# Absolution/Assurance of Pardon



## py3ak

What are verses that you do/have/would like to use or see used in this part of the liturgy?

In other words, what passages of Scripture are appropriate to recite in the assurance of pardon?


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## Arch2k

1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.


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## py3ak

Is that the only one used in your church, Jeff? Or just your favorite?


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## Scott

> 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.


That is fine, but it does not actually declare foregiveness to the congregation. God's hearld, the minister is not actually saying that this particular congregation is absolved. Here is an excerpt from Calvin's Strasbourg Liturgy:


> To all those that repent of in this wise, and look to Jesus Christ for their salvation, I declare that the absolution of sins is effected, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


Here we have an authoritative declaration by God's herald, actually applying the keys of the kingdom. To me, this is clearer. 

Here is a similar excerpt from the Palatinate Litrugy (1563), a Dutch Reformed liturgy:



> "Hearken now unto the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe. (Here John 3:16 is recited).
> Unto as many of you, therefore, beloved Brethren, as abhor yourselves and your sins, and believe that you are fully pardoned through the merits of Jesus Christ, and resolve daily more to abstain therefrom and to serve the Lord in true holiness and righteousness: I declare according to the command of God, that they are released in heaven from all their sins, (as he hath promised in his Gospel), through the perfect satisfaction of the most holy passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. But as there may be some among you, who continue to find pleasure in your sin and shame, or who persist in sin against their conscience, I declare unto such, by the command of God, that the wrath and judgment of God abides upon them, and that all their sins are retained in heaven, and finally that they can never be delivered from eternal damnation, unless they repent."


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## non dignus

We do this or near this:

(DECLARATION OF PARDON)

"In the Name of Christ and by the authority of His Word I declare to you that God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved you, even when you were dead in your transgressions, made you alive together with Christ and raised you up with Him, and seated you with Him in the heavenly places. Your sins are forgiven you."

(Eph 2:4-6)


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## VirginiaHuguenot

The 1563 Heidelberg Order of Worship says:



> Declaration of Pardon
> 
> Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe.
> 
> Declaration of Divine Grace to the penitent. Thus says our Lord Jesus Christ, - John 3: 16, For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that all who would believe in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. To as many of you therefore, Beloved Brothers, as abhor yourselves and your sins, and believe that you are fully pardoned through the merits of Jesus Christ, and resolve daily more to abstain from them and to serve the Lord in true holiness and righteousness, I declare, according to the command of God, that they are released in heaven from all their sins, (as He has promised in His gospel), through the perfect satisfaction of the most holy passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.



Richard Baxter's Reformed Liturgy makes reference to the following verses in the section on "Absolution and Comfort to Penitent Believers":

2 Chron. 30.9
1 John 2.2
Acts 13.38-39
Rom. 5.20-21
1 John 1.7-9
Matt. 11.28-30
Rev. 22.17
John 6.27
Heb.8.12
Rom. 8.9
2 Cor. 5.17
Rom. 8.1, 5-8, 13
Gal. 5.19-24
Rom. 13.13-14
1 John 2.15-16
Matt. 7.13-14
Tit. 2.11-14
Psal. 1.1-2, 5
Heb. 12.28-29
2 Pet. 3.11-12
1 Cor. 15.58

The Westminster Directory of Public Worship does not include an "absolution" or "declaration" of pardon. Rather, the minister is to both pray that the Lord would "vouchsafe...the full assurance of our pardon and reconciliation" to his people and to exhort and admonish the congregation to "engage" with the Lord and to seek his pardon and assurance thereof:



> Before the close of the publick duties, the minister is, in his own and the people's name, to engage his and their hearts to be the Lord's, with professed purpose and resolution to reform whatever is amiss among them, and more particularly such sins as they have been more remarkably guilty of; and to draw near unto God, and to walk more closely and faithfully with him in new obedience, than ever before.
> 
> He is also to admonish the people, with all importunity, that the work of that day doth not end with the publick duties of it, but that they are so to improve the remainder of the day, and of their whole life, in reinforcing upon themselves and their families in private all those godly affections and resolutions which they professed in publick, as that they may be settled in their hearts for ever, and themselves may more sensibly find that God hath smelt a sweet savour in Christ from their performances, and is pacified towards them, by answers of grace, in pardoning of sin, in removing of judgments, in averting or preventing of plagues, and in conferring of blessings, suitable to the conditions and prayers of his people, by Jesus Christ.


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## py3ak

Thanks, Andrew. That list of verses was the sort of thing I was looking for. It seemed odd that he didn't notice the verses I found from Isaiah.

Isaiah 40:1,2

Isaiah 43:25

Isaiah 44:22


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## Arch2k

> _Originally posted by py3ak_
> Is that the only one used in your church, Jeff? Or just your favorite?



That's not the only one used, but just the first one that came to mind. 

Here is what our church has to say on our website:



> Confession and Forgiveness: As a people who continue to sin in this life we
> become fully aware, especially in the presence of God, of our great guilt and
> therefore we confess ourselves sinners and look to Christ alone for the ground of
> our salvation. In worship we do this both privately and corporately. Those truly
> repentant in faith receive the forgiveness of God.



and from the sample bulletin:



> Assurance And Declaration Of Pardon
> 
> Hear the words of comfort the Scripture says to all who truly turn to
> Christ.
> “Come unto me, all that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give rest”
> (Mt. 11:28)
> “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving of full acceptance that Christ
> Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am the
> foremost of all.” (2 Tim. 1:15)
> “...If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
> the righteous.” (1 Jn. 2:1)
> Let each of you truly acknowledge that he is a sinner, humbling himself
> before God and believe that the heavenly Father wills to be gracious
> unto him in Jesus Christ.
> To all who repent in this way, and look to Jesus Christ for their salvation,
> I declare that the absolution (forgiveness) of sins is affected in
> the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.



This is fairly typical of what I hear each Lord's day as part of confession/declaration of forgiveness.


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## Arch2k

I just saw the reference to Calvin's liturgy and noticed the striking resemblence to my pastor's declaration each Lord's day!


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