Forgive us our trespasses
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I’ve heard numerous times from ministers in the First Apostolic Lutheran Church that it is impossible to receive forgiveness of sins through prayer. The doctrine I was taught and believed all my life is that sins could only be forgiven through the preaching of the gospel by a believing Christian to a penitent sinner.
One minister shared with me a sermon from the 1930s that supposedly proved this to be true from the Bible. It is not my intention to pick apart a 90-year-old sermon, or to criticize the preaching of a man who has long since passed away, but the implication made to me was that this sermon was an accurate explanation of the doctrine held by the church. Based on what I heard growing up in the church, I would say this sermon is consistent with the teaching that persists today. In the sermon, titled “Confession and the Minister,” Vaino Havas said this about confession and absolution (the blessing):
“The Biblical foundation of individual confession is not extensive; in the Old Testament’s picture of Nathan and David, is the only place in the Holy Scriptures where a sin fallen man confesses his sins before a man of God. ‘I have sinned against my Lord,’ said David; and the prophet, as a father confessor, in behalf of God, proclaims the forgiveness of sins to him: ‘The Lord hath also put away thy sins, thou shalt not die’ (2 Sam. 12:13).”
The claim here is that it was Nathan’s proclamation of God’s mercy in response to David’s confession and repentance that forgave David’s sin. However, in Psalm 51, David cries directly and repeatedly to God in prayer for mercy and forgiveness.
David pleaded “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2 NASB1995).
The subheading to Psalm 51 says it was written “to the choirmaster by David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.”
The NASB Bible even labels this psalm “a contrite sinner’s prayer for pardon.” Havas never mentioned Psalm 51 in using the Nathan and David narrative to justify/prove the blessing was biblical. He never mentioned that David prayed to God for forgiveness after Nathan confronted him for his sin. It’s not surprising, though, considering that just a few sentences later, Havas said this:
“It is an open error that in our daily worship (the state church of Finland), there exists a certain alternate absolution in the form of prayer. Prayer is prayer, absolution is absolution.”
To one whose conscience is troubled by sin, there is great comfort and peace that comes when they are reminded of the promise of the gospel and the fact that by the grace of God and through the gift of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, their sins have been forgiven. But that reminder, that assurance of forgiveness, is not in and of itself bringing about salvation. In Romans 10:13, Paul quotes the prophet Joel, saying that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32). This is what David did in Psalm 51, and what the publican in Luke 18 did when he cried out “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus says right after that the publican went down to his house justified.
The Bible is clear that in repentance a sinner is to seek forgiveness by going directly to God in prayer. This is in part what is meant by “calling on the name of the Lord.” Hearing the preaching of the gospel is required before one can believe and call upon the name of the Lord, as Paul explains in verse 14 of chapter 10, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14 KJV). However, salvation is not attained simply by believing someone’s preaching about Jesus. One must call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
This “calling upon the name of the Lord” should be explained and taught in the context of what the rest of God’s Word says, not by arbitrarily interpreting it to mean that one must call on a Christian for a blessing of forgiveness of sins. From the examples of David in Psalm 51 and the publican in Luke 18, their act of calling on the name of the Lord was done in prayer, asking God directly for forgiveness. Other examples include in Acts 8:22 Peter tells Simon to repent and pray for forgiveness and in Acts 22:16 Ananias instructs Paul to call on the name of Jesus for the washing away of sins.
There is abundantly more evidence in the Bible to support calling out to the Lord in prayer for mercy and forgiveness than there is to support for asking for a blessing from a Christian. Yet Havas, in the same sermon, made this statement:
“In the scriptures, quite frequently, appears the part of confession where men of God, who have received the Holy Spirit, use the words of absolution for the forgiveness of sins.”
This statement is made without a single reference to biblical text to back it up, yet it reads like a statement so obvious that it doesn’t require proof. The issue is, there is not a single instance in the Bible where a believer’s sins are forgiven through the words of another believer.
Perhaps the most significant support of seeking forgiveness of sin through prayer was given by Christ himself when he taught the disciples to pray, saying, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation’” (Luke 11:2-4).
Throughout church history the practice of praying to God for forgiveness has been in use. Luther’s evening prayer in his Small Catechism includes this petition to God: “I ask you to forgive me all my sins, where I have done wrong.”
In numerous songs in the FALC Hymn Book, we sing in prayer to God for forgiveness.
In song 12 we sing “Forgive me Lord, for thy dear Son, the ill that I this day have done.”
Song 108: “Dear Jesus I am pleading forgive the debt I owe…”
Song 162: “Forgive my sins I ask thee…”
It is biblically dishonest for a minister or anyone claiming to be an ambassador of Christ to tell a troubled believer or a penitent, unredeemed sinner that their forgiveness comes through words spoken to them by men. It is not supported by God’s Word, and it is by definition “another gospel.”
I and many others pray constantly that the Holy Spirit would open the eyes of all those in the FALC, and convict them of the truth of His Word. Teaching that does not agree with the Word of God is not from God. Please read the Bible and seek the truth about salvation and forgiveness for yourself. Trust the Word he has written and preserved, not the words men have spoken and passed on for generations. God has promised that those who seek will find.
Source note: the excerpts from Havas’ sermon are from the booklet “He Entrusted Us with the Word of Reconciliation.” The booklet contains the whole sermon and others, and is available for eBook purchase from the Laestadian Lutheran Church bookstore.
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-Brent Lesperance