THE BELGIC CONFESSION OF FAITH
– A Commentary – By Dr. Chuck Baynard
The Belgic Confession of Faith,
Article XXXIII
The Sacraments
We believe that our gracious God, taking account of our weakness and
infirmities, has ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us His
promises, and to be pledges of the good will and grace of God towards us, and
also to nourish and strengthen our faith; which He has joined to the Word of the
gospel, the better to present to our senses both that which He declares to us by
His Word and that which He works inwardly in our hearts, thereby confirming in
us the salvation which He imparts to us. For they are visible signs and seals of
an inward and invisible thing, by means whereof God works in us by the power of
the Holy Spirit. Therefore the signs are not empty or meaningless, so as to
deceive us. For Jesus Christ is the true object presented by them, without whom
they would be of no moment.
Moreover, we are satisfied with the number of sacraments which Christ our
Lord has instituted, which are two only, namely, the sacrament of baptism and
the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This chapter assigns the definition as such of the Reformed churches
throughout history to the sacraments as signs and seals of entrance into the
covenant of grace. The sacraments do two things in that at once they give to man
a visible element of the covenant to which they point. The sacraments have their
context within the covenant of grace alone.
Man needs this visible, physical element of religion or faith. The chosen
people demanded a golden calf even as the mountain thundered above them from the
voice of God. While this was an idol and understood by the created from the
beginning as sin though the law had not been given to reveal this sin yet, the
people were not attempting to create another God as much as trying to make the
God they feared and were listening to the thunder of visible in their midst.
While this people had the sign of circumcision and the promise, they needed more
and sinned in their attempt to meet this need of physical worship as well as
spiritual.
Man is not that different today or was he in the reformation. This
statement then is of necessity less the church adds to the ordinances of God.
Thus the clear claim of only two signs or sacraments. God alone commands how He
is to be worshiped and represented to the world. God chose Word and sacrament as
His representation in the world. To that man may add nothing.
