Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Notes
Transcript
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.
Memory Verse
Memory Verse
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
What is an Ordinance?
What is an Ordinance?
Ordinance means decree or command.
Jesus assigned, or commanded, 2 ordinances. Baptism and Communion, or the Lord’s Supper.
An Ordinance is NOT a Sacrament. sacrament implies that the act itself conveys grace to the believer.
Baptists believe that Jesus gave these ordinances, not as sacraments that convey grace, but as pictures and affirmations of grace.
Our faithful obedience to the commands of Jesus testify about God’s grace. These ordinances are illustrations and remembrances of grace, and a source of blessing to the believer.
It is not the performance of the ordinance that gives grace, but rather the obedience to Jesus and remembering His acts that give grace.
Baptism
Baptism
Baptism comes from the word Baptizo, which means to fully immerse. Full immersion is always the picture provided when using this specific word, so sprinkling or some partial immersion does not count.
Baptists do understand and accept that not everyone CAN be baptized. The thief on the cross is a prime example of the inability for everyone to be baptized, and yet Jesus said, Luke 23:42-43
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Because of this, we understand that not everyone is physically able to be Baptized. Therefore we are not legalistic in full immersion, we are obedient in full immersion baptism, making every possible attempt to be in complete agreement with the teaching and command of Jesus.
We baptize in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Baptism is a trinitarian act. Our salvation was promised, accomplished, and applied through the word of the One True God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Baptism pictures the death, burial and resurrection of the believer.
Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
Baptism is a symbolic picture of our death to sin, and resurrection to walk in a newness of life given by Jesus.
We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Baptism is one of the pictures of that, as we willing go below the waters, being dead to our self, and alive to Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.
Baptism is also a sign of the covenant entrance into the body of Christ. Baptism is a prerequisite to membership in any Baptist church, as being baptized is a public statement of obedience to Jesus.
“Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.
Baptism is public acknowledgment of Jesus “before others”.
Jesus calls to be our Savior and our Lord. When we cry out for Jesus to be our Savior, He willingly does so; having already paid the debt that we owe. The call of Jesus does not end there. We are called to make Him our Lord. Lord means Master, the one we obey. We take the step of Obedience by walking into those waters publicly and letting all know that we obey Christ alone, as Lord.
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s supper points back to the Last Supper that Jesus shared with His disciples before the Cross. At this meal Jesus explained His atoning death using bread and wine.
The bread symbolized His body, broken believers. This is deeply rooted in OT teachings.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
As well as IS 42, 44, 53.
The wine, the fruit of the vine, represents Jesus blood poured out for us.
According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Blood atonement runs through OT teachings as well.
In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
The Lord’s Supper is not just about taking a meal together. It is a unifying act where we humble ourselves before the Lord and reflect upon our life, and how it is aligning, or needs alignment, to the teachings of Jesus.
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
and unified with Luke 22:19
And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Like Baptism the Lord’s Supper is symbolic.
We do NOT believe the bread and wine literally transform in the the body and blood of Christ.
Fact: this thought process and wording led many to believe that Christians were cannibals and furthered the fire of persecution.