Importance of the Sacraments

The sacraments are the way that believers express their relationship with God. For Christians, it is the way in which God bestows divine life, offering the believer to be a child of God. According to the belief or church that is professed like this, more or less sacraments are recognized. In the Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic churches, seven are recognized. In the Anglican Church only two plus the Lord's Supper are accepted; in Lutheranism three and in the Presbyterian church two.

If we see it from the Catholic point of view, the sacraments are: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, the priestly order and the maximum. With baptism, original sin is eliminated and we become children of God. Through the Eucharist we receive the body of Christ and his blood. With confirmation, we express to the entire community our confirmation in the Christian faith. Through penance we confess and repent of the sins we have committed and we submit to a penance imposed by the priest. Through the anointing of the sick we care for our elderly, essential elements of the community.

The priestly order is addressed to the people, in this case men, who want to enter the hierarchy of the church. Finally, the marriageIn the Catholic concept, it is the union of a man and a woman, it makes the two contracting parties become a single body and spirit. It is important to note that these sacraments differ from church to church. An example of this is that the priesthood in the Anglican Church can be exercised by women as well.

While it is true that the sacraments somehow express the need for the union of man and woman with God, one must be aware that ultimately everything is a matter of faith. We have to bear in mind that men have been the ones who have written the supposed word of God and that, somehow, what God wanted to say to Christians and the child of God too, may have been misrepresented, so it also makes it a very important element to accept these writings and by extension, the same sacraments.

What is clear is that any person who professes a religion, accepts a series of precepts, including the sacraments, and lives with them for the rest of his life or for as long as he continues to have that faith.