Have you heard of “sacraments”? You generally hear them discussed in the context of Roman Catholicism although other religious groups sometimes use the term. Richard Muller, in his Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms, defines “sacraments” as “a holy rite that is both a sign and a means of grace. …a visible sign of an invisible grace. …Properly and strictly sacraments must have three characteristics: (1) they must be commanded by God, (2) they must have visible or sensible elements prescribed by God, and (3) they must apply and seal by grace the promise of the gospel.” Muller recognizes, in contrast to most religious groups who like the term, that there are only two “sacraments” that meet this definition – baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Suffice it to say that the word “sacrament” is not found in the New Testament. The Latin word (sacramentum) was used to translate the Greek word for “mystery.” That word (mysterion) is used in the New Testament 27 times. It’s very first use is instructive. In the parables found in Matthew 13, Jesus says: “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted” (13:11).
In the first use of mysterion outside of the Gospel accounts, Romans 11:25, we have a similar idea. Paul states: “I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery.” At the end of Romans, 16:25-26, Paul writes: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.”
There are still some mysteries, like what the future body will be like in the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:51). But largely speaking, the “mystery” (sacramentum) was hidden in the Old Testament times but revealed in Christ in the New Testament age: “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him” (Eph. 1:9). To put it succinctly, the mystery is that Christ might dwell in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).
We understand, then, that neither baptism nor the Lord’s Supper are called sacramentum in the New Testament. Relative to the characteristics mentioned by Muller, both baptism (Mark 16:15-16) and the Lord’s Supper (Mark 14:22-25) are indeed commanded by God. Both have visible elements prescribed by Christ: water for baptism and the unleavened bread and fruit from the vine in the case of the Lord’s Supper.
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But the great problem comes in the third characteristic: that they “must apply and seal by grace the promise of the gospel.” There is no promise of such grace attached to the Lord’s Supper. We are to take the Lord’s Supper “in remembrance of” Him (Luke 22:19). We have fellowship with Christ, in His body and blood, when we take the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 10:16). Through sharing the Communion each Lord’s Day, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). Clearly, the Lord’s Supper does not fit either the definition or the characteristic of a “sacrament.”
Relative to baptism and its seal by grace of the promise of the gospel… Going through the motions of immersion does not do any good. For those religious groups who immerse babies, baptism has no New Testament authority. The grace only comes when one obeys Jesus Christ. “Baptism does now save us,” Peter clearly teaches in 1 Peter 3:21. But it’s not the water itself, Peter continues, that does the cleansing. It is affected by the conscience being clean as it responds in faithful obedience to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is clear that the word “sacrament” (even in the Latin) does not apply to what some religionists say it applies to. Plus, even with the two “sacraments” supposedly found in the Word of God, neither meets the characteristics of so-called “sacraments.”
The denominational term, therefore, has no authority or basis in the New Testament and Christians should not use the term.
