On the Sacraments.[1]
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances of positive[2]
and sovereign institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus to be continued in His
church to the end of this present evil age (Matt. 28:18-20; Luke 22:14-20; Rom.
6:3-4; 1 Cor. 11:24-26; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:12; 1 Pet. 3:21). For the
protection of the spiritual health and witness of Christ’s church, these holy
ordinances, or sacraments, are to be administered only by those stewards who
have been properly reckoned as qualified and called according to the commission
of Christ[3]
(Matt. 24:45-51; Luke 12:41-44; 1 Cor. 4:1; 1 Tim. 3:5; Titus 1:5-7). The sacraments are to be celebrated by the
church in obedience to Christ, but are not to be regarded in any way as a means
of salvation (Luke 23:39-43).
Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus
Christ as a sign of union with Him in His life, death, and resurrection (Rom.
6:3-5; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12-13), as a sign of remission of sins (Mark 1:4; Acts
2:38; 22:16), and as a sign of the moral purification of our heart and mind wrought through regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 3:21).
Those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit through a
repentant faith in Christ (Col. 2:12), having had their hearts purified and circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands (Col. 2:11, cf. Deut. 30:6; Rom. 2:28-29;
Phil. 3:3; cf. Matt. 13:14-15), are the only proper subjects of baptism[4]
(Matt. 3:1-12; 28:19-20; John 4:1; Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12-13, 36-38; 10:47-48;
16:14-15, 31-34; 18:8; 22:16).
The outward element to be used in Christian baptism is
water. The party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:18-20). Immersion, or the dipping of the person’s entire
body in water,[5] is the
preferred method for the administration of this sacrament[6]
(2 Kgs. 5:14 [cf. LXX]; Psa. 69:2 [cf. LXX]; Isa. 21:4 [cf. LXX]; Matt. 3:11; Mark
1:5-10; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-38; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 10:1-2; Col. 2:12).
The Lord’s Supper was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ on
the same night that He was betrayed and is to be observed in His churches until
His triumphant return at the close of this present evil age (Matt. 26:20-29;
Mark 14:17-25; Luke 22:14-22; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
The outward elements to be utilized in the proper
administration of this ordinance are the same as the Lord Jesus used at His
Last Supper: unleavened bread and wine.[7]
The Lord’s Supper is a sign for the remembrance and showing
forth of the sacrifice of Christ’s atoning death on our behalf. It serves to
confirm and strengthen the faith of those who belong to the new covenant in His
blood. It is a sure reminder of our union with Him and a pledge of our
communion with other members of His new covenant community, the church (1 Cor.
10:16-17).
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of the one offering up of
Himself upon the cross. All notions of transubstantiation, or the ontological
change of the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ,
are to be considered abominable, a great injury and insult to Christ’s own
sacrifice as the once-for-all propitiation for all of the sins of the elect[8]
(John 19:30; Heb. 9:25-28; 10:10-14). The elements are neither to be adored nor
worshipped (this being clearly idolatrous), but are only to be utilized to point
to the redemptive reality that Christ has wrought through His perfect
sacrifice. Further, to receive this sacrament from a priest that proclaims transubstantiation is contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ (cf. Westminster Confession, 29.3-4).
As with baptism, the Lord’s Table is strictly for those who have been
regenerated by the Holy Spirit through a repentant faith in Christ, having already
entered the new covenant through a circumcision made without hands (Col. 2:11,
cf. Deut. 30:6; Rom. 2:28-29; Phil. 3:3), and who also are walking in a manner
worthy to be called a follower of Christ (1 Cor. 11:28-32). The Lord’s Table
tolerates neither unbelievers nor disobedient believers.[9]
It is the solemn responsibility of the one administrating this sacrament to
ensure that the proper warnings are given prior to the breaking of the bread
and giving of the cup.
While there is no saving efficacy in the elements of the
Lord’s Supper, all worthy receivers do, inwardly and by faith through the
ministry of the Holy Spirit, spiritually receive and feed upon Christ crucified
and all the benefits of union with Him. In this, the body and blood of our Lord
Jesus, while not physically present, is spiritually present to the faith of
believers in this sacred ordinance (1 Cor. 10:16-18), providing spiritual nourishment and edification in Him (cf. Westminster Confession, 29.1).
The Lord’s Table should be celebrated each time the church
is gathered together for corporate Sunday worship (Acts 2:42).[10]
The weekly celebration of the Lord’s Table visibly and tangibly expresses the
centrality of the gospel in the life of the church. In the weekly observance of
the Lord’s Table, the Christian community affirms our ongoing need of the
gospel.[11] The Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated in the presence of the assembled congregation; it is not to be administered privately.
[2] Waldron: “A positive ordinance or law is
something in addition to the law of nature. It is something not demanded by
nature. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not a part of the law of nature. They
did not exist in the Old Testament, but came into existence with the New
Covenant…. If they had been part of the law of nature, they would always have
existed. But they did not always exist. Thus they are positive laws” (1689, 339).
[3] Only those with the authority of the
local church ought to administer the sacraments. Ordinarily, that will be the
elders. Cf. Waldron, 1689, 343.
[4] Waldron: “Baptism is a symbol of both the
blessings of the gospel and the saving response to the gospel. It symbolized
repentance and forgiveness. Surely then, the presumption must be that baptism
should be given only to those who repent and are forgiven…. Baptism should be
given to all who are members of the New Covenant, to all the true New Testament
circumcised. But who are they? Those and those only who know the Lord (Jer.
31:34), are spiritually circumcised (Phil. 3:3) and born of God (John 1:12-13),
may claim membership in the New Covenant and a right to its sign. The covenant
people is no longer a physical, but a spiritual nation (Matt. 21:43). Hence
physical bloodlines do not give membership in this nation or permit
participation in its covenant signs” (1689,
350-51).
[5] Waldron: “Baptism literally means to
immerse and figuratively means to overwhelm. Baptism points to our being
completely and spiritually immersed into Christ and overwhelmed by His Spirit.
It points to the spiritual wealth and power we possess in Christ. Nothing less
than immersion or such a pouring as literally overwhelms properly symbolizes
this truth” (1689, 358-59). On the
proper place of administration: “It is not necessary that baptism be performed
in the church. In this way it is unlike the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is an
individual ordinance whereas the Lord’s Supper is a corporate ordinance” (1689, 346).
[6] The Didache
(dated to the late first or early second century) considered the immersion of
believers in cold, running water to be the normal mode of baptism, but did
allow for pouring (and warm water) if circumstances so called for: “But concerning baptism, thus shall ye
baptize.
Having first recited all these things, baptize [in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit] in living (running) water. But if
thou hast not living water, then baptize in other water; and if thou art not
able in cold, then in warm. But if thou hast neither, then pour water on the
head thrice in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
But before the baptism let him that baptizeth and him that is baptized fast,
and any others also who are able; and thou shalt order him that is baptized to
fast a day or two before” (7:1-7, trans.
and ed. by J.B. Lightfoot, http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-lightfoot.html
[Accessed 4 October 2011]).
[7] Due to various religious conventions,
traditions, and customs, many evangelical churches in our time instead utilize
grape juice and/or leavened bread during their celebration of the Lord’s Table.
While I do not believe that either of these most accurately represents the
elements that our Lord used at His Last Supper, I also do not believe this to
be sin.
[8] The 1689 London Confession of Faith
states, “That doctrine…commonly called transubstantiation…is repugnant not to
Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason, overthrow[ing] the nature
of the ordinance and hath been and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea,
of gross idolatries” (30.6).
[9] Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, in New
Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1993), 401.
[10] Bryan Chapell: “Most
historians agree that the common practice of the early church was weekly
Communion…. During the Reformation, concerns about sacerdotalism (the idea that
the mere practice of the sacraments communicates sanctifying grace) led many
Protestants away from ‘ritualistic’ practice of the Lord’s Supper…. The
apparent practice of Scripture, the precedent of the ancient church, and the
appreciation for the ways Christ ministers the gospel to his people through the
Lord’s Supper persuade me of the efficacy of weekly celebration of the Lord’s
Supper – but my enthusiasm is measured. Weekly Communion is my preference, but
I do not consider it a mark of orthodoxy or mandate of Scripture…. Even if we
believe the Bible indicates the practice of the early church was weekly
Communion, we must confess the Bible does not command weekly Communion”
(Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the
Gospel Shape Our Practice [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic], 291-92, emphasis
in original).
[11] John P. Davis, Sr., “Why Do We Celebrate
the Lord’s Table Weekly?” 21 September 2010, http://www.gracechurchphilly.org/blog/2010/09/21/why-we-celebrate-the-lords-table-weekly
(accessed 4 October 2011).
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