In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to His Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of Himself, by Himself, upon the cross, once for all: and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God, for the same: so that the popish sacrifice of the mass (as they call it) is most abominably injurious to Christ's one, only sacrifice, the only propitiation for all the sins of His elect.
This paragraph was written in direct opposition to contemporaneous Roman Catholic teaching. It follows in the great tradition of the Protestant Reformation.
To understand what the divines at Westminster opposed, it is helpful to examine pertinent sections of Roman Catholic dogma, here obtained from their 1994 Catechism. Read each section carefully and bear these concepts in mind as we procede with the discussion:
1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"
1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."
1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."
1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.
1364 In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present. "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out."
1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner."
Tomorrow: Contrasting the biblical doctrine of the Supper with the Roman Catholic Eucharistic Mass, continued.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Of the Lord's Supper, XXIX:1
Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein He was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of His body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in His Church, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death; the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him; and, to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him, and with each other, as members of His mystical body.
Recall that we define a sacrament as a special observance commanded by Christ himself for specific spiritual purposes. Refer to Luke 22:14-20 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 for documentation of this idea.
The Supper is to be a "perpetual remembrance" of Christ's sacrificial death. Christ commanded that we observe the Supper "in remembrance of me" and Paul added that we continue to do this until Christ returns, at which time he will eat and drink with us again in the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19).
The Supper also seals all spiritual benefits to true believers. It provides authentication and assurance, which are the functions of a seal, of everything that Christ has accomplished in redemption on behalf of his people. It provides spiritual nourishment and growth to worthy partakers. We are recalled to our responsibilities to love one another as he has loved us and given his life for us and reminded and empowered us to our works of mutual edification. Finally (in terms of the Confession) the Supper provides a "bond and pledge of communion" both with Christ and with fellow believers, as had been discussed in chapter XXVI as we reviewed yesterday.
Tomorrow: The biblical doctrine of the Supper contrasted with the Roman Catholic Eucharistic Mass.
Recall that we define a sacrament as a special observance commanded by Christ himself for specific spiritual purposes. Refer to Luke 22:14-20 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 for documentation of this idea.
The Supper is to be a "perpetual remembrance" of Christ's sacrificial death. Christ commanded that we observe the Supper "in remembrance of me" and Paul added that we continue to do this until Christ returns, at which time he will eat and drink with us again in the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19).
The Supper also seals all spiritual benefits to true believers. It provides authentication and assurance, which are the functions of a seal, of everything that Christ has accomplished in redemption on behalf of his people. It provides spiritual nourishment and growth to worthy partakers. We are recalled to our responsibilities to love one another as he has loved us and given his life for us and reminded and empowered us to our works of mutual edification. Finally (in terms of the Confession) the Supper provides a "bond and pledge of communion" both with Christ and with fellow believers, as had been discussed in chapter XXVI as we reviewed yesterday.
Tomorrow: The biblical doctrine of the Supper contrasted with the Roman Catholic Eucharistic Mass.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A Review of Communion and the Sacraments
Again, preparatory to our discussion of the Confession's teaching on the Lord's Supper, it will be helpful to remind ourselves of what has already been stated concerning communion with Christ and with one another in the Body of Christ as well as some central concepts about the sacraments.
The first paragraph of chapter XXVI: All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.
The Supper is one way by which the union of Christians with Christ and with each other is taught and manifested.
From chapter XXVII on the sacraments: 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 the world; and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word. 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. The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them; neither does the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that administers it: but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.
Briefly, we see here the concepts that the sacraments are signs and seals--they point toward and attest to the promises of God in Christ--but that the sign is not the thing signified. The sacraments and the promises of God and his saving power through Christ and by the Holy Spirit may be distinguished but not separated. The sacraments are indeed means of grace, ordinances by which God instructs and blesses his people.
Tomorrow: The start of the Confession on the Lord's Supper.
The first paragraph of chapter XXVI: All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.
The Supper is one way by which the union of Christians with Christ and with each other is taught and manifested.
From chapter XXVII on the sacraments: 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 the world; and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word. 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. The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them; neither does the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that administers it: but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.
Briefly, we see here the concepts that the sacraments are signs and seals--they point toward and attest to the promises of God in Christ--but that the sign is not the thing signified. The sacraments and the promises of God and his saving power through Christ and by the Holy Spirit may be distinguished but not separated. The sacraments are indeed means of grace, ordinances by which God instructs and blesses his people.
Tomorrow: The start of the Confession on the Lord's Supper.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Treatment of the Lord's Supper in the Reformation
Controversies over the Supper were often at the heart of Reformation-era disputes, both between Protestants and Roman Catholics and amongst Protestants themselves. Two aspects of this conflict are worth mentioning.
1. The Colloquy of Marburg. In 1529, several leaders of the Protestant Reformation--Luther, Zwingli, Bucer among them--met to establish a common doctrine of the various Reformed Churches. They were able to agree on every point save one: the relationship of Christ to the Supper. This is where Luther insisted on the woodenly literal meaning of the phrase, "This is my body." Failure here meant that the fledgling Protestant Church was fractured at a time when union would have been highly beneficial. Marburg was one of the great missed opportunities of history.
2. Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation. Following the accession of Mary Tudor to the English throne and the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism (following the Henrician split from papal authority and the more thorough-going Protestantism realized during Edward VI's brief reign), several Protestant leaders were called upon to recant their denial of transubstantiation (which we will examine in greater detail subsequently) and put to death when they refused. Accounts of their trials and executions are found in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
Tomorrow: A brief review of the nature of sacraments.
1. The Colloquy of Marburg. In 1529, several leaders of the Protestant Reformation--Luther, Zwingli, Bucer among them--met to establish a common doctrine of the various Reformed Churches. They were able to agree on every point save one: the relationship of Christ to the Supper. This is where Luther insisted on the woodenly literal meaning of the phrase, "This is my body." Failure here meant that the fledgling Protestant Church was fractured at a time when union would have been highly beneficial. Marburg was one of the great missed opportunities of history.
2. Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation. Following the accession of Mary Tudor to the English throne and the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism (following the Henrician split from papal authority and the more thorough-going Protestantism realized during Edward VI's brief reign), several Protestant leaders were called upon to recant their denial of transubstantiation (which we will examine in greater detail subsequently) and put to death when they refused. Accounts of their trials and executions are found in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
Tomorrow: A brief review of the nature of sacraments.
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Importance of the Doctrine of the Lord's Supper
I'm back from my short hiatus in Florida. Before we engage the Confession in its discussion of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper we should expend some effort in understanding what role it has played in church history.
Early church observance of this sacrament can be found in passages such as Acts 2:42-47. Clearly these Christians valued the gathering of the local body of Christ for prayer, preaching, and the fellowship of the table ("breaking of bread" being a common New Testament phrase indicating the Supper). The early church fathers devoted a far amount of written discussion to the significance of this sacrament.
It is impossible to deny the centrality of the Eucharistic Mass in Roman Catholicism. It constitutes the most important part of Roman Catholic worship and has been since the Middle Ages. Official teaching places it at the center of the church's life; it is the chief means by which spiritual (not temporal) punishment for sin is remitted.
Tomorrow: The Supper in the Reformation.
Early church observance of this sacrament can be found in passages such as Acts 2:42-47. Clearly these Christians valued the gathering of the local body of Christ for prayer, preaching, and the fellowship of the table ("breaking of bread" being a common New Testament phrase indicating the Supper). The early church fathers devoted a far amount of written discussion to the significance of this sacrament.
It is impossible to deny the centrality of the Eucharistic Mass in Roman Catholicism. It constitutes the most important part of Roman Catholic worship and has been since the Middle Ages. Official teaching places it at the center of the church's life; it is the chief means by which spiritual (not temporal) punishment for sin is remitted.
Tomorrow: The Supper in the Reformation.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Of Baptism, XXVIII:7
The sacrament of Baptism is but once to be administered unto any person.
Take that, all you Anabaptists!
Again, if baptism is (rightly) understood as a sign and seal of God's grace in salvation, if it points not to our belief but to his promises and his faithfulness, to the regeneration and justification that the Spirit accomplishes and does not need to repeat, then it of course can be administered only once. God does not go back on his word. He is a "once for all" God.
The sacrament of remembrance and renewal is the Supper, which we will take up next after a week-long break while I attend to other matters. May the Lord bless you and keep you over the next several days.
Next: Introduction to the Lord's Supper.
Take that, all you Anabaptists!
Again, if baptism is (rightly) understood as a sign and seal of God's grace in salvation, if it points not to our belief but to his promises and his faithfulness, to the regeneration and justification that the Spirit accomplishes and does not need to repeat, then it of course can be administered only once. God does not go back on his word. He is a "once for all" God.
The sacrament of remembrance and renewal is the Supper, which we will take up next after a week-long break while I attend to other matters. May the Lord bless you and keep you over the next several days.
Next: Introduction to the Lord's Supper.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Of Baptism, XXVIII:6
The efficacy of Baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited, and conferred, by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongs unto, according to the counsel of God's own will, in His appointed time.
Elaborating further on the relationship between the ordinance of baptism and salvation, the divines underscored their rejection of baptismal regeneration by denying that what God does in baptism is necessarily tied to the actual administration of the sacrament. In other words, simply because an infant (for example) receives baptism does not mean that infant is immediately regenerated and saved. This should be abundantly clear from the example of an adult who comes to faith in Christ and submits to baptism. In the case of the adult regeneration and saving faith have come about prior to baptism, which then illustrates the truth of the spiritual transformation already undergone and exhibits or points toward the promises of God. Similarly, the actual application of spiritual benefit in the life of one baptized as an infant does not necessarily occur then and there--indeed, according to this passage, it may never occur if it is not God's will to save that person--but at God's own appointed time then or in the future according to the counsel of his own will.
So it remains a false idea that one can save a person simply by baptizing him. Salvation is of the Lord, and his hands are not tied by the actions of human ministers.
Tomorrow: The frequency of baptism.
Elaborating further on the relationship between the ordinance of baptism and salvation, the divines underscored their rejection of baptismal regeneration by denying that what God does in baptism is necessarily tied to the actual administration of the sacrament. In other words, simply because an infant (for example) receives baptism does not mean that infant is immediately regenerated and saved. This should be abundantly clear from the example of an adult who comes to faith in Christ and submits to baptism. In the case of the adult regeneration and saving faith have come about prior to baptism, which then illustrates the truth of the spiritual transformation already undergone and exhibits or points toward the promises of God. Similarly, the actual application of spiritual benefit in the life of one baptized as an infant does not necessarily occur then and there--indeed, according to this passage, it may never occur if it is not God's will to save that person--but at God's own appointed time then or in the future according to the counsel of his own will.
So it remains a false idea that one can save a person simply by baptizing him. Salvation is of the Lord, and his hands are not tied by the actions of human ministers.
Tomorrow: The frequency of baptism.
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