whit better, but that, if you concede too much to them, they rather draw you away from the true worship of God. Thus shall we convert to the benefit of the poor (and thereby truly worship Christ) the expense that we have hitherto lavished in gold and silver and gems and other precious things upon the worship of the god Maozim, whom we have honored in the holy place, according to the words of the eleventh chapter of Daniel, though we knew him not; and our hearts, which hitherto have been tossed hither and thither by false hopes, will be fixed upon the one God through the everlasting pledge, His Son. Amen.
[19]. Confession
The truly sacred writings know of no other confession than that by which a man comes to know himself and to throw himself upon the mercy of God, according to the word of the prophet, Ps. 32:5: “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” As, therefore, it is God alone who remits sins and puts the heart at rest, so to Him alone ought we to ascribe the healing of our wounds, to Him alone display them to be healed. For who ever uncovered a wound to any other than the physician or the person who he hoped could give him helpful advice? Just so is it with confession: it is God alone that heals our hearts; to Him alone, therefore, is the wound to be disclosed. But if you do not yet quite know the physician or are not sure where he dwells, no one forbids your unbinding your wound before a wise counsellor and begging him to give you advice. And if he is a wise and faithful man, he will be sure to send you to a physician who is so skilled in his profession that he can sew up your wound. I will now explain the parable. The man who knows not the physician is he that has not yet come to a right knowledge of grace through Christ, and yet, such is the nemesis of conscience, is seeking to lay down the burden by which he is oppressed. The sage and faithful counsellor is the minister of the word of God, who, like the good Samaritan, pours wine and oil into the wounds [Lk. 10: 34]. The wine signifies the sharpness of repentance, to which he leads the man
[So the Latin Vulgate: Daniel 11: 38.]
when he sets him before his own eyes so that he may learn to know himself, or sometimes drags him in spite of his resistance to a knowledge of his hypocrisy. It is a bitter and sharp thing that you are thoroughly bad within to the very core; it is a still more bitter thing that you cannot deny your wickedness; it is the most bitter thing when you realize that you are dead and that your hopes have failed. Then the wound begins to burn. Presently, therefore, the minister of the word should pour in oil, that is, Christ, who is anointed beyond all with the oil of gladness, that is, he should show what grace has bestowed upon us through Him. When the man has learned this, he can no longer be kept from hastening to Him. Auricular confession, then, is nothing but a consultation in which we receive, from him whom God has appointed to the end that we may seek the law from his lips, advice as to how we can secure peace of mind. Behold the Keys, therefore, behold the Gospel, of which enough has been said. The minister of the word, therefore, evangelizes you; and when you have been evangelized, that is, when you have received Christ, you are absolved and delivered from the burden of sin, and this relief you feel in your heart, even if no pontiff pronounces the words of any formula over you. Nonsense and sheer trumpery, therefore, are the promises of the Papalists concerning the Keys. In the same category belong the doctrines of certain reckless persons who have asserted that a man is made sure by the Keys. Unless he is sure within through faith, you will say in vain, “Thou art free.” For you can no more make him sure by your words than you can make an elephant of a fly by saying, “You are an elephant.” You may teach and expound the meaning of the Gospel, but you do it in vain, unless the Lord give inward teaching. For how many are there who hear and do not receive it [cf. Mk. 4: 15]! What is the reason they do not receive it? God hath not drawn them [ecf. Jn. 6:44]. As soon as He draws them, they leap over to Him without your help. Unless a man has this certainty of faith, he will be absolved a thousand times by the priest in vain; for he will always go from him in despair and unbelief. And the things concerning confession that have been invented and handed down are as the ocean and Cimmerian darkness, so that it is not at all worth while to refute them. If
you examine properly the few things that I add here, you will sail safely through the whole of Scripture, as far as Confession is concerned, easily perceiving that of the auricular confession we have hitherto practiced absolutely no mention is made therein. [I.] To confess is, first, to praise and to give thanks to the Lord; as, “Confess unto the Lord, for he is good,” as the children of Israel sang when Pharaoh was drowned. [II.] Next, to confess is to trust in the Lord, to confess that He is our rock and refuge, as Ps. 105: 1-25 and I John 4: 15-16: “Every one that confesseth that Jesus is the Son of God, ete.” [III.] Further, to confess is to acknowledge that of which you are reproached or accused; as those whose consciences were pricked by the preaching of John acknowledged that the case was as he taught. So today those confess their sins who when they hear the word of God are conscience stricken so that they recognize their trouble, and straightway betake themselves to the physician. [IV.] Finally, we confess our sins when we inform our neighbor or some learned scholar of our secret guilt, in order that he may join us in asking forgiveness of the Heavenly Father, or may find counsel, as has been said, that will enable us to resist evil thereafter. Of this confession, James, 5:16, says: “Confess your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed; for the continual prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Relying upon this passage, the Papalists have defended auricular confession hitherto, though St. James is not speaking of that, but of the confession which every man makes to his neighbor when he discloses to him some internal and hitherto hidden wound. Henee, nothing more can be wrung from this passage than that every man should go to his neighbor and ask him to pray with him for his shortcomings. And in order that he may do this more earnestly, he exposes the foulness of his wound. In a word, he makes sufficient confession who trusts in God, as was said in the second article above; who praises Him and gives thanks for blessings bestowed, as in the first article; who acknowledges his sins and deplores them before the Lord, as
[The quotation is not from Exod. 15, as one might surmise from the]
[words that follow, but from Ps. 136: 1. Probably verses 13-15 led him to]
[think the whole Psalm was sung on the occasion of Pharaoh’s destruction.]
← 51. Commentary on True and False Religion · Contents · 53. Commentary on True and False Religion →