Sacrament and the Thing Signified

1 Peter 3:21–22 “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him”.

I started a study on the “sacraments” this week, to better understand, appreciate and apply these holy ordinances and rites rightly for the glory of God. The lesson states that in the sacraments, we have physical means of grace, things we touch and taste for the sake of growing in Christ and understanding the gospel. The English word sacrament comes from Latin. Its root is the same as that for the word meaning “holy” or “consecrate.” Essentially, sacraments are holy mysteries, not in the sense of being unintelligible but in the sense of revealing truth. They are rites used to reveal truth and set God’s people apart from the world. Similarly, the sacraments are visible marks that God (our Maker) owns us. They show that we have been set apart from the world as His people. This does not mean that everyone who participates in the sacraments has been saved. Some people bear the mark falsely, not having the faith that alone can save us. Nevertheless, to receive the sacraments is to receive the mark of the visible church and to be incorporated into the visible covenant community that is different from the world.

The word “sacrament” is defined as an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace; or more particularly, a solemn religious ceremony enjoined by Christ, the head of the Christian church, to be observed by his followers, by which their special relation to him is created, or their obligations to Him renewed and ratified. Thus baptism is called a sacrament, for by it persons are separated from the world, brought into Christ's visible church, and laid under particular obligations to obey his precepts. The Eucharist or communion of the Lord's supper, is also a sacrament, for by commemorating the death and dying love of Christ, Christians avow their special relation to him, and renew their obligations to be faithful to their divine Master.   

By themselves [sacraments] profit nothing, yet God has designed them to be the instruments of His grace; and He effects by the secret grace of His Spirit, that they should not be without benefit in His people.” This encapsulates what the Reformed tradition has called the sacramental union between the sacrament’s outward sign and its spiritual reality. Essentially, this concept tells us that when the sacraments are received in faith, God’s grace works through them to accomplish His purposes in those who trust in the Lord. Sacraments are not bare testimonials of our faith, though they do testify to faith when we are baptized and partake of the Lord’s Supper. Instead, the sacraments are primarily about God and what He does. They reveal His promises visibly and convey His benefits when we receive them in faith.

Passages such as 1 Peter 3:18–22 show us this sacramental union between the sign and the thing signified. Note how Peter states very explicitly in verse 21 that baptism “saves you.” We know from the rest of Scripture and even from this text itself that Peter cannot mean that baptism is the instrumental means of salvation or that it automatically redeems everyone who receives it. In context, Peter connects the salvation conferred in baptism with the salvation conferred to Noah’s family in the flood. Of course, not all of Noah’s family experienced eternal salvation through the protection of the ark in the flood. After all, Ham was later cursed by the Lord even though he had been protected from the floodwaters (Gen. 9:18–25). So, contrary to those traditions that affirm baptismal regeneration, we cannot speak of baptism as somehow automatically conferring what it signifies every time it is administered. It is possible to participate in the sacraments and not receive the grace exhibited therein.

Nevertheless, Peter does say that baptism “saves you”, so there is more going on in the sacrament than simply a visible testimony of faith. Although the bestowal of grace in the sacraments is according to God’s sovereignty, His granting of such grace is so closely connected to the sacraments that we can speak of the sacraments as producing certain effects. Westminster Confession of Faith 27.2 states, 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.

This lesson concluded that Holy Scripture frequently describes the sacraments as accomplishing certain things without telling us how they do so. Thus, we must take care in describing how baptism and the Lord’s Supper are used by God to accomplish the promises conveyed therein. As with many spiritual truths, God gives us certain parameters and boundaries, and to go beyond what God says is to risk falling into great error.