Paedo-Baptism Answers The Sacraments and the Institutes: 3 Questions on Calvinist Sacramentology

[Sam Jer]

Blessed Lord's Day, brothers. I have read John Calvin's Institutes on the sacraments, prompting me to more questions of clarification.

1. Dr. Calvin defines a sacrament as:

an external sign, by which the Lord seals on our consciences his promises of good-will toward us, in order to sustain the weakness of our faith, and we in our turn testify our piety towards him, both before himself and before angels as well as men (4.14.1)

and further, he says on the sacramental status of the laying on of hands:

For the laying on of hands, by which the ministers of the Church are initiated into their office, though I have no objection to its being called a sacrament, I do not number among ordinary sacraments. (4.14.20)

So, is the laying on of hands a sort-of sacrament as Dr. Calvin contends?

2. Given the above defenition, assuming we adopt it, would that make the speaking in other tounges in the early apostolic period another irregular sacrament? And thus pentacostal speaking in tounges a false sacrament?

3. Finally, it seems that John Calvin, in his own opinion, sees eye to eye with Augustine. Is his reading of Augustine a credible one?

 

[Sam Jer]

Bump
(note for admins: this is the only bump I will attempt)

 

[roncwarren]

WCF CHAPTER 14
Of Saving Faith
1. "The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened."

The Westminster divines made the proper distinction between the Word, sacraments and prayer. All are means of grace, however the sacraments are instituted by our Lord as signs and seals of his promises to us in Christ. The apostle writes that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God" (Rom 10:17) and the Word is the ordinary means by which this faith is gifted in the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. Lydia, heard the Word preached by Paul and the "Lord opened her heart." By the ordinary means of the Word, faith is gifted, and by the sacraments and prayer, this faith is strengthened.

"So is the laying on of hands a sort-of sacrament?" I would rather agree with the confession and make the distinction between the sacraments and prayer, where prayer is a means of grace that strengthens our faith but in distinction with the sacraments. It is true that the Holy Spirit also works through prayer, and helps us to pray, but I don’t think that prayer is the same thing as signs and seals of the gospel. The sacraments point to our union with Christ in whom our faith must rest, Galatians 3:27 ESV, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (Jn 6:53). Prayer may be according to the promises of God, but the Gospel is outside of us in the person and work of Christ alone. Faith is the instrumental cause of our union with Christ, where we receive his righteousness and all our "spiritual blessings" (Eph 1:3). Many times the answer to prayer is according to His providence.

Did Calvin "eye to eye with Augustine" on the sacraments? I don't believe that you can draw this conclusion because Augustine believed that baptism was ex opere operato (“by the work performed”) or the sacrament of regeneration which frees the infant from the guilt of original sin. Calvin does agree with Augustine that they are “a visible form of an invisible grace." However, Calvin's view of the sacrament is to confirm and strengthen faith. Calvin writes,

(They confirm faith, not of themselves, but as agencies of the Holy Spirit and in association with the Word; and they are distinguishing marks of our profession of faith before men, 7–13)

"8. To what extent can we speak of a confirmation of faith through the sacraments?
Yet, they say, Philip answers the eunuch that he was permitted to be baptized if he believed with all his heart [Acts 8:37]. What place does confirmation of baptism have here, where faith fills the whole heart? On the other hand, I ask them whether they do not feel a good portion of their heart devoid of faith, and whether they do not daily acknowledge new increases. An eminent man boasted that he grew old, learning. We are therefore thrice miserable Christians if we grow old without advancement, for our faith ought to progress through all stages of our life until it grows to full manhood [Eph. 4:13]. Accordingly, in this passage, to “believe with all our heart” is not to believe Christ perfectly, but only to embrace him from the heart and with a sincere mind; not to be sated with him, but to hunger, thirst, and aspire to him with fervent affection."

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 1283.

 

[Sam Jer]

WCF CHAPTER 14
Of Saving Faith
1. "The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened."

The Westminster divines made the proper distinction between the Word, sacraments and prayer. All are means of grace, however the sacraments are instituted by our Lord as signs and seals of his promises to us in Christ. The apostle writes that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God" (Rom 10:17) and the Word is the ordinary means by which this faith is gifted in the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. Lydia, heard the Word preached by Paul and the "Lord opened her heart." By the ordinary means of the Word, faith is gifted, and by the sacraments and prayer, this faith is strengthened.

"So is the laying on of hands a sort-of sacrament?" I would rather agree with the confession and make the distinction between the sacraments and prayer, where prayer is a means of grace that strengthens our faith but in distinction with the sacraments. It is true that the Holy Spirit also works through prayer, and helps us to pray, but I don’t think that prayer is the same thing as signs and seals of the gospel. The sacraments point to our union with Christ in whom our faith must rest, Galatians 3:27 ESV, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (Jn 6:53). Prayer may be according to the promises of God, but the Gospel is outside of us in the person and work of Christ alone. Faith is the instrumental cause of our union with Christ, where we receive his righteousness and all our "spiritual blessings" (Eph 1:3). Many times the answer to prayer is according to His providence.

Did Calvin "eye to eye with Augustine" on the sacraments? I don't believe that you can draw this conclusion because Augustine believed that baptism was ex opere operato (“by the work performed”) or the sacrament of regeneration which frees the infant from the guilt of original sin. Calvin does agree with Augustine that they are “a visible form of an invisible grace." However, Calvin's view of the sacrament is to confirm and strengthen faith. Calvin writes,

(They confirm faith, not of themselves, but as agencies of the Holy Spirit and in association with the Word; and they are distinguishing marks of our profession of faith before men, 7–13)

"8. To what extent can we speak of a confirmation of faith through the sacraments?
Yet, they say, Philip answers the eunuch that he was permitted to be baptized if he believed with all his heart [Acts 8:37]. What place does confirmation of baptism have here, where faith fills the whole heart? On the other hand, I ask them whether they do not feel a good portion of their heart devoid of faith, and whether they do not daily acknowledge new increases. An eminent man boasted that he grew old, learning. We are therefore thrice miserable Christians if we grow old without advancement, for our faith ought to progress through all stages of our life until it grows to full manhood [Eph. 4:13]. Accordingly, in this passage, to “believe with all our heart” is not to believe Christ perfectly, but only to embrace him from the heart and with a sincere mind; not to be sated with him, but to hunger, thirst, and aspire to him with fervent affection."

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 1283.

So I gather you would add to Calvin's defenition, that a sacrament is specifically a sign of the gospel? This would mean his treatment of the tree of life as a sacrament would also need to be dropped.

 

[roncwarren]

WCF CHAPTER 7
Of God’s Covenant with Man

2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.
3. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.

The sacrament of the covenant of works is the tree of life as a visible sign of God's promise to Adam and Eve before the fall, in which the promise of life was contingent upon their perfect obedience to his command. This is called the covenant of works. However, the first Adam fell and God was gracious to offer redemption under the second Adam (Christ) to those who do not meet the obligations under the covenant of works, where Christ fulfills the covenant of works for those who are united to him through the gift of faith in the effectual call. As RC Sproul writes, "Where Adam was the covenant breaker, Jesus is the covenant keeper."

In Jer 31, we read that the law is written on the heart. This is the moral law for the believer who has been justified apart from the works of the law (Rom 3:28). There is a difference in how the law is applied to the non-believer, who is under the covenant of works and the believer who is under the covenant of grace. Those who are united to Adam or the second Adam (Christ). Galatians 3:13 ESV, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— Jesus said, Matthew 5:17 ESV, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Christ fulfills the covenant of works in his perfect righteousness and imputes His righteousness to those who are united to him through faith alone. Jesus dies for our sins in his passive obedience and gifts us His righteousness through His active obedience.

Rom 3: 21-25, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."

The primary purpose of the law is to drive us to Christ for our justification. I like how the KJV says, Galatians 3:24 KJV, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." The second purpose of the law is to restrain evil in society (Rom 13). The third purpose of the law is to show us what is pleasing to God for our sanctification. Jesus said, John 14:15 ESV “If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Not that we love Jesus perfectly or as we should, but the regenerate has a new heart with new affections for Christ. Paul calls this a "faith working through love" (Gal 5:6). Romans 6:14 ESV, "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Sin remains, but it does not reign!

 

[roncwarren]

So I gather you would add to Calvin's defenition, that a sacrament is specifically a sign of the gospel? This would mean his treatment of the tree of life as a sacrament would also need to be dropped.

20. The addition of sacraments not permitted*
Let the Christian church be content with these two sacraments, therefore. And let the church not only refuse to admit and acknowledge any third one for the present but also not desire or expect any, even to the end of the age.
Various sacraments besides these ordinary ones were given to the Jews, according to the changing condition of the times (as manna [Ex. 16:13; 1 Cor. 10:3], water flowing from the rock [Ex. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4], the brazen serpent [Num. 21:8; John 3:14], and the like). By this variation the Jews were warned not to halt with such figures, whose condition was impermanent, but to await from God something better, which would abide without any destruction or end.
But conditions are far different with us, to whom Christ has been revealed. For in him “all treasures of knowledge and wisdom are hid” [Col. 2:3, cf. Vg.] with such great abundance and richness that either to hope for or to seek any new addition to these treasures is truly to arouse God’s wrath and provoke him against us.


John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 1447.