Original sin and its aftermath In the book of Genesis and throughout the Bible, sin is shown to be in opposition to God’s creative intent. The Garden of Eden story depicts a time without sin and before the man and woman are tempted by agents outside themselves. It tells us that, although humankind has the power to resist temptation, we yield to it because we want something that is not ours. We want to be like God (Genesis 3:5). What we discover in yielding to temptation is that we see only our naked rebellion.
Genesis 4-11 depicts how sin, once entering into the world, spreads until it corrupts all flesh (Genesis 6:12). We also confront God’s grace in these chapters. The salvation of Noah, his family, and the other creatures in the ark foreshadows how God will thereafter respond to human sin by being true to God’s righteous nature. God will reach out to save us from our self-destructive ways. Lutherans teach that "... since the fall of Adam, all human beings who are born in the natural way are conceived and born in sin." For ELCA Lutherans, the term "original sin" connotes that sin is "original" to humanity and is the "base line" for the sinful things all people do. From this human condition — demonstrable in our persistent desire to get out from under God’s authority — come sins of disobedience which further fracture God’s intent for creation. ELCA Lutherans, therefore, recognize that sin is reality; we are confronted by it on all sides. We know sin because we are sinful. We experience its results in powers, actions, words, and deeds that range in scope from the enormity of unspeakable social atrocities to our own daily selfish and deceitful manipulation of creation, people, and events.
Luther, St. Paul, and a Lutheran understanding
Martin Luther believed that the law is written in everyone’s heart and that each person hears the voice of her/his conscience. He pointed out, however, that we only come truly to understand the power and scope of sin through God’s Word. Confronted with God’s external Word (Law), we see that sin is lodged in the heart, and that its deepest nature "... is ultimately unbelief, the lack of trust in God, the absence of love for God. ... Thus sin is the desire to set oneself in place of God, not allowing God to be one’s God."
ELCA Lutherans believe that, while sin is part and parcel of our being human, each person is also responsible for his/her own sins. We come to God knowing that we need forgiveness, and in the Gospel we experience the good news that God has chosen to repair our brokenness. Sinners though we are, in repentance we discover God’s forgiveness already reaching out to us even before our confession comes to our lips.
Much of what ELCA Lutherans attest to regarding sin and forgiveness comes from St. Paul. In the first half of his Letter to the Romans, he tells us that sin comes from the refusal to recognize God, that all have sinned (Romans 2:23), and that sin is the human condition. For Paul,
- sin is a power, the seat of which is in our flesh
- we are so enslaved by sin that we are unable to do what is right even when we wish it
- human beings lack the resource to deliver themselves from this slavery
- the "wages" of sin is death.
Paradoxically, St. Paul points out that because death is the effect of sin, it is death that overcomes it - that is, the death of Jesus Christ. While Christians share his death, the good news is that they also share his resurrection. Christ is the firstborn of the dead. That is, Christ goes before us first in death and then in resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). Forgiveness of all sin comes ultimately by dying with Christ to sin and being raised with him to new life (Romans 6:1-13).
Forgiveness through Christ
Believing this, and accepting the new life God spontaneously and graciously offers us through Christ, allows forgiveness to flow into our lives, renews our relationships with God and others, and assures us of God’s love despite our sin. We are like the prodigal (and for all practical purposes dead) child who is lavishly welcomed and forgiven in Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). God's promise of gracious forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection makes our repentance and confession possible. In this, we pass through death to new life. Luther wrote that faith is trust in God’s grace alone and that "This faith is possible only as a response to the divine word of forgiveness" and grows from a daily rhythm of drowning the old sinful self in the waters of our Baptism so that God can raise up the new self in Christ.
This New Testament proclamation that God’s free, grace-filled gift of forgiveness comes through Christ is the new good news. Jesus himself claimed and exercised the power to forgive sins. Furthermore, ELCA Lutherans understand that forgiveness comes not only through Christ’s personal forgiveness but also is made available through his redeeming death. His sacrifice of self to sin is recalled in Christian worship in the sacramental "words of institution" of Holy Communion recorded in Matthew 26:27-28.
Forgiveness in the church
Jesus conferred the authority to forgive sins on his 12 disciples as they received the Holy Spirit (symbolized by his breathing on them in John 20:21-23). They were empowered to perform the kind of forgiving act described in Mark 2:5 ff. So it is that forgiveness from sin is also gained through the prayers of the New Testament Church (I John 5:15 ff). ELCA Lutherans believe that this empowerment formally to convey God's forgiveness continues wherever Christ's Church exists. As a corollary to God’s forgiveness, ELCA Lutherans believe that all Christians have been given the responsibility of forgiving another's sins against them (Matthew 6:14, Mark 11:25, Luke 17:3ff).
We understand that the Church is called to be Christ’s living body on earth. Though imperfect, it exists to witness to Christ and proclaim God’s intended salvation for humankind. Through proclamation of God's Law we rediscover our sinful self and are called again to repentance. Through the proclamation of God's Gospel, in our Baptism, and through receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion (Eucharist), we are both reminded of God’s loving forgiveness and, through faith, are able to respond to God’s forgiving word. We often find this assurance most intensely demonstrated during worship in a corporate public confession of sin, or through private confession,* where we pray that the Holy Spirit will cleanse our hearts and we ask to be turned from sin in order to live for God alone. Upon our confession of sin, the pastor, with Christ’s authorization, declares:
In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. – Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 96.
* God’s forgiving character is also commonplace in the Old Testament, as are prayers for forgiveness. Hosea 14:2 explicitly mentions as conditions for forgiveness, confession of sin, conversion from sin, and prayer for forgiveness. We see similar elements in Psalm 32:1-5, Isaiah 55:7, Jeremiah 14:20, 36:3, etc. Thus, for ELCA Lutherans, confessing one’s sins as a step toward forgiveness and as mentioned explicitly in Acts of the Apostles 19:18 and 1 John 1:9 is an important element of regular worship.
The Book of Concord, The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Augsburg Fortress, Publishers, 2000 and Bernhard Lohse, Martin Luther’s Theology, Fortress Press, 1999.