Chapter 66
Three Gospel Ordinances
"Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them
about three thousand souls. … And they continued steadfastly in the apostles'
doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. … And fear
came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And
all that believed were together, and had all things common; … And sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. … And
they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from
house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, …
Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the
church daily such as should be saved.” -- Acts 2:41-47
In Acts 2 Peter preached the gospel to a great
multitude on the day of Pentecost. He simply told them the wondrous story of
redemption and grace by Christ, and proclaimed the glorious exaltation of
Christ as Lord and King of the universe. He preached with the power of God the
Holy Spirit upon him; and three thousand people were converted by the grace of
God, baptized, and united with the church in one day!
Three things characterized
this early church, three things which were tokens of God’s blessings upon his
people at Jerusalem: Baptism, Church Membership, and the Lord’s Supper. These
are things which should be of great interest and concern to every believer.
They are matters about which every local church needs to be informed and well
established. In this study we will examine what the Word of God has to say
about our responsibilities as believers regarding these ordinances of the
gospel.
We recognize the fact that the church of God is made up of all true
believers in every age. God’s elect are his church. Some are in heaven,
and some are on the earth. Yet, we are all one body in Christ (Matt. 16:18;
Eph. 1:22-23; 3:15-16; 5:25-27; Heb. 12:22-24). We also recognize that the New Testament places great emphasis upon the importance of the local
church (Matt. 18:20; 28:18-20; 1 Tim. 3:15). The great commission was
given to and is carried out by local churches. Local churches support,
maintain, and send out pastors, missionaries, and evangelists to preach the
gospel. Local churches administer the ordinances of Christ. The local church is
a family, a brotherhood, a body of believers united together in Christ (1 Cor.
12:25-27). Every local church should be a miniature of the church universal, a
habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:20-22; 4:1-7).
Our relationship to the
church of Christ is a matter of obedience to Christ himself. The importance of
a believer’s relationship and faithfulness to the local church cannot be
overemphasized. It is a great privilege and blessing to be a part of a true
gospel church. With this great privilege, we assume a great responsibility. Our
relationship with the church of Christ, in great measure, reveals our
relationship to Christ.
Obviously,
I cannot begin to explain all that the Bible teaches about Baptism, Church
Membership, and the Lord’s Supper in a single article. That is not my
intention. I want to simply give you a brief definition of these three things
and encourage you to honor our Lord by faithful obedience to him in these three
areas.
Baptism
Baptism is the believer’s
confession of faith in Christ (Rom. 6:1-11). If we want to
know what the Bible teaches about a specific doctrine, we must go to that place
in the Bible where that doctrine is taught and explained. Romans 6 explains the
meaning of believer’s baptism.
"What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? … God forbid. How shall
we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? … Know ye not, that so many
of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? …
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life. … For if we have been planted together in the likeness of
his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: … Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. … For he that is dead is
freed from sin. … Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with him: … Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more;
death hath no more dominion over him. … For in that he died, he died unto sin once:
but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. … Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord.” -- Romans 6:1-11
What is baptism? Baptism is a symbolic
picture of the gospel (Acts 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21). It is the means by which
believers publicly confess faith in and consecration to the Lord Jesus Christ,
showing symbolically how God has saved us through the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ as our Substitute. By this means, we publicly identify
ourselves with Christ, his gospel, and his people.
Baptism is a publicly avowed
commitment to the glory of Christ. All believers are to be baptized, and only
believers. Nowhere in Holy Scripture is there even a hint of unbelieving
children being baptized. The solitary requirement for any to be baptized is
faith in Christ; but that faith is the condition that must be met before any
can be baptized (Acts 2:38-41; 8:37).
How
is baptism to be performed? The answer to that question is so obvious in
Scripture that the question itself is ridiculous. Baptism cannot be performed
except by immersion. Not only is it true that none were baptized in the New
Testament by any other means, the very word “baptize” means “to immerse.” Immersion is not a mode of
baptism. Immersion is baptism. Without immersion, there is no baptism (Matt.
3:13-17; Acts 8:38; Col. 2:12).
Why
should all true believers be baptized? Again, the Scriptures are
clear. Our Lord
commands it (Mark 16:15-16). Baptism is not an option, but a requirement. All
who believe on the Son of God are required by him to be baptized. It is the
answer of a good conscience to God (1 Pet. 3:21).
Can
a person be saved without baptism? Certainly! All who are
saved are saved without baptism. Salvation is the work of God’s free and
sovereign grace alone. Our works of obedience have absolutely nothing to do
with God’s gift of grace and salvation. Yet, it must be understood that
obedience to Christ is the fruit of God’s grace. That means that anyone who refuses to be
baptized is not saved. God’s people are not rebels. They obey God’s commands;
and to us his commands are not grievous.
Should
believers ever be rebaptized? No! If a person has been baptized since believing
the gospel, there is no reason for him to ever be baptized again. However, if a
person was immersed before God granted him faith in Christ, in some profession
of false religion, then he needs to be baptized and confess Christ. Baptism in
the New Testament is the believer’s public confession of faith in and
allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Church Membership
Church membership is the
believer’s fellowship and communion with Christ in his body, the church. Many think little of church
membership. Many who profess to be believers are not identified with or
committed to any local church. Whatever their reason is, they are wrong. In the
New Testament, men and women who followed Christ, by one means or another,
applied for and obtained membership in local churches. They publicly identified
themselves with and committed themselves to the church of God (Acts 9:26; Rom.
16:1).
Church membership is for believers only. A local church is a body of believers,
voluntarily united together in the name of Christ for the glory of Christ, the
furtherance of the gospel, the salvation of God’s elect, and mutual
edification. In many ways church
membership is similar to baptism.
Though I was baptized before I moved to Danville, when I joined Grace
Baptist Church, I publicly identified myself with this congregation and its
doctrine. I publicly committed myself to this church. I said, “Thy people shall
be my people and thy God shall be my God.”
The fellowship of believers in a local church
is vital to their spiritual welfare.
The believer’s spiritual growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ is in many ways dependent upon his relationship to and fellowship
with the body of Christ. Believers need the fellowship of other believers. We
need the encouragement of our brethren. We need the strength of our brethren.
We need one another. The first signs of apostasy are usually seen in the
neglecting of the assembly of God’s saints (Heb. 10:24-29). Membership in a
local, gospel church basically involves these three things:
1. Commitment
Church membership is an avowed commitment to the
body of Christ (Phil. 2:1-4). The church of Christ is my family. I am committed
to my family. I prefer my family to myself. I seek the welfare of my family
above my own welfare. I seek the happiness of my family above my own happiness.
I seek the comfort of my family above my own comfort.
God’s
people are a family; and the members of God’s family are committed to one
another. Commitment is dependability, faithfulness, and loyalty. It always
requires a measure of self-denial and self-sacrifice. It always requires some
effort. I pray for my family, support my family, serve my family, speak well of
my family, promote my family, and enjoy the company of my family. My family can
count on me. That is what commitment involves. Church membership involves
commitment to the family of God.
2. Communion
Church membership also
gives us the privilege of communion and fellowship with the body of Christ. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity” (Psa.
133:1). We love the fellowship of God’s people, because in the fellowship of
God’s people we find fellowship with Christ (Matt. 18:20). Our Savior still
walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks and makes himself known in
his churches.
Blessed
are those people who are members of a gospel church that enjoys sweet unity and
fellowship in the gospel. Let all who are so blessed of God pray that he will
ever enable them to zealously guard and promote that unity of the Spirit and
bond of peace which he has given them (Eph. 4:1-6). This unity is not a
mystical, or even an emotional thing. The unity of Spirit, the bond of peace
that makes a gospel church strong, is a unity of doctrine. All God’s people
hold the same doctrine. It is the doctrine of Christ. This unity of the Spirit
is an agreement of hearts. All who are born of God love the same thing and seek
the same thing. We love God our Savior, seek his glory, his will, and the
interests of his kingdom. This unity of the Spirit, the bond of peace that
makes local churches strong, involves a willing submission to one another for
Christ’s sake (Eph. 5:18-25). Like any earthly family that is strong and
united, the family of God is made up of frail, sinful men and women who have
many faults; but, loving one another, they cover one another’s faults, forgive
one another’s wrongs, prefer one another’s happiness and welfare, and gladly
yield to one another’s desires.
A true, gospel church is a
fellowship of real, sincere love (Eph. 4:32-5:1). Church membership is more than
having your name on the same church register. It is commitment to the body of
Christ and communion with Christ in his body. And it involves…
3. Care.
Membership in a local church involves care for the
body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:24-27). The people of God care for and take care of
one another. They care for one another in their own local assembly and care for
believers everywhere. Without denominational organization, the force of
ecclesiastical hierarchy, or pressure from any group outside itself, gospel churches
give to the aid of and seek to assist, support, and promote faithful pastors,
missionaries, and other churches around the world.
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper is the
believer’s blessed remembrance of Christ. One of the most blessed privileges we have in this
world is the privilege of coming together at the Lord’s Table to celebrate our
redemption by eating the bread and drinking the wine set before us at the
Lord’s Table.
This is
not an ordinance shrouded in mystery. It is a very simple, but very precious,
picture of our redemption by Christ. Every child of God needs to understand
what the Lord’s Supper is, so that he may receive it, enjoy it, and profit by
it to the fullest possible degree (1 Cor. 11:23-30).
Why
was the Lord’s Supper given? It is a symbolic remembrance of Christ and what he
has done for us. Like baptism, the Lord’s Supper sets the gospel before us in
picture. The unleavened bread represents his body, the wine represents his
blood sacrificed for us. Eating the bread and drinking the wine is a picture of
faith feeding upon Christ and his sacrifice. The Lord’s Supper is a vivid,
pictorial proclamation of the gospel.
What
are the elements to be used in the Lord’s Supper? I know that this is a matter
of great controversy with some; but the controversy ceases once the meaning of
the ordinance is understood. The Lord’s Supper can be observed only by eating
unleavened bread and drinking wine. Why?
1. When Melchizedek, who was a
type of Christ, met Abraham, he brought forth bread and wine as the symbols of
God’s blessing through a sacrifice (Gen. 14:18-20).
2. In the original institution
and in all the New Testament churches, the Lord’s Supper was observed by the
use of unleavened bread and wine.
3. Only these elements,
unleavened bread and wine, can properly portray our Savior and his work of
redemption.
The unleavened bread
represents the spotless, sinless, holy body of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
breaking of the bread represents the crushing of our Savior’s body in death to
accomplish our redemption. The wine represents the pure, holy, sinless blood of
Immanuel, by which our sins were washed away and the covenant of grace was
ratified. The two, bread and wine, body and blood separated implies the certain
death of our Redeemer.
Who
should observe the Lord’s Supper? When we come together for
the observance of this blessed ordinance, we come to the Lord’s Table. The
Lord’s Table is open to all the Lord’s children (Acts 20:1-7). Not only is the
Lord’s Table open to all his children, all his children are commanded by him to
receive it. Like baptism, this is not an optional thing. The Son of God does
not tell us we ought to do this. He says, “This do.” The ordinances of
divine worship are not optional.
When
should the Lord’s Table be observed? The Scriptures lay down no fixed time. Therefore, we
must not insist upon any. Yet, three things are obvious:
1. In the New Testament it was
observed on the Lord’s Day.
2. Because it is called the
Lord’s Supper, and because it was originally so, I think it should be observed
in the evening.
3. It is to be observed often.
Throughout the Book of Acts it was observed every week.
What
makes us worthy to observe this holy ordinance?
Multitudes have been taught to fear receiving the Lord’s Supper because of
personal unworthiness. I would be very fearful if I thought for a second that I
had any personal worthiness to partake of God’s ordinance. Our worthiness
before God is not in ourselves, but in Christ.
That which makes us worthy of baptism and church
membership makes us worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper; and that is faith in
Christ. Nothing else! Christ is our worthiness. Those who are united to Christ
are worthy to receive the bread and wine, for they, and they alone, discern the
Lord’s body. They know their need of a Substitute and understand how that
Christ accomplished redemption by the sacrifice of himself. Those who do not
believe are not worthy, because they do not discern the Lord’s body. They do
not discern the need of our Lord’s incarnation. They do not discern the
righteousness established by Christ’s obedience. They do not discern the
satisfaction of justice by the sacrifice of Christ’s body upon the cursed tree.
The basis of our faith is
the Word of God alone. We must add nothing to it and take nothing from it. We
must obey every precept of the Word. We must follow every precedent of the
Word. We must reverence every ordinance of Christ given in the Word. It is our
responsibility to obey Christ and keep his ordinances, exactly as he gave them.
We need never fear doing what our Lord commands us to do.
·
Baptism is the believer’s confession of faith in Christ.
·
Church membership is fellowship and communion with Christ in his body.
·
The Lord’s Supper is the believer’s blessed remembrance of Christ.