Herman Bavinck (1854–1921), was a Dutch Calvinist theologian, regarded by many as one of the greatest Reformed theologians in history. His seminal masterpiece, the four-volume Reformed Dogmatics, has become perhaps the most well-respected summary and explanation of what exactly ‘Reformed Theology’ is and believes. To discover what the truly ‘Reformed’ position is on any given matter, Bavinck is perhaps second only to the Reformed Confessions themselves. What follows is a summary of his overview, found in the fourth volume of Reformed Dogmatics, of the Reformed understanding of how the Eucharist is involved in our salvation, which lines up perfectly with my recent videos on the matter.

“Reformed theology described the sacraments as visible, holy signs and seals instituted by God so that he might make believers understand more clearly and reassure them of the promises and benefits of the covenant of grace” (Vol. 4, p473).

–        As we shall see more clearly below, for Bavinck, this is the only ‘grace’ imparted by the Sacraments: assurance. By confirming God’s promises in a tangible way, they simply give us assurance of the benefits wrought by our faith.

“Sacraments… are not inherently necessary… [God’s] word and promise, being those of a true God, are firm and sure enough not to need the confirmation of the sacraments. Nor are they absolutely necessary for salvation, for Scripture binds salvation only to faith… It is not the deprivation of but the contempt for the sacrament that makes a person guilty before God” (Vol. 4, p489).

–        For Bavinck, Sacraments are not hoops that must be jumped through to attain salvation, or vital medicines that must be received in order to be saved, rather, they are gifts God gives us so that we might be comforted in the greater assurance of our salvation.

“Nevertheless, the sacraments have great value… God instituted the sacraments in order that by seeing those signs we might gain a better insight into his benefits, receive a stronger confirmation of his promises, and thus be supported and strengthened in our faith. The sacraments do not work faith but reinforce it… They do not infuse a physical grace but confer the whole Christ, whom believers already possess by the Word” (Vol. 4, p489).

–        Again, the Sacraments merely tangibly confirm for us what is already true: that we are saved by our trust in God’s promises. The grace of the Sacraments is the same grace that Scripture imparts: proclaiming God’s promises. They do however ‘confer the whole Christ,’ in that, because in the Sacraments God makes us a promise, and makes himself known in that promise, if we apprehend that promise by faith, the Sacraments become an instrument by which those benefits are delivered to us and we become united with God.

“The communion with Christ, which is strengthened in the Supper, is nothing other than that which is brought about by the Word as a means of grace. The sacrament does not add any grace to that which is offered in the Word. It only strengthens and confirms that which has been received by faith from the Word… The communion confirmed in the Supper is not, nor can be, any other than that generated by the Word. In exactly the same manner in which a person is incorporated by faith into Christ, that person is also strengthened and confirmed in that communion by the Lord’s Supper. There simply is no other or higher communion. Those who believe become Christ’s possession in body and soul; and those who receive the Lord’s Supper in faith are confirmed in and reassured of that reality. The sacrament does not supply any other grace” (Vol. 4, p577)… “The sacrament does not add a single new grace to the Word… it only bestows the same grace in another manner in order that we may firmly believe and be healed of all doubt” (Vol.4, p579).

–        Here we come to the heart of the matter. For Bavinck, the Eucharist does not impart a peculiar or unique grace to us which is different to that which is imparted by the Word and is necessary for salvation. The Eucharist’s purpose, effect, and grace is simply that it declares God’s promises to us. In the Eucharist our Lord says to us ‘this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,’ and thus, by trusting in that promise we apprehend, appropriate, and receive its benefits: the forgiveness of our sins and incorporation into the Covenant of Grace. However, the Holy Scriptures do this exact thing as well, for they too deliver God’s promises to us. The only difference between the Eucharist and the Word, therefore, is that the Eucharist is more tangible, and thus serves to confirm the invisible reality of God’s grace better. The Eucharist is therefore salvific in the exact same way that Scripture is: by being an instrument through which God declares his saving grace. Scripture and the Sacraments are both provisional means of grace, while our faith is the receptive means. Scripture and the Sacraments make an offer, and by faith we receive it.

“Believers already enjoy this communion [with Christ] by faith, and in the Supper they receive no other communion than that which they already enjoy by faith” (Vol. 4, p578).

–        By our Spirit-empowered faith, believers are mystically united to Christ and spiritually feed on his flesh and drink his blood to their salvation. This communion and spiritual feeding occurs by faith, with or without the Eucharist, however, the Eucharist confirms this invisible reality for us and helps us to trust in it. This idea that believers constantly feed on Christ by faith is what we find in the writings of Thomas Cranmer and the rubrics 1662 Book of Common Prayer’s Communion of the Sick service, and in the Second Helvetic Confession: “And this eating of the flesh and drinking of the blood of the Lord is so necessary for salvation that without it no man can be saved. But this spiritual eating and drinking also occurs apart from the Supper of the Lord, and as often and wherever a man believes in Christ. To which that sentence of St. Augustine’s perhaps applies: ‘Why do you provide for your teeth and your stomach? Believe, and you have eaten’” (Ch. XIX).

“This Spirit of Christ does indeed use the Supper to strengthen believers in the hope of eternal life… it not only brings an undoubted assurance of eternal life to our minds, but also assures us of the immortality of our flesh… in this sense the Lord’s Supper may be called ‘the medicine of immortality’” (Vol.4, 580).

–        How then is the Eucharist the ‘medicine of immortality,’ as St Ignatius of Antioch famously and groundbreakingly called it? Not because it is an elixir that imparts a special, unique, or peculiar grace that is necessary for our salvation. Not because it imparts a grace which the Word cannot impart. Not because it enables us to feed on Christ and drink his blood, for this reality occurs perpetually by faith, even without the Eucharist. Not because it applies Christ’s sacrifice to us, because we already receive the benefits of his passion by faith. Rather, the Eucharist is linked with our immortality simply because it delivers the promise of our immortality, to be received by faith, just like Scripture does. However, the Eucharist is a more tangible means of delivering that promise. The Scriptures which also deliver God’s promise have a general audience, and were written thousands of years ago, whereas the Eucharist brings the same promise of Scripture into the present day and declares them to us directly. In the Eucharist, the promises made by the Word are digested into our bodies in the present, and are thus made more tangible, which serves to give us assurance. This is the grace of the Eucharist according to Bavinck. If Scripture is God’s letter to us, then the Sacraments, including the Eucharist, are his official stamp and seal by which we may trust in the truth of his letter. By delivering to us God’s promise, the Eucharist also becomes salvific in that it is a means by which God extends his grace towards us, which is then taken hold of and appropriated by our Spirit-empowered faith.

All quotations are taken from the 2008 Baker Academic edition of Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, edited by John Bolt and translated by John Vriend.