* * * * *
WHY THE LORD'S SUPPER HAS POWER TO CONFER SUCH BENEFITS.
THE EATING AND THE DRINKING, INDEED, DO NOT PRODUCE SUCH GREAT EFFECTS.
For bread and wine have no power in themselves to bestow spiritual
blessings.
BUT THE WORDS WHICH STAND HERE, "GIVEN AND SHED FOR YOU, FOR THE
REMISSION OF SINS." It is the Word of God which gives the sacrament its
power. [John 6:63] For Christ has commanded us to use the bread and wine
in this way, and has connected the promise of forgiveness with their
use. Without the Word, there would be nothing but bread and wine. But
Christ fulfils the promise which He has bound up with the BODILY EATING
AND DRINKING, and gives us, with the bread and the wine, His body and
blood which were given and shed for us for the remission of sins.
AND HE WHO BELIEVES THESE WORDS HAS THAT WHICH THEY DECLARE, [Matt.
8:13] NAMELY, THE REMISSION OF SINS. Forgiveness of sins, life, and
salvation are offered to all who partake of this sacrament, but they are
accepted and possessed only by those who believe.
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