Of Church Censures<\/p>\n
To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel; and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.<\/em><\/p>\n The “Office of the Keys” is that special authority which Christ\u00a0has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant\u00a0sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long\u00a0as they do not repent. It is based on Christ’s words to the apostles in Matthew 18:18, words which have historically been interpreted to apply to the ministerial office in the church through the ages, and not exclusively to the apostles to whom the words were first addressed.<\/p>\n “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21) \u00a0The answer, of course, is no one. \u00a0Yet for our benefit God has ordained that the forgiveness of sins have an objective ground. “Thus it is written…that repentance and remission of sins should be preached<\/em> in His name to all nations.” (Luke 24:46) \u00a0A public declaration of God’s forgiveness, or holy absolution, as it is sometimes called, while not a sacrament in the strict sense of the term, i.e., it has no visible element, has Christ’s own institution. It is a means of grace, as is holy baptism and holy communion.<\/p>\n Holy absolution, following confession of sin, is a proper ministration of the Keys (as is a stern warning to those who resist repentance). \u00a0In the Lutheran tradition, it takes the following form: \u00a0“Upon this your confession, I, as a called and\u00a0ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all\u00a0of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus\u00a0Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and\u00a0of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\u201d \u00a0The pastor has no power or authority of himself to say “I forgive you all your sins”, just as he has no power or authority of himself to say “I baptize you”, or to say, “The body of Christ for you”. Rather, the power is ecclesiastical, i.e., it is vested in the office by the authority of Jesus Christ. \u00a0And yet\u00a0the pastor\u2019s declaration of forgiveness is, in Martin Luther\u2019s words, \u201cjust as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord had dealt with us Himself.\u201d<\/p>\n “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through<\/em> us…” (2 Corinthians 5:20)<\/p>\n The benediction too is a means of grace. \u00a0It is much more than an expression of hope and goodwill, a kind of pious goodbye. \u00a0Rather it is a\u00a0declaration of God\u2019s blessing through God’s minister to and upon His (forgiven) people.<\/p>\n “To all those that repent of in this wise, and look to Jesus Christ for their salvation, I declare that the absolution of sins is effected, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” \u00a0Calvin’s Strasbourg Liturgy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of Church Censures To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel; and by … <\/p>\n