A sacrament is a sign instituted by Christ to give grace. Jesus, knowing that human beings are sensory beings, instituted the seven sacraments through things that are tangible to our senses, things that can be grasped by means of our senses, as aids to our comprehension of Jesus’s promise that He would be with us all days, even unto the end of time. We are physical beings and He gives us physical things to indicate His presence with us. The Protestant argues that sacraments are "works" and therefore, since we are saved by faith alone, these cannot give grace. The Protestant argues that signs and rituals are futile and empty gestures. But, Jesus, with His understanding of human nature, knows how people need rituals and signs. These have been part of human activity and human nature from the beginning of humanity. That the Church may have borrowed some things from the pagans of the time of the Roman Empire does not mean the Church became pagan, as some Protestants claim. This was a very clever ploy on the part of the Church (the Holy Spirit) to facilitate the conversion of the pagans into the Church. Even Fundamentalists use ritual when they practice Baptism, even though, to them, it does not give grace. Jesus gave us seven signs and six of these will be discussed here. These defenses of the sacraments as presented here will consist mostly of Scriptural proofs and selected quotes from the Fathers of the Church.

Some Protestants are in agreement with the Catholic teaching regarding this sacrament. Fundamentalists are not. To the Fundamentalist Protestant, one is saved at the moment she or he has accepted Christ as her or his savior. Therefore Baptism is not necessary for salvation. Baptism, to them, is nothing more than an affirmation of this salvation, by the symbolism of this ritual. This understanding of Baptism is contradicted in numerous places throughout Scripture. Here are just a sampling of some verses which prove the Catholic position:

"He who believes AND is baptized will be saved." [Mark 16:16] Belief alone is not enough, Baptism is also necessary for salvation.

"Baptism... now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." [1 Peter 2:21]

"He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs of eternal life." [Titus 3:5-7]

"...[Y]ou were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." [1 Cor. 6:11]

"And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’" [Acts 2:38]

"And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name." [Acts 22:16]

Also numerous verses in Acts tell of people learning of Jesus and then immediately being baptized. [cf. Acts 8:12-13; 36; 10:47; 16:15; 31-33; 18:8; 19:2,5] If accepting Jesus as one’s personal savior is all that is necessary for salvation, then why, in the early Church, is everyone so eager to seek baptism after converting to Jesus?

In order to better understand why Baptism is necessary, one must understand the concept of Original Sin. Recently, when Original Sin was mentioned to a Protestant friend, she asked this surprising question: "What is that?" Here is a sampling of verses supporting this concept:

"[B]ut of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." [Gen. 2:17]

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." [Psalm 51:5]

"Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin." [Romans 5:12]

"Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come." [Romans 5:14]

"For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead." [1 Cor. 15:21]

"Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the Kingdom of God. That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." [1 Corinthians 6:10-11]

The Fathers of the Church taught of Original Sin:

"He stood in need of baptism, or of the descent of the Spirit like a dove; even as He submitted to be born and to be crucified, not because He needed such things, but because of the human race, which from Adam had fallen under the power of death and the guile of the serpent, and each one of which had committed personal transgression. For God, wishing both angels and men, who were endowed with free will, and at their own disposal, to do whatever He had strengthened each to do, made them so, that if they chose the things acceptable to Himself, He would keep them free from death and from punishment; but that if they did evil, He would punish each as He sees fit." [Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho (A.D. 155)]

"And not by the aforesaid things alone has the Lord manifested Himself, but [He has done this] also by means of His passion. For doing away with [the effects of] that disobedience of man which had taken place at the beginning by the occasion of a tree, ‘He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;’ rectifying that disobedience which had occurred by reason of a tree, through that obedience which was [wrought out] upon the tree [of the cross]. Now He would not have come to do away, by means of that same [image], the disobedience which had been incurred towards our Maker if He proclaimed another Father. But inasmuch as it was by these things that we disobeyed God, and did not give credit to His word, so was it also by these same that He brought in obedience and consent as respects His Word; by which things He clearly shows forth God Himself, whom indeed we had offended in the first Adam, when he did not perform His commandment. In the second Adam, however, we are reconciled, being made obedient even unto death. For we were debtors to none other but to Him whose commandment we had transgressed at the beginning." [Irenaeus, Against Heresies (A.D. 180)]

"Through him our forefather Adam was cast out for disobedience, and exchanged a Paradise bringing forth wondrous fruits of its own accord for the ground which brings forth thorns. What then? Some one will say. We have been beguiled and are lost. Is there then no salvation left? We have fallen: Is it not possible to rise again? We have been blinded: May we not recover our sight? We have become crippled: Can we never walk upright? In a word, we are dead: May we not rise again? He that woke Lazarus who was four days dead and already stank, shall He not, O man, much more easily raise you who art alive? He who shed His precious blood for us, shall Himself deliver us from sin." [Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (A.D. 350)]

"In whom" – that is, in Adam – 'all have sinned'. And he said 'in whom,' using the masculine form, when he was speaking of a woman, because the reference was not to a specific individual but to the race. It is clear, therefore, that all have sinned in Adam, en masse as it were; for when he himself was corrupted by sin, all whom he begot were born under sin. On his account, then, all are sinners, because we are all from him. He lost God's favor when he strayed." [Ambrosiaster, Commentaries on thirteen Pauline Epistles, Rom (A.D. 384)]

"After Adam sinned, as I noted before, when the Lord said, 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return', Adam was condemned to death. This condemnation passed on to the whole race. For all sinned, already by their sharing in that nature, as the Apostle says: ‘For through one man sin made its entry, and through sin death, and thus it came down to all men, because all have sinned…’ Someone will say to me: But the sin of Adam deservedly passed on to his posterity, because they were begotten of him: but how are we to be begotten of Christ, so that we can be saved through Him? Do not think of these things in a carnal fashion. You have already seen how we are begotten by Christ our Parent. In these last times Christ took a soul and with it flesh from Mary: this flesh came to prepare salvation." [Pacian, Sermons on Baptism (ante A.D. 392)]

"This grace, however, of Christ, without which neither infants nor adults can be saved, is not rendered for any merits, but is given gratis, on account of which it is also called grace. 'Being justified,' says the apostle, 'freely through His blood.' Whence they, who are not liberated through grace, either because they are not yet able to hear, or because they are unwilling to obey; or again because they did not receive, at the time when they were unable on account of youth to hear, that bath of regeneration, which they might have received and through which they might have been saved, are indeed justly condemned; because they are not without sin, either that which they have derived from their birth, or that which they have added from their own misconduct. 'For all have sinned'– whether in Adam or in themselves –‘and come short of the glory of God.’" [Augustine, On Nature and Grace (A.D. 415)]

To sum up, the Fundamentalist Protestant position on Baptism is this: It has no salvific effect; it does not take away sins; it does not confer the Holy Spirit; it was not instituted by Christ; it was not practiced in the early Church; nor was infant baptism practiced in the Apostolic Church (see Loraine Boettner’s Roman Catholism).

All of these negations can be disproved, as is indicated in some of the above quotes. How can it be claimed that Baptism was not practiced in the early church if Christ admonished the Apostles to "Baptize [all nations] in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" [Matthew 28:19]? Entire households were baptized in the early Church [Acts 16:15, 30-33; 1 Cor. 1:16]. Acts 16:30-33 says, "...’Men, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family." From the beginning, an adult has been required to proclaim his faith in order to be baptized but an infant only needs an adult to proclaim the faith on behalf of the infant. An example of salvation being conferred based upon another’s faith can be found in Matthew 9:2 and Mark 2:3-5 wherein the centurion’s servant is healed based upon the centurion’s faith, not the servant’s.

Reconciliation

Jesus founded this sacrament when He granted to the Apostles the authority to forgive sins. In Matthew 9 Jesus says, "But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins – he then said to the paralytic – ‘Rise.... When the crowds saw it, they...glorified God, who had given such authority to men."

Even in the Old Covenant was this authority granted: "When a man is guilty in any of these [doing evil], he shall confess the sin he has committed, and he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin." [Leviticus 5:5-6]

Protestants site 1 Timothy 2:5 to disprove the sacrament of Reconciliation: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Therefore no priest is necessary for the forgiveness of sins. But given numerous verses contradicting this interpretation, one can only logically conclude that by this verse in 1 Timothy, is meant that Christ, being our one mediator, can exercise His mediation in any way He chooses – and He chooses to use priests in His stead, i.e., something tangible to our senses.

"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation...." [2 Cor. 5:18]

The Sacrament of reconciliation was established with these following powerful verses: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." [Matthew 18:18]. "Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." [John 20:21-23].

The question is, if a priest has the authority to forgive or retain sins, how can he decide whether to forgive or retain unless he hears them with his own ears, as confessed to him? That confession of our sins occurred in the early Church is proven by  an abundance of testimony (again here is a sampling from voluminous testimonies):

"In church confess your sins, and do not come to your prayer with a guilty conscience. Such is the Way of Life...On the Lord's own day, assemble in common to break bread and offer thanks; but first confess your sins, so that your sacrifice may be pure." [Didache (c. A.D. 90)]

"Father, who knows the hearts of all, grant upon this Your servant whom you have chosen for the episcopate to feed Your holy flock and serve as Your high priest, that he may minister blamelessly by night and day, that he may unceasingly behold and appropriate Your countenance and offer to You the gifts of Your holy Church. And that by the high priestly Spirit he may have authority to forgive sins..." [Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition (A.D. 215)]

"In addition to these there is also a seventh, albeit hard and laborious: the remission of sins through penance...when he does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord." [Origen, Homilies on Leviticus (A.D. 248)]

"For although in smaller sins sinners may do penance for a set time, and according to the rules of discipline come to public confession, and by imposition of the hand of the bishop and clergy receive the right of communion: now with their time still unfulfilled, while persecution is still raging, while the peace of the Church itself is not vet restored, they are admitted to communion, and their name is presented; and while the penitence is not yet performed, confession is not yet made, the hands Of the bishop and clergy are not yet laid upon them, the Eucharist is given to them; although it is written, 'Whosoever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.'" [Cyprian, To the Clergy (A.D. 250)]

"It is necessary to confess our sins to those whom the dispensation of God's mysteries is entrusted." [Basil, Rule Briefly Treated, (A.D. 374)]

Is the Catholic who confesses his sins to a priest any better off than the non-Catholic who confesses straight to God? Yes. First, he seeks forgiveness the way Christ intended it to be sought. Second, by confessing to a priest the Catholic learns a lesson in humility, which is conveniently avoided when one confesses only through private prayer – and how we all desire to escape humbling experiences! Third, the Catholic receives sacramental graces the non-Catholic does not get; through the sacrament of penance not only are sins forgiven, but graces are obtained. Fourth, and in some ways the most important, the Catholic is assured that his sins are forgiven; he does not have to rely on a subjective "feeling." Lastly, the Catholic can also obtain sound advice on avoiding sin in the future, while the non-Catholic praying in private remains uninstructed. [Catholicism and Fundamentalism, chapter 15, by Karl Keating]

Does all of this mean that a Catholic’s sins are not forgiven if not confessed? Of course not. A Catholic also can confess sins directly and privately to God and dependent upon the sincerity and sorrow in her or his heart, those sins are forgiven. But none of the advantages listed above are obtained. Also, if a Catholic has this idea that it is alright to go ahead and sin because all that is necessary is to go to confession, then that confession, being insincere, is not forgiven. True sorrow and a sincere conviction of never sinning again are necessary conditions for forgiveness. So, if a priest gives absolution but the person confessing is not sincere, that absolution does not "take." This attitude of confessing one’s sins with the intention of sinning again because all one need do is return to the confessional to rid one of this sin, is bogus.

Confirmation

"Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." [Acts 8:14-17]

"On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them...." [Acts 19:5-6]

"...with instruction about ablutions, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment." [Hebrews 6:2]

Here are some quotes from the early Church regarding the sacrament of Confirmation:

"And about your laughing at me and calling me ‘Christian,’ you know not what you are saying. First, because that which is anointed is sweet and serviceable, and far from contemptible. For what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy, unless it be first caulked [anointed]? Or what castle or house is beautiful and serviceable when it has not been anointed? And what man, when he enters into this life or into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? And what work has either ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and burnished? Then the air and all that is under heaven is in a certain sort anointed by light and spirit; and are you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God." [Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus (A.D. 181)]

"Children of justice, follow John’s exhortation: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ Remove all obstacles and stumbling blocks so that you will be able to go straight along the road to eternal life. Through a sincere faith prepare yourselves so that you may be free to receive the Holy Spirit. My brothers, this is truly a great occasion. Approach it with caution. You are standing in front of God and in the presence of the hosts of angels. The Holy Spirit is about to impress his seal on each of your souls. You are about to be pressed into the service of a great king. And so prepare yourselves to receive the sacrament." [St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (c. 348)]

"Don't you know that the laying on of hands after baptism and then the invocation of the Holy Spirit is a custom of the Churches? Do you demand Scripture proof? You may find it in the Acts of the Apostles. And even if it did not rest on the authority of Scripture the consensus of the whole world in this respect would have the force of a command. For many other observances of the Churches, which are due to tradition, have acquired the authority of the written law, as for instance the practice of dipping the head three times in the layer, and then, after leaving the water, of tasting mingled milk and honey in representation of infancy; and, again, the practices of standing up in worship on the Lord's day, and ceasing from fasting every Pentecost; and there are many other unwritten practices which have won their place through reason and custom. So you see we follow the practice of the Church, although it may be clear that a person was baptized before the Spirit was invoked." [Jerome, Against the Luciferians (A.D. 379)]

"He would likewise be permitting this to the Apostles alone? Were that the case, He would likewise be permitting them alone to baptize, them alone to confer the Holy Spirit...If, then, the power both of Baptism and Confirmation, greater by far, the charism, is passed on to the bishops..." [Pacian, Epistle to Sympronian (A.D. 392)]

"But thou shalt beforehand anoint the person with the holy oil, and afterward baptize him with the water, and in the conclusion shall seal him with the ointment; that the anointing with oil may be the participation of the Holy Spirit, and the water the symbol of the death of Christ, and the ointment the seal of the covenants. But if there be neither oil nor ointment, water is sufficient both for the anointing, and for the seal, and for the confession of Him that is dead, or indeed is dying together with Christ." [Apostolic Constitutions (A.D. 400)]

"Why, therefore, is the Head itself, whence that ointment of unity descended, that is, the spiritual fragrance of brotherly love,– why, I say, is the Head itself exposed to your resistance, while it testifies and declares that ‘repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’? And by this ointment you wish the sacrament of chrism to be understood, which is indeed holy as among the class of visible signs, like baptism itself..." [Augustine, Letters of Petilian the Donatist (A.D. 403)]

Protestants argue that the lack of mention of the sacrament of Confirmation in Scripture is proof that it was a later "invention" of the Church. Again, just because something is not mentioned specifically, does not mean it did not exist. The term for Confirmation in Apostolic times was "the laying on of hands." This of course raises the question of Scripture vs. Tradition, a topic discussed elsewhere in this web site.

Anointing of the Sick

This Sacrament is also known as Extreme Unction and Last Rites. The Scriptural verses supporting the institution of this sacrament are:

"And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them." [Mark 6:13]

"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." [James 5:14-15]

Some Protestants quibble over the use of the plural, "elders" in James 5 saying the Catholic rite is not Scriptural because it usually calls for one priest only. Again we get into a problem with semantics. The scriptural term for "elders" is "presbyteros" which is also translated "priest." The word "sacerdos" also means priest.  A sick person, nonetheless, can call in "priests" or one "priest" during her or his illness. Why make the criteria so difficult? For certainly it would be, if one had to call in multiple priests whenever this sacrament is conferred.

Here are some samples from the Fathers of the Church:

"O God who sanctifies this oil as You do grant unto all who are anointed and receive of it the hallowing wherewith You did anoint kings and priests and prophets, so grant that it may give strength to all that taste of it and health to all that use it." [Hippolytus of Rome, Apostolic Tradition (c. A.D. 215)]

"[The sick] considered a more terrible calamity than disease itself ... [instead of allowing] the hands of the Arians to be laid on the heads." [Athanasius, Encyclical Epistle (A.D. 341)]

"[O]f the sacrament of life, by which Christians [in baptism], priests [in ordination], kings and prophets are made perfect; it illuminates darkness [in confirmation], anoints the sick, and by its secret sacrament restores penitents." [Aphraates the Persian Sage, Treatises (A.D. 345)]

"[this oil]...for good grace and remission of sins, for a medicine of life and salvation, for health and soundness of soul, body, spirit, for perfect strengthening." [Serapion of Thmuis, Anaphora, (A.D. 350)]

"[A] priest is to be called in, who by the prayer of faith and the unction of the holy oil which he imparts will save him who is afflicted [by a serious injury or by sickness]." [Cassiodorus, Complexiones (A.D. 570)]

Holy Orders

The Scriptural basis for the Sacrament of Holy Orders is:

"Do this in remembrance of me." [Luke 22:19] The question is: "Who does "this in remembrance of me"?

"And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit." [John 20:22]

"Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you guardians, to feed the church of the Lord which he obtained with his own blood." [Acts 20:28]"

"These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them." [Acts 6:6]

"Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off." [Acts 13:3]

"Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you." [1 Timothy 4:14]

"Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands...." [2 Timothy 1:6]

"This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you...." [Titus 1:5]

Protestants often use 1 Peter 2:5, 9 as their proof text against the existence of priests in Christ’s Church, as separate from the people. These verses state, "...and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.... But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." These verses indicate that we are all priests, and that is very true; we are of the priesthood of the faithful. But Peter was citing Exodus 19:6 when he wrote, "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." It is clear that during the time of the Exodus, there was a ministerial priesthood. Exodus 19:24 specifically distinguishes between the people and the special class of priests: "And the Lord said to him, ‘Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let the priest and the people break through to come up to the Lord...." So Peter is simply doing what Moses did in Exodus 19:6, referring to the people as a royal priesthood while cognizant of the existence of a special class of priests. These are the ministerial priests, as distinguished from the rest of us, as of the royal priesthood. Ministerial priests are simply functionaries within the Church. Just because a person is a priest does not mean he is better than anyone else. He too is a member of the priesthood of the faithful but it is he who "does this in memory of me."

Granted, the idea of the priesthood was not a strong theme in the New Testament. This is because the earliest Christians were also practicing Jews who still went to the Temple on the Sabbath and who still recognized the Jewish priesthood as their legitimate priesthood, at least until the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. So the earliest "priests" of the Christians were called "elders" and "bishops" ("episcopi"). These elders served the function of presiding over the "Mass" at that time, called "the Breaking of the Bread" and a little later the "Eucharist." As is stated in Justin Martyr’s description of the Breaking of the Bread, the priest here was referred as "he who presides" (cf. the article on the Eucharist in this web site). Therefore what is the answer to the question, "Who does this in remembrance of me?" It is the elders, the presbyters, the bishops, as mentioned often in the New Testament, i.e. the presiders of the services which the early Christians attended on Sundays (after their attendance in the Temple the day before).  This service was known initially as "the breaking of the bread" wherein Jesus’s admonition was fulfilled, as it is still fulfilled to this day.

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.... So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder." [Matthew 19:5-6]

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’" [Mark 10:7-12]

"Wives, be subject to you husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.’ This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." [Ephesians 5:22-33].

"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous." [Hebrews 14:4]

From these verses, it is difficult to see how the argument can be made that this is not a Sacrament – God has joined together husband and wife. In regards to the verse which admonishes wives to be subject to their husbands, it is an overreaction to interpret this to mean that wives exist in servitude to their husbands. The subsequent verses emphasize to what great degree the husband must be in service to his wife, even to giving up his very life for her. No greater love exists than this.

In summarizing the Sacraments, awareness of the Scriptural verses that support the establishment of each Sacrament is best.

Baptism, including the proofs for infant Baptism

John 3:5, Mark 16:16: Baptism is required for entering heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22: In Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive.

Mark 10:14: Let the children come to me; to such belongs the Kingdom.

Luke 18:15: People were bringing even infants to him.

Colossians 2:11-12: Baptism has replaced circumcision.

Matthew 8:5ff: The servant was healed because of the centurion's faith; hence an infant can be healed (of original sin) because of the parents' faith.

Acts 16:15: She was baptized, with all her household.

Acts 16:33: He and all his family were baptized at once.

1 Corinthians 1:16: I baptized the household of Stephanas.

Confirmation

Acts 19:5-6: Paul imposed hands on the baptized who received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:14-17: . . . laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22: . . .put the seal on us and given the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

Ephesians 1:13: You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 6:2: Instruction about Baptisms and the Laying on of Hands.

Confession

Matthew 9:2-8: The Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins.

John 20:23: Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven; whose sins you retain, they are retained.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20: Given the Ministry of Reconciliation.

James 5:13-15: The prayer of the presbyters forgives sins.

James 5:16: Confess you sins to one another.

Matthew 18:18: Whatever you bind or loose on earth, so it is in heaven.

1 John 5:16: There is sin that is not deadly [i.e. venial sin].

Anointing of the Sick

Mark 6:12-13: Anointed with oil many sick and cured them.

James 5:14-15: The presbyters prayed over the sick, anointed them, sins were forgiven.

Holy Orders

Acts 20:28: The Holy Spirit appointed you overseers, to tend the Church.

Luke 22:19: Do this in memory of me. [Who will do this? The priests, i.e. presbyters, of course]

John 20:22: As the Father sent me, I send you. . . Receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 6:6: The Apostles prayed and laid hands on them.

Acts 13:3: They laid hands on them and sent them off.

Acts 14:22: They appointed presbyters to each church.

1 Timothy 4:14: Gift received through the laying on of hands of the presbyterate.

2 Timothy 1:6: The gift of God you have through the imposition of hands.

Titus 1:5: Appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.

Matrimony

Matthew 9:5-6: Leave father and mother, join wife, and the two become one flesh.

Mark 10:7-12: What God joined together, no man separate.

Ephesians 5:22-32: Union of man and wife the image of Christ and the Church.

Hebrews 13:4: Let marriage be honored among all.

[source: Catholic Verse Finder]