Sacramental Union - Words of Institution

Words of Institution

Lutherans believe that the words spoken by Jesus Christ at his Last Supper, the Words of Institution, bring about the sacramental union then and at all times whenever the Christian eucharist is celebrated according to his mandate and institution.

Thus it is not our word or speaking but the command and ordinance of Christ that, from the beginning of the first Communion until the end of the world, make the bread the body and the wine the blood that are daily distributed through our ministry and office. Again, "Here, too, if I were to say over all the bread there is, 'This is the body of Christ,' nothing would happen, but when we follow his institution and command in the Lord’s Supper and say, 'This is my body,' then it is his body, not because of our speaking or of our efficacious word, but because of his command in which he has told us so to speak and to do and has attached his own command and deed to our speaking."

Read more about this topic:  Sacramental Union

Famous quotes containing the words words of, words and/or institution:

    Your blasphemy, Salman, can’t be forgiven.... To set your words against the Words of God.
    Salman Rushdie (b. 1948)

    Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.
    Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)

    The most socially subversive institution of our time is the one-parent family.
    Paul Johnson (b. 1928)