Do Protestants Teach Sacramentalism?

OldStudent said:

While there is place for preaching, teaching, reading, and intellectual persuits - these inform us but do not save us. All are saved through the love, grace, and work of the Christ - THE One anointed, appointed, Redeemer. We must hear of our dire and broken state, of God's love for us, of His desire that we recover His design for us. "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness" 1 John 1:9. The change in us is so drastic Jesus calls it being born again (John 3:1-21. "...for there is none other name under heaven [Jesus] given among men, whereby we must be saved" Acts 4:12. Tools of technology may have a place - a starting place - but they can't do the deed. I think you understand that. I hope it is useful to hear a Protestant lay it out.

I am a lifelong Protestant so I do not have a cultural understanding or feel of what is meant by "sacrimentalim." The dictionary indicates that in "sacrimentalism" participation in or attending certain ceremonies (sacriments) are paths through which grace flows and is carried into the soul of a person. Without the sacriments God's grace and hence His salvation cannot reach us. This seems also the sense I have gleaned from the Catechisms I have read.

Jesus does indicate that there are a couple of ceremonies we are expected to participate in - baptism (by immersion) and the "Lord's Supper" (including the service of footwashing). But these do not bring grace, they are responses to His grace. Baptism is part of "being born again." It signifies, makes visible, and makes a historical marker of our entry into a covenant relationship with God where He has cleared the past history of our sin - Jesus died for our sins. It signifies that we submit ourselves to Him that He live in us and through us. He knows that we need to refresh that covenant so through the footwashing we refresh the cleansing of baptism and by the bread and wine refresh our understanding of the cost of our sin to Jesus.

So as I understand it, in sacrimentalism the sacriments are "works" of grace bringing salvation where Protestants are more likely to hold that the "sacriments" are RESPONSES to grace - the work is already done and we make living acknowldegement.

I have not looked into the use of artifacts present in a few of the records of healing. I am unaware of any teaching that sanctifies any amulets or holy artifacts to hold in themselves power to heal or otherwise convey God's power. There is at least one OT story (of the brass serpernt - Numbers 21, 2 Kings 18:4) that provides warning about what happens with artifacts associated with a healing event.

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CryptoLutheran said:

Those of us in the Lutheran tradition preach a very strict salvation by grace alone through faith alone (that whole Protestant Reformation thing and all), but however still understand the Sacraments as being God's means of Grace.

For us, Baptism is not our response to grace, nor is it a work we do for God, it is instead God's gift to us, apart from our works. Baptism is therefore grace, not works; it is gospel, not law. We contribute nothing in Baptism, God contributes everything, including the very faith through which we are justified before God and clothed with the righteousness of Christ by His all-sufficient work on the Cross. It's all Him, none of it is us.

-CryptoLutheran

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Baqueinfaith said:

Crypto stop making me like you.

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