What makes a church a real church?
English: Roman Catholic church, Târgovişte, Romania (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
To purely administer the sacraments, a church must do so "as instituted by Christ" (Belgic Confession, Art. 29). This means, first, that it recognizes that there are only the two sacraments—baptism and the Lord's Supper—and that it therefore rejects the five other sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church as false sacraments (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 68). Second, this means that it administers the sacraments without the unbiblical ceremonies and elements that have been added to them over the course of history, such as we find in the Roman Catholic Church.
Baptism is to be administered simply with water, in the name of the triune God, and by an ordained minister (Matt. 28:18–20). Whether one is baptized in a church building or at the beach; whether the baptism is done from a font or in a pool; whether it is performed by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion; and whether the minister sprinkles, pours, or immerses once or three times is all indifferent. The Lord's Supper is purely administered when bread (whether leavened or unleavened) and wine are given to those who profess faith and are members of Christ's church, whether kneeling, sitting, or standing. This is to be done with the recitation of the words of institution (as the example of Paul testifies in 1 Cor. 11:23–26), the breaking of the bread ("… he took bread… he broke it… "), and prayer over the bread and wine ("… when he had given thanks… "). R.C. Sproul