Luther's Little Instruction Book: The Small Catechism of Martin Luther

V. How One Should Teach the Uneducated to Confess

Q. What is confession?

A. Confession has two parts:

First, a person admits his sin

Second, a person receives absolution or forgiveness from the confessor, as if from God Himself, without doubting it, but believing firmly that his sins are forgiven by God in Heaven through it.