Ordinances and Sacraments

- By David E. Moss

The difference between sacraments and ordinances is not mere semantics. The difference is theology.
Sacraments belong to the theology that believes man must participate in a process of salvation. Through sacraments, God is appeased by human efforts. In response, He dispenses a portion of His grace for each duty performed. Unfortunately, in this theology, no one portion of God’s grace is sufficient to assure the recipient of his eternal destiny. One must accumulate as much grace as he can in hopes of having enough.
Ordinances belong to the theology that believes man is saved by faith alone, and that saving faith is based upon what God did for him in Christ. No work needs to be done by man to obtain God’s favor. No work can be done by man to obtain God’s favor. God accepts man’s faith in place of the works of righteousness which he cannot perform on his own. In response to man’s faith in Christ alone, He grants an abundance of grace, sufficient to save and sufficient to keep for all eternity.
The lesson in this is not just that a person should be careful about the selection of his words. There is a greater concern. One must be careful about what he believes. Baptism and Communion cannot be both sacrament and ordinance at the same time. Only one can be true. The other must be false. Either man earns the grace of God, or it is purely a gift.