Often at night I will awaken with a thought strongly on my mind. If I
don't get up and put that thought into writing, I may lose it forever.
Tonight that strong thought was about the Two Ordinances Jesus Christ
left for all His church: Baptism and Communion.
Christ Left His Church Two Ordinances: Baptism And Communion ~ Which is most important? Can we honor one and ignore the other? I often think of the two Ordinances Jesus Christ gave us as being likened to God's attributes of Love and Justice. Can we accept God's perfect Love, but ignore His perfect Justice? We know that cannot happen.
Is your church fellowship giving equal importance to the Two Ordinances? Baptism, where we follow Him in symbolic death and resurrection as we declare our eternal commitment to Him as members of His family ~ AND ~ Communion, which we do to remember His sacrifice on the cross when He suffered and died to offer eternal life and salvation to all who will follow Him.
Baptism and Communion are separate from grace and are not a means to it. The rituals of the church, any church, do not confer grace - and they cannot merit salvation. It would be more correct to say the two ordinances are signs of grace - but not means of grace.
Baptism is not a means of grace - we are not saved through Baptism. It is the "outward expression of an inner change." It is an act of obedience AFTER salvation has occurred. The examples of water baptism in Scripture all show that baptism happened AFTER the person was born again. An example is found with Philip and the eunuch in Acts 8:26-39. Being immersed in water cannot change a person’s heart; that is the Holy Spirit’s work. We are saved by "faith in the heart, not water on the skin."
Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is not a means of grace. We are not saved through Communion. It is a remembrance that Jesus Christ loves us so much - that He willingly lay down His life on the cross to purchase our forgiveness. At the Last Supper, when our Lord shared the Passover with the disciples, He said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Jesus was telling them (and us) not to forget His sacrificial death on the cross, for us. His death made possible our salvation.
So, which is more important - Baptism or Communion? Can we really place one above the other. We cannot, no more that we can accept God's Love, but ignore His Justice.
When should we be Baptized? As soon as possible after believing and receiving Him as Lord and Savior. If we die before being baptized, do we lose our salvation? No, just as the thief on the cross was saved, we, too, after receiving Christ in our hearts are saved, eternally saved.
When should we celebrate Communion? Since we participate in the Lord’s Supper in Remembrance of Him and His Redemptive Work on the cross - it would seem that we should do this fairly often. Since becoming a believer in 1987, I have been in different Filipino-American Baptist churches in Southern California - and typically we have always celebrated the Lord's Supper once a month, as part of our regular worship service.
At the end of our regular worship service once a month we will close that service by having the elders, or other spiritually mature members, pass the elements (unleavened wafers and grape juice) to the congregation. As this is being done our pastor will review and share Scripture relating to the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), and then we all participate together, by eating the wafer symbolizing His body and then drinking the grape juice symbolizing His blood shed for us.
Our pastor will explain that the Lord's Supper is a time for all believers to do a spiritual examination of himself or herself, that it is a time to for all believers to renew our focus on Christ, our Christian walk, and our Christian obedience. Then our pastor will remind those present in our worship service that day that the Lord's Supper is only for those who have believed and received Him as Lord and Savior.
So, how often does YOUR church fellowship "Do this in remembrance of Him"? Daily, weekly, monthly, once a year, once every three years, never? My personal feelings are that it should be done frequently enough to stay in faith with His teaching - yet not be so frequent that it becomes a ritual and loses its flavor. Taking Communion every day or every week, for me, would bring it into the realm of being a ritual.
Christ Left His Church Two Ordinances: Baptism And Communion ~ Which is most important? Can we honor one and ignore the other? I often think of the two Ordinances Jesus Christ gave us as being likened to God's attributes of Love and Justice. Can we accept God's perfect Love, but ignore His perfect Justice? We know that cannot happen.
Is your church fellowship giving equal importance to the Two Ordinances? Baptism, where we follow Him in symbolic death and resurrection as we declare our eternal commitment to Him as members of His family ~ AND ~ Communion, which we do to remember His sacrifice on the cross when He suffered and died to offer eternal life and salvation to all who will follow Him.
Baptism and Communion are separate from grace and are not a means to it. The rituals of the church, any church, do not confer grace - and they cannot merit salvation. It would be more correct to say the two ordinances are signs of grace - but not means of grace.
Baptism is not a means of grace - we are not saved through Baptism. It is the "outward expression of an inner change." It is an act of obedience AFTER salvation has occurred. The examples of water baptism in Scripture all show that baptism happened AFTER the person was born again. An example is found with Philip and the eunuch in Acts 8:26-39. Being immersed in water cannot change a person’s heart; that is the Holy Spirit’s work. We are saved by "faith in the heart, not water on the skin."
Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is not a means of grace. We are not saved through Communion. It is a remembrance that Jesus Christ loves us so much - that He willingly lay down His life on the cross to purchase our forgiveness. At the Last Supper, when our Lord shared the Passover with the disciples, He said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Jesus was telling them (and us) not to forget His sacrificial death on the cross, for us. His death made possible our salvation.
So, which is more important - Baptism or Communion? Can we really place one above the other. We cannot, no more that we can accept God's Love, but ignore His Justice.
When should we be Baptized? As soon as possible after believing and receiving Him as Lord and Savior. If we die before being baptized, do we lose our salvation? No, just as the thief on the cross was saved, we, too, after receiving Christ in our hearts are saved, eternally saved.
When should we celebrate Communion? Since we participate in the Lord’s Supper in Remembrance of Him and His Redemptive Work on the cross - it would seem that we should do this fairly often. Since becoming a believer in 1987, I have been in different Filipino-American Baptist churches in Southern California - and typically we have always celebrated the Lord's Supper once a month, as part of our regular worship service.
At the end of our regular worship service once a month we will close that service by having the elders, or other spiritually mature members, pass the elements (unleavened wafers and grape juice) to the congregation. As this is being done our pastor will review and share Scripture relating to the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), and then we all participate together, by eating the wafer symbolizing His body and then drinking the grape juice symbolizing His blood shed for us.
Our pastor will explain that the Lord's Supper is a time for all believers to do a spiritual examination of himself or herself, that it is a time to for all believers to renew our focus on Christ, our Christian walk, and our Christian obedience. Then our pastor will remind those present in our worship service that day that the Lord's Supper is only for those who have believed and received Him as Lord and Savior.
1 Corinthians 11:23-24, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' ~ All believers then together take the wafer symbolizing His body broken for us.
1 Corinthians 11:25-26, "In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes." ~ All believers then together drink of the grape juice symbolizing His blood spilled for us.
So, how often does YOUR church fellowship "Do this in remembrance of Him"? Daily, weekly, monthly, once a year, once every three years, never? My personal feelings are that it should be done frequently enough to stay in faith with His teaching - yet not be so frequent that it becomes a ritual and loses its flavor. Taking Communion every day or every week, for me, would bring it into the realm of being a ritual.
Yet can a church which only partakes of the Lord's Supper
only every six months, or once a year, or once every
several years - truly be blessed by God?
It would seem to me that a church which seldom celebrates Communion is placing no real value on His declaration, "do this in remembrance of Me."
Again it is my personal view and belief, but I believe that the Lord's Supper should be celebrated on a monthly basis in every church - and that ALL believers present that day, local members and visitors, should participate. Food for thought? I pray this has given you sincere Christian food for thought.
While there are churches which teach that only members of that local church fellowship can partake of the celebration - I personally believe that when our Lord told us in Luke 22:19, "do this in remembrance of Me" - He was speaking to ALL believers, not just a local fellowship. I pray that you will give thought to the reason Jesus Christ left us the Two Ordinances and the value He places on each.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
It would seem to me that a church which seldom celebrates Communion is placing no real value on His declaration, "do this in remembrance of Me."
Again it is my personal view and belief, but I believe that the Lord's Supper should be celebrated on a monthly basis in every church - and that ALL believers present that day, local members and visitors, should participate. Food for thought? I pray this has given you sincere Christian food for thought.
While there are churches which teach that only members of that local church fellowship can partake of the celebration - I personally believe that when our Lord told us in Luke 22:19, "do this in remembrance of Me" - He was speaking to ALL believers, not just a local fellowship. I pray that you will give thought to the reason Jesus Christ left us the Two Ordinances and the value He places on each.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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