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Chapter XXVII.
Of the Sacraments.
I. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace,(a) immediately instituted by God,(b) to represent Christ and His benefits; and to confirm our interest in Him;(c) as also, to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the Church, and the rest of the world;(d) and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word.(e)
(a) Rom. 4:11; Gen. 17:7, 10.
(b) Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:23.
(c) I Cor. 10:16; I Cor. 11:25, 26; Gal. 3:17.
(d) Rom. 15:8; Exod. 12:48; Gen. 34:14.
(e) Rom. 6:3, 4; I Cor. 10:16, 21.
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.(f)
(f) Gen. 17:10; Matt. 26:27, 28; Tit. 3:5.
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:(g) but upon the work of the Spirit,(h) and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.(i)
(g) Rom. 2:28, 29; I Pet. 3:21.
(h) Matt. 3:11; I Cor. 12:13.
(i) Matt. 26:27, 28; Matt. 28:19, 20.
IV. There are only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord: neither of which may be dispensed by any but by a minister of the Word lawfully ordained.(k)
(k) Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:20, 23, I Cor. 4:1; Heb. 5:4.
V. The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard to the spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New.(l)
(l) I Cor. 10:1, 2, 3, 4.