Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Cor 5:17 (ESV)


The Baptist Faith & Message 2000

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 Lord's 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.

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 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; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.
********************************************************************************

Ordinance - a decree or command

Baptists believe the Church has two ordinances - baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Other denominations view these acts as sacraments. The word sacrament implies that the act itself conveys grace to the believer.  Baptists believe that Christ gave baptism and the Lord's Supper to His church not as sacraments but as pictures and affirmations of grace.

Baptize - Submerge, plunge or immerse

Baptism pictures the dealth, burial and resurrection of Christ, providing a beautiful picture of our salvation and reminding us of His saving work (Romans 6:4).

Baptism uniquely pictures Paul's description of a believer as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Being dead to self and alive to Christ is nowhere more perfectly pictured that in the ordinace of baptism, when the believer symbolically dies and is them raised to life in the newness of Christ's grace and His call to obedience.

Scripture reserves baptism for persons who a conscience believers in Christ.

The Lord's Supper, instituted by Christ Himself, points back to the Last Supper, which Christ shared with His disciples just before His crucifixion. The bread, Christ said symbolizes His body, broken for believers.  The fruit of the vine, Jesus said, represents His blood.

The scriptural command that believers examine their lives before participating in the Lord's Supper alerts believers to be on guard against persistent personal sin.

When the local church celebrates the Lord's Supper, we proclaim the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ even as we anticipate His return, when the church will celebrate the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7).

from The Baptist Faith and Message 


_____
Soli Deo Gloria
ah