The Ordinances

Matthew 28:16-20, Matthew 26:26-29

God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:9-11

There are two ordinances instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ for the local church to celebrate regularly – baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This event signifies a believer’s death to sin and resurrection to new life as a result of faith in and obedience toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Supper is an event designed to remember the Lord’s sacrificial death for his people, to confess and cleanse sin from the local congregation, and to anticipate the Lord’s return.

Communion Reflection Questions:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:27-28

Examine yourself: What sinful thought, word, or deed do you need to confess to the Lord? What have you done, or left undone, that you need now confess to Him?

Life Group Discussion Questions

  1. John Owen wrote that the first essential task of a gospel minister is the evangelistic task - persuading people in bondage to sin that they have a problem. What challenges does this task present? Why is it so difficult? In your own life, how did you come to see and understand the reality of your own sinfulness?

  2. How do baptism and the Lord’s Supper help us accomplish the evangelistic task? How do these ordinances help us turn from ongoing, indwelling sin?

  3. The second essential task of a gospel minister, according to Owen, is the pastoral task - persuading people in Christ that they are forgiven, redeemed, and free from guilt over their sin. What challenges does this task present? Why is it so difficult?

  4. How do baptism and the Lord’s Supper help us accomplish the pastoral task? How do these ordinances help us remember and walk in the privileges of the gospel?

Proposed Statement of Faith

There are two ordinances instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ for the local church to celebrate regularly—baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This event signifies a believer’s death to sin and resurrection to new life as a result of faith in and obedience toward the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper is an event designed to remember the Lord’s sacrificial death for his people, to confess and cleanse sin from the local congregation, and to anticipate the Lord’s return. Church discipline is to be exercised according to scriptural principles.

Main Text: Acts 2:37-41; Luke 22:14-23

Other Key Texts: Matthew 28:19; Colossians 2:11-12; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22;

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

For Further Study: Kevin Emmert, The Water and the Blood: How the Sacraments Shape

Christian Identity

“Baptism and the Lord’s Supper make the church visible. They are the hinge between the ‘invisible’ universal church and the ‘visible’ local church. They draw a line around the church by drawing the church together.” -Bobby Jamieson