For some reason in contemporary Protestantism, people have a shallow view of Baptism and the Eucharist (some even shying away from calling it the Eucharist). This is a sad reality for God has given us great gifts for his grace to channel through. Even calling them sacraments makes people cringe. However, this is wholly unbiblical and insulting to what God ordained for our spiritual nourishment. Contrary to contemporary Protestantism, classical Protestantism (Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed) portrays a much more profound awe for the ordinances that God has graciously given to us. This might be due to the “anything but Catholic” ideology many Protestants subconsciously have today. An accusation that it looks too Catholic arises as an argument; however, this is not even an argument. It is merely identifying something as similar to something else. Hopefully, I will show through Scripture why we must have a higher view of the sacraments, and I will also provide some quotes from classical Protestantism tradition. This article is not designed for a comprehensive exegesis of certain texts but to provide you with some Scripture and quotes to wrestle through.
Baptism
Throughout Scripture, Baptism is closely linked to regeneration, the forgiveness of sins, and adoption into God’s family or an engrafting into Christ. Due to the sacramental union of the sign and the thing signified, the sacraments do genuinely convey grace to the receiver, although not in an ex opere oprato (from the work performed) sense, but in the sense of the Holy Spirit working through the ordinances (Matthew 3:11, 1 Corinthians 12:13). 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,” thus attributing to baptism our engrafting into Christ as stated by Galatians 3:27 which says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Some people get baptisms backward. They say I am communicating something to other people or God; however, this is not exclusively true. Baptism does signify people being set apart from the world which is communicating something to other people, but this is not the main point of baptism. When baptism is talked about in Scripture, God is the one communicating something unto us. It is seen as conveying remission of sins (Mark 1:4, Acts 2:38) and regeneration (Titus 3:5). For more verses on baptism see also, Colossians 2:11 and Mark 3:11, both indicate more than just a bare and naked sign. Now for a more historical approach. In the early church, the Fathers universally taught that baptism conveys grace. For example, John Chrysostom (considered the greatest expositor of the early church) says, “In the sacrament of baptism we are made flesh of Christ’s flesh, and bone of his bone.” Also, Augustine says, “It is no fable that we say remission of sins is given in the baptism, even of infants, nor is it said only to make a show, but it is truly done (see also every other Church Father on Baptism: Cyprian, Gregory Nazienzen, Athanasius, Basil, Ambrose, etc.).” Even coming out of the Reformation, the three main branches: Reformed, Anglican, and Lutheran affirmed the efficacy of Baptism (although not in the same way). The Westminster Confession states, “The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them; neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament spend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it: but upon the work of the Spirt, and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.” The 39 Articles of Religion (Anglican confession) states, “Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed, Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God.” And finally, in the Lutheran tradition, the Augsburg Confession of faith states, “Of Baptism they teach that it is necessary to salvation, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through Baptism are received into God’s grace.” To assert that baptism is a bare symbol you must be prepared to deny the union of the sign and thing signified in Scripture, argue against the unanimous consent of the early church fathers, all the way through to the Reformation, and then argue against every classical Protestant confession. I do not know about you, but I am not prepared to do this. In Scripture, it applies this same union to Holy Communion and the efficacy thereof.
Holy Communion
The Lord’s Supper also has profound descriptions of what it conveys to believers or unworthy partakers. In 1 Corinthians 11:27-30, Paul says, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup, For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” This has very profound judgments attached to it. If the Lord’s Supper is merely a memorial, can you seriously say that someone can be guilty concerning the body and blood of Christ? No! Some have even died due to unworthy participation. And yet, when we come to the Lord’s Table today to commune with Christ, the God-man, we have no reverence or appreciation for what God ordained for us to partake in. However, when there is judgment language, there are also blessings, which constitute a covenantal sacrament. 1 Corinthians 10:16 calls the wine a cup of blessing and considers holy communing to actually be communing with the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Again the testimony of the early church fathers attests to this claim as well. Ignatius of Antioch says, “Break one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote which prevents us from dying, and a cleansing remedy driving away evil so that we should live in God through Jesus Christ.” Clement of Alexandria says, “They who partake of it by faith are sanctified in both body and soul.” Finally, coming out of the Reformation, Reformed, Anglicans, and Lutherans all affirmed grace is communicated to us when we partake in Holy Communion. The WCF says, “the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him; and, to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body.” The 39 Articles of Religion states, “The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ’s death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.” And finally, the Book of Concord claims, “For although they thrust Christ from themselves as a Savior, yet they must admit Him even against their will as a strict Judge, who is just as present also to exercise and render judgment upon impenitent guests as He is present to work life and consolation in the hearts of the true believers and worthy guests.” Yet again, you must deny Scripture and centuries of church history to maintain that the Lord’s Supper is merely a memorial. If we, as the body of Christ, do not look forward or care about the last time we have partaken in communion with Jesus Christ, we are doing something wrong. Do you not want to commune with your Lord, Savior, and God of the universe? Christ invites us into the closest form of communion, namely eating together, yet we say that, “Oh, if we have it every week or month, it will become a ritual.” I ask do we neglect to eat with our family for fear that it would become a ritual? Of course not. So, how much greater should we look forward to communing with the God of the universe?
Conclusion
Hopefully, I have sufficiently shown why contemporary evangelicals need a higher view of the sacraments. God has given us the means to receive His infinite grace. God has given us the means to commune with Him. For some reason today, we view Baptism as merely a public profession of faith and the Lord’s Supper as merely remembering something that happened in the past. However, God has ordained so much more for His family and by neglecting our need for these means, we insult God. Furthermore, people usually say to find God by looking inward as if God has not shown himself outwardly. So, where do we find the fullness of Christ? Some modernists respond by saying, look inward, into your heart, but I ask where is that found in Scripture? In actuality, we find Christ through external (although still spiritual) means: the hearing of the Word and partaking in the sacraments. Ralph Robinson succinctly puts it this way, “The ordinances. These are the conduits Jesus Christ hath instituted and appointed His ordinances to be the means of carrying His nourishing virtue to the soul. The ordinances are the dishes of gold upon which this heavenly meat is brought. Prayer, reading, preaching, holy conference, the sacrament-in these Christ presents Himself to the soul. He that forsakes these can expect no feeding from Christ.”