XXXVII.
Those who have become acquainted with the secondary
(i.e., under Christ) constitutions of the apostles,48684868 are aware that
the Lord instituted a new oblation in the new covenant, according to [the
declaration of] Malachi the prophet. For, “from the rising of the
sun even to the setting my name has been glorified among the Gentiles,
and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure
sacrifice;”48694869 as John also declares in the
Apocalypse: “The incense is the prayers of the saints.”48704870 Then again, Paul
exhorts us “to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”48714871 And again, “Let us offer the sacrifice of
praise, that is, the fruit of the lips.”48724872
Now those oblations are not according to the law, the handwriting
of which the Lord took away from the midst by cancelling it;48734873 but they are according to the Spirit, for we
must worship God “in spirit and in truth.”48744874
And therefore the oblation of the Eucharist is not a carnal one,
but a spiritual; and in this respect it is pure. For we make an oblation
to God of the bread and the cup of blessing, giving Him thanks in that He
has commanded the earth to bring forth these fruits for our nourishment.
And then, when we have perfected the oblation, we invoke the Holy Spirit,
that He may exhibit this sacrifice, both the bread the body of Christ,
and the cup the blood of Christ, in order that the receivers of these
antitypes48754875 may obtain remission of
sins and life eternal. Those persons, then, who perform these oblations
in remembrance
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of the Lord, do not fall in with Jewish
views, but, performing the service after a spiritual manner, they shall
be called sons of wisdom.