(note: This node is 27th in a series of 33 nodes. for the entire series, please see the metanode
Westminster Confession of Faith.)
CHAPTER 27 - Of the Sacraments
I.
Sacraments are holy
signs and
seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to represent
Christ and his benefits, and to confirm our interest in him: as also to put a
visible difference between those that belong unto the Church, and the rest of thw world; and
solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to his Word.
II. 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.
III. The
grace which is
exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them; neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth
administer it, but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of
institution, which conatins, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy
receivers.
IV. There be only two
sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the gospels, that is to say,
Baptism and the
Supper of the Lord: neither or which may be dispensed by any but a minister of the Word, lawfully
ordained.
V. The sacraments of the
Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New.
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Westminster Confession of Faith - Chapter 26 | on to
Westminster Confession of Faith - Chapter 28