The Holy Spirit communicates the life-giving benefits of Christ's natural body to us. Calvin maintains that it is the Holy Spirit who descends but not alone. Calvin maintains that the sacrament's effect is more than a mere stimulation of the intellect, imagination, and emotions at the sight of the portrayal of the spectacle of the Cross. It is this and more. Faith or belief receives Christ and the promises, but eating implies more.
Eating is the result or consequence of faith.
The spiritual transaction which occurs possesses the nature of nourishment or vivication. Calvin derives his doctrine of the Supper from the accounts of the eucharistic institution in the Gospels as well as from the Pauline words of institution. He acknowledges that this passage does not have primary reference to the eucharist as some interpreters have understood it. However, he also recognizes that the passage here refers to the life-giving properties with which Christ's body is imbued. But further than this he cannot go.