The belief that the sacraments convey grace is reasonable based on the Bible and historical evidence

I look forward to a fruitful discussion. I will be taking the position that the sacraments are one of the ways God conveys grace to us. To support my claim, I will be appealing to both scripture and the testimony of the early Church. Grace: the free and unearned favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. Grace is also the "stuff" God gives you in order for you to do supernatural acts of love that please Him. We can't do anything without His grace. .. But with His grace, we can do some stuff. I NEVER SAID YOU STOLE MONEY To better illustrate this, I am going to share something I heard Catholic apologist, Patrick Madrid say once: Let's say you are at a garage sale and you come across a 100 year old book. It looks interesting, so you buy it. You take it home and begin to read it, but find it difficult to understand. Now let's say that the author has passed away, but you still have access to his son, who was in the room when the book was written? All things being equal, wouldn't you trust him over someone born 80 years later who didn't know anyone even remotely connected to the author? Especially when trying to interpret the following phrase: I never said you stole money. Now, at first glance, this may seem easy to understand, but there may be more than one way to I interpret it. What if the person who wrote that meant I never said you stole money. .. He said it. Or. .. I never SAID you stole money. .. But I sure thought it. Or. .. I never said YOU stole money. .. I said she stole it. Or. .. I never said you STOLE money. .. I said you borrowed it. Or. .. I never said you stole MONEY. You stole a car. Now take that verse, multiply it by 10,000, and you have the Bible. You have dozens of different books, written by different authors, for different audiences, for different reasons, in different languages, at different times. So you tell me whose interpretations you can count on to be most authentic? Those who knew the authors personally, or someone doing their best, 2,000 years later? Development of doctrine. Now of course, over time, we can understand better some of the implications of a particular teaching. This is something all Christians recognize. The doctrine of the Trinity didn't become crystallized until some 300 years after the death of Christ. The key to determining the difference between development versus departure is this. .. Is the teaching in line with what the original Christians believed? No one expects an elderly man to look like his baby picture. He's much taller and has gray or white hair. You expect to see this. What you don't expect is to see a third eye, or a foot growing from his hip. Development versus departure. THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS 1. Baptism, 2. Confirmation, 3. Eucharist, 4. Penance, 5. Anointing of the Sick, 6. Holy Orders and 7. Matrimony [1] What I am NOT saying: I am not saying the sacraments are the only way God gives us grace. God can give us grace any way He wants. What I am saying is that the sacraments are biblically instituted ways He has decided to convey grace to us. SCRIPTURES THAT SUPPORT THE RESOLUTION: Baptism: "In Acts 2:38, Peter tells us, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. " When Paul was converted, he was told, "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16). Peter also said, "God"s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 3:20"21). Peter says that, as in the time of the flood, when eight people were "saved through water," so for Christians, "[b]aptism . . . now saves you. " It does not do so by the water"s physical action, but through the power of Jesus Christ"s resurrection, through baptism"s spiritual effects and the appeal we make to God to have our consciences cleansed. These verses showing the supernatural grace God bestows through baptism set the context for understanding the New Testament"s statements about receiving new life in the sacrament. " [2] TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH: "Protestant early Church historian J. N. D. Kelly writes, "From the beginning baptism was the universally accepted rite of admission to the Church. . . . As regards its significance, it was always held to convey the remission of sins . . . we descend into the water "dead" and come out again "alive"; we receive a white robe which symbolizes the Spirit . . . the Spirit is God himself dwelling in the believer, and the resulting life is a re-creation. Prior to baptism . . . our heart was the abode of demons . . [but] baptism supplies us with the weapons for our spiritual warfare" (Early Christian Doctrines, 193"4). "The Letter of Barnabas Regarding [baptism], we have the evidence of Scripture that Israel would refuse to accept the washing which confers the remission of sins and would set up a substitution of their own instead [Ps. 1:3"6]. Observe there how he describes both the water and the cross in the same figure. His meaning is, "Blessed are those who go down into the water with their hopes set on the cross. " Here he is saying that after we have stepped down into the water, burdened with sin and defilement, we come up out of it bearing fruit, with reverence in our hearts and the hope of Jesus in our souls" (Letter of Barnabas 11:1"10 [A. D. 74]). Hermas ""I have heard, sir," said I, "from some teacher, that there is no other repentance except that which took place when we went down into the water and obtained the remission of our former sins. " He said to me, "You have heard rightly, for so it is"" (The Shepherd 4:3:1"2 [A. D. 80]). "[3] On the Eucharist: Luke 22:19-20 And when He had taken some bread and 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 in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. John 6:51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. " 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. " [4] TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH "The early Church Fathers interpreted these passages literally. In summarizing the early Fathers" teachings on Christ"s Real Presence, renowned Protestant historian of the early Church J. N. D. Kelly, writes: "Eucharistic teaching, it should be understood at the outset, was in general unquestioningly realist, i. e. , the consecrated bread and wine were taken to be, and were treated and designated as, the Savior"s body and blood" (Early Christian Doctrines, 440). Ignatius of Antioch "I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible" (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A. D. 110]). "Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2"7:1 [A. D. 110]). Justin Martyr "We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i. e. , has received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus" (First Apology 66 [A. D. 151]). " [5] Sources: 1. . http://www.vatican.va... 2. . http://www.catholic.com... 3. . http://www.catholic.com... 4. . http://bible.knowing-jesus.com... 5. . http://www.catholic.com...