In the church that I pastor, we have a brief time of confession of sin, immediately after the reading of God’s law. After we have a time of silent confession of sin, we have a pastoral prayer of confession followed by an assurance of pardon. This is a longstanding practice in many Reformed churches. Something of which many may not be aware is that, in the early days of the Reformation, Martin Luther wanted to keep the practice of the confessional–without any of the Roman Catholic Church insistence on the necessity of priestly absolution attached to it. 

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov 28:13). The Scriptures explicitly teach that the confession of sin is one of the most important aspects of the Christian life. Nevertheless, in our day, it is often one of the most misunderstood and overly neglected aspects of the process of growth in grace. Whatever else might be said, of this much we may be sure–there is a daily need for us to own our sin and to confess it to the Lord. Confession of sin is an individual matter between the believer and his or her God; however, it is also a corporate exercise–according to Scripture.

In the church that I pastor, we have a brief time of confession of sin, immediately after the reading of God’s law. After we have a time of silent confession of sin, we have a pastoral prayer of confession followed by an assurance of pardon. This is a longstanding practice in many Reformed churches. Something of which many may not be aware is that, in the early days of the Reformation, Martin Luther wanted to keep the practice of the confessional–without any of the Roman Catholic Church insistence on the necessity of priestly absolution attached to it. Herman Bavinck explained:

“Luther took over from the Roman Catholic Church the official administration of the Word to the individual and therefore favored the maintenance of private confession. Although he regarded the preaching of the gospel as the forgiveness of sins (hence, “a Christian preacher can never open his mouth without pronouncing an absolution”), this was not enough for him. The pastor must also apply the absolution individually in the confessional, which, though not strictly necessary, is highly useful. But the institution of private confession encountered insurmountable difficulties (the insufficient number of pastors, the confessional fee, the uncertain meaning of absolution, and so forth) and gradually fell into disuse. Although the Reformed found the mutual confession of sins between church members useful, they had the official administration of the Word and hence also the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, that is, the proclamation of pardon, take place only in the public gatherings of believers. For confession as an institution of the church, they only retained the regular or occasional confession of sins customary in preparing for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and for the rest replaced private confession with the practice of personal home visitation.”1

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