The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1908, Page 34

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34

The Lutheran Pioneer.

: or the Sacraments in General.

“We have now considered the three Chief Parts
of Christian doctrine: the Law, the Creed, and
Prayer. Besides these we must yet notice our two
Sacraments, instituted by Christ, concerning which
every Christian must have at least a general and
brief instruction, because without them there can
be no Christian.” (Luther’s Larger Catechism.)

Since Christ has instituted the Sacraments, and
since there can be no Christian without them, the
doctrine of the Sacraments belongs to the Chief
Parts of the Catechism; for a Chief Part teaches
that which every Christian needs for his soul’s sal-
vation. Therefore two Chief Parts of our Small
Catechism, the fourth and the sixth, treat of the
two Sacraments, of holy, Baptism and of the Lord’s
Supper.

But before we proceed: to the consideration of
these two Sacraments’ in detail, let us see what a
sacrament is and what is its purpose.

-What is a sacrament? A sacrament is an act.
When a sacrament is administered and received,
something is done. Walking, eating, drinking,
washing are acts, for in each case something is done.
So, also, in the Sacraments something is done. In
holy Baptism water is applied in the name of the
Triune God; in the Lord’s Supper Christ’s true
body and:blood are given and eaten with the bread
and wine. :

‘But a sacrament is a sacred act. It is an act
set apart for a religious use; it has for its purpose
the spiritual welfare of man. Yet ‘not all sacred
acts-are sacraments. Thus, for example, Confirma-
ation and Confession are sacred acts, and yet they
are no sacraments; for a sacrament is a sacred act
anstituted by God. *-It has. God’s direct and ex-
plicit: command, while Confirmation, Confession,
and many other ‘religious acts are mere ordinances
of the Church. ° Luther says of a sacrament in his
Larger Catechism: “It is not invented nor ordained
by man, but is instituted by Christ without any
man’s counsel or advice.” A sacrament, therefore,
is sacred because of its REDO: and because of its
Zounder-

. But even not every Pecred act ordained by God

‘is a sacrament, for if that were the case the preach-
ing of the Gospel and other acts would be sacra-
snents. A sacrament must therefore be even more
exactly defined as a sacred ‘act instituted by God
wherein He acts through certain external means
prescribed by Him. God has not left the choice of

.

the visible means to be used to our discretion, but
He has definitely commanded the use of certain
means which He wants used, and no others. Thus
in holy Baptism God commands the application of
water, and in the Lord’s Supper He prescribes the
use of bread and wine. Finally, it is not to be lost
sight of that these certain external means are con-
nected with God’s Word, and not with any, but
a certain word of God, namely, the words instituting
the Sacrament. This word of God, in connection
with the external means, makes a sacrament. The
word of institution and the prescribed means are
inseparable; without cither there can be no sacra-
ment.

From what we have learned we see that there
are three things that go to make a sacrament: 1. It
must be a sacred act ordained by God Himself.
2. In its administration certain divinely prescribed
external means must be used. 3. These external
means must be connected with God’s Word.

Our second question is: What is the purpose
of the Sacraments? The grace which Christ has
merited is therein offered unto men. Christ has
gained for us forgiveness of sins,-life, and salvation,
and these precious gifts are offered to us in the
Sacraments. These gifts of grace are also offered
to us in the Gospel. Whenever and wherever the
Gospel is preached, the Holy Ghost offers forgive-
ness of sin, life, and salvation. These same gifts,
and none other, are offered to us in the Sacraments;
but in the Sacraments these gifts are brought par-
ticularly near to us. God therein deals with each
person separately. “God in them brings His gifts
into each person’s house and home.” ‘There is no
chance to think, “God does not mean me.” God
comes to each individual person in the Sacraments
and offers him His gifts. S

The Sacraments, however, do more than offer
the gifts of God’s grace, they actually convey them
unto men. They are the hands which give us the
grace of God; they are the channels through which
God’s gifts flow into our souls. As in the Gospel,
so also in the Sacraments God does not merely say,
“Here is my grace; take it,” but He comes to us,
opens our hands, as it were, puts His precious gifts
into them, and says, “Here you have all; it is
yours.” ‘The only difference-is, that in’the Sacra-
ments God is even more personal, so to speak, than
in the Word, dealing with every individual sepa-
rately and thus depriving him of all opportunity
to doubt that he is meant.

Finally, the Sacraments are also seals of God’s

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