Westminster Confession, Chapter 27
Of 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.
Scripture references for paragraph 1
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Genesis 17:77I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Genesis 17:1010This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.
Romans 4:1111And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
1 Corinthians 10:1616Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 11:25-2625In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Galatians 3:2727For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Matthew 28:1919Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
1 Corinthians 11:2323For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,
Romans 6:3-43Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.
1 Corinthians 10:2121You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
Genesis 34:1414“We cannot do such a thing,” they said. “To give our sister to an uncircumcised man would be a disgrace to us.
Exodus 12:4848If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it.
Romans 15:88For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,
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 the effects of the one are attributed to the other.
Scripture references for paragraph 2
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Genesis 17:1010This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.
Matthew 26:27-2827Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Titus 3:55He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
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 contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.
Scripture references for paragraph 3
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Romans 2:28-2928A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.
1 Peter 3:2121And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Matthew 26:27-2827Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 3:1111I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
1 Corinthians 12:1313For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
There be 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.
Scripture references for paragraph 4
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Matthew 28:19-2019Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:1919Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
1 Corinthians 4:11So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1 Corinthians 11:2020Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat.
1 Corinthians 11:2323For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,
Hebrews 5:44No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.
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.
Scripture references for paragraph 5
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
1 Corinthians 10:1-41I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
3They all ate the same spiritual food
4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Source and edition
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