Sacraments can only be created by God Himself. A sacrament always has promises annexed to it, and they are the kind of promises that only God can make. Under the new covenant, we find that God has established two sacraments in the church—baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
These sacraments have three elements to them. The first is the Word that accompanies them. If there is no Word declared, then all we have is water, bread or wine, and no sacrament. The second element is the sign. In order to be a sacrament, it is necessary to have a physical thing that is consecrated and set apart to a holy use. The water is a sign. The bread is a sign. The wine is a sign. The third element is the thing signified, which is Christ Himself—Christ and all His benefits, Christ and all His promises, Christ and all His grace.
Now in order for the sacrament to be a blessing to us, all three of these elements must be bound together. They cannot be detached from one another and enjoyed separately. They must come together—Word, sign, and thing signified—and in order to get this we need a divine bonding agent. Only one thing can tie these three things together, and the Bible teaches that this one thing is faith. Faith is something that the Holy Spirit gives us by generating it within us, as fruit of His activity and presence.
When the Holy Spirit is at work in this way, you hear the Word, you see and taste the sign, and you partake of the Lord Jesus Christ. When this happens, we come to understand that in faithful observance of the sacraments, something happens. God is at work.
So this is how the Scripture speaks of sacraments as signs and seals (Rom. 4:11). The sealing is an accomplishment. We are doing more here than thinking thoughts in our heads, and using these indicators as mere audio-visual aids. No—Christ ministers to you here with effect.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.
Thank you.
In what ways does marriage, or rather the establishment of the covenant at the wedding, fall outside this category?
Do we believe that God is acting efficaciously in those individual cases of joining together, or is Mark 10:9 speaking of a more general action?
Best,
Keith
It was a seal for Abraham but not Esau.
The effect could be heaven — or he’ll.
Oops — hell
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg, and howler’s wing…” Yes, you’d better get the recipe right, or the magic won’t work. This is all hocus pocus – Covenant “sorcery.” The Lord’s supper is nothing more than “If you are my friend, one with me in Spirit, willing to identify with my cause, you eat with me.” We are not expecting the supper to do anything magical. We eat with Him because we have already been transformed — our hearts circumcised — through the hearing of… Read more »
Michael —
It is totally hocus pocus, of course — except those times when it’s not.
Those times = when the terrible Spirit of God actually works His magic.