Tag: confessing

Mystery of the sacraments

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of the sacraments

[Bible references: Matthew 26:17-35; Exodus 30:17-20; Mark 1:1-11; Acts 2:38, 41-42; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34]

Defining Sacraments

Sacraments, the rituals of belonging

“The language surrounding ‘sacraments’ did not develop in the church for some time. We hear of a ritual of baptism in the Christian community of the Acts of the Apostles, and of the ‘breaking of bread’ (Acts 2:38, 41- 42). These celebrations were called by their name, there was no generic term that grouped these experiences together. It was not until the third century that the word mysteries (Greek: ‘mysterion’), a word that the pagans used to describe rites of initiation, also began to be used to describe Christian rites. The Eastern Orthodox church still uses the term ‘mysterion’ to describe these practices.

However, in the Latin wing of the church, in order to avoid any confusion with pagan thinking the church began to use the Latin word, ‘sacramentum’ for ‘mysterion’ to describe baptism. Sacramentum was also used to describe a sacred oath of allegiance that a Roman soldier would make to the emperor. It was suggested that just as the soldier’s oath was a sign of the beginning of a new life, so too was initiation into the Christian community through baptism and eucharist.[1]

“St Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century developed the notion that a sacramentum is a sign that sanctifies – makes holy – because it is efficacious – produces the intended effect. For instance, Christ and the Holy Spirit make effective, through grace, the cleansing that water signifies in baptism. It was Augustine who called a sacrament ‘a visible sign of invisible grace.’ He also, in his letters referred to a sacramentum as a sacrum signum ‘sign of a sacred thing’ It is worth mentioning that Augustine did not consider only rituals but also acts or deeds or things that point to Christian mysteries to be sacraments – and listed over 300 such signs.[2] The Church gradually reduced this by differentiating between rituals and signs and symbols that assist people in prayer and devotion such as holy water, palms, ashes etc. These latter are sometimes called “sacramentals.”[3]

Some congregations hold that sacraments administered by the church convey, by means of the Holy Spirit, grace to the recipients while some hold that the sacraments are only outward signs of an inward grace. Other differences are whether the sacraments are an objective reality that are effective in and of themselves or whether the effectiveness of the sacraments depends on the faith response of the recipients. Either way, the purpose of the sacraments is to make people holy, to build up the body of Christ, to teach, and to give worship to God.

Since the 16th century, the Orthodox and Roman Catholics recognize seven sacraments (The Orthodox church stipulates that there are even more but does not formally name them). Protestants only recognize baptism and the Lord’s Supper as sacraments. Some Anabaptist and Brethren groups consider foot-washing to be a sacrament. “Some Protestant groups, notably the Quakers and the Salvation Army, do not use sacraments.”[4]

Baptism and the mikva’ot

The word ‘baptism’ is a transliteration of a Greek word that meant to immerse. The Old Testament introduces us to the idea that we need to be cleansed before entering the presence of God (Exodus 30:17-20). By Jesus’ time, the city of Jerusalem had many buildings with a ritual bath (mikveh) in them where people could ritually cleanse themselves by dipping themselves in the mikveh. The mikveh can signify: a collection of water, something waited for, abiding, gathering together.[5]

In the New Testament, we are introduced to John the Baptist preaching about the coming of the Lord – and it was a time when many people were expecting the coming of the Messiah. John was baptizing people as they confessed their sins and as these people were being baptized, they would have understood that they were being cleansed and being gathered together for the coming Messiah.

When Jesus was ready to begin his time of ministry, he told John to baptize him. This obviously confused John who knew that Jesus did not need to be cleansed from sin, but Jesus had come to identify himself with us in baptism.

We see the practice of adults confessing their sins and then being baptized continue throughout the New Testament. After the New Testament we now enter an era of confessing adults bringing up their children. In the Jewish tradition, baby boys would be circumcised when they were 8 days old as a way of bringing them into the Jewish community. It is not long after the New Testament times that we see parts of the church using infant baptism as a way of bringing their children into the Christian community. The infants are obviously not confessing believers but believing parents can raise them up with the hope that they will later confirm their baptism. This issue of child baptism would later become an issue that the church would divide over.

Communion and the Passover Feast

The Communion celebration, sometimes called the Eucharist (from the Greek word for grateful or thanksgiving) is tied back to the Jewish Passover Feast. The Passover Feast was a commemoration of God’s work that convinced the Egyptian Pharaoh to let the Israelite slaves to leave. God’s work was to send an angel to kill all the firstborn children of the Egyptians but to “pass over” those Israelite homes that had the blood of a perfect lamb sprinkled on the doorposts of their homes. Every year after that, the Israelites were to commemorate that event with a Passover Feast that would include eating, among other items, bread with no yeast to remember the time they had to leave in haste from Egypt. The Passover meal would be one of many celebrations in the Old Testament that pointed to their fulfillment in the New Testament times.

At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover Feast; it would be his “last supper” with them before his crucifixion. He shared with them the bread and wine, but now adding their intended significance: the bread would represent his body that would be sacrificed for the world and the wine would represent his blood shed for the world.

There are differences about whether, during the Communion service, that the bread and wine actually become transformed into Jesus body and blood, or whether his body and blood are present with the bread and wine or whether the bread and wine only metaphorically represent Jesus’ body and blood.

What are the sacraments and how do we practice them?

Sacrament is Latin translation (sacramentum) of the Greek “Mysterion,” which means mystery.  The sacraments are used to refer to different rituals/activities conducted by the church.

There is agreement about the sacraments being a sign of grace imparted to those receiving sacraments, but there is disagreement (naturally, since we’re talking about mysteries) about how that grace works. Some consider the sacraments to be an objective reality that are effective for imparting grace in and of themselves,[6] others think that the effectiveness of the sacraments to impart grace depends on the faith response of the recipients, while others think that the sacraments are more simply a sign of grace.

Since the 16th century, the Orthodox and Roman Catholic recognize seven sacraments (The Orthodox church stipulates that there are even more but does not formally name them). Protestants only recognize baptism and the Lord’s Supper as sacraments. Some Anabaptist and Brethren groups consider foot-washing to be a sacrament. “Some Protestant groups, notably the Quakers and the Salvation Army, do not use sacraments.” [7]

  • Baptism – The first step in a lifelong journey of commitment and discipleship. Immersion identifies us with the death and resurrection of Christ.
  • Eucharist (or Communion) – In a re-enactment of the Last Supper, we share elements that remind us of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. 
  • Reconciliation (or Penance) – Has three elements: conversion, confession, and celebration.
  • Confirmation – An initiation into the church. It is most often associated with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
  • Marriage – A public sign that one gives oneself totally to this other person. It is also a public statement about God: the loving union of husband and wife speaks of family values and also God’s values.
  • Holy Orders – The priest being ordained vows to lead other Catholics by bringing them the sacraments (especially the Eucharist), by proclaiming the Gospel, and by providing other means to holiness.
  • Anointing of the Sick (Last Rites) – A ritual of healing appropriate not only for physical but also for mental and spiritual sickness.

What are the different views on communion?

There are different views on what happens to the communion elements: bread and wine become literal flesh and blood, bread and wine become spiritual flesh and blood, or the elements are simply to remind us Jesus’ sacrifice for us.[8]

There are also different views on who can take communion: whether any Christians present may participate, or only members of local congregation or denomination may participate.[9]

Do we represent Jesus’ body with leavened or unleavened bread. Do we represent Jesus’ blood with wine or grape juice? Are both elements shared or is just the bread shared? Are only designated representatives of the church allowed to administer the elements?

What are different views on baptism?

There are different views on who may be baptized:  Adults only (Believer baptism, only people old enough to confess their faith may be baptized) Infants (infants of believers are baptized as acknowledgement of the infant as a new member in the church community and in hope that they will make a commitment in the future).

There are different views of what happens during baptism: baptism overcomes original sin, frees the baptized from powers of darkness, Baptism in the Holy Spirit – When someone is saved, the Holy Spirit overcomes the person and causes that person to speak “in tongues.”

There are different views of how many times the recipient is immersed: Once (there are differences in whether the words to use are “in the name of Jesus” or “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit), Three times (once for each of the Godhead: Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

There are different views on how the baptism is performed: Immersion (recipient is completely immersed in water), Pouring (water is poured on the head of the recipient), Sprinkling (water is sprinkled on the head of the recipient).

[1] Szczesny, Mike. “[Greek] μυστήριον (mystērion), [Latin] sacramentum” Resounding the faith resoundingthefaith.com/2016/10/27/greek-%CE%BC%CF%85%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BD-mysterion-latin-sacramentum/

[2] Tennent, Timothy. “The Body and The Sacraments as a Means of Grace” Seedbed seedbed.com/the-body-and-the-sacraments-as-a-means-of-grace/

[3] Catholic Answers“Sacramentals” Catholic Answers www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/sacramentals

[4] Theopedia “Sacraments” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/sacraments

[5] One for Israel. “The Jewish Roots of Baptism” One for Israel www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/was-baptism-originally-jewish/

[6] Theopedia “Sacramentalism”  Theopedia theopedia.com/sacramentalism; Phillips, Matthew. “Augustine, Luther, and the Sacraments” Gospel Notes steadfastlutherans.org/2013/06/augustine-luther-and-the-sacraments

[7] Theopedia “Sacraments” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/sacraments

[8] Zondervan Academic Blog “Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, or Something Else? Roman Catholic vs. Protestant View of the Lord’s Supper” Zondervan Academic 20 Oct 2017 zondervanacademic.com/blog/transubstantiation-consubstantiation-catholic-protestant

[9] Truediscipleship “Communion – Is it Open or Closed? True Discipleship truediscipleship.com/communion-is-it-open-or-closed

Mystery of sin, salvation, and sanctification

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of Sin, Salvation, and Sanctification

[Bible references: Ps 38:39; Is 12:2; 25:9; Zephaniah 3:17; Matthew 26:28; Luke 24:47; John 3:16; 10:9; Acts 2:38; 4:12; Romans 5; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 15:2; Ephesians 2:8; 2 Tim 3:15]

How do we inherit sin?

There are two main views of how we inherit sin:

  • According to ancestral sin, Adam and Eve alone bear the full responsibility and guilt for the sin in the Garden, but we inherit mortality, the tendency to sin, and alienation from God and other people. Expulsion from the Garden was to prevent the humans from being eternally separated from God.
  • According to original sin, as Adam’s ancestors we inherit not only Adams’ sinful nature but his guilt as well. Expulsion from the garden was a punishment.

What did Jesus do to allow our relationship with him to be restored?[1]

By taking on human flesh the way that Jesus did and becoming fully human, he experienced all the temptations to sin that we face, but without succumbing to them. When he died on the cross as a perfect God-Man, he was able to overcome death and offer to restore our relationship with him. Different congregations have different ideas on how this transaction was able to actually work.

  • God paid a ransom to free us. Once the ransom was paid, justice was satisfied, and God was able to free us. There is a dispute about whether the ransom was paid to God or to the Devil.[2]
  • Christ is seen as the second Adam who is victorious where Adam failed and undoes what Adam did. The atonement of Christ has reversed the course of mankind from disobedience to obedience. Christ’s life recapitulated all the stages of human life and in doing so reversed the course of disobedience initiated by Adam.[3]
  • Just as Adam’s sins were imputed to us (original sin), when Jesus died on the cross, his righteousness was imputed to us.[4]
  • Christ suffered for everyone so that the Father could forgive the ones who repent and believe. Pardon and forgiveness cannot be brought to pass unless God’s righteous obligations as Moral Governor can be satisfied. Nor can it happen unless man is willing to repent and embrace the conditions of mercy. Man must identify himself in a committal of faith to the sufferings of Christ for his sins, as the only hope of his forgiveness and spiritual restoration from a state of ruin.[5]

What is the effect of sin on our bodies and on our world?

Despite the effects of sin, that we are image-bearers of God. This view creates a positive view of our bodies and is supportive of taking healthy care of our bodies and also the environment. However, there is a viewpoint originally developed by Greek philosophy that has continued to affect the church in many ways from the beginning is the idea that only spiritual things are good and physical things are bad.[6]

In regard to the body, this dualism leads to the view that sex is sinful and a general discomfort in talking about the body, preventing the church from counteracting the influence of the culture both within and outside the congregation. This dualism has led to many other errors as well, such as focusing on heaven as our final destination instead of a new creation, the need to deny oneself physical pleasure[7] in order to pursue the spiritual, and the neglect of our roles as stewards of our physical environment.

How are we saved from the consequences of our sins?

When the first people rebelled against God, they brought the penalty of death and eternal separation from God upon themselves. As descendants of those people, we inherited the corrupt nature that causes us to sin and therefore also brings the penalty of death and separation from God upon ourselves. Our salvation is only possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The gift of salvation can be received when we confess our sins, acknowledge Jesus’ death on our behalf and accept God’s forgiveness for our own sins.

That said, there are two explanations about how we are saved that depend on how we think we inherited sin.

  • According to the doctrine of ancestral sin, salvation is a process of avoiding sin and becoming more like God,[8] a process which, for those who are baptized into Christ, will continue after our death and resurrection. God did not expel Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and away from the Tree of Life as a punishment, but out of compassion, so that we would not be like the fallen angels and become immortal in sin.
  • According to the doctrine of original sin, Jesus’ death is considered to have paid the penalty for our sins. By receiving his forgiveness, we are legally justified before God, and he gives us his spirit so that we can begin the process of becoming more like him.

What is the role of grace in salvation?

In Reformed theology, God gives irresistible grace to those he chose before time began and gave them the will to respond to his call to repent so that they can be forgiven, and once forgiven, God will ensure that they will persevere in the faith.

In provisional theology all men are given a grace[9] that allows them free will to respond to God’s call to repent and be saved and also have God’s assurance that he will not let us go.[10]

In Arminian and Orthodox theology, it is by our free will that we accept God’s forgiveness and then also have the free will to abandon that faith later.

What does it mean to be saved by grace and yet have expectations to live righteously?

Some Christians think that once they are converted, that is they have received Christ’s gift of salvation, then they have done all they need to do. After that, some will either forget or neglect the entire process of being a disciple of Christ leaving the question of whether they were actually converted.

Some congregations believe that more than faith is required in order to receive salvation[11] and insist that salvation has not happened unless some specific things are done. The Orthodox tradition states that salvation is a process that begins with conversion but then continues with the process of becoming more like God. The Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions state that once we have been justified, then God can set us apart to be the type of people that he has intended us to be from the beginning.[12] In this condition, we can begin the process of growing in Christ, that is, becoming more like God.

We are living in the time between the first coming of Christ, where he conquered death and sin, and His second coming, when he will transform creation with a new heaven and earth, and we will have new resurrection bodies. In this in-between time, we still are living in corrupt bodies and in an earth corrupted by sin although we may have begun the process of being transformed more into the image of Christ. This does create some confusion.

Until the final resurrection we still sin and need to regularly be in an attitude of repentance, confessing our sin and turning back to God and acknowledging our need for God’s grace so that we can also be ready to give grace to others.

The Roman Catholics emphasize our need to not only confess our sins, but to do something tangible to express our repentance[13] and need to be purified more completely before we can appear before God. This requires a temporary stay in purgatory before we are allowed into heaven.

Viewing things in a more positive light, some congregations emphasize that while we may not actually free from sinning, that our hearts have been cleansed from sin by the grace of God.[14]

Since we are under grace, do the commandments still apply to us?

We are told that those who are born “of the Spirit” are not “under the law” because Jesus fulfilled the law. However, that does not mean that the law can be ignored. In fact, not only does the law provide guidance for us, but the expectations for our behavior are even more comprehensive. The New Testament explicitly tells us that:

  • hating our brother is equivalent to murdering our brother. 
  • we should not hate our enemy but love them.
  • looking at someone with lust is like committing adultery.
  • if we are forced to go one mile, then we should go two miles.

Our motivation should not come from trying to obey the external law “written in stone” but rather from the internal desires “written in our hearts” to love – love God and to love one another. To give a few examples: we should be.

  • Not driven to obey the Commandment to keep the Sabbath, but rather encouraged to live every day to God.
  • Not driven to obey the command to tithe, but rather encouraged to be generous.
  • Not driven to obey the command to not covet, but rather encouraged to promote the welfare of others.
  • Not driven to obey commandments, but rather encouraged to express the fruits of the Spirit.
  • Not driven to obey externally given commands, but rather encouraged to grow in our internal desire to love,
  • Not driven to avoid doing wrong, but rather encouraged to delight in finding the best way to do what is right

However, the relationship of the church to the law has been a point of contention in many congregations causing many congregations to adopt a legalistic framework. There is a tendency to consider the laws we call the Ten Commandments to be unlike the other laws in the Old Testament – to be “moral laws” that still apply. The New Testament, however, has not separated out the “moral law” from the rest of the laws (sometimes called civil and ceremonial laws) in the Old Testament. Some consider the Law to be good as it guides us away from idolatry, but others view the law to be bad as we should rather be relying on grace instead of the law which is considered to be oppressive.

The Ten Commandments, as we call them, are not numbered in the original texts (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5) but in the Biblical text are referred to as the Decalogue, which means “ten words.”[15] This has resulted in a couple of different numbering schemes for the “ten words.” One of the variations is influenced by iconoclasm, which makes “You shall not make any graven images …” the second commandment.

[1] Soteriology is the study of how we are saved

[2] Theopedia “Ransom”  Theopedia theopedia.com/ransom

[3] Theopedia “Recapitulation theory of atonement”  Theopedia theopedia.com/recapitulation-theory-of-atonement

[4] Theopedia “Penal substitutionary atonement”  Theopedia theopedia.com/penal-substitutionary-atonement

[5] Theopedia “Governmental theory of atonement” Theopedia theopedia.com/governmental-theory-of-atonement

[6] In Persia during the third century, Mani tried to synthesize all the known religions, including Gnosticism and Christianity into a religion known as Manichaeism. Gnostics think that there is a good spiritual world, and a bad physical world (aka Dualism).

[7] New Advent “Asceticism” New Advent newadvent.org/cathen/01767c.htm

[8] Theopedia “Theosis” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/theosis

[9] Prevenient grace means the grace of God that surrounds all, and is at work in all, even before we know or care about it.

[10] Spurgeon, C.H. “The Security of Believers – or, sheep who shall never perish”  Spurgeon Gems spurgeongems.org given 5 Sept 1889 www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs2120.pdf

[11] Theopedia “Legalism” Theopedia theopedia.com/legalism

[12] Sanctification is the process of being set apart for God’s use.

[13] Catholic Encyclopedia “Penance” Catholic Encyclopedia catholic.com/encyclopedia/Penance

[14] Theopedia. “Wesleyan perfectionism”  Theopedia www.theopedia.com/wesleyan-perfectionism. Wesleyan perfectionism, sometimes called entire sanctification, is a view held by John Wesley that taught that Christians could to some degree attain perfection in this life.

[15] Hale, Philip. “Numbering the Decalogue, Images, and Iconoclasm: A Historical and Theological Survey”  Nebraska Lutherans for Confessional Study, July 25, 2013

Observe

Read John 3:16; 10:9; Acts 2:38. How can we be reconciled to God?