Promising the forgiveness of God
The first confessions of the sacraments
"I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins."
—The Nicene Creed, based on Acts 2:38
"It is taught among us that the sacraments were instituted not only to be signs by which people might be identified outwardly as Christians, but that they are signs and testimonies of God's will toward us for the purpose of awakening and strengthening our faith. For this reason they require faith, and they are rightly used when they are received in faith and for the purpose of strengthening faith."
—Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (The Augsburg Confession of Faith: 2, XIII, 1-2). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
"The genuine sacraments, therefore, are Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and absolution (which is the sacrament of penitence), for these rites have the commandment of God and the promise of grace, which is the heart of the New Testament. When we are baptized, when we eat the Lord's body, when we are absolved, our hearts should firmly believe that God really forgives us for Christ’s sake. Through the Word and the rite God simultaneously moves the heart to believe and take hold of faith, as Paul says (Rom. 10:17), 'Faith comes from what is heard.' As the Word enters through the ears to strike the heart, so the rite itself enters through the eyes to move the heart. The Word and the rite have the same effect, as Augustine said so well when he called the sacrament 'the visible Word,' for the rite is received by the eyes and is a sort of picture of the Word, signifying the same thing as the Word. Therefore both have the same effect."
—Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Apology of the Augsburg Confession: 1, VII, 4-5). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
More information
The relationship between the sacraments and the spoken word of God | PDF help
The sacrament of baptism
The sacrament of the Lord's Supper
† The means of grace
Other teachings on the sacraments
A Reformed view of the sacraments ("Seeing the forgiveness of God: The sacraments from John Calvin's perspective")
Four views of the sacraments
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
About this site
Dawning Realm proclaims the good news of the kingdom as confessed at Caesarea Philippi, Nicaea, and Augsburg.
† This cross symbol, when appearing to the left of a topic, designates a category in Theology of the Cross, a directory of Lutheran articles.
Last modified:
January 16, 2016 9:25 AM
Author information. David Bickel confesses the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Augsburg Confession, and the other documents of the Book of Concord because they faithfully summarize the sacred writings of the prophets and apostles. As a layman, he lacks the call needed to publicly teach in the church. | professional web page
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Scripture translations. Copyright information
Wash away your sins
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling
on his name.
Acts 22:16 (ESV)
An objective promise
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:1-11 (ESV)
