Martin Luther's Writings

17. In confession, if a priest wishes to inquire, or if you want to examine yourself, as to whether or not you are truly contrite, I have no objections. Just so no one becomes so bold in the sight of God that he claims to have sufficient contrition. Such an attitude is presumptuous and fabricated, for no one has sufficient contrition for his sin. [I would allow] even that the inquiry begreatly expanded as to whether a person firmly believes the sacrament, that his sins are forgiven him as Christ said to the paralytic, "My son, have faith and your sins are forgiven you" [Matt. 9:2]; and to the woman, "Have faith, my daughter, your faith has made you well" [Matt. 9:22]. Such inquiry, has become quite rare in this sacrament; we operate only with contrition, sin, satisfaction, and indulgence. And so one blind man keeps leading the other [Matt. 15:14]. Actually in this sacrament the priest, in his word, brings God's message about sin and the forgiveness of guilt. Hence he should indeed be the one who inquires and discerns most of all whether a person is receptive to the message. Such receptivity can never consist in anything other than faith and the desire to receive this message. Sin, contrition, and good works should be treated in sermons before the sacrament and confession.

18. It may happen that God does not cause a person to find the forgiveness of guilt, and the turbulence and uneasiness of conscience persist after the sacrament as before. Here one must deal wisely, for the fault is in the faith. It is just as impossible that the heart should not be joyful when it believes its sins are forgiven, as that it should not be troubled and uneasy when it believes its sins are unforgiven. Now if God allows faith to remain weak, one should not despair on that account, but rather recognize it as a trial and temptation [anfechtung] by means of which God tests, prods, and drives a person to cry out all the more and plead for such faith, saying with the father of the possessed boy in the gospel, "O Lord, help my unbelief" [Mark 9:24], and with the apostles, "O Lord, increase our faith" [Luke 17:5]. Thus does a person come to learn that everything depends on the grace of God: the sacrament, the forgiveness, and the faith. Giving up all other hope, despairing of himself, he comes to hope exclusively in the grace of God and cling to it without ceasing.

19. Now penance and the sacrament of penance are two different matters. As said above the sacrament consists inthree things: in the word of God, that is, the absolution; in the faith [which trusts] in this absolution; and in the peace, that is, the forgiveness of sins which surely follows faith. But penance has also been divided into three "parts": contrition, confession, and satisfaction.Now just as in contrition there is many an abuse, as has already been noted, so it is also in the case of confession and satisfaction. There are a host of books on these subjects, but unfortunately very few on the sacrament of penance. Where, however, the sacrament proceeds correctly in faith, there p enance—confession, contrition, and satisfaction—is a less weighty matter, and there is no danger of there being too little or too much. For the faith of the sacrament makes all the crooked straight and fills up all the uneven ground. So no one who has this sacramental faith can err, whether in contrition, confession, or satisfaction; and even if he does err, it does him no harm. Where there is no faith, however, there neither contrition, nor confession, nor satisfaction is adequate. For this reason so many books and teachings appear on contrition, confession, and satisfaction. These serve only to frighten hearts into confessing often; whether the sins they confess are venial ormortal, they do not know. Yet this time we desire to say a little more about the subject:

20. Venial sins one need not confess to the priest, but only to God. Now, however, another question arises: What are mortal and venial sins? There has never yet been a teacher, nor will there ever be one, learned enough to give us a dependable rule for distinguishing venial from mortal sins, except in such obvious offenses against God's commandments as adultery, murder, theft, falsehood, slander, betrayal, hatred, and the like. It is, moreover, entirely up to God to judge which other sins he regards as mortal. Nor is it possible for man to recognize this, as Psalm 19[:12] says,"O God, who can discern all his sins? Cleanse me from secret sins." Therefore private confession is no place for [reciting] sins other than those which one openly recognizes as deadly, those which at the time are oppressing and frightening the conscience. For if one were to confess all his sins, he would have to be confessing every moment, since in this life we are never without sin. Even our good works are not pure and without sin. Yet it is not fruitless to confess the slighter sins, particularly if one is not aware of any mortal sins. For as has been said, in this sacrament God's word is heard, and [through it] faith is strengthened more and more. And even if one should have nothing to confess, it would still be profitable for the sake of that very faith to hear often the absolution, God's word. Thus one would grow accustomed to believing in the forgiveness of sins. This is why I said that the faith of the sacrament does everything, even though the confession be too much or too little. Everything is profitable to him who believes God's sacrament and word.

Concerning satisfaction let this now suffice: the best kind of satisfaction is to sin no more and to do all possible good toward your fellow-man, be he enemy or friend. This kind of satisfaction is rarely mentioned; we think to pay for everything simply through assigned prayers.

Luther, M. (1999, c1960). Vol. 35: Luther's works, vol. 35 : Word and Sacrament I (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (Vol. 35, Page 18-21). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.