What is the difference between “received” and “confirmed”?
September 1, 2008
Q: What is the difference between being “received” and being “confirmed”. I was confirmed when Bishop Bena last visited All Saints. Thank you.
A: Holy Confirmation is one the minor Sacraments (called “minor” or “lesser” because it was not one of the two dominical—meaning “of Our Lord”—Sacraments commanded by Christ, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion). According to the Second Office of Instruction, page 292 of the Book of Common Prayer), a Sacrament is…
. . . an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive this grace, and a pledge to assure us thereof.
The word “sacrament” derives from an ancient Latin term that implies a blood oath—underscoring our New Covenant with God by His Son, given force by the Blood of the Lamb.
The outward sign of Holy Confirmation is the laying on of hands by a bishop. The inward and spiritual grace is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and echoes the words of Zechariah, “…not by might,nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” Holy Confirmation then, is, indeed, the renewal of baptismal vows–where we first are endowed with God’s Grace to new life in Him, but it takes us to a higher spiritual performance level—putting us “in the zone” for God’s grace to make us more than simply the sum of our parts in Him. In An Outline of an Anglican Life, the late Rev. Louis Tarsitano says this about Holy Confirmation:
The Holy Ghost does the work in [Holy] Confirmation, through the Son and his Body the Church, by the commandment of the Father. In this Sacrament, we are definitely asking God to do something for us, and so the bishop prays over each person to be confirmed: “Defend, O Lord, this thy Child with thy heavenly grace; that he may continue thine for ever; and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom. Amen.”
This special grace of our Father positions us in spiritual security, with the promise of growth in the Holy Ghost daily, until we enter His Kingdom—His absolute Lordship and authority, both here in this life and when we are with Him in Heaven. In short, it is prayer for a life of victory and peace in Him!
Christians who have been confirmed in another church with apostolic succession have already experienced valid confirmation, so they have no need to be confirmed again. The bishop lays hands on them to admit them, as confirmands, into the communion of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) and our parish, All Saints Anglican Church.
You and others who were confirmed by Bishop Bena renewed your baptismal vows and received the empowerment, baptism, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, much in the same way St. Paul imparted the Holy Ghost to first century-Christians, as documented in Acts 19. The people who were admitted by laying on of hands had already received this grace of the Holy Spirit and were welcomed into CANA and All Saints in the time-honored, spiritual manner of the ancient Church Militant.
Great question!
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