Absolution in the mouth of every Christian

Lest anyone say otherwise, this goes to the heart of the freedom of the Christian.

“In the name of Jesus, your sins are forgiven.”

Some confessional Lutherans wince when a layperson says those words. Yet every technical objection can be answered—clearly, precisely, and faithfully—according to Scripture and our own Confessions.

Christ himself, in John 20:22‑23, breathed the Spirit upon his disciples and gave them the authority to forgive and retain sins. Peter calls the baptized “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet 2:9). The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (§24) is explicit: “The keys belong to the Church.” So the authority to absolve belongs to all Christians, not just the clergy.

That does not mean anyone may preach or lead the Divine Service. The Augsburg Confession XIV is unambiguous: no one should publicly teach or administer the sacraments without a rightly ordered call. Public absolution—spoken in the congregation’s name and in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—belongs to the called minister for the sake of order and accountability. Pastors speak for the whole Church; they do not replace it.

Private absolution is another matter. A layperson, acting simply as a Christian brother or sister, is free to speak forgiveness to the repentant. Luther commends this in his 1529 Admonition to Confession, praising “private confession between two brothers, through which God, through a human being, releases and acquits.” The Smalcald Articles list “the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren” as a concrete form of the Gospel, and the Apology XII (IV) §74‑75 says the keys may be used “wherever and whenever there is need.”

Is it valid to say only “in the name of Jesus”? Acts 4:12 locates salvation in no other name, and Luke 24:47 places forgiveness explicitly there. Sixteenth‑century Lutherans—Bugenhagen’s bedside manuals among them—record family members comforting the dying with words equivalent to “Dear brother, in Jesus’ name your sins are forgiven,” and no visitation article condemns the practice.

Why not use the full Trinitarian formula? Because Jesus tied that wording to baptism and to the Church’s public sacramental acts (Mt 28:19). The difference is functional, not theological; Col 2:9 reminds us that the fullness of the Godhead acts whenever Christ’s name is spoken.

So what should a lay Christian do when someone confesses sin? First, listen humbly and reverently. Then speak the Gospel plainly: “Brother, for Jesus’ sake, your sin is forgiven.” (Avoid liturgical mimicry—e.g., omit “I, a called and ordained servant….”) Anchor the comfort in Scripture—1 John 1:9, Rom 8:1, or another clear promise—and encourage trust in Christ’s finished work. If the penitent begins to seek you out regularly, urge a pastoral visit; do not let informal comfort drift into an unofficial ministry.

This practice does not threaten the pastoral office—it upholds it. As C.F.W. Walther writes, “A Christian may comfort another with the Gospel, yet that is not the public exercise of the keys.” Pastors guard the Gospel publicly; laypeople extend it personally. A congregation where believers freely speak Christ’s forgiveness is a congregation whose sinners hurry to the altar, not away from it.

Why encourage the practice at all? Because sinners rarely schedule their anguish for Sunday morning. They break down at work, in the kitchen, in a midnight phone call. To silence the Gospel in that moment because one lacks a collar is to let human order overrule divine grace.

So say it—quietly, personally, reverently—when need arises: “In the name of Jesus, your sins are forgiven.” You are not replacing your pastor; you are proclaiming the Christ who forgives. And in doing so, you remain squarely within confessional Lutheranism.

Where the Gospel is, there is Christ; where Christ is, there is forgiveness. And wherever forgiveness is needed, let it be spoken—decently, in order, and without fear.