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

 

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

Answer. The sacraments become the only means of salvation, not from any power in themselves, or from any efficacy derived from the piety or intention of those who administer them, but only from the working of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of Christ, who instituted them.

The sacraments refer to baptism and the Eucharist. If you participate in the ceremonies without knowing the meaning of baptism and the Eucharist, not only will they not be a means of salvation, but you will also only increase your sins without dying to them.

Acts 19:1-5 『While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus. Finding some disciples, he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." Paul said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism." But he said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.』

In today's church community, most people only receive the baptism given by John. They say they are baptized in the name of Jesus, but if they do not receive the Holy Spirit, it is not baptism in the name of Jesus. Therefore, it is not a means of salvation. Salvation is only achieved through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a formal baptism ceremony, but circumcision of the heart.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

The Eucharist is not a means of salvation in itself, as it commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross and reminds us of salvation. Through the Eucharist, believers remember that they are saved, share in the joy, and use their strength to spread the gospel.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A person must examine himself and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

Those who eat and drink the bread and cup of the Lord unworthily are those who say they have been baptized but do not know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Those who do not know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit are not dead to sin. Since they are not dead to sin, they are still in sin, and therefore cannot participate in the Eucharist. Today, all baptized believers in the church community participate in the Eucharist, but those who are not dead to sin eat and drink their own sin. They only add sin to sin.

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