Last Sunday we participated of the Lord’s Supper. It was a time not only to remember the sacrifice of our Savior on the cross at Calvary, but also it was a time to renew our commitment to serve and be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ. As every month’s first Sunday, we came last Sunday to partake of the bread and wine and in doing so, to be partakers of one of the means of grace that has been provided for our spiritual nourishment.
This is a very solemn act that every believer needs to be aware of. To participate without the proper attitude, is to minimize the high price our Lord had to pay for our redemption. But how sweet it is to partake from the elements with a deep joy and gratitude, when we properly understand what it means for our redeemed souls.
Throughout the history of the church, believers of every social conditions have been gathering in caves, fields, houses, in order to observe what our Lord has commanded us. Our Baptist predecessors knew the importance of this ordinance and they made every effort to participate of this sacrament in the proper way. The Baptist Confession of Faith 1689, says the following in paragraph 3:
“In this ordinance the Lord Jesus has directed his ministers to pray, and to bless the elements of bread and wine, and in this way to set them apart from a common to a holy use. They are to take and break the bread, then to take the cup, and to give both to the participants, they themselves at the same time participating in the communion”.
Two ordinary elements our Lord chose for representing His flesh and blood. It is important to mention here that there is no magical transformation of these elements such as the Roman catholic Church claims. There is no transformation into the “literal” flesh and blood of Jesus. That is why as Baptists, we reject the Roman Catholic dogma known as “Transubstantiation”. The Baptist Confession of Faith says in this regard in paragraph 6:
“The doctrine commonly called transubstantiation which maintains that in the supper the substance of bread and wine is changed into the substance of Christ’s body and blood through consecration by a priest or in any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason. Furthermore, It overthrows the nature of the ordinance, and has been, and it is, the cause of all kinds of superstition and gross idolatries”.
Every time we participate of this elements we are proclaiming not only his death, but also we are looking forward to his second coming. Also, every time we approach to the table, we do so with a reverent disposition of examine ourselves in order to participate worthily of the bread and wine. Again, the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith says:
“All persons who participate at the Lord’s table unworthily, sin against the body and blood of the Lord, and their eating and drinking brings them under divine judgment. It follows, therefore, that all ignorant and ungodly persons, being unfit to enjoy fellowship with Christ, are similarly unworthy to be communicants at the Lord’s Table; and while they remain as they are, they cannot rightly be admitted to partake of Christ holy ordinance, for thereby great sin against Christ would be committed”.
Daviel D’Paz
This is a very solemn act that every believer needs to be aware of. To participate without the proper attitude, is to minimize the high price our Lord had to pay for our redemption. But how sweet it is to partake from the elements with a deep joy and gratitude, when we properly understand what it means for our redeemed souls.
Throughout the history of the church, believers of every social conditions have been gathering in caves, fields, houses, in order to observe what our Lord has commanded us. Our Baptist predecessors knew the importance of this ordinance and they made every effort to participate of this sacrament in the proper way. The Baptist Confession of Faith 1689, says the following in paragraph 3:
“In this ordinance the Lord Jesus has directed his ministers to pray, and to bless the elements of bread and wine, and in this way to set them apart from a common to a holy use. They are to take and break the bread, then to take the cup, and to give both to the participants, they themselves at the same time participating in the communion”.
Two ordinary elements our Lord chose for representing His flesh and blood. It is important to mention here that there is no magical transformation of these elements such as the Roman catholic Church claims. There is no transformation into the “literal” flesh and blood of Jesus. That is why as Baptists, we reject the Roman Catholic dogma known as “Transubstantiation”. The Baptist Confession of Faith says in this regard in paragraph 6:
“The doctrine commonly called transubstantiation which maintains that in the supper the substance of bread and wine is changed into the substance of Christ’s body and blood through consecration by a priest or in any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason. Furthermore, It overthrows the nature of the ordinance, and has been, and it is, the cause of all kinds of superstition and gross idolatries”.
Every time we participate of this elements we are proclaiming not only his death, but also we are looking forward to his second coming. Also, every time we approach to the table, we do so with a reverent disposition of examine ourselves in order to participate worthily of the bread and wine. Again, the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith says:
“All persons who participate at the Lord’s table unworthily, sin against the body and blood of the Lord, and their eating and drinking brings them under divine judgment. It follows, therefore, that all ignorant and ungodly persons, being unfit to enjoy fellowship with Christ, are similarly unworthy to be communicants at the Lord’s Table; and while they remain as they are, they cannot rightly be admitted to partake of Christ holy ordinance, for thereby great sin against Christ would be committed”.
Daviel D’Paz
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