1. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace,(a) immediately instituted by God,(b) to represent Christ and His benefits; and to confirm our interest in Him;(c) as also, to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the Church, and the rest of the world;(d) and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word.(e) (a) Rom. 4:11; Gen. 17:7, 10. (b) Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:23. (c) I Cor. 10:16; I Cor. 11:25, 26; Gal. 3:17. (d) Rom. 15:8; Exod. 12:48; Gen. 34:14. (e) Rom. 6:3, 4; I Cor. 10:16, 21. 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 effects of the one are attributed to the other.(f) (f) Gen. 17:10; Matt. 26:27, 28; Tit. 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:(g) but upon the work of the Spirit,(h) and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.(i) (g) Rom. 2:28, 29; I Pet. 3:21. (h) Matt. 3:11; I Cor. 12:13. (i) Matt. 26:27, 28; Matt. 28:19, 20. 4. There are 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.(k) (k) Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:20, 23, I Cor. 4:1; Heb. 5:4. 5. The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard to the spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New.(l) (l) I Cor. 10:1, 2, 3, 4.
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1. All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head by His Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory:(a) and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces,(b) and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.(c) (a) John 1:3; Eph. 3:16, 17, 18, 19; John 1:16; Eph. 2:5, 6; Phil. 3:10; Rom. 6:5, 6; II Tim. 2:12. (b) Eph. 4:15, 16; I Cor. 12:7; I Cor. 3:21, 22, 23; Col. 2:19. (c) I Thess. 5:11, 14; Rom. 1:11, 12, 14; I John 3:16, 17, 18; Gal. 6:10. 2. Saints by profession are bound to maintain a holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God; and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification;(d) as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities, and necessities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.(e) (d) Heb. 10:24, 25; Acts 2:42, 46; Isa. 2:3; I Cor. 11:20. (e) Acts 2:44, 45; I John 3:17; II Cor. 8 and 9 chapters; Acts 11:29, 30. 3. This communion which the saints have with Christ, doth not make them, in any wise, partakers of the substance of His Godhead; or to be equal with Christ, in any respect: either of which to affirm is impious and blasphemous.(f) Nor doth their communion one with another, as saints, take away, or infringe the title or propriety which each man hath in his goods and possessions.(g) (f) Col. 1:18, 19; I Cor. 8:6; Isa. 42:8; I Tim. 6:15, 16; Ps. 45:7, with Heb. 1:8, 9. (g) Exod. 20:15; Eph. 4:28; Acts 5:4. 1. The catholic or universal Church which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.(a) (a) Eph. 1:10, 22, 23; Eph. 5:23, 27, 32; Col. 1:18. 2. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion;(b) and of their children:(c) and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,(d) the house and family of God,(e) out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.(f) (b) I Cor. 1:2; I Cor. 12:12, 13; Ps. 2:8; Rev. 7:9; Rom. 15:9, 10, 11, 12. (c) I Cor. 7:14; Acts 2:39; Ezek. 16:20, 21; Rom. 11:16; Gen. 3:15; Gen. 17:7. (d) Matt. 13:47; Isa. 9:7. (e) Eph. 2:19; Eph. 3:15. (f) Acts 2:47. 3. Unto this catholic visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto.(g) (g) I Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11, 12, 13; Matt. 28:19, 20; Isa. 59:21. 4. This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible.(h) And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.(i) (h) Rom. 11:3, 4; Rev. 12:6, 14. (i) Rev. 2 and 3; I Cor. 5:6, 7. 5. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error:(k) and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan.(l) Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth, to worship God according to His will.(m) (k) I Cor. 13:12; Rev. 2 and 3; Matt. 13:24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 47. (l) Rev. 18:2; Rom. 11:18, 19, 20, 21, 22. (m) Matt. 16:18; Ps. 72:17; Ps. 102:28; Matt. 28:19, 20. 6. There is no other head of the Church, but the Lord Jesus Christ;(n) nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.(o) (n) Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22. (o) Matt. 23:8, 9, 10; II Thess. 2:3, 4, 8, 9; Rev. 13:6. |
About the StudyFor nearly 375 years, the Westminster Confession of Faith has been the standard of Reformed theology around the world. It is right and proper for Reformed Christians to study the Confession our ancestors wrought so many centuries ago. Table of Contents
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