A Voice from the Past - Calvin

(I was not able to come up with a readily available quote by Ratramnus, so I offer a quote by a similar author on one of his subjects.)

For what is a sacrament received without faith, but most certain destruction of the Church? For, seeing that nothing is to be expected beyond the promise, and the promise no less denounces wrath to the unbeliever than offers grace to the believer, it is an error to suppose that anything more is conferred by the sacraments than is offered by the word of God, and obtained by true faith.

John Calvin, 1509-1564, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, Chapter XIV, 14 (translated by Henry Beveridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975, Vol. 2, p. 501)

Is faith the basis for the validity of the sacraments? What are the implications if this is so?