The Signs & the Grace
11.3 - Foundations of the Christian Faith
As we have already stated, a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. Let’s explore the specifics of what this means for the Sacraments of the Gospel.
Communion:
The Sacrament of the Lordʼs Supper was ordained for the continual remembrance of the death of Christ, which is in keeping with the portrait of the coming Christ painted by the Old Testament prophets as a suffering servant.
The outward and visible sign of the sacrament of Holy Communion is the Bread and the Wine.
The inward and spiritual grace received through the sacrament of Holy Communion is related to the crucifixion of Christ. In the sacrament, we identify Christ’s death. The scriptures point us to this when Paul wrote the following: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16).
Likewise, the prophet Isaiah tells us, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
The benefits for us include the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ, as our bodies are strengthened and refreshed by the Bread and Wine.
As we identify with his suffering on the cross, we receive grace for physical healing, knowing that “He was bruised for our iniquities” and that “by His stripes we are healed.”
Baptism:
Baptism is the sign of the Christian covenant, much like circumcision was the sign of the Mosaic covenant given by God to Israel in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. Two things are required of us when we come to be baptized: repentance, in which we turn away from sin, and faith, in which we turn to Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and trust the promises that God makes to us in this sacrament. After baptism, we should hope and pray that the Holy Spirit, who indwells us, will help us to be active members of our Christian community, participate in worship, continually repent and return to God, proclaim the faith, love and serve God and my neighbor, and seek justice and peace.
The outward and visible sign of the sacrament of baptism is water, in which candidates are baptized. And though we are baptized “in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” make no mistake about it; you are being baptized into Christ. This is when we are placed into the body of Christ and join the family of God.
The inward and spiritual grace received through the sacrament of baptism is death to sin and new birth to righteousness through union with Christ in his death and resurrection. We are born sinners by nature, separated from God. But in Baptism, through faith in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are made members of Christ’s Body and adopted as God’s children and heirs.
The scriptures point us to this when Mark wrote, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).
This is echoed in Paul’s letter to the Romans. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3, 4).
Your assignment: Read the following scriptures to discover more about the Sacraments.
Matthew 28:19–20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
1 Peter 3:18–22
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
Psalm 51:1–2
1 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
Psalm 51: 7–10
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Ezekiel 36:25–26
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
John 3:3–5
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Romans 6:1–11
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Colossians 2:9–14
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Psalm 51:3–6
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
Psalm 51:13–17
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
Mark 1:14–15
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Acts 2:37–38
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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