The Second Helvetic Confession Chapter 19
Of the Sacraments of the Church of Christ
The Sacraments [Are] Added to
the Word and What They Are. From the beginning, God added to the preaching
of his Word in his Church sacraments or sacramental signs. For thus does all
Holy Scripture clearly testify. Sacraments are mystical symbols, or holy rites,
or sacred actions, instituted by God himself, consisting of his Word, of signs
and of things signified, whereby in the Church he keeps in mind and from time to
time recalls the great benefits he has shown to men; whereby also he seals his
promises, and outwardly represents, and, as it were, offers unto our sight those
things which inwardly he performs for us, and so strengthens and increases our
faith through the working of God's Spirit in our hearts. Lastly, he thereby
distinguishes us from all other people and religions, and consecrates and binds
us wholly to himself, and signifies what he requires of us.
<Peter specifically says that all of the ceremonies
(sacraments) of the Old Testament are present in these two, baptism and the
Lord’s Table. So sacraments as
such have always been a part of the worship of God’s people. Since the church must worship God only as God has commanded
these sacraments have always been coupled with the reading/teaching/preaching of
God’s Word. Word and Sacrament
then being the proper title to define those called of God to His ministry, thus
Minister of Word and Sacrament. Let
not the Aand@
here be used to see this as an addition to the Word of God, but of obedience to
the Word of God. Sacraments first
and foremost call to remembrance the great deeds of God toward mankind. This in no way diminishes the sign and seal of the
sacraments, but explains why God has sacraments to begin with. God in speaking through the prophets almost universally says
words to the effect, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of bondage in
Egypt. In other words God first
reminds the believer of who He is and why the following is to be received and
obeyed. God could demand without
explanation as the Sovereign God, but chooses to remind man of the whole
covenant relationship first. Out of
grace God first calls man’s attention to His goodness and charity shown toward
man, so man who would by nature rebel will give proper attention to God’s
requirements and see in the sacrament God’s grace and goodness, and not harden
his heart toward God. >
Some Are Sacraments of the Old,
Others of the New, Testaments. Some sacraments are of the old, others of the
new, people. The sacraments of the ancient people were circumcision, and the
Paschal Lamb, which was offered up; for that reason it is referred to the
sacrifices which were practiced from the beginning of the world.
<God’s Word says that all previous ceremonies are
fulfilled and the only two sacraments to be recognized by the church of Christ
are baptism and the Lord’s Table. It
can be easily seen that the grace involved and the meaning or purpose are the
same in both Testaments.
>
The Number of Sacraments of the
New People. The sacraments of the new people are Baptism and the Lord's
Supper. There are some who count seven sacraments of the new people. Of these we
acknowledge that repentance, the ordination of ministers (not indeed the papal
but apostolic ordination), and matrimony are profitable ordinances of God, but
not sacraments. Confirmation and extreme unction are human inventions which the
Church can dispense with without any loss, and indeed, we do not have them in
our churches. For they contain some things of which we can by no means approve.
Above all we detest all the trafficking in which the Papists engage in
dispensing the sacraments.
<The phrase “new people” to distinguish between
Testaments is unfortunate and must be understood in this sense of definition
only. Otherwise the error of having
a New Testament church in opposition to the Old Testament church can most easily
develop. The rest of this paragraph
stands firm on the Bible and is self-explanatory. >
The Author of the Sacraments.
The author of all sacraments is not any man, but God alone. Men cannot institute
sacraments. For they pertain to the worship of God, and it is not for man to
appoint and prescribe a worship of God, but to accept and preserve the one he
has received from God. Besides, the symbols have God's promises annexed to them,
which require faith. Now faith rests only upon the Word of God; and the Word of
God is like papers or letters, and the sacraments are like seals which only God
appends to the letters.
<In other words what does the Bible say?
God has spoken so it is mandatory that man ask, what does it say, what
does it mean, and most importantly, what am I going to do about it?
Honest exegesis of the Bible leaves no room for anything but baptism and
the Lord’s Table to be classified as sacrament. We are beginning to also see
the classical reformed definition of the sacraments develop in these first
paragraphs concerning the sacraments. That is, both sacraments are signs (see
above) and seals of the entrance into the covenant of grace.
>
Christ Still Works in
Sacraments. And as God is the author of the sacraments, so he continually
works in the Church in which they are rightly carried out; so that the faithful,
when they receive them from the ministers, know that God works in his own
ordinance, and therefore they receive them as from the hand of God; and the
minister's faults (even if they be very great) cannot affect them, since they
acknowledge the integrity of the sacraments to depend upon the institution of
the Lord.
<It is well said that the sacraments are of God alone.
This permits the very logical conclusion then that since God is in the
sacrament, what man does in no way diminishes the sacrament.
While it is thus sin for any to wrongly handle the sacraments (rightly
carried out) the benefit of the body and blood of the Lord is of God not the
person(s) involved in their service in the church.
The efficacy being of God, when the believer rightly receives the
sacrament, the benefit is not removed. The
outward administration will not affect the inward response, for God is in the
heart of the matter, not outward washings.
>
The Author and the Ministers of
the Sacraments To Be Distinguished. Hence in the administration of the
sacraments they also clearly distinguish between the Lord himself and the
ministers of the Lord, confessing that the substance of the sacraments is given
them by the Lord, and the outward signs by the ministers of the Lord
<This is an implied doctrine from the observance of how
God has handled the sacraments among His people from the beginning.
The whole family of God has never been ordained by God to serve the
sacraments. At certain places it may be seem that the head of household
administers the sacraments. This is only offering to God sacrifices before Sinai and the
giving to the people God’s Laws and establishing the formal worship of God in
the tabernacle. At this time it was proper for the head of house to do so, and
seeing as how the circumcision came before the Law and it is the foundation of
baptism, this truth cannot be denied; in this sense the head of household did
handle the sacraments. Nonetheless this changed with Sinai and is not seen as
anti-law prior since sin is the transgression of the Law of God. Thus in
Reformed churches it has always been that only duly called and ordained
ministers of sacrament and Word should administer the sacraments of the church.
We might also note in passing that the most literal translation of
sacrament from the Greek is mystery, meaning the mystery of God. Thus who but a
minister of the Word and sacrament should handle the presentation of the
sacraments?
>
The Substance or Chief Thing in
the Sacraments. But the principle thing which God promises in all sacraments
and to which all the godly in all ages direct their attention (some call it the
substance and matter of the sacraments) is Christ the Savior ‑ that only
sacrifice, and the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world; that
rock, also, from which all our fathers drank, by whom all the elect are
circumcised without hands through the Holy Spirit, and are washed from all their
sins, and are nourished with the very body and blood of Christ unto eternal
life.
<The chief purpose as above is the calling to
remembrance, in the case of the New Testament, to Christ alone.
While it can be clearly shown from Scripture that the substance is the
same in both Testaments, for Christ said search the scriptures, meaning the Old
Testament for they are that which speak of me.
Christ gave this same duty to the Holy Spirit at the time of His
ascension in saying that the Holy Spirit would put us in remembrance of all
things Christ had said. >
The Similarity and Difference
in the Sacraments of Old and New Peoples. Now, in respect of that which is
the principal thing and the matter itself in the sacraments, the sacraments of
both peoples are equal. For Christ, the only Mediator and Savior of the
faithful, is the chief thing and very substance of the sacraments in both; for
the one God is the author of them both. They were given to both peoples as signs
and seals of the grace and promises of God, which should call to mind and renew
the memory of God's great benefits, and should distinguish the faithful from all
the religions in the world; lastly, which should be received spiritually by
faith, and should bind the receivers to the Church, and admonish them of their
duty. In these and similar respects, I say, the sacraments of both people are
not dissimilar, although in the outward signs they are different. And, indeed,
with respect to the signs we make a great difference. For ours are more firm and
lasting, inasmuch as they will never be changed to the end of the world.
Moreover, ours testify that both the substance and the promise have been
fulfilled or perfected in Christ; the former signified what was to be fulfilled.
Ours are also more simple and less laborious, less sumptuous and involved with
ceremonies. Moreover, they belong to a more numerous people, one that is
dispersed throughout the whole earth. And since they are more excellent, and by
the Holy Spirit kindle greater faith, a greater abundance of the Spirit also
ensues.
<The Helvetic here points to the unity, oneness
of God. We need to always remember
this when trying to bring forward the equity of the Old Testament to the New
Covenant. The rest is a classic
expression of the belief of the Reformed churches concerning the sacraments and
stands without further comment. >
Our Sacraments Succeed the Old,
Which Are Abrogated. But now since Christ the true Messiah is exhibited unto
us, and the abundance of grace is poured forth upon the people of The New
Testament, the sacraments of the old people are surely abrogated and have
ceased; and in their stead the symbols of the New Testament are placed ‑
Baptism in the place of circumcision, the Lord's Supper in place of the Paschal
Lamb and sacrifices.
<As the writer of Hebrews
says God has in these latter days spoken through a clearer and more perfect
Word, even Christ, so the sacraments now in the church are less in number and of
less pomp and circumstance, they are an even clearer call to remembrance and
means of grace than the Old Testament shadows, such shadow now being replaced by
the fullness of the light of the Son.>
In What the Sacraments Consist.
And as formerly the sacraments consisted of the word, the sign, and the
thing signified; so even now they are composed, as it were, of the same parts.
For the Word of God makes them sacraments, which before they were not. For they
are consecrated by the Word, and shown to be sanctified by him who instituted
them. To sanctify or consecrate anything to God is to dedicate it to holy uses;
that is, to take it from the common and ordinary use, and to appoint it to a
holy use. For the signs in the sacraments are drawn from common use, things
external and visible. For in baptism the sign is the element of water, and that
visible washing which is done by the minister; but the thing signified is
regeneration and the cleansing from sins. Likewise, in the Lord's Supper, the
outward sign is bread and wine, taken from things commonly used for meat and
drink; but the thing signified is the body of Christ which was given, and his
blood which was shed for us, or the communion of the body and blood of the Lord.
Wherefore, the water, bread, and wine, according to their nature and apart from
the divine institution and sacred use, are only that which they are called and
we experience. But when the Word of God is added to them, together with
invocation of the divine name, and the renewing of their first institution and
sanctification, then these signs are consecrated, and shown to be sanctified by
Christ. For Christ's first institution and consecration of the sacraments
remains always effectual in the Church of God, so that those who do not
celebrate the sacraments in any other way than the Lord himself instituted from
the beginning still today enjoy that first and all‑surpassing
consecration. And hence in the celebration of the sacraments the very words of
Christ are repeated.
<A form of worship of most excellent visible and
spiritual elements combined with faith to be most pleasing to God and of benefit
to the believer. It would be well
that all so mark this form of worship and apply it to the full worship of God
when so assembled for worship.>
Signs Take Name of Things
Signified. And as we learn out of the Word of God that these signs were
instituted for another purpose than the usual use, therefore we teach that they
now, in their holy use, take upon them the names of things signified, and are no
longer called mere water, bread or wine, but also regeneration or the washing of
water, and the body and blood of the Lord or symbols and sacraments of the
Lord's body and blood. Not that the symbols are changed into the things
signified, or cease to be what they are in their own nature. For otherwise they
would not be sacraments. If they were only the thing signified, they would not
be signs.
<Of course with sacraments we always remember that it is
in faith they take the name of the thing signified and not becoming that thing
except by the eye of faith. >
The Sacramental Union.
Therefore the signs acquire the names of things because they are mystical signs
of sacred things, and because the signs and the things signified are
sacramentally joined together; joined together, I say, or united by a mystical
signification, and by the purpose or will of him who instituted the sacraments.
For the water, bread, and wine are not common, but holy signs. And he that
instituted water in baptism did not institute it with the will and intention
that the faithful should only be sprinkled by the water of baptism; and he who
commanded the bread to be eaten and the wine to be drunk in the supper did not
want the faithful to receive only bread and wine without any mystery as they eat
bread in their homes; but that they should spiritually partake of the things
signified, and by faith be truly cleansed from their sins, and partake of
Christ.
<God is one with His Word. This unity of God in Word and all other things is most
important. It is God’s promise,
God’s faithfulness toward His people, not the people or their actions that
determine anything. Thus the
unfaithfulness of man will not annul the Word (sacrament) of God.>
The Sects. And, therefore,
we do not at all approve of those who attribute the sanctification of the
sacraments to I know not what properties and formula or to the power of words
pronounced by one who is consecrated and who has the intention of consecrating,
and to other accidental things which neither Christ or the apostles delivered to
us by word or example. Neither do we approve of the doctrine of those who speak
of the sacraments just as common signs, not sanctified and effectual. Nor do we
approve of those who despise the visible aspect of the sacraments because of the
invisible, and so believe the signs to be superfluous because they think they
already enjoy the thing themselves, as the Messalians are said to have held.
<
This does not require more comment as such.
Once more we see the author deal with named heretics and groups
flourishing in his day. A fact we
should note and so address today in the church. >
The Thing Signified Is Neither
Included in or Bound to the Sacraments. We do not approve of the doctrine of
those who teach that grace and the things signified are so bound to and included
in the signs that whoever participate outwardly in the signs, no matter what
sort of persons they be, also inwardly participate in the grace and things
signified.
<If we would understand properly that grace from God is
as of such a unity as God is, the issue before us in this paragraph is moot.
Grace properly understood was given in the election and that is the only
grace of God as such. God’s
character of being gracious and patient should not be confused with God’s
grace. You cannot receive a gift that was not intended to be yours
by the originator of that gift. For
this reason I deny common grace as understood by most. While Scripture affirms it rains on the just and unjust
alike, it is not an indication of God’s grace bestowed on the unjust.
It is a great manifestation of God’s grace toward His own that God so
abundantly blesses His children that those in close proximity receive the scraps
from the table of the children. In
other words God blesses the believer. The
believer is a blessing to those who do not even know God because God is so
generous to His children. For
example if a believer owned a perfectly square 40-acre farm, God could send a
perfectly square 40-acre cloud to water that believer’s farm.
However, God works through the laws of nature He created as the norm so
to speak and will send rain to the whole area in general that God might bless
the righteous farmer. Thus it does
rain on both the just and unjust, but not as if of grace.
Likewise then because the neighboring farm received of the same rain does
it make that unrighteous farmer righteous? At best he is an intruder upon grace and never a recipient
thereof. >
However, as we do not estimate the value of the
sacraments by the worthiness or unworthiness of the ministers, so we do not
estimate it by the condition of those who receive them. For we know that the
value of the sacraments depends upon faith and upon the truthfulness and pure
goodness of God. For as the Word of God remains the true Word of God, in which,
when it is preached, not only bare words are repeated, but at the same time the
things signified or announced in words are offered by God, even if the ungodly
and unbelievers hear and understand the words yet do not enjoy the things
signified, because they do not receive them by true faith; so the sacraments,
which by the Word consist of signs and the things signified, remain true and
inviolate sacraments, signifying not only sacred things, but, by God offering,
the things signified, even if unbelievers do not receive the things offered.
This is not the fault of God who gives and offers them, but the fault of men who
receive them without faith and illegitimately; but whose unbelief does not
invalidate the faithfulness of God (Rom. 3:3 f.)
<God is God and will
accomplish all of His holy purposes, and man cannot change that, God has spoken.
>
The Purpose for Which
Sacraments Were Instituted. Since the purpose for which sacraments were
instituted was also explained in passing when right at the beginning of our
exposition it was shown what sacraments are, there is no need to be tedious by
repeating what once has been said. Logically, therefore, we now speak severally
of the sacraments of the new people.
<
The sacraments have been covered in some detail. If a person understands what
has been presented there should not be any questions left. However, for those
who still have inquiries I suggest the footnotes included here and the opinion
of Calvin found there. >
