Does the Baptist church have sacraments? Why or why not?
In the Bible Jesus instituted only two observances for the church to do. The first is the Lord's Supper, sometimes called communion. The second is baptism. Saint Augustine (around 500AD) described these two observances as "a visible sign of an invisible reality." This is how Baptists see it too.
But we don’t call them “sacraments” because that term carries the idea that the observance actually confers God’s grace to someone in an almost automatic way.
But God looks on our heart, not our outward rituals. He told one group in the Old Testament, “I wish someone would shut the door to the Temple and stop all the sacrifices” (Malachi 1:10). Why? Because they weren’t really living for Him. They didn’t really believe. They just had the empty rituals left—rituals that God Himself had told them to do! But doing them without faith and obedience in their life was just going through the motions. God is not in to that!
Lord’s Supper is, a reminder of Christ death for us. Jesus said, “…do this in remembrance of Me.” And Paul wrote,
“whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
(1 Corinthians 11:26)
What’s important here is that the Scripture calls it “a reminder.” When I have a “reminder” of something it’s not the real thing itself. A video of my high school graduation isn’t my high school graduation! It’s just a reminder. I don’t re-graduate when I play it (I just realize how old I’m getting). Likewise, Christ isn’t re-crucified during the Lord’s Supper. It’s a reminder of an event never to be repeated, but good for all time.
