What Are the Sacraments, and Why Do They Matter?
Sacraments
One of the most important aspects of church life is the celebration of the sacraments—the Lord’s Supper and baptism. But despite this importance, there is much misunderstanding about the sacraments among believers. Hopefully by the end of this discussion you will have a better understanding of the meaning and importance of the sacraments in your life as a Christian and as a member of Christ’s universal and local church.
We’ll start by seeking to define what the sacraments are and the purpose they serve within the church and the lives of believers.
Definition. The word sacrament literally means “holy thing.” So when we talk about the sacraments, we are talking about worship practices that are holy—set apart in a special way for God. As Christians think about the Lord’s Supper and baptism as sacraments, they mean the following:
- These practices were instituted by Jesus in a very special way—unlike any other part of corporate worship.
- These practices are special ways in which the Holy Spirit promises to work in the lives of his people in the church.
- Because these are holy practices instituted by Jesus, he has “attached” his presence to them in a special way.
- These practices are ways in which God communicates his grace to his people in the church. This is not his “saving” grace; baptism cannot save a person from sin! But God’s gracious presence and blessing is given to his people through these sacraments in a very real and special way.
So we can define a sacrament as a physical sign of an invisible reality of God’s Holy Spirit.
Knowing God's Truth
Jon Nielson
Pastor Jon Nielson has written Knowing God’s Truth to make systematic theology clear, meaningful, and practical for those new to theology, covering the basic categories of systematic theology—Scripture, man, sin, church, and more.
Institution and purpose of the sacraments. Because the sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ, we see that they were given by him to his followers, who would practice them chiefly in the context of the community of believers in Jesus Christ—the church. We therefore believe that the Lord’s Supper and baptism are meant to be practices that are done in the church—under the rule of elders and pastors, and in the context of a local church community. The purpose of the sacraments is to serve as signs of spiritual realities to God’s people in the church. They are also very real ways in which God seals the work of belief, by his Holy Spirit, in his people’s hearts.
The Lord’s Supper
The first of the two Protestant sacraments that we will consider is the Lord’s Supper.
From 1 Corinthians 11:23–34 and from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s last meal with his disciples, we know that the Lord’s Supper is a special spiritual meal that Jesus instituted (or established) for the good of his people. As Scripture teaches us, the Lord’s Supper is:
- a symbolic—not literal—meal of bread (which symbolizes Jesus Christ’s body) and wine (which symbolizes Christ’s blood)
- a meal that is to be regularly celebrated by Christ’s followers
- a sacrament to which Christ has attached himself in a special way
- something that is to be taken very seriously, since it is a very real partaking—“feasting”—by faith on the body and blood of Jesus
- a meal that is to be taken only by Christians, who have put their faith in Jesus and are part of the church
Local churches of Jesus Christ all around the world celebrate the Lord’s Supper, although different churches distribute and practice it in different ways. It is important to realize that while the truths about the Lord’s Supper that we have just described are central and important, neither Paul nor Jesus defines exactly how the Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated. The Bible does not insist, for example, that you use bread and not crackers, or wine and not grape juice. But the centrality and importance of this sacrament in the life of the local church is extremely obvious from the Bible. It is a way for God’s people, in the context of the local church, to remember Jesus’s death and partake—by faith— in his body and blood. In this, God gives real grace to his people as they follow him.
One of the most important aspects of church life is the celebration of the sacraments—the Lord’s Supper and baptism
Baptism
The other Christian sacrament, in addition to the Lord’s Supper, that Jesus Christ gave to his people is baptism. While there are varied convictions and opinions about how this sacrament is to be practiced and applied in the church today, there is no doubt that baptism is an important sign of Christian faith and worship.
What does baptism mean? What does it signify? What does it accomplish?
By means of physical “washing” with water, baptism is a visible symbol and sign of the washing of sinners with the cleansing blood of Jesus. It also is a sign of the Holy Spirit cleansing God’s people and making them new.
In the Old Testament, the sign of circumcision was placed on every male who entered God’s community, according to God’s law. This was the sign that they belonged to the people of God, even though circumcision did not, of course, guarantee their personal faith in him Most Christians agree that baptism is the new covenant sign of belonging to the family of God—the church.
There are two major views on how we are to understand baptism in the Protestant church today:
- Credobaptists (those who hold to believers’ baptism) see baptism as a sign that should accompany the entrance of a person into the invisible church through a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Those who hold to this position wait to conduct a baptism until a person has confessed Jesus as Savior and expressed a desire to be baptized and follow him.
- Covenantal paedobaptists (or those who hold to infant baptism) see baptism as the covenant sign that should be put on any child of believing parents who are part of the visible church. While they do not believe that baptism saves the infant or takes away sins, they do believe that it marks the child as a covenant child and is a real means of grace in that child’s life as he or she grows up in the covenant community—the church.
No matter what one believes about the mode and timing of baptism, there are some important points about this sacrament that are demanded from Scripture. These are:
- Baptism is to be administered only once. Unlike the Lord’s Supper, this is a one-time sacrament in the life of a person in the church.
- Baptism is to be done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, according to the command of Jesus Christ.
Baptism is to be administered with water, which is the physical sign that the Bible gives us for this sacrament. While some advocate for different ways in which the water is applied to the one being baptized, the actual sign of water is absolutely crucial, as it signifies the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.
Baptism is extremely important. It is the sign and seal that Jesus Christ himself commanded to be attached to all members of his body, the church—whether as infants or as professing believers. It is a holy practice—a sacrament—that he has committed to his people for their benefit and use.
This article is adapted from Knowing God’s Truth: An Introduction to Systematic Theology by Jon Nielson.
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