The sacraments do not merely tell us something. God uses them to promise, confirm, strengthen, and nourish faith. Their efficacy rests upon the work of the Spirit joined to Christ’s word of institution and promise, not upon the elements themselves or the intentions of the administrator.

One thing I would encourage PCA teaching and ruling elders to do is spend some concentrated time studying what the Westminster Standards say about the sacraments, not only the separate chapters on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but especially Chapter 27, “Of the Sacraments.”

I regularly examine men for the ministry, and one of my favorite “trick” questions is: Does baptism save?

I am looking for both a “no, in an important sense” and a “yes, in an important sense.”

No, baptism does not save automatically. The application of water does not regenerate merely because the act has been performed. The grace signified is not conveyed by some power inherent in the water, by the holiness of the minister, or simply by the proper performance of the rite. We reject any ex opere operato understanding of the sacrament.

But there is also an important sense in which Scripture can say, “Baptism now saves you,” and in which the Church can speak sacramentally of baptism washing away sins. The Westminster Standards teach that there is a sacramental union between the sign and the thing signified, so that the names and effects of the one may be attributed to the other. Baptism is not merely a picture of something that may or may not have anything to do with the person receiving it. It is a divine sign and seal that holds forth Christ and his benefits.

The Standards carefully maintain the distinction without separating the realities. The sign is not the thing signified, but neither is it a bare sign. The grace promised is really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Spirit to those to whom that grace belongs, according to God’s will and in his appointed time.

That distinction protects us from errors on both sides.

On one side, it protects us from Federal Vision tendencies that confuse the sign with the thing signified and treat every baptized person as possessing the saving reality in the same way. On the other side, it protects us from the memorialist or “bare sign” view in which the sacraments are little more than visual aids reminding us of absent realities.

The sacraments do not merely tell us something. God uses them to promise, confirm, strengthen, and nourish faith. Their efficacy rests upon the work of the Spirit joined to Christ’s word of institution and promise, not upon the elements themselves or the intentions of the administrator.

This matters pastorally when we baptize covenant children. I do not think our instinctive language should simply be, “Baptism does not save anyone,” or, “This baptism is not saving this baby.” That can be qualified and defended against sacramentalism, but it may also flatten the rich language of Scripture and the Standards.

The minister does not possess the power to regenerate the child by washing him with water. Yet the baptism is truly God’s sign and promise. When the child believes, he does not need to regard his baptism as an empty ceremony that occurred before he could remember it. He may look back upon it as God’s own pledge to him.

As the Heidelberg Catechism teaches, just as surely as water washes dirt from the body, so surely Christ’s blood and Spirit wash away the impurity of the soul. Baptism does not replace faith, but it strengthens faith. It gives the believer something objective outside himself to which he may look: God has promised that everyone who rests in Christ is truly washed, cleansed, and received.

His baptism can steady him when his faith is weak. It can comfort him when his conscience accuses him. It can remind him that the reality of salvation rests not upon the strength of his feelings but upon the reliability of God’s promise. The sacrament seals that reality to faith.

The same is true of the Lord’s Supper. When elders distribute the bread and wine, we should not present them merely as objects that help communicants remember something Jesus did two thousand years ago, as though we were conducting a memorial service for an absent Savior.

There is certainly remembrance, but Christ is not dead and absent. He is risen, ascended, and reigning at the Father’s right hand. In the Supper, believers truly feed upon Christ, not physically or carnally, and not because his body descends into the elements, but really and spiritually by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The bread and wine are not Christ’s physical body and blood, but neither are they empty props. Christ uses them to nourish those who receive him by faith. The Supper holds forth the crucified and risen Christ and seals his benefits to believers in the present.

The Standards also help us understand the broader biblical theology of sacraments. Under the old covenant, the signs, sacrifices, and ceremonies were more numerous and suited to an age of shadows. Yet the spiritual substance they signified and exhibited was the same: Christ and his saving benefits. God has always condescended to strengthen the faith of his people through visible signs joined to his promises.

I could go on, but my basic encouragement is simple: camp out for a while in Westminster Confession 27 to 29 and the corresponding Larger and Shorter Catechism questions. Read them slowly. Pay attention to words such as signify, seal, represent, exhibit, confer, receive, and feed.

There is a great deal of carefully developed theology there. It will help us avoid treating the sacraments either as magical rites or as empty memorials. More importantly, it will help us administer them as Christ intended, as gracious signs and seals through which the Holy Spirit strengthens, nourishes, and comforts the faith of God’s people.

Rich Leino is a Ruling Elder in the Hope of Christ Presbyterian Church in America in Stafford, VA.