Baptism. Many Christians think that baptism is a secondary issue. In a way it is and in a way it is not. When considering baptism as an issue of orthodox, it is undoubtedly a secondary issue! When considering if baptism is an important mark of authentic faith and repentance for a believer, the answer is absolutely no, it is a primary issue! As we affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, we also there-by affirm believers baptism by immersion. Throughout the Scriptures, baptism is performed by immersing believers in water (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11). Three things must be stated about believers baptism:
1. Baptism is an act of obedience symbolizing the believers faith in a crucified, buried, and risen savior (BFM 2000). The first step after becoming a Christian is to be obedient in believers baptism. Baptism symbolizes faith in King Jesus as he was crucified, buried, and risen.
2. Baptism points to us to our death to sin, burial of the old life in sin, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Not only does baptism point to our faith in Jesus but it points to our newness of life as we die to self and our old life. Baptism point us forward. It points to our hope. It points in the direction of New Creation living. We no longer are slaves to sin but we have been crucified with Christ and risen out of the waters of baptism to live as he did through progressive sanctification by the God the Holy Spirit.
3. Baptism is an act of faith for the believer in the final resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:22-49). The resurrection of Jesus was the first fruits of what is to come, the resurrection of our glorified bodies when he comes again in triumph. Baptism symbolizes our faith in this final resurrection as our hope in the complete annihilation of sin and death when Jesus Christ returns to usher in the New Heavens and New Earth.
The Lord’s Supper. Let us note here that there are many teachings of The Lord’s Supper (i.e., open, close, and closed). We will not be discussing these issues here but will be discussing an overview of the Lord’s Supper.
NOTE: being a church ordinance, baptism 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 (BFM 2000).
1. The Lord’s Supper is done in obedience of Christ’s command to the church to partake in it as often as you meet together. It is crucial that we partake in it for the remembrance of what was done for us in the spilling of blood and the destruction of the body for our sin.
2. The Lord’s Supper also points us forward to the coming of our King as we await the final banquet feast. We take the Lord’s Supper not in sadness but in great joy knowing that we have a Redeemer who fights for us.
January 20, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Just curious, what is the definition of a church ordinance?
February 1, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Isn’t the Lord’s supper an ordinance too? Why would you not let a believer who has not been baptized take the Lord’s supper? Had the disciples been baptized when the Lord first instituted the Lord’s supper? Does the BFM say you should be baptized before being allowed?
Lots of questions, fun little blog fellas.
February 1, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Matt, yes the BFM 2000 states that both the Lord’s Supper and Baptism are church ordinances. It states, “Being a church ordinance [baptism], is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.”
Baptist churches who hold to BFM hold that before you can take the Lord’s Supper you must be 1) baptized and 2) become a church member (in that order). For a baptist church, you must be baptized by immersion to be a member, therefor you must have done both before joining the ‘congregational banquet feast’ of the ‘Lord’s Supper.’ There are different view points within the Baptist world on open, close, and closed as well.
Also, as a baptist I would say that the LS is in fact a ‘church ordinance’ and because I understand the church to have begun at Pentecost (and after the Lord instituted the LS), I would say that the issue of the disciples being not baptized does not held relevance to the church under the new covenant.
February 2, 2010 at 12:11 pm
I guess since they are both church ordinances, you would say that Baptism is a primary ordinance and Lord’s Supper is secondary? That’s the only way I can figure you would be able to make baptism a pre-req. But why is membership a pre-req for the Lord’s supper if it is not an ordinance? Seems silly to withhold the Lord’s Supper (an ordinace from our Lord) from someone b/c of they haven’t met your set of extra-bibllical requirements. I say extra-biblical because I no where see church membership, in the sense in which we are using it, in the NT. That is not to say it is bad, on the contrary I think it is a great thing, but it is more pragmatic then scriptural. We are born into the body of Christ when we believe and are indwelt by God’s Spirit. Being members of the body of Christ is not something we decide as ministers of the gospel, church membership is. I’m saying that membership to the body of Christ is the pre-req for the Lord’s supper. For Christ himself set forward the bread as his body and the wine as the blood of the new covenant, how do we enter into those two realities, is it through baptism and church membership or through faith in Christ?
February 2, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I would say yes, the LS is through faith and repentance as well as baptism and church membership. I believe this is consistent with Scripture and Baptist church history. What we are discussing now is the difference between open, close, and closed communion.
For further reading on this check out… Nathan Finn’s article on “Baptism as Pre-Req to the LS”
http://www.baptisttheology.org/documents/BaptismasPrerequisteforSupper.pdf
Granted, I might have a minority view as far as church membership and baptism before LS, but my understanding of baptist history is that we have placed a high emphasis on the ‘believer’s’ church and have done so through church membership and baptism. Baptism identifies yourself with Christ, membership places you within a local body securely by pastors/elders/congregation, and only then are we allowed at the banquet feast.
Scriptural support: Matt. 28:18-20: Christ’s order… make disciples, baptize, and then teach them to obey. Acts 2:41-41 shows this order even more distinctly. These verses also seem to indicate that participation in the Lord’s Supper is included among those aspects of the Christian life that follow after regeneration and baptism. Col 2:11-13 Paul places our natural response to regeneration on baptism and shows that all people must be baptized to be incorporated into the New Testament church.
Closely related to this argument is the question of whether or not the practice of open communion genuinely represents the spiritual reality of union with Christ?
Good discussion!
February 5, 2010 at 12:49 am
By saying that baptism is a pre-req for church membership and Lord’s supper, are you saying this is concrete? Is there any give in this statement? What if you are a believer visiting another church, can you partake of the LS then? If we truly are the body of Christ, shouldn’t we accept all believers to the table?
February 5, 2010 at 2:18 am
Amanda, that’s a good question! I would have to confess that I sway more to it being non-concrete. A startling, albeit fantastic statistic over the last 2000 years of church history that we have records for is that not until the last 20-30 years have churches started changing the order of the ordinances. Every single church that we know of practiced the ordinances by baptism, membership (though not an ordinance) and then the LS.
Also, I would say yes it is fine to take the LS if you are a believer and visiting a church ONLY if you are a member of another church. If you are visiting another church and are not currently a member I would say 1) get baptized by immersion if you haven’t already; 2) join a church; and 3) begin to join with your local gathering in the taking of the table. One might disagree, but I hold membership in very a high regard because it marks you out as a member of a local congregation, which in turn points to your place at the table with your brothers and sisters in Christ.