The Sacraments in General
Questions for Review:
What is the meaning of the term "means of grace"? What do we mean by "the Word of God" as a means of grace? Why is the Word the most important means? How do Pelagians and Rationalists conceive of the relation between the Word and the Spirit? What position do the Antinomians take on this point? What is the proper conception of this relation? Are the law and the gospel absolute opposites? Are believers free from the law in every respect? What is the function of the law as a means of grace? What is the function of the gospel?
References for Further Study:
Berkhof, Reformed Dogmatics, II, pp. 214–223; McPherson, Christian Dogmatics, pp. 422–427; Binnie, The Church, pp. 61–67.
THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
A. Relation Between the Word and the Sacraments. The Word of God can exist and is also complete as a means of grace without the sacraments, but the sacraments cannot exist and are not complete without the Word. This must be maintained over against the Roman
Catholics, who proceed on the assumption that the sacraments contain all that is necessary for the salvation of sinners. The sacraments are a special aid for man, since they address the eye which is more sensuous than the ear and therefore deepen the impression made. The Word and the sacraments agree in that both have God for their author and Christ as their central content, and in their appropriation by faith. At the same time they differ in some important points: (1) the Word is absolutely necessary, while the sacraments are not; (2) the Word is intended to beget and to strengthen faith, while the sacraments can only strengthen it; and (3)
the Word goes out into all the world, while the sacraments are administered only to those who are in the covenant.
B. Origin and Meaning of the Word "Sacraments." The word "sacrament" is not found in the Bible. It is derived from the Latin sacramentum, which originally denoted a sum of money deposited by two parties in a lawsuit. After the decision of the court the winner's money was returned, while that of the loser was forfeited as a sort of offering to the gods. The transition to the Christian use of the term is probably to be sought (1) in its military use to denote the oath by which a soldier solemnly pledged obedience to his commander; and (2) in the Vulgate's use of it to translate the Greek word for mystery.
The sacraments were regarded as both pledges of obedience and mysteries. The following definition may be given of a sacrament: A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, in which by sensible signs the grace of God in Christ is represented, sealed, and applied to believers, and they, in turn, express their faith and obedience to God.
C. The Component Parts of the Sacraments. Three parts must be distinguished in the sacraments:
1. THE OUTWARD AND VISIBLE SIGN. Each one of the sacraments contains an external element, namely, the water in baptism, and the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. Where these elements are administered and appropriated, there we have the entire external matter of the sacrament. This is sometimes called the sacrament as, for instance, when unbelievers are said to receive the sacrament; but it is not the whole of the sacrament, nor even the most important part of it.
2. THE INWARD SPIRITUAL GRACE SIGNIFIED. A sign naturally points to something that is signified, and this constitutes the internal
matter of the sacrament. This is variously indicated in Scripture, as the covenant of grace, Gen. 17:11, the righteousness of faith, Rom.
4:11, the forgiveness of sins, Mark 1:4; Matt. 26:28, faith and repentance, Mark 1:4; 16:16, communion with Christ in His death and resurrection, Rom. 6:3, 4; Col. 2:11, 12.
3. THE UNION BETWEEN THE SIGN AND THE THING
SIGNIFIED. It is this union between the sign and the thing signified that really constitutes the essence of the sacrament. This should not be conceived as physical, as if the external matter naturally included the internal (Roman Catholic), nor local, as if both were present in the same space (Lutheran), but spiritual, so that, where the sacrament is received in faith, the grace of God accompanies it.
D. The Necessity of the Sacraments. Roman Catholics hold that baptism is absolutely necessary unto salvation, and that the sacrament of penance is equally necessary for those who have committed a mortal sin after baptism; but that confirmation, the eucharist, and extreme unction are necessary only in the sense that they have been commanded and are very helpful. Protestants, however, do not regard the sacraments as absolutely necessary unto salvation, but yet as binding in virtue of the divine precept. Wilful neglect of their use results in the destruction of the soul, just as all wilful and persistent disobedience to God does.
E. The Old and New Testament Sacraments Compared. The Church of Rome claims that there is an essential difference between the sacraments of the Old and those of the New Testament. It maintains that the Old Testament sacraments were merely typical, did not affect the spiritual condition, but only the legal standing of the recipient, and were dependent for their operation on the faith of those who received them; and that the New Testament sacraments
merely in virtue of the sacramental action (ex opere operato) work spiritual grace in the hearts of the recipients. As a matter of fact, however, there is no essential difference between the two sets of sacraments. This may be inferred from such passages as Rom. 4:11; 1
Cor. 5:7; 10:1–4; Col. 2:11. At the same time there are certain points of difference: (1) The Old Testament sacraments had a national aspect in addition to their spiritual significance. (2) They pointed forward to Christ and were seals of a grace that still had to be merited, while the New Testament sacraments point back to Christ and His completed sacrifice of redemption. (3) In harmony with the whole Old Testament dispensation they did not convey to the recipient as rich a measure of spiritual grace as do the sacraments of the New Testament.
F. The Number of the Sacraments. During the old dispensation there were just two sacraments, namely, circumcision and passover.
Circumcision was practiced among other nations as a measure of health, but among Israel it became a sacrament of the covenant of grace, symbolizing the cutting away of sin. In the time of Moses the passover was added to it, which symbolized and typified the deliverance of the people of God. Both were bloody sacraments and thus harmonized with the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.
The Church of the New Testament also has two sacraments, namely, baptism and the Lord's Supper. In harmony with the new dispensation as a whole, they are unbloody sacraments. After Christ has brought His perfect sacrifice on the cross no more shedding of blood is needed. The Church of Rome has enlarged the number of sacraments to seven in an entirely unwarranted manner by adding confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction.
Questions for Review:
How are the sacraments related to the Word? In what respects do