THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

The Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper

BAPTIST BELIEFS IN COMMON WITH EVANGELICALS (Methodists, Nazarenes, Evangelical Lutherans, etc.)

VII. BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lords Supper.

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Mat 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mk 1:9-11; 14:22-26 Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23 Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7 Rom 6:3-5; 1Co 10:16, 21; 11:23-29; Col 2:12

In agreement with other evangelicals, Baptists believe that Jesus ordained Christians to observe 2 ordinances (things He has ordained): the Lord's Supper and Baptism. Because these are ORDINANCES, only the ORDAINED are to administer them. A licensed minister is not qualified, nor is any lay person. Only the ordained are permitted to administer them.

Both ordinances highlight the death of Jesus.

According to 1 Cor. 11:23-25 what do the bread and wine represent in the Lord's Supper?

According to 1 Cor. 11:25 how long are we to partake of the Lord's Supper?

According to Rom. 6:3-4 what does baptism represent?

The bread and the juice in the Lord's Supper represent His body which was broken for us and His blood which was shed for us on the cross. Baptism represents the former life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus AND the believer. When the believer stands up in the water, he represents Jesus alive. When he goes down into the water, he represents the death and burial of Jesus. When he emerges from the water, he represents Jesus rising from the death. (In the same way this action shows the death, burial, and resurrection of the believer, not only physically but also spiritually.) Not only does baptism literally mean "immersion," immersion is the only form of baptism which can portray the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Our Catholic brothers believe though that when the priest blesses the bread and the wine, the bread literally becomes the body of Christ, while the wine literally becomes the blood of Christ. Grace is in the body and in the blood. Although it still tastes like bread, it is the body of Christ. Although it tastes like wine, it is nevertheless the blood of Christ. How can this be? Aristotle (one of the major influences on Roman Catholicism) believed that each substance had 2 parts to it—its essence and its accidents. Its essence is what it truly is no matter what it looks and tastes like. Its accidents are its texture, taste, looks, etc. When the priest blesses the bread and wine, their accidents remain the same, that is, they look and taste like bread and wine; however, their essence changes. They are in essence Christ's body and Christ's blood. Each time we partake of the mass then, Christ is sacrificed again. He is sacrificed every time the mass is offered.

One problem with this is that Hebrews clearly says that Christ's sacrifice was a once-for-all event (Heb. 10:10, 12, 14, 18). As hard as they try to explain away this element in Christ's sacrifice, the mass seems to contradict this principle.

Another problem with this is that Catholicism is based to a large degree upon Aristotle. Rejecting Plato's philosophy which stated that this "world" was unreal but that the world of ideas was the real world, Aristotle pointed to the world around us and said that this is all there is to reality. As a result, in Aristotle's philosophy God was always a part of our "world." Since God is a part of this world, it is easy to see how He could become a part of something in the world—bread and wine. We believe, though, that God transcends this world. He became a part of it only by the miracle of the Incarnation. Although you cannot prove or disprove what the Catholics teach about the mass, it seems to contradict the very nature of God and the nature of Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice.

Although we do not have time to look at each denomination's view of baptism, we would like to look at 2. First, the Methodists use baptism as a form of baby dedication. The parents in dedicating their children to the Lord are in effect dedicating themselves to bring their children up in the faith. Although this is a commendable act, it does not do full justice to the NT idea of baptism (the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the believer).

On the other hand, Presbyterians believe that when they baptize their children, that they are committing to bring them up in the new covenant just like Jews circumcising meant that their children would be brought up in the old covenant. Whereas this may seem thoughtful and commendable, it still does not do justice to the NT view of baptism, a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and the believer. (Infant baptism was so intricately woven into the fabric of the church that it was hard for the Reformers to break away from it. Baptists though believe that they are honoring the NT belief of baptism after conversion, not before. Not once do we find any instance in the NT of infant baptism. Every baptism in the NT occurs only AFTER a person has professed faith in Christ.

Is the Lord's Supper All that Important?

The Lord's Supper is a ________________ act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

The operative word here is "symbolic." If something is just a symbol, is it really all that important? Well, it depends upon what it is symbolizing. For example, the Stars and Stripes is just a flag, a symbol. So is it really all that important? Apparently so, because soldiers are always anxious to plant it in the ground they've just conquered (the Marine statue of planting of the flag on Iwo Jima portrays this attitude). Men have died for this flag, this symbol. Even now, you are suppose to burn a flag if it has touched the ground because it has been desecrated.

Unfortunately, many do not carry that same attitude towards the symbol of the Lord's Supper and baptism. Again, according to 1 Cor. 11:23-25 what do the bread and wine represent in the Lord's Supper?

Some in Paul's church at Corinth had a cavalier attitude towards the Lord's Supper. By being flippant towards the symbol, they are actually being flippant to the reality it represents. What had happened to some of them because of this flippant attitude towards the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:29-30)?

On the basis of the 1 Cor. 11 passage, I think we should take the Lord's Supper [and baptism] seriously indeed.