Forgiveness of Sin
(from the 95 Theses) 

[The following are excerpts from Martin Luther's 95 Theses, posted on the doors of the Wittenburg Church.]

2 The forgiveness of guilt quiets the heart and removes the greatest of all punishments, namely, a bad conscience because of sin....

5 After the guilt and the bad conscience have been removed, there is no punishment in punishment; but there is joy in tribulations.

6 Man can be saved without the removal of the punishment, but in no wise without the removal of the guilt....

8 The forgiveness of the guilt does not rest on the contrition of the sinner nor upon the office or power of the priest.

9 Rather it rests on faith which clings to the Word of Christ.

Source: Quoted in Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says, A Practical In-home Theology for the Active Christian. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1959 Edition, 10th Printing (1994), p. 517.