The question of who has the right to preach the forgiveness of sins comes up quite often in Christian discussions. Some believe that forgiveness can only be obtained directly from God, for example through prayer. Others believe that only a priest can declare absolution. But what does the Bible say about this?
The Office of Preaching
As a young man, I attended a spiritual gathering. The speaker at the occasion was a traveling pastor, who also sold religious literature. I bought a few of Luther’s writings. While browsing through them at home, I became interested in a book called “the Office of the Keys’.
On various occasions, I had discussed with my Conservative Laestadian friends about matters concerning faith. They often spoke about the keys and the authority of the keys, so it was interesting to find out what Luther’s opinion was on this specific matter. I had read church history in school and was in fact interested in it. I thought that Luther would surely address the topic based on the Catholic Church’s practices. I thought it’s possible that I would find in Luther’s views some enlightenment on the question that had started to occupy my mind. I read and underlined the portions that, in my opinion, were the most essential and worth remembering.
One of the portions stopped me. Luther wrote that the keys are the office or power given by God to Christian people to forgive people for their sins; that is the office of preaching absolution. He based his understanding on the place in the New Testament (Matt. 9:6), in which it is described how Jesus forgave the sins of the paralyzed man and only after that healed him, and how the crowds of people praised God, Who had given such authority to man. Luther further said that God does not forgive sins in any other way.
So Luther was of the same opinion as my Laestadian friends on this, that God has left to His congregation the office to forgive sins and that an unbelieving person cannot receive peace for his conscience unless he hears and believes the preaching of the forgiveness of sins. I did not immediately go to tell my friends that they were correct and that I was wrong. I did not admit that my argument, that God can forgive sins in many ways, was a Pharisaic fantasy although Luther so labeled it.
My structures began to crumble and my foundations collapsed, but it was not easy to give up my own opinions and humble myself to seek personal mercy. Again and again, I pondered how God gives faith and peace of conscience to those who seek and long for Him.
God has instituted the Office of Preaching
I am probably not the only one who has found it difficult to accept that God has given people the right — and indeed the duty — to preach forgiveness of sins. When Jesus himself preached forgiveness of sins to a paralyzed man, the scribes became angry and thought, “He is blaspheming God” (Mark 2:5–7; Matt. 9:2,3; Luke 5:20,21). I did not comprehend the matter either until I received the grace of repentance. Only after that I understood that the office of the preaching of reconciliation — the forgiveness of sins — is a deeply scriptural matter that is part of God’s plan of salvation.
Paul writes to the Corinthians, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19). God was in Christ, He suffered, died and atoned for the sins of men in this manner. When the Roman soldier’s spear pierced Christ’s side, the holy, atoning blood that flowed from Him fulfilled the demands of God’s righteousness and turned away His anger. The blood of Christ that dried on the rock of Golgotha was not just a historical event, but a sign of forgiveness, the joyful message of which could be offered to penitent sinners.
After rising from the dead, Christ appeared in the midst of His disciples behind closed doors. He brought the greetings of the peace made upon the cross. He showed His pierced hands and side as signs of victory. He breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:22–23).
This is exactly what Luther was referring to when he spoke of the keys. Jesus said to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). In this manner, the disciples received the office and the authority to preach the forgiveness of sins. The risen Lord bound himself to the preaching of His disciples.
However, this office was not received only by those disciples of Jesus to whom He gave it himself; it has been received by all who have themselves believed the preaching of the forgiveness of sins. Man is truly unfit for this duty, but God has made His children fit for it. “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant” (2 Cor. 3:5-6).
The Office of Preaching is a form of the Holy Spirit’s operation
The office of preaching absolution is not bound to anything visible, such as the sacraments. The person holding this office does not have to prove their skills or competencies, like a priest in the official church office does. The duty, nevertheless, has its own qualifications. This is clarified by the cited portion of the Gospel of John, in which Christ gave His disciples the authority to forgive sins. The office of preaching atonement is the office of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is only in people who have God’s love and the Holy Spirit living in them (Rom. 5:5).
In his explanation of the Apostles’ Creed, Luther writes: “The Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel … In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth … In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers” (the Third Article).
Paul reveals the same matter in this manner, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry” (2 Cor. 4:1). The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of the forgiven sinner and gives them the authority to serve in the office of the Spirit, no matter their education or gender. This means that anyone who has had their sins forgiven in the name and blood of Jesus can then proclaim the same forgiveness to others. The Spirit’s office of preaching forgiveness is therefore also intended for women and children. However, this office of preaching should not be confused with preaching as a minister of the church, which, according to God’s command, is intended only for men (1 Cor. 14:34-37).
The Acts of the Apostles tells how the disciples went out to fulfill their missionary duty. Jesus had given it to them on Easter evening and renewed it before He ascended into heaven. When the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled, the apostles preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, to the people who had gathered there. God blessed their sermon and a large group believed. Luke concludes his description of the first Pentecost services, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
The office of preaching gathers the gospel’s believers into the fellowship of the congregation. The Holy Spirit builds Christ’s church through it. When man receives the grace of new birth, the Holy Spirit does not leave him an orphan and separate, but joins him to the body of Christ as a living member.
No one can take the office of preaching out of the congregation. The words and the outward form of the proclamation can be borrowed but its power cannot. Luther reveals the unity of the office of preaching and the congregation that is ruled by the Holy Spirit in this way, “There is no Word of God without the congregation, nor is there a congregation without the Word of God”. By saying this, he does not mean the written, but, specifically, the preached Word of God. He bases this on Romans 10:17, where Paul says: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ”.
The original Greek word ‘akoēs’, which is often translated as ‘hearing’, actually has a broader meaning than that. Luther translated it as ‘preaching’, in which case the Bible passage reads: “faith comes from the preaching”. So, ‘akoēs’ does not mean only hearing with your ears, but the public proclamation and hearing of God’s word based on the office of preaching. This preaching, which, according to Paul’s promise, gives birth to faith and, according to Jesus’ promise, forgives sins, is still continuing to be proclaimed from the kingdom of God.
Author: Juhani Uljas, edited by Antti Halonen
Image: Henrikki Hetemaa, SRK