{"id":226,"date":"2015-02-11T03:06:03","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T03:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/?p=226"},"modified":"2015-12-10T20:12:28","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T20:12:28","slug":"sacraments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/sacraments\/","title":{"rendered":"SACRAMENTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

O<\/span>ne of the significant disagreements within the Christian Church over the last five hundred years has been over the sacraments. The Catechism in the English (1662)\u00a0Book of Common Prayer<\/em>\u00a0defines a sacrament as<\/span><\/p>\n

an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ Himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof<\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is a sign, a means, and a pledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a\u00a0sign<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in that it represents or points to something beyond itself. While it is not the thing itself there is a similarity or a similitude between the sign and the thing signified. In the Lord\u2019s Supper the similitude is in the nourishing, in that as bread nourishes our physical body, so Christ\u2019s body broken feeds our soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, as the bread we eat in the Lord\u2019s Supper is\u00a0a sharing in one loaf of bread\u00a0(we usually forget this today), so\u00a0we who eat are one body in Christ<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:17.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, as we eat the bread and drink the wine, Christ through his Spirit, draws his people into his presence and into fellowship with him in heaven. It is something we can\u2019t verbalize, but we partake of all the benefits he has won for us when his body was broken and his blood was shed at Calvary.<\/span><\/p>\n

SACRAMENTS<\/h2>\n

The sacraments are linked to God\u2019s Word<\/strong>.<\/span> Without this they would be dumb signs. The sacraments visibly present the promises of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which we have heard. The sacraments make visible what is preached. Christ himself authorized this when he added his teaching and his promises, his word, to the physical elements of the bread and the wine in the Lord\u2019s Supper, thus transforming the bread and the wine into a sacrament.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sacrament is a means of grace<\/strong>.<\/span> When, and only when, we believe the promise of the gospel do we spiritually benefit as we partake of the Lord\u2019s Supper. In this instance,\u00a0believing<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0seeing<\/em>\u00a0since we see the word of God\u2019s promise as a visible word in the sacrament. The Lord\u2019s Supper is an outward and visible guarantee or pledge of our faith in Christ. To paraphrase Archbishop Thomas Cranmer\u2019s words: \u2018As the bread, which is only a\u00a0signification and figure<\/em>, is eaten, our souls are fed and nourished with the spiritual benefits of Christ\u2019s flesh and blood to eternal life.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sacrifice for sin is complete<\/strong>.<\/span> None of this means the physical substance of the bread and wine changes (transubstantiation), nor does it mean that Christ is physically present in the elements. As God-man, he is in heaven. This is the reason we exhort each other to \u2018Lift up our hearts\u2019 \u2013 we are to lift them up to where Christ Jesus is, in heaven. Furthermore, the\u00a0Letter to the Hebrews<\/em>\u00a0is clear that the priestly and sacrificial work of Christ has been completed once and for all time (Hebrews 10:11-14). There is no need, indeed it subverts the meaning of Jesus\u2019 death at Calvary, to repeat, re-present, or re-offer the sacrifice of Christ in the Communion.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his second prayer book (1552), which stands behind the English 1662\u00a0BCP<\/em><\/strong><\/span>, Thomas Cranmer was keen to remove all ambiguity and set out clearly God\u2019s gospel. So he took out words calling out for the Spirit to come upon the elements (the\u00a0epiclesis<\/em>). Appropriately, a prayer for the Spirit to come upon God\u2019s people is at the beginning of the service. He also removed words that gave any impression of our offering anything for our salvation.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we come to the Lord\u2019s Supper\u00a0we remember<\/strong>\u00a0with grateful hearts what Jesus did on our behalf when he was crucified.\u00a0We benefit now<\/strong>\u00a0when, by faith, we are nourished spiritually by Christ, being drawn into his presence and into a conscious and joyful fellowship with his people. Furthermore, as we eat the bread and drink of the cup\u00a0we look ahead to the day<\/strong>\u00a0when we shall eat and drink with Christ and his people when he comes in the glory of his kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

No wonder Paul the Apostle commands us to prepare before coming to the Lord\u2019s Table:\u00a0Let everyone examine themselves, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup<\/em>\u00a0(1 Corinthians 11:28).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ne of the significant disagreements within the Christian Church over the last five hundred years has been over the sacraments. The Catechism in the English (1662)\u00a0Book of Common Prayer\u00a0defines a sacrament as an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ Himself, as a means whereby we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSACRAMENTS - The Anglican Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anglican Sacraments. 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