Understanding the Role of Sacraments and Ordinances

Want to socialize? If so, you might call your friends over tonight for a get-together and chat the night away, but you’re not likely to hold a ceremony just for that purpose. Although ceremonies are public events, they have an underlying meaning and purpose that goes far beyond mingling and hanging out. For example, no engaged couple I know holds a wedding and reception costing thousands of dollars just so they can play dress up, visit with quirky relatives, and watch gobs of people they barely know dance and eat all the cake they can stuff into their mouths. No, a bride and groom hold a formal wedding to commemorate the life-changing commitment that they’re making to each other. 

A Christian sacrament follows the same idea: Christians observe it for reasons that go far beyond tradition, ritual, or social stimulation. Instead, a sacrament (or ordinance) is a public action that one undertakes to express an inner transformation in his or her heart. Or, in the words of St. Augustine, a sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” 

Grasping four keys to understanding the sacraments

Rites, ordinances, and sacraments all sound like foreign words to a society that downplays ceremony. So, if you’re still confused about what exactly sacraments are, consider the following four keys to understanding the sacraments. 

Key #1: Historical terms for sacraments hint at their meaning

The early Church originally called a sacrament a mystery, which emphasized the facts that: (1) God kept these rites hidden until Jesus came to the earth, and (2) God mysteriously reveals himself in some manner through these rites. As time passed and translators converted more Christian terminology from Greek to Latin, they struggled to find a Latin equivalent to adequately express the concept’s meaning. They eventually chose the Latin word sacramentum, a term that people of that era could easily identify with. Sacramentum referred to the oath that Roman soldiers took when they became officers, swearing allegiance to the Roman gods, resulting in a change of the soldier’s formal legal status. Each of these two terms – mystery and sacrament – reveals an idea of what these rites are all about. Although Catholics and some Protestants today use “sacrament,” the Orthodox branch often refers to the sacraments as “mysteries.” 

Key #2: Sacraments are consistent with Old Testament rites

Throughout the Old Testament, ceremonies were an important part of Israel’s religious life. Religious leaders circumcised infants as a sign of the covenant between the Israelites and God (see Genesis 17:10-14). A Passover meal commemorated the passing over of faithful Hebrews when God judged Egypt (see Exodus 12:11). Jews regularly sacrificed lambs and other animals as a rite that signified the cost of sin. Therefore, when Jesus told people to be baptized and when he inaugurated the Lord’s Supper, his Jewish followers immediately recognized the ceremonial significance of this teaching. 

Key #3: Sacraments emphasize the unity of the physical and spiritual realms

Hebrew Christians instinctively understood the significance of rites (see Key #1), but newly converted Gentile (non-Jewish) believers didn’t. The dominant philosophy of the Mediterranean world in the first century recognized no connection between the physical and spiritual parts of a person. Therefore, people believed that the actions they undertook – be they illicit sex, drunkenness, or betting on donkey races – had no bearing on their spiritual lives. (If you read Paul’s letters to the Corinthians in the Bible, you notice he speaks at length against this belief.) Therefore, when the early Church emphasized ordinances, it helped show new Christians how tightly interwoven the physical and spiritual parts of a person are. Sacraments helped illustrate that what you do with your body has a direct effect on your spiritual life. They serve as instruments that help reinforce the idea that outward action, whether sinful or holy, is inseparable from a person’s inner heart condition. 

Key #4: Sacramental roles have expanded over the years

Jesus ordained baptism and commanded his followers to participate in the Lord’s Supper, so the early Church incorporated these acts as part of their teaching and practices. As time passed, other ordinances evolved; by the sixth century, the Church began considering further how the sacraments fit into the overall life of a Christian, from cradle to grave. The role of the sacraments continued to expand over the next several centuries, and by the 13^th century, the seven sacraments that the Catholic Church recognizes today – baptism, confirmation, confession, Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper), marriage, holy orders, and anointing of the sick – were in place. At the Council of Trent in 1519, Church leaders declared this set of sacraments to be a key Catholic doctrine, proclaiming that the sacraments are necessary for a person ‘s salvation, or being cleansed from sin and receiving eternal life in heaven (see Chapter 3 for more on salvation). 

As the role of sacraments grew larger, so too did the role of the Church. Catholic teaching stressed that Christ commissioned the Church to administer the sacraments and its leaders to guide all Christians. Therefore, the sacramental system that was established in the 16^th century formalized the Church’s role as sole mediator of the sacraments between God and the individual Christian. 

However, not everyone agreed with the dominant role of sacraments and the mediator position of the Church in an individual Christian’s life. In fact, this debate proved to be a spark that eventually ignited the Protestant Reformation (check out Chapter 11). 

No matter whether one holds to the Catholic or Protestant position on ordinances, one point must be underscored: The belief that God gives saving grace through the sacraments as the Church administers them is the product of theological writings from Augustine through the Middle Ages, not from the New Testament or the first-century Church. 

Viewing sacraments through different lenses

As the role of sacraments increased in importance through medieval times, different views began to surface concerning what exactly ordinances were and which rites should be considered sacraments. These views tend to be sharpest between Catholics and Protestants, while the Orthodox branch of the Church has always been less defined on its stance. I discuss three major areas of disagreement below.