[[Biblical Theology]] / Faith and Sacraments > [!note] New - 2026-03-26 ![[assets/covers/faith-and-sacraments.jpg]] The efficacy of sacraments is not automatic; the [[Book of Common Prayer]] ties sacramental benefits directly to personal faith. This raises a fundamental question for Christian practice: whether faith precedes the sacrament, follows from it, or operates wholly independent of subjective conviction. ## Sacramental Benefits and Personal Faith The New Testament describes baptism’s benefits in multiple ways: the forgiveness of sins, the coming of the Holy Spirit, being united to Christ, and being received into the church. Yet the Book of Common Prayer closely ties baptism and its benefits to personal faith, creating an interpretive tension between sacramental efficacy as objective transaction and as something requiring active reception.[^bray-common-prayer-p67] James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, articulated this tension with precision. In his analysis, baptism confers the promises of grace as a sealed gift on God’s part, but the believer receives the benefit only through understanding what God has given and laying hold of it by faith: ‘All the promises of grace were in my baptism given to me as an estate, and sealed to me on God’s part, but then I come to have their profit and benefit when I come to understand the gift that God has sealed to me in baptism, and actually lay hold of it by faith.’[^bray-common-prayer-p71] The sacrament deposits grace; faith activates it. ## Right Reception and Personal Appropriation The practice of [[Infant Baptism|infant baptism]] complicates this doctrine. Article 27 asserts that sacramental benefits are assured only for those who ‘receive baptism rightly’, yet infants cannot exercise personal faith at the moment of their baptism. Some traditions resolve this by teaching that sacraments confer grace automatically by the fact of their being performed, yet Scripture presents union with Christ as connected to personal faith as much as to sacramental action.[^bray-common-prayer-p68] The Book of Common Prayer’s approach is to defer the personal appropriation of baptism to the catechetical process and confirmation. Before receiving communion, a person must be [[Sacramental Preparation|instructed in the faith]]. [[Confirmation]] binds together two components: instruction in the Christian faith and a public profession of it. Here, knowledge functions not as incidental but as integral to the sacramental life; the person must understand what they have received in baptism before they can properly receive the eucharist.[^bray-common-prayer-p71] ## Selected passages > ‘But what the prayer book does do is **closely** **tie** **baptism** **and** **its** **benefits** **to** **personal** **faith.**’ > > *How to Use the Book of Common Prayer: A Guide to the Anglican Liturgy*, p. 64 ([[data/bray-common-prayer/source-images/p64.jpg|🖼️]]) > ‘**But** **this** **benefit** **is** **assured** **only** **for** **those** **who** **”receive** **•** **baptism** **rightly”** (Article 27, p. 639).’ > > *How to Use the Book of Common Prayer: A Guide to the Anglican Liturgy*, p. 68 ([[data/bray-common-prayer/source-images/p68.jpg|🖼️]]) ## Appearances - *How to Use the Book of Common Prayer: A Guide to the Anglican Liturgy*, Samuel L. Bray and Drew Nathaniel Keane - BAPTISM, pp. 64–68 - BETWEEN THE SACRAMENTS: THE CHRISTIAN ABCS, p. 71 ## Related [[Baptism]] . [[Sacramental Theology]] . [[Christian Formation]] . [[Catechetical Instruction]] . [[Confirmation]] . [[Eucharist]] . [[Faith and Trust]] . [[Justification by Faith]] . [[Grace and Works]] . [[Union with Christ]] [^bray-common-prayer-p67]: [[How to Use the Book of Common Prayer: A Guide to the Anglican Liturgy]], p. 67 ([[data/bray-common-prayer/source-images/p67.jpg|🖼️]]) . ‘in the Bible means “new birth” (John 3:5; Titus 3:5). **And** **the** **New** **Testament** **describes** **the** **benefit** **of** **baptism** **in** **several** **different** **ways—** **the** **forgiveness** **of** **sins** **(Acts** **22:16),** **the** **coming** **of** **the** **Holy** […]’ [^bray-common-prayer-p71]: Ibid., p. 71 ([[data/bray-common-prayer/source-images/p71.jpg|🖼️]]) . ‘+ The Ascent Continues: Baptism and Confirmation + **In** **the** **Book** **of** **Common** **Prayer,** **the** **answer** **is** **yes.** **Before** **-** **receiving** **the** **sacrament** **of** **communion,** **a** **person** **needs** **to** **be** **instructed** **in** **the** **faith.**’ [^bray-common-prayer-p68]: Ibid., p. 68 ([[data/bray-common-prayer/source-images/p68.jpg|🖼️]]) . ‘+ How to Use the Book of Common Prayer + **Other** **churches** **will** **say** **that** **baptism** **confers** **this** **bene** **automatically,** **”by** **the** **very** **fact** **of** **the** **action’s** **bei** **performed.”S** Yet just as many Scriptures say we are unite to Christ in […]’