Westminster 1647

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Of the Sacraments

Of the Sacraments

Of the Sacraments - Chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith

  1. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace,514 immediately instituted by God,515 to represent Christ and his benefits, and to confirm our interest in him:516 as also to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the Church and the rest of the world;517 and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to his Word.518

    • 514. Romans 4:11.
    • Genesis 17:7,10.
    • 515. Matthew 28:19.
    • 1 Corinthians 11:23.
    • 516. 1 Corinthians 10:16.
    • 1 Corinthians 11:25,26.
    • Galatians 3:17.
    • 517. Romans 15:8.
    • Exodus 12:48.
    • Genesis 34:14.
    • 518. Romans 6:3,4.

  2. There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified; whence it comes to pass that the names and the effects of the one are attributed to the other.519

    • 519. Matthew 26:27,28.
    • Genesis 17:10.
    • Titus 3:5.

  3. 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 depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it,520 but upon the work of the Spirit,521 and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.522

    • 520. Romans 2:28,29.
    • 521. Matthew 3:11.
    • 1 Corinthians 12:13.
    • 522. Matthew 26:27,28.

  4. There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord: neither of which may be dispensed by any but by a minister of the Word lawfully ordained.523

    • 523. Matthew 28:19.
    • 1 Corinthians 11:20,23.
    • 1 Corinthians 4:1.
    • Hebrews 5:4.

  5. The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New.524

    • 524. 1 Corinthians 10:1-4.