Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

2. THE INWARD SPIRITUAL GRACE SIGNIFIED AND SEALED. Signs and seals presuppose
something that is signified and sealed and which is usually called the materia interna of
the sacrament. This is variously indicated in Scripture as the covenant of grace, Gen.
9:12,13; 17:11, the righteousness of faith, Rom. 4:11, the forgiveness of sins, Mark 1:4;
Matt. 26:28, faith and conversion, Mark 1:4; 16:16, communion with Christ in His death
and resurrection, Rom. 6:3, and so on. Briefly stated, it may be said to consist in Christ
and all His spiritual riches. The Roman Catholics find in it the sanctifying grace which
is added to human nature, enabling man to do good works and to rise to the height of
the visio Dei (the vision of God). The sacraments signify, not merely a general truth, but
a promise given unto us and accepted by us, and serve to strengthen our faith with
respect to the realization of that promise, Gen. 17:1-14; Ex. 12:13; Rom. 4:11-13. They
visibly represent, and deepen our consciousness of, the spiritual blessings of the
covenant, of the washing away of our sins, and of our participation of the life that is in
Christ, Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:4,5; I Cor. 10:2,3,16,17; Rom. 2:28,29; 6:3,4; Gal. 3:27. As signs
and seals they are means of grace, that is, means of strengthening the inward grace that
is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit.
3. THE SACRAMENTAL UNION BETWEEN THE SIGN AND THAT WHICH IS SIGNIFIED. This is
usually called the forma sacramenti (forma here meaning essence), because it is exactly the
relation between the sign and the thing signified that constitutes the essence of the
sacrament. According to the Reformed view this is: (a) not physical, as the Roman
Catholics claim, as if the thing signified were inherent in the sign, and the reception of
the materia externa necessarily carried with it a participation in the materia interna; (b) nor
local, as the Lutherans represent it, as if the sign and the thing signified were present in
the same space, so that both believers and unbelievers receive the full sacrament when
they receive the sign; (c) but spiritual, or as Turretin expresses it, relative and moral, so
that, where the sacrament is received in faith, the grace of God accompanies it.
According to this view the external sign becomes a means employed by the Holy Spirit
in the communication of divine grace. The close connection between the sign and the
thing signified explains the use of what is generally called “sacramental language,” in
which the sign is put for the thing signified or vice versa, Gen. 17:10; Acts 22:16; I Cor.
5:7.
D. THE NECESSITY OF THE SACRAMENTS.
Roman Catholics hold that baptism is absolutely necessary for all unto salvation,
and that the sacrament of penance is equally necessary for those who have committed
mortal sins after baptism; but that confirmation, the eucharist, and extreme unction are
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