these we have yet to speak of our two Sacraments instituted by Christ, of which also every Christian ought to have at least an ordinary, brief instruction, because without them there can be no Christian; although, alas! hitherto no instruction concerning them has been given" (emphasis added; cf. Theodore G. Tappert, trans. and ed., The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959), 733).
13. ^ John 20:23, and Engelder, T.E.W. Popular Symbolics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934. pp. 112-3, Part XXVI "The Ministry", paragraph 156.
14. ^ Luther's Large Catechism IV, 74-75: "And here you see that Baptism, both in its power and signification, comprehends also the third Sacrament, which has been called repentance, as it is really nothing else than Baptism" (emphasis added; cf. Theodore G. Tappert, trans. and ed., The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959), 751).
15. ^ The Apology of the Augsburg Confession XIII, 3, 4: "If we define the sacraments as rites, which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added, it is easy to determine what the sacraments are, properly speaking. For humanly instituted rites are not sacraments, properly speaking, because human beings do not have the authority to promise grace. Therefore signs instituted without the command of God are not sure signs of grace, even though they perhaps serve to teach or admonish the common folk. Therefore, the sacraments are actually baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and absolution (the sacrament of repentance)" (cf. Tappert, 211).
16. ^ "Article XIII. (VII): Of the Number and Use of the Sacraments". bookofconcord.org. 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
17. ^ "Defense of the Augsburg Confession". Book of Concord. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
18. ^ a b c Wendel, David M. (1997). Manual for the Recovery of a Parish Practice of Individual Confession and Absolution (PDF). The Society of the Holy Trinity. pp. 2, 7, 8, 11.
19. ^ Lamport, Mark A. (31 August 2017). Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 406\. ISBN 9781442271593.
20. ^ John 20:23; Matthew 16:19; 18:18
21. ^ Augsburg Confession XI with reference to Psalm 19:12
22. ^ "Christian Cyclopedia". Archived from the original on 2004-11-23. Retrieved 2010-01-20. "Rejected ... are those who teach that forgiveness of sin is not obtained through faith but through the satisfactions made by man."
23. ^ "Christian Cyclopedia". Archived from the original on 2004-11-23. Retrieved 2010-01-20. "The acts of the penitent himself, namely contrition, confession, and satisfaction, constitute, as it were, the matter of this sacrament."
24. ^ Large Catechism VI, 15

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* The Ten Commandments
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* VI. Of The New Obedience
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* IX. Of Baptism
* X. Of the Lord's Supper
* XI. Of Confession
* XII. Of Repentance
* XIII. Of the Use of the Sacraments
* XIV.
* XV. Ecclesiastical Usages
* XVI. Of Civil Affairs
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