Final answer:
Saint Augustine believed that God transmitted grace and the promise of salvation through the sacraments, these being vital acts for Christians to connect with divine grace. Baptism and the Eucharist were especially significant, embedding the idea that grace is a divine gift rather than something earned by human effort.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Saint Augustine, God transmitted through the sacraments His grace and the promise of salvation. For Augustine, an early Christian theologian and philosopher, the sacraments were outward signs instituted by Christ to impart grace to the faithful. Through these rituals, believers would be connected to the divine mysteries of Christianity. For instance, in the sacrament of Baptism, which Augustine deemed necessary to purge original sin, believers would be reborn into the Christian faith and cleansed of their original sin. Augustine also emphasized the significance of the Eucharist, where the bread and wine, through the rite of transubstantiation, literally become the body and blood of Christ, serving as a source of spiritual sustenance for the faithful.
Moreover, Augustine argued against heretical teachings such as Pelagianism and Manicheism, affirming that salvation and grace could not be attained through human effort alone, but were gifts freely bestowed by God. His theology on sacraments was vital in reinforcing the role of the Church and the significance of these rites, as they were seen as necessary for salvation and the continual renewal of faith throughout one's life—from birth to death—marked by sacraments like confirmation, marriage, the last rites, and penance.