Roman Catholicism treats baptism as a medicine; baptism has this intrinsic power to heal, but the Reformers said the sacraments are not medicine, it is means. A sacrament is the outward sign, water, conjoined to the work of the Spirit. It is water plus the Spirit equals the sign of the sacraments. This is precisely why the sacraments are efficacious: because the Spirit works through the signs, and thus seals its reality.
