On page 160 of his book, The Biblical Doctrine of Infant Baptism: Sacrament of the Covenant of Grace (trans. Philip Edgcumbe Hughes; London: James Clarke and Co Ltd., 1959), the French Reformed Presbyterian theologian Pierre CH. Marcel wrote the following about how sacraments/ordinances are the works of God, not man, a common objection raised by Protestants, including those very ignorant of the high view of sacraments held by their theological forefathers:
It is not man who is the principal actor in the sacrament of baptism: it is God and Jesus Christ, acting through the Holy Spirit, in exactly the same manner as in the preaching of the Word. “It must be observed,” affirms Calvin (Comm. On Gal. v. 3) and the Reformed theologians after him, “that the sacraments when rightly understood are not properly works of men, but of God. For both in baptism and the Lord’s supper we do nothing except present ourselves to God in order to receive His grace. Baptism then, as it concerns us, is a passive work, for we bring nothing to it except faith, which seeks everything in Christ and relies entirely on Him.” We may recall also a citation from Calvin which we have already given earlier: “In receiving the sacraments we do not deserve any commendation, and, because this action is passive as regards us, it is not even right to attribute anything at all to ourselves. I call this action passively because God does everything and we only receive” (Instt., IV.xiv.26).
On pp. 43-44, Marcel reproduces quotations from Reformed confessions and catechisms explicating the efficacy of sacraments:
Confession of the Reformed Churches of France, para. 34:
“We believe that the sacraments are added to the Word for its more ample confirmation, so that they may be pledges and seals to us of the grace of God and by this means aid and support our faith because of our infirmity and immaturity; and that they are external signs through which God works by virtue of His Spirit, in order that they should not be empty signs to us; yet we hold that all their substance and truth is in Jesus Christ, and that if they are separated from Him they remain nothing more than a shadow and a vapour.”
Confession of the Netherlands, para. 33:
“We believe that our good God, looking upon our immaturity and infirmity, has ordained sacraments for us, in order that they might seal for us the promises and be pledges to us of the good will and grace of God towards us, and also to nourish and sustain our faith, for He has joined them to the Word of the Gospel, so that all that He causes us to hear by His Word, and which He performs internally in our hearts, may be better represented to our external sense by ratifying to us the redemption which He has communicated to us.”
The Heidelberg Catechism, para. 66:
“The sacraments are visible signs and seals, instituted by God to the end that, by their use, He may cause us to understand better and seal to us the promise of the Gospel, namely, that, because of the one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross, He grants by His grace forgiveness of sins and everlasting life—not only to all believers taken together, but to each one separately.”
Calvin’s Catechism, para. 45:
“A sacrament is an external testimony of the love of God who, by a visible sign, represents spiritual grace to us in order to seal the divine promises more firmly to our hearts, and to make us more certain of them.”
The Catechism of the Church of England:
“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 the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof.”
The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 92:
“A sacrament is an holy ordinance, instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.”
