Mercy Revoked

Lately I’ve been doing a comparative reading of the Book of Concord and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (Fun stuff, I must say.) The particular topic on which I’ve been focusing is repentance, which constituted a point of disagreement between Lutherans and Roman Catholics during the Reformation.

As evidenced by the following quote, Lutheranism identifies two parts to repentance: contrition for sin, and faith in Christ’s mercy. “Now, properly speaking, repentance consists of two parts: one is contrition or the terrors that strike the conscience when sin is recognized; the other is faith, which is brought to life by the gospel or absolution…Thereupon good works, which are the fruit of repentance, should follow.” (Article XII of the Augsburg Confession)

The Roman Catholic teaching, in contrast, identifies three parts to repentance: contrition, confession, and satisfaction/reparation. (It’s worth noting that all three parts presuppose faith.) Specifically the third part – satisfaction – has divided Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism. Whereas Lutheranism teaches that moral improvement should follow repentance, Roman Catholicism puts such improvement actually within the category of repentance. The rationale? “Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused.” (CCC 407)

It’s not my intention here to resolve the disagreement, even though I’m convinced the two views are reconcilable. Rather, I want to underscore the necessity of the fruits of repentance and the possibility of God revoking his mercy. The parable of the “unforgiving slave” in Matthew 18 illustrates these emphases quite nicely, even if disconcertingly.

If you recall, the slave begs his lord whom he owes a large sum of money, “Have patience on me, and I will pay you everything.” The lord’s response: “Out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.” However, the slave then proceeds to refuse mercy to a fellow slave who owes him money. The lord’s response this time: “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?” Further: “And in anger the lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.”

The lord’s response to the forgiven but unforgiving slave in the parable is a sobering warning: God is not mocked, and he will revoke his mercy from the unmerciful. There’s a direct connection here with what 1 Corinthians 11 says about receiving Communion in “an unworthy manner.” Because the Lord’s Meal is for the forgiveness of sins, those who partake in it while persisting in impatience and unkindness toward others thereby “eat and drink judgment against themselves.”*

The point of all this? I think it serves as an important warning, especially to Lutherans who do not include the fruits of repentance in the definition of repentance proper. Certainly the “fruits” are not to be confused with the source of their growth (which is God’s Word of mercy), but nor can the fruits be lacking if true conversion is to happen. For “even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10)

*Impatience and unkindness toward others was indeed what some of the Corinthians were guilty of. Contrast such behavior in 1 Cor. 11 with the definition of love in 1 Cor. 13: “Love is patient; love is kind…” No wonder why Ignatius of Antioch referred to Communion as a “love feast.”