Luther on Confession

1st John 1:10
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

These words are spoken by Lutherans nearly every week when they do the opening confession for worship. Many people are not aware that they come directly from scripture. Luther wrote about these words, "not only have we sinned, but we continue to sin. Because of the weakness of our corrupt nature which we will have as long as we own bodies, there is always this ongoing battle between what we are and what we're called to be by the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul talks about this in Romans 7:18, 'I know that nothing good lives in me, that is nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I rarely do it!'

Many sinners like to take on the form and appearance of Holiness. But even the church fathers are usually looking at outward sins and not internal ones. Notions like envy, jealousy, a hostile heart, falling from Faith and Hope are sins that continue to bite and entice us. But these sins do not have to rule over us. This sin is like a person who's been tied up and is being led away to its death - the weapons it once used to harm others have been taken away. He is not dead yet. Yet the sinful body rages and rants, and never lets up. For we always love with his love and depend only on our own strength. We don't put our trust in the word, we don't believe in God. Our corrupt nature doesn't want it any other way. So the best remedy against this is to meditate diligently on God's word every day.

As Luther was wont to say, what does this mean? It means that the first person we are dishonest with is ourselves. We never want to truly believe we are somehow deficient, or that there is more to us that needs to be attended to beyond what we see.

But God can see he understands what's going on inside us, he knows our evil thoughts. And though they don't always work themselves out in our deeds it doesn't mean we are without sin. The old translation of this particular passage says that if we 'say we have no sin we make God into a liar!'

I think they meant that God recognizes our sin, and sends his son to die on a cross for it. If our sin is so obvious to God that it requires Jesus to die on a cross, we should not be so foolish to try and convince people otherwise. And this is why we began every worship service with confession, and also why these words are at the heart of that confession. It not only tells the world what we are, it explains to the world why we gather. We stand beneath the grace of God, experiencing the freedom of the forgiveness of God, so that we might be able to go forth and be the people of God.