use of baptism " 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 belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God's own will, in his appointed time." With this view of the sacraments as means of grace all the other leading symbols of the Reformed Churches agree. Thus the First Hel- vetic Confession1 says, "Asserimus, sacramenta non solum tes- seras quasdam societatis Christianae, sed et gratias divinse symbol a esse, quibus ministri, Domino, ad eum finem, quern ipse promittit, offert et efficit, cooperentur." The Gallican Confession says : " Fatemur talia esse signa haec exteriora, ut Deus per ilia Sancti sui Spiritus virtute, operetur, ne quicquam ibi frustra nobis sig- nificetur." 2 In the Geneva Catechism 3 it is said : " Quid est sac- ramentum ? Externa divinaa erga nos benevolentiaB testificatio, quae visibili signo spirituales gratias figurat, ad obsignandos cordi- bus nostris Dei promissiones, quo earum Veritas melius confirmetur. .... Vim emcaciamque sacramenti non in externo elemento in- clusam esse existimas, sed totam a Spiritu Dei manare ? Sic sen- tio : nempe, ut virtutem suam exerere Domino placuerit per sua organa, quern in finem ea destinavit." The language of the Belgic Confession4 is to the same effect : " Sunt enim sacramenta signa, ac symbola visibilia rerum internarum et invisibilium, per quae, ceu per media, Deus ipse virtute Spiritus Sancti in nobis opera- tur. Itaque signa ilia minime vana sunt, aut vacua : nee ad nos decipiendos aut frustrandos instituta."
These symbols of the Reformed Churches on the continent of Europe agree with those of our own Church, not only in repre- senting the sacraments as real means of grace, but also in denying that their efficacy is due to their inherent virtue, or to him who administers them, and in affirming that it is due to the attending operation of the Spirit, and is conditioned on the presence of faith in the recipient. This is plain from the quotations already made, which might be multiplied indefinitely. On this point Calvin says : " Neque sacramenta hilum proficere sine Spiritu Sancti vir- tute." And again : " Spiritus Sanctus (quern non omnibus pro- miscue sacramenta advehunt, sed quern Dominus peculiariter suis confert) is est qui Dei gratias secum affert, qui dat sacramentis in nobis locum, qui efficit ut fructificent."6 Guerike 6 gives as one
1 Art. xxi. ; Niemeyer, Collectio Confessionum, Leipzig, 1840, p. 120.
2 Art. xxxiv. ; Ibid. p. 337.
8 v. De Sacramentis, 2 and 5; Ibid. pp. 160, 161. 4 Art. xxxiii. ; Ibid. p. 383.
* Institutio, iv. xiv. 9, 17 ; edit. Berlin, 1834, part ii. pp. 355, 360.
• Allgemeine Christliche Symbolik, von H. E. Ferdinand Guerike, D. D., Leipzig, 1839, p. 378.
502 PART m. Ch. XX. — the means of grace.
of the main points of difference between the Lutherans and Re- formed on this subject, that the latter deny the inherent power of the sacraments, and insist that the "virtus Spiritus Sancti extrinsecus accidens " is the source of all their sanctifying influ- ence.
There is, therefore, a strict analogy, according to the Reformed doctrine, between the Word and the sacraments as means of grace. (1.) Both have in them a certain moral power due to the truth which they bring before the mind. (2.) Neither has in itself any supernatural power to save or to sanctify. (3.) All their supernatural efficiency is due to the cooperation or attending influence of the Holy Spirit. (4.) Both are ordained by God to be the channels or means of the Spirit's influence, to those who by faith receive them. Nothing is said in the Bible to place the sacraments above the Word as a means of communicating to men the benefits of Christ's redemption. On the contrary, tenfold more is said in Scripture of the necessity and efficiency of the Word in the salvation of men, than is therein said or implied of the power of the sacraments.
Besides the points already referred to as characteristic of the Reformed doctrine on the sacraments, there is a fourth, which is, that the grace or spiritual benefits received by believers in the use of the sacraments, may be attained without their use. This, however, may perhaps be more properly considered, when the necessity of the sacraments comes under consideration.
The Lutheran Doctrine.
There are two points specially insisted upon by Lutherans in reference to the efficacy of the sacraments. The first is, the absolute necessity of faith in order to any real sanctifying or sav- ing benefit being derived from the use of those ordinances. On this point they are in perfect accord with the Reformed. Hase is right when he says that the idea, " That a sacrament can confer saving benefit without faith is utterly destructive of Protestant- ism." l Augustine had long ago taught the doctrine, " Unde ista tanta virtus aquae, ut corpus tangat, et cor abluat, nisi faciente verbo: non quia dicitur, sed quia creditur."2 And Bernard of Clairvaux says : " Sacramentum enim sine re sacramenti sumenti
1 Evangelische Bogmatik, n. ii. 1, § 213; 3d edit. Leipzig, 1842, p. 442.
2 In Joannis Evangelium Tractatus, lxxx. 3; Works, edit. Benedictines, Paris, 1837, vol. iii. p 2290, a.