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assumed, Acts 2:41; 16:14,15,30,33; I Cor. 11:23-32; and (4) from the fact that many were
actually saved without the use of the sacraments. Think of the believers before the time of
Abraham and of the penitent thief on the cross
E. THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT SACRAMENTS COMPARED.
1. THEIR ESSENTIAL UNITY.
Rome claims that there is an essential difference between the
sacraments of the Old, and those of the New Testament. It holds that, like the entire ritual of
the old covenant, its sacraments also were merely typical. The sanctification wrought by them
was not internal, but merely legal, and prefigured the grace which was to be conferred on man
in the future, in virtue of the passion of Christ. This does not mean that no internal grace
accompanied their use at all, but merely that this was not effected by the sacraments as such,
as it is in the new dispensation. They had no objective efficacy, did not sanctify the recipient ex
opere operato, but only ex opere operantis, that is, because of the faith and charity with which
he received them. Because the full realization of the grace typified by those sacraments
depended on the coming of Christ. the Old Testament saints were shut up in the Limbus Patrum
until Christ led them out. As a matter of fact, however, there is no essential difference between
the sacraments of the Old, and those of the New Testament. This is proved by the following
considerations: (a) in I Cor. 10:1-4 Paul ascribes to the Old Testament Church that which is
essential in the New Testament sacraments; (b) in Rom. 4:11 he speaks of the circumcision of
Abraham as a seal of the righteousness of faith; and (c) in view of the fact that they represent
the same spiritual realities, the names of the sacraments of both dispensations are used
interchangeably; circumcision and passover are ascribed to the New Testament Church. I Cor.
5:7: Col. 2:11, and baptism and the Lord’s Supper to the Church of the Old Testament, I Cor.
10:1-4.
2. THEIR FORMAL DIFFERENCES.
Notwithstanding the essential unity of the Sacraments of both
dispensations, there are certain points of difference. (a) Among Israel the sacraments had a
national aspect in addition to their spiritual significance as signs and seals of the covenant of
grace. (b) Alongside of the sacraments Israel had many other symbolical rites, such as offerings
and purifications, which in the main agreed with their sacraments, while the New Testament
sacraments stand absolutely alone. (c) The Old Testament sacraments pointed forward to Christ
and were the seals of a grace that still had to be merited while those of the New Testament
point back to Christ and His completed sacrifice of redemption. (d) In harmony with the whole
Old Testament dispensation, a smaller measure of divine grace accompanied the use of the Old
Testament sacraments than is now obtained through the faithful reception of those of the New
Testament.