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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: water, but a divine, heavenly, holy, and blessed water, and in whatever
other terms we can praise it, -- all on account of the Word, which is a
heavenly, holy Word, that no one can sufficiently extol, for it has,
and is able to do, all that God is and can do [since it has all the
virtue and power of God comprised in it]. Hence also it derives its
essence as a Sacrament, as St. Augustine also taught: Aocedat verbum ad
elementum et fit sacramentum. That is, when the Word is joined to the
element or natural substance, it becomes a Sacrament, that is, a holy
and divine matter and sign.
Therefore we always teach that the Sacraments and all external things
which God ordains and institutes should not be regarded according to
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