The Sacraments
22nd April 2022
God has graciously given us two sacraments, two activities, two signs, two means of grace, which He has commanded all Christians to observe. These sacraments are Baptism and the Lord"s Supper, also known by other names, such as the Breaking of Bread, Eucharist or Communion. They're given to us because they help us to understand and believe what is most important.
Romans 6:3-4
... don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death?
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new
life.
Baptism is the sign and confirmation of a person's conversion. We enter the water to signify that the person we were before we met Christ is now dead. Baptism is the burial service for the person we once were. As we come out of the water we signify that we are alive as a new person. The old has gone, the new has come. There is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5v17). As we obediently signify these things by being baptised, God sends the Holy Spirit to confirm these things in us, making us more sure of our salvation, drawing us closer to Himself, and purifying our hearts further. It should be no surprise that it does us good to obey God by participating in the sacrament of baptism.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night
he was betrayed, took bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you;
do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in
my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord"s death until
he comes.
It should also be no surprise that it does us good to obey God by participating in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The bread we break signifies the body of our Lord, which was broken on the cross. The wine we share signifies the blood of our Lord, who bled and died for us. When we eat the bread and drink from the cup, we feed on Jesus Christ by faith. That is, we're eating bread and we're drinking wine, but we're believing with increasing assurance that Jesus has set us free from sin, guilt, condemnation and death though His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. We"re proclaiming the Gospel of peace to ourselves and to one another, and the Holy Spirit comes to confirm these things in our hearts.
These two sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper were instituted by Jesus Himself to remind us of what is most important: that Christ died for us, and that, because Christ died for us and rose again, we can live a new life, in the love and power of God, though the Holy Spirit.
Please do not neglect or undervalue these precious and powerful gifts from God.