Let's turn back to our notes. The bottom of page 53. We're comparing the word and sacraments. We've said they have the same author, God, the same content, the gospel. What about efficacy? What about effectiveness? What about what they accomplish? Romans 1, 16 and 17 tells us that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. We wouldn't because of that insist that people are automatically saved when they hear the gospel. But we would insist that when the gospel is received in faith, it accomplishes its purposes. That is, it saves. Now, the Bible says some strong things about the ordinances. I've been using ordinances as a synonym with sacrament in a slightly different way than the Westminster Confession when it included among ordinances, preaching, the sacraments, and prayer. I have been using ordinances as a synonym for sacrament. In first, Peter 3, 21, Peter says, this water of the flood, he refers to it here, symbolizes baptism that now saves you. Baptism now saves you a reference that makes many people nervous. How could such efficacy be ascribed to Christian baptism? My answer is because of the significance of baptism. If its content is the gospel, and if the gospel saves, then it could be said of baptism, which signifies the gospel that it saves. The meaning is not that the mirror right performed saves. And Peter seems to hint at that when he says, this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also, not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. Furthermore, he goes on and says it saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him. So what we've done so far enables me to better understand why the Scripture could say things like that. If in fact the gospel, the ordinances are, if baptism and Lord's supper are visible words, then the Scripture could say of them what it says of the word, that they are the power of God at the salvation. So we ought not to be surprised by words that say baptism now saves you, or 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 16, on the collected verse that speaks of a Lord's supper. 1 Corinthians 11 says more about the supper, but here already in chapter 10, there are words about it too, is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks, a participation in the blood of Christ, and is not the bread that we break, a participation in the body of Christ. Here the Lord's supper is said to be a participation in Christ, that is, a sharing, a communion in Christ, in the blood and in the body of Christ. How could it be, how could this be said? Because the supper most profoundly signifies union with Christ. And so the sign could stand for that which it signifies. So it is here, the sign of the drinking and the eating could stand for union with Christ in his body and blood. Thus in terms of efficacy, the same efficacy we ascribe to the word, at times in scripture is ascribe to the sacraments, in my estimation, as visible words. Not giving to the rights themselves, powers by the mere performance of the right. Any more than the word itself actually saves apart from the working of the spirit and apart from a believing response. You say, are where you going is, are you prepared to say that baptism does save if somebody believes the message of baptism? Sure, because baptism, the message of baptism is the gospel. Are you prepared to say the Lord's supper saves if somebody believes the gospel, communicated to the Lord's supper? Yes, yes, exactly, because these are visible words. And they do what God has promised. If he promises to cleanse our sins, for example, in Christian baptism, and somebody believes the gospel communicated through Christian baptism, then they're saved. And if he promises to join us to his son in the Lord's supper and somebody believes that message while even receiving a Lord's supper, yes, a person could be saved. Because as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. So I am willing to say, these are means of grace. What I can say of the word, I can say, of the sacraments with some qualifications I'm going to make in a moment. But if they are visible words, then it's possible to say in a correct and biblical sense, not in every sense, that they save. Because their content is the gospel. And when the Holy Spirit works, and when there's faith on the part of the hearers, then yes, the gospel saves. Never automatically. I keep saying that to help you not misunderstand. There are dissimilarities, however, between the gospel, between the word and sacraments. The outward form is different. The word is found in a book, and specifically now as a means of grace, it's the word preached. So it is a sermon, a proclamation, that is the form of the word. By contrast, the sacraments involve material elements. Water, not a book, but water. Not a book, but bread and grape juice or wine. And ceremony, not just water by itself, but water in immersion or pouring or sprinkling. And not even just that, of course. You need the word with it. Likewise, not just bread and wine, but bread and wine with the words of institution and the partaking of the same. So the outward form is different. The function is different as well. Because technically, the word brings about faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word about Christ. Romans 10, 17. And also the word causes faith to grow. Desire the pure milk of the word, the Apostle Peter says. First Peter, wonder, I couldn't find it in second Peter. Somebody moved it over there. The first Peter on me, there it is, like newborn babies, first Peter too, to crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. So the word brings about faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word about Christ, the message about Christ. And faith, sorry, the word causes faith to grow. Technically speaking, the ordinance sacraments do not create faith. They rather strengthen faith. So in that regard, if we think about necessity, although I have said the word, the sacraments are means of grace, I am not prepared to say everything of them that I say of the word. There is a difference. That is, the word is necessary for salvation in a way that sacraments are not. The dying thief was saved on the cross without having been baptized or partaking of the Lord's supper. The word is necessary in a way that sacraments are not. Does this mean we can strike the sacraments from the church? No, it would be disobedient to our Lord in doing so. Yes. OK, it's a very good comment. And I accept the apparent contradiction. Let me try to clarify. A good comment was just made that I have said before, the sacraments save in a sense. And that looks like I'm taking away with one hand what I've given with the other when I say they don't save. Well, I'm making distinctions now and I am saying as far as necessity goes, this is an easier one to answer first. Although it is possible to be saved through the message of the word communicated by the sacraments. For example, in seeing somebody else baptized, a person could believe the gospel there and trust Christ be saved. Or even, again, in this anomalous situation of a liberal church where the gospel wasn't preached clearly. And here come the elements and the words in the institution are given. A person could come to faith in Christ through believing in the Word of God. But that is not the ordinary purpose of a Lord's supper. It does preach the gospel for the most part. The intention is to preach it to those who already are saved. That we might hear that gospel again and again and again and feed on Christ and grow in our faith. But in that, the sacraments are visible words. Yes, a person could be saved by them but only because there are visible words. And the credit would go not to the ordinance itself but to the word embodied in the ordinance and to the word accompanying the ordinance. So that the distinction is most clearly seen under necessity. So I would not say it is absolutely impossible to be saved at the Lord's supper. It is because God has built the word into that ceremony and the word accompanies the ceremony. But it is not by the performing of the work itself, the right itself. And in that sense, the word is absolutely necessary. And although the sacraments are very important, they are not absolutely necessary to be saved. That is, a person believed in Christ and was scheduled to be baptized next week and didn't live the next week, the person would be saved. Listen to Calvin's practice in Geneva, very interesting. The Roman Catholics rushed dying babies to the baptismal font, okay? And even allowed under unusual circumstances for female nurses to perform baptism. They still do. Calvin said this is superstition and they did not rush dying infants to the baptismal font in Calvin's Geneva. He said, no, no, we believe in these sacraments. God has given them to his church, they're important. But our trust in the salvation of this infant is not in the water of baptism. It is in the fact of the covenant of God, the fact that God is this child's father by oaths and covenant and the blood of his son. It is not in the water per se. Calvin said, do not baptize them. That was a tremendous testimony to the fact that he was opposing Roman Catholic practice and when he regarded as superstition, superstitionary practice. And it is a way of saying the word is necessary and although it is, the sacraments are important. They are not necessary as the word is necessary. That is, they are given in addition to the word, as an augment of the word, as visible words, and as an important part of the healthy maintenance and life of the Christian church. So when I say that, I do not belittle them, but I give them their place under the word. So we have ways that word and sacraments are the same. Their author is the same. Their content is the gospel. They can be spoken of in scripture. I didn't make it up. Baptism now saves you. Okay, scripture says it and there's a sense that it's true, but now I've qualified and even the passages themselves sometimes qualify. Dissimilarities, the outward forms differ. The function's differ. It is the word ultimately that brings faith. And nurtures it. The sacraments technically only nurture it. And in terms of necessity, the word is necessary. The sacraments are not absolutely necessary, although they are not dispensable for the healthy life of the Christian church. So it would not be an act of faith to say, I believe the word, I don't need the sacraments. It would be an act of unfaith and disobedience to one's word. Who says, yes, the word saves, but you do need my means of grace, avail yourselves of them. I gave them to you to build you up in your most holy faith. Another thing that needs to be said coming out of Romans chapter four is that sacraments are signs and seals of salvation. Romans four. The context here is justification. Specifically, Abraham was justified by faith and not by works. Remember the Jews had elevated circumcision to a place that God never intended. In Romans four, 11, in the context Paul is indicating that Abraham was saved was justified before he was circumcised. And verse 11, Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith. While he was still on circumcised. So then he's the father of all who believe, but it not been circumcised. In order that righteousness may be credited to them. Our interest here is a limited one. I can't do a whole exposition to Romans four right now. Specifically, the Old Testament right of circumcision is called a sign and seal of the righteousness of faith.
First of all, we need to understand what he means by the righteousness of faith. In a nutshell, he means justification. He is claiming that there's Old Testament right. Here is biblical proof for the true and false question on the quiz and burkoff that said, the Old Testament sacraments are essentially different than the New Testament ones. Uh-uh, no way. They're essentially the same. They both communicate justification. Circumcision was a sign and seal of justification by faith. Talk about these concepts, sign and seal. I'm first going to distinguish them, the two components, and then tell you that the two words are really synonyms in this context. I had a Baptist student years ago, he did a paper and taught me that. Now, I said, the Lord has a good sense of humor because it wasn't his theology to begin with, and he was a Baptist when he was done. I thought I had a higher sacramental theology than he did, and I did in some ways, but he taught me it was very helpful. That is, both the words, sign and seal here, signify what is traditionally understood by sign and seal. Both words mean both. That is, the sign, seals, and the seal is also a sign. Let me explain. In the world that we live, there are many signs, okay? On the way here, you pass some stop signs, and a red light or a green light is a sign, okay? Many, there are many symbols in the world, okay? Many symbols. By sign here, it means symbol. Circumcision is a sign of justification. It's a sign of the forgiveness of sins. Here is a cutting away at the root of the propagation of the race. I'm sorry to be so graphic, but that's what it is. And it speaks of cleansing at that source of life, okay? So circumcision is a symbol, a sign of cleansing. Many signs in the world. If you watch, if you are participating in sports, you know, this means time out, okay? And we hope the players tonight don't give the symbol at the wrong time in the final NCAA basketball game. It costs 13 a couple of free throws with a technical right? That's has been done not too many years ago at great cost. That's a sign, okay? Every seal in that way is a sign, but every sign is not a seal. Some signs are also guarantees. They're pledges. That's what we mean by seal. Circumcision is not only a sign, it's also a seal. Let me give you an example of a sign that is also a seal. The wedding ring that I wear is a sign, okay? My wife is signing to me. People sign, okay, they communicate to the death. They're using symbols to communicate language to those who can't hear. This is a sign of my wife's love to me, okay? And her faithfulness to me. I wear it, okay? This sign is also a seal. Stop sign is not also a seal. It says stop, all right? A certain threat might be involved if you don't stop. And the green light says go, but it's not a guarantee of anything unless you use your imagination and say, yes, if I stop at it or if I go through a red one, it's a guarantee that I'm gonna get a ticket or something. But I mean more than that. This symbolizes my wife's love. It is also a pledge, you with me? It's a seal, a guarantee of her love. So the wedding band is both sign and seal. It symbolizes love, okay? It also is a seal, a guarantee, a pledge, a promise of that love. Every sign is not a promise. Some signs are promises. This one is both a sign and a seal. Circumcision was a sign who's doing the signing in circumcision? Abraham? No. Think about Isaac for a moment. Everything Isaac is signing is, wow, crying, right? Crying, he's not signing anything. God is signing to Abraham. He's symbolizing something to Abraham. God is obviously symbolizing something to Isaac. Let me prepare you for something next week. What in the world is God symbolizing to Isaac? Isaac is how many days old? Eight days old, what can Isaac understand? Zip. But God commanded Abraham to circumcise Isaac when Isaac could understand nothing. Yes. Well, how is it supposed to work out? Well, come back next week for the next installment. In these matters, for now, the Old Testament right of circumcision is called a sign and a seal. It's a symbol, it signifies, we'll just say cleansing. It also is a plenge, is a promise, is a guarantee on the part of God to do what the sign symbolizes. And if it is true of one Old Testament ordinance, it certainly is true of the New Testament ones, which are even more important and are more clear. So later on when we talk about what they signify, we will say that God is promising to do what he has said he will do. By the way, having said that, the word sign here means a sign which is also a promise. And the word seal means both symbol and seal interwoven. It may be more helpful for you just to keep them separate, but they both really mean both in that context. Sacraments are signs and seals. God is symbolizing something to us. He's symbolizing the gospel, as we've already said, communicated in these different pictorial ways and these two ways in the New Testament. And he's not only symbolizing the gospel, but he's promising the gospel to us, his people. Let us think a little bit about what baptism and the Lord's Supper have in common. We can go quickly. Their origin is the command of Christ. Matthew 28, go make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Trinity. They have a common origin. Christ commanded the church to observe them. Likewise, eat the bread, drink the cup, do this in remembrance of me. Their origin is the command of Lord Jesus Christ. Their meaning is the gospel, be a little more specific now, OK? The forgiveness of sins, Acts 22 and verse 16. It signifies the washing away of sins. Make sense? Water is a universal cleansing agent. It makes sense that baptism signifies cleansing. At the Lord's Supper, Jesus said, in Matthew 26 and verse 28, this cup is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. The wine speaks of his blood. It is specifically the blood of sacrifice, the blood of forgiveness. The Supper thus speaks of forgiveness in common with Christian baptism. See, the Lord really is being emphatic, isn't he? He gives us the gospel, and we hear it, and he signs and seals the gospel to us in our baptism. He signs and seals forgiveness to us, and he signs and seals forgiveness to us in the Lord's Supper, because that's what it means. And again, both of these speak of union with Christ, baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, speaks of a relation with God. It speaks of union with God, or the shorthand in the book of Acts, baptism in the name of Jesus, speaks of union with Christ. The most profound meaning of Christian baptism then is thus being joined spiritually to the Son of God, so all of his benefits become ours, forgiveness, regeneration, reception of the Spirit, and so forth. What about the Lord's Supper? We've already seen in 1 Corinthians 10. That it signifies union with Christ. There Paul could say, is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks, a participation, a sharing, a union, a communion, in the blood of Christ, and it's not the bread that we break, a participation, same word, coinonia, a fellowship, a partaking, in the body of Christ. Thus both baptism and the Lord's Supper signify, a forgiveness of sins, and union with Christ. The minister of both is ultimately not the human minister, but God who stands behind the human minister. We get it from the sense that Christ commanded both, specifically Colossians 2.11, in a context that says, spiritual circumcision, and Christian baptism overlap in meaning. In that context he could call Christian baptism. He could refer to it as, well, verse 11 of Colossians 2, the circumcision of Christ. In him you were also circumcised, is Paul shooting himself in the foot here? Is he writing to Gentile Christians and saying that they had to be circumcised physically? Of course not. In him you were also circumcised, not in the putting off of the foreskin, but in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men, but you are circumcised spiritually as the sense with the circumcision done by Christ. Christ is the ultimate circumciser, if you will. He's the ultimate performer of the sacraments, even as he's the ultimate minister of the word. When this happened, having been buried with him in baptism and so forth there, the spiritual significance of spiritual circumcision and Christian baptism overlap, the meaning is the forgiveness of sins. So the minister of the ordnances is none other than Christ himself, the ultimate minister. Our time has gone. I need to let you go. We are a little bit behind the time. We'll pick it up next week because we have no quiz to haggle over and go over. May the Lord bless you. Go in peace.