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NASB | 1 Corinthians 11:27 ¶ Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 11:27 ¶ So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy [of Him] will be guilty of [profaning and sinning against] the body and blood of the Lord. |
Subject: Joe, baptism required for Lord's Supper? |
Bible Note: You wrote: "John, do not push that one should be baptized in order to partake of the Lord's Supper." I'll push it, too. "1. It is not in the text." Not in this text, but I have already explained that immediate baptism for adult converts is the biblical model. Baptism is the initiatory rite into the visible church, and to partake of the other sacrament which is a proclamation among the visible church of our interest in Christ, it makes sense that the initiatory rite comes first. As I said previously, it is a testimony to the antinomian tendencies of contemporary evangelicalism that we are even considering such an animal as the "unbaptized Christian." "2. It is a minor doctrinal issue." While it is not an issue directly related to our justification, it is NOT minor. Christian converts get baptized. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests any other scenario. The Holy Spirit makes it clear in every conversion account in Acts that the convert is baptized. It is repeatedly emphasized. I would not call it minor at all. "3. If sin makes us unworthy, we all fail the test." I don't think anyone has to convince John the Calvinist of human depravity. "The diciples were told to baptize (Mat 28:18-20), it was not a command to be baptized." God inspired: 'Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' --Acts 2:37-38 Sounds like a command there. And how did they respond? "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls." --Acts 2:41 "If you say it is a sin not to be baptized, there are others that you and I commit. We all are unworthy, since we all are sinners. There are sins that each one of us think as minor." ...which is a statement not to the actual minor status of a sin, but rather to our wicked hearts trying to rationalize disobedience to God. I, too, experienced a significant gap between the time I converted to Christianity and the time at which I was baptized. I see that as sin on my part, but also a grievous sin on a congregational leadership that never once approached me or even brought up the topic of baptism. Whenever I lead someone to Christ or learn that s/he has become a Christian, one of the first things I ask is whether s/he has been baptized. It is the visible and tangible sign and seal of an inward reality, and the ONLY Christ-ordained means by which one legitimately becomes a part of the visible church. --Joe! |