Getting the verdict ahead of time

Another note from our church’s Good Shepherd seminar. . . .Prof. Pless quoted theologian Gerhard Forde on what absolution (when the pastor conveys Christ’s forgiveness of sin to confessing sinners) is: “The verdict of the Last Day ahead of time.” In other words from Prof. Pless, when we hear that we are forgiven in the Gospel, we are “getting the good news of the happy ending ahead of time.”