1. Confession
Office of the Keys
The Giving and Receiving of Forgiveness…
Memorization Verses:
The Office of the Keys is that special The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples
authority which Christ has given to His and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you
church on earth to forgive the sins of forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if
repentant sinners, but to withhold you do not forgive them, they are not
forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as forgiven." [John 20:22-231
they do not repent.

2. TLH 65 lutheran-hymnal.com/online/tlh- 4. When Jesus comes, --O blessed story!--
065.mid He works a change in heart and life;
1. When sinners see their lost condition God's kingdom comes with power and
And feel the pressing load of sin glory
And Jesus cometh on His mission To young and old, to man and wife;
To heal the sin-sick heart within, Through Sacrament and living Word
All grief must flee before His grace, Faith, love, and hope are now conferred.
And joy divine will take its place. 5. Then stilled are cries and lamentation,
2. When Jesus enters meek and lowly Then loosed is Satan's every band,
To fill the home with sweetest peace; In death is hope and consolation,
When hearts have felt His blessing holy The soul is safe in Jesus' hand.
And found from sin complete release, When we shall walk through death's dark
Then light and calm within shall reign vale,
And hearts divided love again. His rod and staff shall never fail.
3. When Jesus enters land and nation 6. Oh, may He soon to every nation
And moves the people with His love; Find entrance where He is unknown,
When, yielding to His kind persuasion, With life and light and full salvation,
Our hearts His truth and blessing prove, That heathendom may be o'erthrown
Then shall our life on earth be blest, And healing to the hearts may come
The peace of God on us shall rest. In heathen land and Christian home!

3. Prayers for Pastor
How To Pray for Your Pastor Pray for Your P-A-S-T-O-R
•Insight into scripture and an understanding of P - Purity. Pray that your pastor will remain
how it applies to people today. pure in the face of constant pressure in an
•Protection from the work of Satan. immoral culture.
•Help him keep a soft heart in the face of A - Adversity. Pray for your pastor that he will
abrasive and abusive people. be able to confront adversity with faith and
•His personal spiritual growth. endurance.
•A successful ministry – however God defines S - Strength. Most pastors work long hours and
success in his life. at least six days a week. Pray that he will have
•Boldness to speak the truth, and grace to the strength to continue his ministry.
speak it with humility. T - Teaching. Pray for your pastor that his
•That he would persevere through whatever teaching and preaching will be effective,
trial he is facing. powerful, and clear.
•His children – that they will grow up with a O - Organization. Your pastor has more to do
positive impression of church ministry. than any one person can handle. Pray for your
•That he would remain pure, and that his love pastor that he will be able to prioritize
for his wife would increase daily. correctly.
•That you would know how to encourage him R - Rest. Your pastor needs rest. Pray that your
today. pastor will sleep well each night and that he
will take enough time away from ministry so
that he does not get worn out.

4. Pray: Lord Jesus Christ, my Redeemer,
PRAYER You have given to Your dear church on
earth and its faithful servants the sacred
• Office of Keys office of the keys. You invested this office
with the promise that whatsoever they
• Church shall loose or bind on earth by these keys
authority shall also be loosed or bound in heaven. I
• Absolution thank You, and eternally praise and glorify
You, for Your gracious gift. I a poor and
•Repentance bound sinner need this blessed key which
• Pastors called looses, so that I may not be kept under the
bonds of the infernal jailer. I beg Your
P raise infinite mercy. May I receive its comfort
R epentance through my spiritual father, my pastor,
A ppreciation and for the sake of Your holy, precious
blood and Your innocent offering and
Y ou death may I be loosed from all my sins.
E veryone Grant me Your Holy Spirit, so that I may
R esolve grasp this holy absolution in heartfelt
contrition and undoubting trust. Amen.
(Johann Habermann, 1516-90)

5. LSB 608 Grant for all my sins remission.
 1 Jesus sinners doth receive; Let these words my soul relieve:
Oh, may all this saying ponder Jesus sinners doth receive.
Who in sin's delusions live 5 Oh, how blest it is to know:
And from God and heaven wander! Were as scarlet my transgression,
Here is hope for all who grieve: It shall be as white as snow
Jesus sinners doth receive. By Thy blood and bitter passion,
2 We deserve but grief and shame, For these words I now believe:
Yet His words, rich grace revealing, Jesus sinners doth receive.
Pardon, peace, and life proclaim; 6 Now my conscience is at peace;
Here their ills have perfect healing From the Law I stand acquitted.
Firmly in these words believe: Christ hath purchased my release
Jesus sinners doth receive. And my ev'ry sin remitted.
3 Sheep that from the fold did stray Naught remains my soul to grieve:
No true shepherd e'er forsaketh; Jesus sinners doth receive.
Weary souls that lost their way 7 Jesus sinners doth receive;
Christ, the Shepherd, gently taketh Also I have been forgiven;
In His arms that they may live: And when I this earth must leave,
Jesus sinners doth receive. I shall find an open heaven.
4 I, a sinner, come to Thee Dying, still to Him I cleave:
With a penitent confession. Jesus sinners doth receive.
Savior, mercy show to me;

6.  ―It is the confession,
not the priest, that
gives us absolution.‖
~Oscar Wilde

7.  •What is the office of the keys?
 •Where is this written?
 •What do you believe according to these words?
 •What special authority has Christ given to His church on earth?
 •Why is this authority called the OOTK?
 •How is the OOTK related to the proclamation of the Gospel?
 •Who are to be forgiven (absolved)?
 Who receives the forgiveness given in absolution?
 •Who are repentant believers?
 •Who are not to be forgiven?
 •What is the necessary result of repentance?
 •How does the church publicly exercise the OOTK ?
 •Who should be considered for the office of pastor?
 •______________________________ Say Mean Matter
 SS Confession Key phrases Own words Answer the
 M Pleading Guilt questions/
 T Confess to others Personal
 W Absolution
application
 Th Sins Removed

8.  You say, "Brother Branham, am I in?" I
don't know. I'm hoping I am. We work
out our own salvation with fear and
trembling. Now, the Church is
predestinated to meet God without spot
or wrinkle. Now, if we are in that
Church, we are predestinated with that
Church. Now, examine yourself by the
Word, then you can check up how far
along we are.
Now, now, organizational Christianity
can never give that assurance. No. Some
of them said, "You come up and confess
that Jesus is the Christ, be baptized in the
church." The Devil does the same thing.
He believes himself, that Jesus is the
Christ and trembles. See, that's right.

9.  I‟m going to tell you something folks, I
didn’t stop sinning until I finally got it
through my thick head I wasn‟t a sinner
anymore. And the religious world thinks
that‟s heresy and they want to hang you
for it. But the Bible says that I‟m
righteous and I can‟t be righteous and be
a sinner at the same time.‖
 Most people who go to denominational
churches never ever hear that! They
never hear it! Never! All I was ever
taught to say was, „I‟m a poor, miserable
sinner.‟ I am not poor, I am not miserable
and I am not a sinner. That is a lie from
the pit of hell. That is what I was and if I
still am then Jesus died in vain. Amen?

10.  The Roman Pontiff, by
reason of his office as
Vicar of Christ and as
pastor of the entire church,
has full, supreme, and
universal power over the
whole Church, a power
which he can always
exercise unhindered
~Vatican II (Par. 882)

11.  See a short form of confession in Cat. and want to do better, this is just as
 The Office of the Keys is that special valid and certain, even in heaven, as if
authority which Christ has given to His Christ our dear Lord dealt with us
church on earth to forgive the sins of Himself.
repentant sinners, but to withhold  •
forgiveness from the unrepentant as  Pray: Let us never be robbed of our
long as they do not repent. faithful preachers because of our
ingratitude. But look upon the glory of
 This is what St. John the Evangelist
Your holy name. Behold the kingdom of
writes in chapter twenty: The Lord
Your Anointed, that it may prevail
Jesus breathed on His disciples and said,
among us to the end of the world.
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive
Amen. (Johann Habermann, 1516-90)
anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you
do not forgive them, they are not
forgiven." [John 20:22-231
 I believe that when the called ministers
of Christ deal with us by His divine
command, in particular when they
exclude openly unrepentant sinners
from the Christian congregation and
absolve those who repent of their sins

12.  Christ gives the auspices of
the church to the apostles
(Mt. 16:19)
 The Apostles begin to appoint
deacons and a system of basic
governance for orderly worship
 One of the marks of the Church
given to men is the declarative
word of God, both for
judgement and forgiveness
 Law/Gospel preaching
 Binding/loosing sins for the
sake of discipline and comfort
 Declaration of the Gospel
within the liturgy

13.  Christ has given to His church the authority the power of keys; and finally, through the
to forgive sins or to withhold forgiveness. mutual conversation and consolation of
 Matt. 18:18 1 tell you the truth, whatever you brethren" (Smalcald Articles III.IV).
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and  Matt. 18:20 Where two or three come together
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in in My name, there am I with them.
heaven.  Matt. 28:18-20 Jesus came to them and said,
 John 20:22-23 [Jesus] breathed on them and "All authority in heaven and on earth has been
said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of
anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
forgive them, they are not forgiven." Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
 This authority works like a key to open and teaching them to obey everything I have
heaven by forgiving sins, or to close heaven commanded you. And surely I am with you
by not forgiving them. always, to the very end of the age."
 Matt. 16:19 I will give you the keys of the  1 Peter 2:9 You are a chosen people, a royal
kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on God, that you may declare the praises of Him
earth will be loosed in heaven. who called you out of darkness into His
 The Office of the Keys is a special God-given wonderful light.
way of applying the Gospel to the individual.  •
 "God is surpassingly rich in His grace: First,  Pray: I do not worship my pastor, but he tells
through the spoken word, by which the me of a Lord whose name is Christ, and
forgiveness of sin (the peculiar function of the makes Him known to me. I will be attentive
Gospel) is preached to the whole world; to listen to his words as long as he leads me to
second, through Baptism; third, through the this Master and Teacher who is the Son of
holy Sacrament of the Altar; fourth, through God. Amen. (Luther).

14. 1. Didache
 ―You must not let anyone eat or drink of your
Eucharist except those baptized in the Lord‘s name.
For in reference to this, the Lord said, ―‗Do not give
what is sacred to dogs‘ [Mt. 7.6] … If anyone is holy,
let him come. If not, let him repent. Our Lord come.
Amen‖ (9,5; 10,6)
2. Augustine
 The Church's love, which is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, discharges the sins of
all who are partakers with itself, but retains the
sins of those who have no participation therein.
Therefore it is, that after saying "Receive ye the
Holy Ghost," He straightway added this
regarding the remission and retention of sins.
(NPNF1, vol. 7, p. 438.)

15. 3. Luther
 He binds and joins himself to our work. Indeed, he
himself commands us to do his own work. Why then,
should we make it uncertain or reverse it, pretending he
must first bind and loose in heaven? Just as if his binding
and loosing in heaven were different from our binding
and loosing on earth. … It shall be one single action,
mine and yours, not a twofold one. It shall be one and
the same key. While you do your work, mine is
already done. When you bind and loose, I have already
bound and loosed.
4. Augsburg Confession, Article XII
 If we define the sacraments as rites, which have the
command of God and to which the promise of grace
has been added, it is easy to determine what the
sacraments are, properly speaking. ... Therefore, the
sacraments are actually baptism, the Lord's Supper,
and absolution (the sacrament of penance).

16. Those who repent and ask for forgiveness are to over my neighbor. I do not have a firm, strong
be forgiven. faith; I doubt at times and cannot fully trust in
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that God. O Lord, help me; increase my faith and trust
your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing for me. In You is locked the treasure of all my
may come from the Lord. possessions. I am poor; You are rich and are come
Only repentant believers receive the forgiveness. to have mercy upon the poor. I am a sinner; You
Ps. 32:5 1 acknowledged my sin to You and did not are righteous. I pour forth a stream of sin; but in
cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my You are all fullness and righteousness. Amen.
transgressions to the Lord"-and You forgave the guilt (Luther).
of my sin. O Father it is indeed true that no one can be
Repentant believers are those who are sorry for strong by his own power (1 Sam 2:4). Who can
their sins (contrition) and believe in the Lord Jesus stand before Your might if You do not strengthen
Christ as their Savior (faith). and comfort us Yourself? Therefore, dear Father,
Ps. 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a embrace us, accomplish Your will in us, that we
broken and contrite heart, 0 God, You will not may be Your kingdom to Your praise and glory.
despise. But, dear Father, strengthen us in this life with
Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will Your holy Word. Give us our daily bread.
be saved. Establish in our hearts Your dear Son Jesus Christ
Note: Secretly unrepentant sinners (hypocrites) who is the true bread of heaven. Sustained by
reject the forgiveness which the absolution truly Him, may we gladly bear and suffer the breaking
offers them. of the dying of our own will and the fulfillment of
Your will. Give grace to all Christendom. Send us
•
educated pastors and preachers who will not give
Pray: Behold, lord, here is an empty cask that us the dregs and chaff of foolish fables, but who
needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in will teach us Your holy Gospel and lead us to Jesus
faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me Christ. Amen. (Luther).
and fill me with fire that my love may flow out

17.  Kleiðv
 I will give you the
 deÑw: To bind or put under
keys of the kingdom of the authority of; requirement
heaven; and whatever  lu/w: to set free from a
you bind on earth decree or requirement
 Majority of scholars apply
shall have been bound ―binding‖ and ―loosing‖ to
in heaven, and the application of the law to
specific circumstances
whatever you loose on  Rabbi‘s chief role (one of
earth shall have been Jesus‘ roles as well)
 A form of Law/Gospel applied
loosed in heaven.” to different people.

18.  Peace be with you! As the  enefushsen (5656) kai l
egei , Labete pneuma a
Father has sent me, I am gion;
sending you. And with  ―breathed‖ is only used once
before by the LXX, when
that he breathed on them God breathed on Adam
and said, “receive the  ―Receiving the Spirit‖ is
declaring the truth of the
Holy Spirit. If you forgive Spirit (―to lay hold of‖)
anyone‟s sins, their sins  afhte tav amartiav af
ewntai autoiv,an tinw
are forgiven; if you do not n krathte kekrathntai.
forgive them, they are not  Aphete means to send away
 Kratete means to have
forgiven.” power

19.  Unrepentant sinners, that is, those who are not flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you
sorry for their sins and do not believe in Jesus overseers.
Christ, are not to be forgiven as long as they do  1 Cor. 4:1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of
not repent. Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (NKJV).
 Matt. 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to  2 Cor. 2:10 What I have forgiven ... I have forgiven
the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the in the sight of Christ for your sake.
church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax
 •
collector.
 Pray: Dear God and Father, we thank You for
 "Then good works, which are the fruits of Your infinite goodness and love for us. You
repentance, are bound to follow" (Augsburg continually keep us in Your Word, in faith, and in
Confession XII 6). prayer. By this we know how to walk before You
 Matt. 3:8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. in humility and in fear. By this we are not proud
905 John 8:11 Go now and leave your life of sin. of our own wisdom, righteousness, skill, and
 Bible narrative: Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke strength, but glory alone in Your power. For You
19:1-10). are strong when we are weak, and through us
weaklings you daily win and gain the victory. We
 The Christian congregation by the command of pray that You would so nurture us that we may
Christ calls pastors to carry out the Office of the please You like beautiful gardens so that many
Keys publicly in His name and on behalf of the people may enjoy our fruits and be attracted
congregation. The pastoral office is a divine through us to all godliness. Write into our hearts,
institution. by Your Holy Spirit, what is abundantly found in
 Eph. 4:11 It was He [Christ] who gave some to be Scripture. Let us constantly keep it in mind, and
apostles, some to be prophets, some to be permit it to become far more precious to us than
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers. our own life and whatever we cherish on earth.
 Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the Help us to live and act accordingly. To You be
praise and thanks in eternity. Amen. (Luther).

20.  I was dead, and behold, I am  kai o zwn, kai egenomh
alive forevermore, and I have n nekrov kai idou zwn ei
mi eiv touv aiwnav twn
the keys of death and of Hades. aiwnwn,kai exw tav klei
(1:18) v tou qanatou kai tou a
 And I saw an angel coming dou.
 Ginomai: To become, to
down out of heaven, having the create with intention, in this
key to the Abyss and holding in case death
his hand a great chain. And he  Thanatou: Death and
laid hold of the dragon, the seperation
 Adou: Hades, the place where
serpent of old, who is the devil the bound sinners are found
and Satan, and bound him for a  Deo: To fasten with chains
thousand years; (20:1)  Krateo: To lay hold and
apprehend

21.  Congregations are to call men who are workman who does not need to be ashamed
well qualified personally and spiritually and who correctly handles the word of truth.
to be their pastors.  1 Cor. 14:33-34 As in all the congregations
 "Our churches teach that nobody should of the saints, women should remain silent in
preach publicly in the church or the churches. They are not allowed to speak,
administer the sacraments unless he is but must be in submission, as the Law says.
regularly called" (Augsburg Confession  Note: See also 1 Tim. 2:11-14.
XIV).
 •
 1 Tim. 3:1-2 If anyone sets his heart on  Pray: Grant me and all listeners a
being an overseer [pastor], he desires a grateful heart, that we may share all good
noble task. Now the overseer must be above things with those who teach us the word,
reproach, the husband of but one wife, rejoice in them, and not forsake them.
temperate, self-controlled, respectable, Then we may be blessed by You,
hospitable, able to teach. according to Your promise, in all the
 2 Tim. 2:2 The things you have heard me works of our hands. Preserve us from
say in the presence of many witnesses hirelings, timeservers, unfaithful
entrust to reliable men who will also be laborers, and hypocrites, who falsely
qualified to teach others. deceive the hearts of the righteous.
 2 Tim. 2:15 Do your best to present Amen. (Johann Habermann, 1516-90).
yourself to God as one approved, a

22.  The keys unravel from the source of all
forgiveness
 Catastophe means to ―unravel‖
 Tolkien creates the word
―eucatastrophe‖ to describe the
moment in which an incredible act
of pure salvation occurs to ―unravel‖
all the evil that is about to be done
 Christ is the ―Eucatastophe‖ that
flows through the Church and its
authority on earth.

23.  Gandalf! I thought you were
dead! But then I thought I
was dead myself. Is
everything sad going to come
untrue?―
 The Resurrection is the
eucatastrophe of the story of
the Incarnation — This story
begins and ends in joy

24.  Pray: Merciful God, You have
commanded us through Your only-
begotten Son to pray for laborers in Your
harvest. I earnestly beg You, grant us,
Your sheep, pastors according to Your
heart, to feed us with doctrine and
wisdom. Put learned bishops, Christian
pastors, pious teachers over Your
congregation, faithfully to show the true
way to eternal life. Fill them with Your
Holy Spirit, so that they may fruitfully
proclaim the holy and precious word of
the Gospel, and sincerely complete Your
work. Grant them a courageous heart
that without fear or favor they may lift
up their voices and put the adversaries to
silence. Open the door for their word,
that they may be blessed and go from
strength to strength. May they also be
shining examples for the flocks entrusted
to their care. Amen. (Johann
Habermann, 1516-90).

25.  TLH 382 Who hung upon the tree
 1. Lord, we confess our numerous faults; The Spirit is sent down to breathe
How great our guilt has been, On such dry bones as we.
How vain and foolish all our thoughts,  6. Raised from the dead, we live anew;
And all our lives were sin. And justified by grace.
 2. But, O my soul, forever praise, We shall appear in glory, too,
Forever love, His name And see our Father's face.
Who turns thy feet from dangerous ways
Of folly, sin, and shame.
 3. 'Tis not by works of righteousness
Which our own hands have done,
But we are saved by God's free grace
Abounding through His Son.
 4. 'Tis from the mercy of our God
That all our hopes begin;
'Tis by the Water and the Blood
Our souls are washed from sin.
 5. 'Tis through the purchase of His death

26. "When I urge you to go to confession, I am simply Before the pastor or confessor we confess those sins
urging you to be a Christian.‖ -Large Cat which we know and feel in our hearts, especially those
Confession has two parts. First that we confess our that trouble us.
sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, Note: No one may be forced to make private
forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not confession.
doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are The second part of confession is that we receive
forgiven before God in heaven. absolution, that is, forgiveness of sins.
Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even We should receive the pastor's absolution as from God
those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord's Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it
Prayer; but before the pastor we should confess only our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.
those sins which we know and feel in our hearts. "It is not the voice or word of the man who speaks it,
Consider your place in life according to the Ten but it is the Word of God, who forgives sin, for it is
Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, spoken in God's stead and by God's command" (Augs
daughter, husband, wife, or worker? Have you been Conf).
disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot- The pastor is pledged not to tell anyone else of sins
tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt told him in private confession, for those sins have
someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been removed.
been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm? In private confession and absolution, God Himself
The first part of confession is that we confess, or through the pastor forgives each individual the sins
acknowledge, our sins. that are confessed.
Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even "If there is a heart that feels its sin and desires
those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord's consolation, it has here a sure refuge when it hears in
Prayer. God's Word that through a man God looses and
Before our neighbor we should confess all sins we absolves him from his sins" (Large Cat).
have committed against him.

27.  Church Discipline
and
Excommunication