Confession and Absolution

O almighty God, merciful Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto Thee all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended Thee and justly deserved Thy temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them; and I pray Thee of Thy boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor sinful being. (The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941)

These words are so healing when spoken with a contrite and repentant heart although some in the LCMS, not all, are omitting or will eventually omit the Confession all together. They say that people don't want to hear about their sin! If that's the case then why was Jesus born, and why did Jesus die on the cross? Was that in vain? No, it was most certainly not in vain!!! It says in 1 John 1:9, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When we do not recognize ourselves as sinners and rely on Christ to make us saints through His blood poured out for us on the cross then we rely on ourselves and become self-reliant and self-righteous. The whole point of Confessional Lutheranism is the opposite: God saved us through His grace and His grace alone. He comes to us in His word and sacraments. We do not come to Him; one day we can't just suddenly decide to follow Him. Through His Holy Spirit He draws us to His word and saving grace. Through that saving grace we receive absolution, forgiveness of sins. The following is from the Book of Concord (XXV. CONFESSION, pp. 61-62):

Article XXV: Of Confession.
1] Confession in the churches is not abolished among us; for it is not usual to give the body of the Lord, except to them that have been previously examined and absolved. And 2] the people are most carefully taught concerning faith in the absolution, about which formerly there 3] was profound silence. Our people are taught that they should highly prize the absolution, as being the voice of God, 4] and pronounced by God's command. The power of the Keys is set forth in its beauty and they are reminded what great consolation it brings to anxious consciences, also, that God requires faith to believe such absolution as a voice sounding from heaven, and that such faith in Christ truly obtains and receives the forgiveness of sins.

When we sincerely confess our sins whether privately or publicly, we must believe that God has truly forgiven us and lean upon His strength to change our hearts. We must always be teachable and humble before Him, ready to submit to His perfect and holy will. His will is for us to witness to these truths. Despite other selfish and popular beliefs in the world, we are here to point people to the Cross so that they too may confess their sins and receive absolution, forgiveness of sins. What is life without Christ and His forgiveness? There is none!! And there are no "peaceful" consciences as well!!