Now I know where the reason for the devotion to "repentance" comes from in Lutheran circles (Hat Tip: Kris Baudler on the Applied Theology List Serve)
The opening paragraph of Missouri's (Reu's) "Office of the Keys" reads:
"What is the Office of the Keys?
The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent."
Matthew reads:
"19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
No demand for repentance there. Jesus is giving them the kingdom and telling them that the "Word" they will preach will be an effective and powerful word--literally the "Word of God!" cf. Is 55. Whatever PROMISES they bind to people on earth have been, are, and will be the promises kept in heaven. This is the Gospel that delivers faith. Whatever SIN/LAW/COMMANDS they free people from on earth have been, are, and will be the very same ones they are "loosed" from in heaven. This, too, is the Gospel that delivers faith. Therefore, faith is the only KEY necessary for the kingdom.
Likewise John reads:
23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
No demand for repentance there. Jesus is telling them of the necessity of preaching. The "Good News of "forgiveness" must be delivered personally. cf. Romans 10. Again, this is an effective Word in that when the absolution is declared to someone, his sins are actually and truly forgiven. However, if that forgiveness is NOT delivered personally, that is, not preached "for you," then how is the "one who has never heard" to know that they are forgiven? In such a case, from the unhearing one's perspective, they are not forgiven.
The kingdom depends solely upon the delivery of Christ by a preacher so that hearers may have "faith in Christ" as the Holy Spirit "calls, gathers, enlightens..."
The demand for "visible" repentance is yet another venue of religious manipulation.
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