We learn from the Westminster Confession that in both sacraments—baptism and the Lord’s Supper—there is a spiritual and sacramental union between the thing and the thing signified, such that it is appropriate to speak of one under the terms of the other. We do this without confounding the thing and the thing signified, but, following …
It Will Be Yours
The Westminster Confession also teaches, rightly, that one of the purposes of the sacraments is to “solemnly engage” us “to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word.” When we are “engaged” in this way it means that we are bound to Him by means of an oath. When we are baptized, we …
A Visible Difference
Our standards also teach that one of the purposes of the sacraments is to “put a visible difference between those that belong to the Church and the rest of the world.” Being a Christian means that you have been washed in the waters of baptism and that you have free access to this Table. Those …
Confirm Your Stake in Christ
Our confession of faith, the Westminster Confession, says that sacraments are given by God in order to confirm our interest in Him. The word interest does not mean what we would intend if we were to say that we were interested in spiritual things, that is, we wanted to think about them. Rather our interest …
When God Paints
Sacraments are immediately instituted by God. This means that man does not have the power to multiply sacraments. Those who want to live sacramentally, seeing a sacramental significance in everything, must be careful here. The only way to see the world sacramentally is to jealously guard the two sacraments that God has given to us, …
Tangible Signs, Tangible Seals
We have considered what our confession of faith states about the Lord’s Supper specifically, but we can also be blessed by thinking through the biblical basis for the claims it makes about sacraments generally. First, what are the sacraments? Of course there are two of them—baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And because they share the …
The Tie That Binds
The fifth and last blessing of the Lord’s Supper, as our confession of faith notes them, is this: The Supper is to be “a bond and pledge of [our] communion with Him, and with each other, as members of His mystical body.” This is why, in the observance of the Supper, we encourage You not …
Every Christian is Christopher
We have been working through the statement of the Westminster Confession on the blessings that attend a right observance of the Lord’s Supper. We come now to the fourth, which is our “further engagement in and to all duties which [we] owe unto Him.” This is another way of saying that by partaking of this …
Nourishment and Life
The third blessing that proceeds from the Lord’s Supper, according to the Westminster Confession, is our “spiritual nourishment and growth in Him.” Now nourishment and growth are meaningless concepts to a dead person. If someone has died, it is no part of wisdom to run down to the kitchen to fix them a meal. Food …
An Edible Oath
Our confession of faith, the Westminster Confession, describes this meal as “the sacrament of His body and blood.” The first purpose they list for the observance is the perpetual remembrance of His sacrifice on our behalf. We have already addressed this, noting that the remembrance is for both God and His people. But there is …