问题43：什么是圣礼或礼仪？
答：神所赐下、并由基督设立的圣礼或礼仪，即洗礼和主的晚餐，是可见的标志和印记，表明我们通过祂的死和复活而联合成为一个信仰的团体。通过我们使用这些圣礼，圣灵更充分地向我们宣告并印证了福音的应许。
儿童版：洗礼和主的晚餐。

Question 43: What Are the Sacraments or Ordinances?
Answer: The sacraments or ordinances given by God and instituted by Christ, namely baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are visible signs and seals that we are bound together as a community of faith by his death and resurrection. By our use of them the Holy Spirit more fully declares and seals the promises of the gospel to us.
For Kids: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.


歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《罗马书》6 章4 节和《路加福音》22章19-20节：

　　所以我们藉着洗礼归入死，和祂一同埋葬，原是叫我们一举一动有新生的样式，像基督藉着父的荣耀从死里复活一样。

　　又拿起饼来，祝谢了，就擘开，递给他们，说：「这是我的身体，为你们舍的，你们也应当如此行，为的是记念我。」饭后也照样拿起杯来，说：「这杯是用我血所立的新约，是为你们流出来的。」

注解

查尔斯·西缅

　　我认为洗礼和圣餐若被恰当地用于指定的用途，其价值是无可估量的；但若将其用于其不具备的功用，认为其包含和传递了人的救恩，那就是亵渎了……让我们来学习如何使用神的礼仪：我们应该为它们而感恩，应该尊重它们，应当在其中仰望神，并期盼借着它们领受神的恩典与平安。我们要尊重它们，但不要将其偶像化；我们要使用它们，但不能将其作为终极目标。任何人都不应仅仅因为参加了某种礼仪就以为自己变好了。

默想

提摩太·凯勒

　　圣礼分为两种：一次性的洗礼与经常性的圣餐，我们称呼这两者为圣礼，因为这是主耶稣基督吩咐我们去行的。我们称呼它们圣礼，是因为神借着圣礼这种特殊的方式来施恩与赐福。它们并不只是个人的私人经验。我们是在主里，是某个群体的成员，而洗礼与圣餐显明了我们属于这个群体，盟约的群体，一群属于耶稣的人。这就是为什么圣礼好像是界碑一样。《威斯敏斯特信条》写道：「又在属教会的人与世界其余的人之间设立一可见的区分。」

　　它们既是表征也是保证。我们称之为表征是因为它们象征了救恩的祝福：罪得赦免、领受圣灵、与耶稣基督同在并交通的能力。但这些不只是表征，也是保证。这意味着它们带给我们祝福，向我们保证（救恩），激发我们的信心，而我们的信心也接受这些祝福。

　　圣经中有些地方，比如《哥林多前书》10 章、《彼得前书》3 章，经文似乎在说圣礼的确蒙受了救恩的祝福。但其实是圣礼激发了我们的信心，而我们对主耶稣的信心才是真实接受祝福并拯救我们的。所以J.I. 巴刻写道：「传讲福音使福音能被听见，而圣礼使福音能被看见，神用这两种方式激发信心。」因此，圣礼的功能是作为恩典的途径。俗话说：「眼见为凭。」

祷告

　　赐福音的主，祢已经给了我们能看、能感受、能尝的恩典的记号。求祢帮助我们按照祢的命令遵守它们。愿它们将我们的眼目从自己身上转向祢救赎的工作。不要让我们以任何方式高举这些记号，以致我们不能专注于它们所指向的救主。阿们。

Scripture

ROMANS 6:4 AND LUKE 22:19–20

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.

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Commentary

CHARLES SIMEON

So say I of baptism and of the Lord’s Supper: “In their proper and appointed use they cannot be too highly valued: but, if abused to purposes for which they were not given, and looked to as contain- ing in themselves, and conveying of themselves, salvation to man, they are desecrated.” . . . Let us learn, then, from hence, how to use God’s ordinances—We should be thankful for them: we should honour them: we should look to God in them, and expect from God through them the communications of his grace and peace. They are to be reverenced, but not idolized; to be used as means, but not rested in as an end. No one is to imagine himself the better, merely because he has attended on any ordinances.

Devotional

TIMOTHY KELLER

There are two sacraments or ordinances. There’s baptism, which is once for all. And there’s the Lord’s Supper, which is ongoing and regular. We call both of them ordinances because Jesus Christ commands us to do them. But we call them sacraments because through them God’s blessing and grace come to us in unique ways. They are not just personal, individual experiences. We are members of a community, and baptism and the Lord’s Supper show that we belong to that community, the covenant community, the people who belong to Jesus. And that’s the reason why these are actually like boundary markers. The Westminster Confession says they “put a visible difference between those that belong to the church and the rest of the world.”

They are both signs and seals. We call them signs because they symbolize the blessings of salvation, forgiveness for sins, reception of the Holy Spirit, and the ability to commune with Jesus Christ in his presence. But they’re not only signs; they’re also seals. That means they actually bring these blessings to us. They assure us and stir up our faith, and it’s our faith that receives those blessings.

Some places in the Bible, such as 1 Corinthians 10 and 1 Peter 3, seem to say that it’s the sacraments that actually receive the blessings of salvation. But the sacraments stir up our faith, and our faith is what actually receives the blessings and what saves us. So J. I. Packer puts it like this: “As the preaching of the Word makes the gospel audible, so the sacraments make it visible, and God stirs up faith by both means.” Sacraments, therefore, function as a means of grace on the principle that, literally, seeing leads to believing.

Prayer

Giver of the Gospel, you have given us signs of your grace that can be seen, felt, and tasted. Help us to observe them according to your commands. May they turn our eyes away from ourselves and onto your saving work. Keep us from exalting the signs in any way that distracts us from the Savior to which they point. Amen.