Confession and Absolution - Week 6 (Monday Morning Devotions)
As we dive into the New Year, as well as prepare for the season of Lent, Pastor Ricky Jacob leads us through a devotion series on Confession and Absolution.
Need to start at week 1: Read it here
We start today with some words of the greatest teacher ever - Jesus. Jesus said to his disciples, "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 world, many scramble for power, prestige, and positions of authority. Many a politician has sold himself out for an office. Many a person has attempted to get close to someone who has such power. Yet such people have limited power, limited to this world and often fleeting in nature.
Jesus speaks of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. I, for one, would rather have the blessed hope of life everlasting in the new heavens on the new earth than any earthly blessing. And where are these keys found? In God's house - His church.
Dr. Martin Luther wrote about what the Office of the Keys are:
The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. (Devotions on the Small Catechism - p. 112)
Freeing the Captives -- Faith Spelbring
While most people have not been locked behind bars, we have all been in chains that bind us. [The apostle] Paul described us as once slaves to sin but now set free because of Jesus. Our sin separates us from God and from others, but Jesus' work of salvation on our behalf opens the prison and sets us captives free.
The power to forgive sins is God's alone, but He entrusted His Church with His authority and power to bind and loosen the sinner's chains, saying "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Perhaps it is because God created us as relational beings that our church call pastors to hear our confession and, by God's authority and because of Jesus' death on the cross, look us square in the eye to specifically tell us our sins are forgiven and proclaim liberty to the captives.
Please pray with me: God of freedom, thank You for loosening our sinful chains through Christ, who is the Key. You've given Your Church [the] responsibility to bind and loosen on earth and in heaven. Give her wisdom to know what is right and courage to do it. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. (Devotions on the Small Catechism - p. 113)