Faith without works is dead and so is the bread a condemnation to the eater at the table if it is not mixed with existing, real lively belief found in a person previously redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We miss the glory available to the true Christian if we forget the simple reality of the already incredible event of our salvation purchased in and by our Lord. 

A way that contemporary Christianity is weak is that we have a very poor understanding of the practical nature of the Trinity. Our lack of a proper doctrine of God has led us to not only to lose the right fear of the Divine we should have, but we have severed ourselves from the source of our creation. We have become parched in soul primarily through our not attending to the well which produces eternal life. The focus of our faith should never be Jesus in Himself, as if we can separate our Lord from His Father, or the Holy Spirit. What I mean by that is sometimes our approach to the Christian life is merely transactional. We come to the Bible, to worship, to prayer, and to the subjects of our catechism questions today, and ask the question, “What do I get out of this for what I need today?”. This misses the richness available to us in the shared mercy of our spiritual union with God. Our big “O” orthodox friends can take 2 Peter 1:4 too far, but there is much truth to the idea that in our redemption purchased by Christ we are, “. . . partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Central to the story of the blessings of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper is to take our hearts and minds and reorient them towards the mystical nature of what is happening when we pour water on the head of a covenant child or an adult convert or eat the bread and drink the cup. We inhabit the anti-supernatural ethos of our age in no more way than by not really believing that this stuff matters. No matter our pushback on that we testify to what we truly hold in our heart of hearts by what we do with our feet. Let’s take a look at the Q/A’s:

Q. 161. How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?

A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not by any power in themselves, or any virtue derived from the piety or intention of him by whom they are administered, but only by the working of the Holy Ghost, and the blessing of Christ, by whom they are instituted.

Q. 162. What is a sacrament?

A. A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his church, to signify, seal, and exhibit unto those that are within the covenant of grace, the benefits of his mediation; to strengthen and increase their faith, and all other graces; to oblige them to obedience; to testify and cherish their love and communion one with another; and to distinguish them from those that are without.

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