Overview

Before treating Baptism and the Lord’s Supper individually, the Confession defines what a sacrament is. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, instituted by God to represent Christ and His benefits, confirm our interest in Him, and mark off His people from the world. This chapter establishes the principles that govern both ordinances: the relation between sign and thing signified, the source of their efficacy, and the unity of the sacraments across both Testaments.

The Confession, Section by Section

27.1 — What sacraments are

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 Proofs (ESV):

“He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith.” (Rom. 4:11, ESV)

Further proofs: Gen. 17:7, 10; Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 10:16; 11:25–26; Exod. 12:48; Rom. 6:3–4.

Exposition: A sacrament is a “sign and seal” of the covenant of grace — a sign that represents Christ and His benefits to the senses, and a seal that confirms God’s promise and our interest in Him (as circumcision sealed Abraham’s righteousness by faith, Rom. 4:11). Sacraments are “immediately instituted by God” — only God may appoint them — and they serve three purposes: to represent Christ, to confirm believers, and to distinguish the church visibly from the world while engaging its members to God’s service.

27.2 — The sacramental union of sign and thing signified

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.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“And he took bread… and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you.’” (Luke 22:19–20, ESV)

Further proofs: Gen. 17:10; Matt. 26:27–28; Titus 3:5; 1 Cor. 10:16–17.

Exposition: This is the key to reading sacramental language rightly. There is a “sacramental union” between the sign (water, bread, wine) and the thing signified (Christ and His benefits), so close that “the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.” Thus baptism can be called “the washing of regeneration” and the bread called Christ’s “body” — not because the sign is the thing, but because of their covenantal union. This guards against both the error of confusing sign and reality (as in transubstantiation) and that of emptying the sign of all meaning.

27.3 — The source of sacramental efficacy

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 Proofs (ESV):

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:7, ESV)

Further proofs: 1 Cor. 1:14–17; 12:13; Matt. 3:11; 26:26–28; 1 Pet. 3:21.

Exposition: Sacraments work not by any inherent power (no magic in the water or bread), nor by the holiness of the minister, but “upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution.” The efficacy is God’s, through His Spirit and promise, received by faith. This frees the believer’s assurance from the worthiness of the minister and locates the power where it belongs — in God, who attaches His promise to the ordinance.

27.4–27.5 — Two sacraments; the unity of the Testaments

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.

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 Proofs (ESV):

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea… and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink… and the Rock was Christ.” (1 Cor. 10:1–4, ESV)

Further proofs: Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:20, 23; 4:1; Heb. 9:8–10; Col. 2:11–12.

Exposition: Christ ordained only two sacraments in the gospel — Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (against Rome’s seven) — to be administered only by lawfully ordained ministers. And the Old Testament sacraments (circumcision and Passover) signified, “for substance, the same” spiritual realities as the New (baptism and the Supper). Since there is one covenant of grace (ch. 7), its signs point to the same Christ: the fathers “drank… the same spiritual drink… and the Rock was Christ.”

Doctrinal Summary

Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, instituted by God to represent Christ and His benefits, confirm believers’ interest in Him, distinguish His church from the world, and engage them to His service. In each there is a sacramental union of sign and thing signified, so that the names and effects of one are ascribed to the other. Their efficacy depends not on any power in them or the minister’s piety, but on the Spirit and the word of institution. Christ ordained only two — Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, dispensed by ordained ministers — and the sacraments of both Testaments signify, in substance, the same Christ.

Connections

• WLC Q161–164 — how the sacraments become effectual means of salvation; what a sacrament is; the parts of a sacrament; the two sacraments of the New Testament.
• WSC Q91–93 — how the sacraments become effectual means of salvation (“not from any virtue in them… but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit”); what a sacrament is; the sacraments of the New Testament.
• WCF 7 (the covenant of grace, of which sacraments are signs and seals), WCF 28 (Baptism), WCF 29 (the Lord’s Supper), WCF 25 (the church, which administers the sacraments).
• Loci: Sacramental theology (sign and seal; sacramental union; the means of grace).

Pastoral & Practical Significance

This chapter teaches the believer how to receive the sacraments with faith rather than superstition or indifference. Against superstition, it denies any magic in the elements: water does not regenerate by its own power, nor does the bread become Christ’s literal flesh, nor does an unworthy minister void the sacrament — the efficacy is the Spirit’s, working through God’s promise. Against indifference, it insists the sacraments are no empty rituals but God-given “seals” that genuinely confirm His covenant promises to us, strengthening weak faith by attaching the gospel to sight, touch, and taste. When you are baptized or come to the Table, God is preaching His promise to you in a visible word and sealing your interest in Christ. The right response is faith: look through the sign to the Christ it signifies, and let the Spirit use these holy ordinances to assure your heart that all that is Christ’s is yours. Sacraments are grace made visible — a gift to be received, not a work to be performed.

For Reflection

• Do I receive the sacraments with faith, looking through the sign to Christ, or treat them as empty form — or, the other extreme, as magic?
• Sacramental efficacy rests on the Spirit and God’s promise, not the minister. How does that steady my assurance?
• The sacraments are “seals” that confirm God’s covenant promises. How might they strengthen my faith if I came to them expecting God to speak?