Baptist Theology and Distinctive Doctrines — Unit 4: The Lord's Supper as Ordinance

Key Verse

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes." (1 Corinthians 11:26, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Describe the institution of the Lord's Supper from the New Testament and name its main meanings.

2. Explain why Baptists call the Supper an ordinance and not a sacrament.

3. Compare the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and Baptist understandings of Christ's presence at the Supper.

4. Describe the two views found among Baptists: the memorial view and the spiritual-presence view.

5. Answer the main objections to the Baptist view and explain how a pastor should guide a congregation in self-examination.

Two Ordinances

Baptists keep two ordinances: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both were commanded by Christ, both picture the gospel, and both are given to the church. Baptism, studied in the last unit, is the ordinance of entrance: a believer is baptized once, at the beginning of the Christian life. The Lord's Supper is the ordinance of continuing fellowship: the church keeps it again and again until Christ returns. Together they stand beside the Scripture as the church's way of hearing and seeing the gospel. In Course 4 we will study how to conduct the Supper in a service. In this unit we study what it means.

The Institution of the Supper

Three Gospels and Paul give the account (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). On the night He was betrayed, in the upper room, during the Passover meal, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to His disciples. Luke records: "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." He took the cup and spoke of His blood, the blood of the new covenant, shed for many for the remission of sins. He told the disciples that He would not drink again of the fruit of the vine until He drank it new with them in the kingdom of God (Matthew 26:29).

Paul received the teaching from the Lord and passed it on to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:23). The Supper was therefore the practice of the apostolic churches. Acts 2:42 and 20:7 speak of believers meeting for "the breaking of bread."

What the Supper Means

The Baptist tradition finds four main meanings in the New Testament.

A remembrance of the cross. Jesus said twice in Paul's account, "Do this in remembrance of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). The bread and cup remind us of His body given and His blood shed. This is the center of the ordinance. Christians do not remember a dead hero. We remember a death that was for us.

A proclamation. Our key verse says that when we eat and drink, "you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes." The Supper preaches the gospel to the church and to any who watch. It declares that sinners are forgiven because Christ died.

A communion. Paul asks, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16). The word "communion" means a sharing or a participation. The believer shares in the benefits of Christ's death. And because there is one loaf, Paul says, "we, though many, are one bread and one body" (1 Corinthians 10:17). The Supper unites believers with each other.

A hope. The words "till He comes" point forward. The Supper looks to the day when Christ returns, and the table of the Lord points ahead to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

Ordinance, Not Sacrament

Baptists use the word "ordinance" for the same reason as in the last unit. An ordinance is an act commanded by Christ, which pictures the gospel, and which the church obeys. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 calls the Lord's Supper a symbolic act of obedience in which members of the church remember the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. The word "sacrament," as used by many other churches, means that the act itself conveys grace to the person who receives it, as a channel. Baptists do not teach this. Grace comes to a believer by faith, and not by the mere eating and drinking. The elements are not magic, and no priest or pastor has any special power to make them so.

What Do Christians Believe About Christ's Presence?

The sharpest differences concern the words "This is My body." Here is a fair summary of the main views.

Roman Catholic. The church teaches transubstantiation. When the priest speaks the words of consecration, the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ in substance, while the appearance remains. The church held this teaching at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and defended it at the Council of Trent. The Mass is also understood as a sacrifice that renews the sacrifice of Calvary in an unbloody way. The Orthodox also teach a real change, though they speak of it as a mystery and do not use the same philosophical language.

Lutheran. Martin Luther rejected transubstantiation but insisted that Christ's body and blood are truly present "in, with and under" the bread and wine. Lutherans do not accept the label "consubstantiation," which others gave to their view. Luther held to the literal sense of "This is My body" and refused to change it.

Reformed. John Calvin and the Reformed churches taught that Christ is truly present, but spiritually, by the Holy Spirit, and that believers receive Christ's body and blood by faith, since Christ's body is in heaven. They reject both the Roman Catholic and the Lutheran view of a physical presence in the elements.

Zwinglian or memorial. Ulrich Zwingli taught that the bread and cup are signs that remember Christ's death and that the words "This is My body" mean "This represents My body." Luther and Zwingli met at Marburg in 1529 and could not agree on this point.

The Baptist Positions

Baptists agree that the bread and cup are symbols and that Christ's body is not physically in them. Baptists are divided on what more may be said. Two views are found.

The memorial view. This has been the majority view among Baptists, especially in the United States. The bread and cup are signs that help us to remember and to proclaim. Christ is present with His people by His Spirit always, in preaching, prayer and fellowship, but the ordinance does not add any special presence. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 expresses this view.

The spiritual-presence view. Some Baptists, particularly those who follow the Second London Confession of 1689, teach that the Supper is also a means by which believers, by faith, truly feed on Christ crucified and receive spiritual nourishment. The 1689 Confession rejects transubstantiation and denies any physical presence, but says that worthy receivers truly and spiritually partake of Christ and His benefits. This is close to Calvin's view. Some Baptist theologians today have argued that this view better fits 1 Corinthians 10:16.

Both views are within the Baptist family. They agree on what is essential: no bread becomes flesh, the sacrifice of Christ is finished, and the believer meets the Lord by faith. The difference lies in whether the Supper has a distinct spiritual benefit beyond remembrance. In this course we lean toward the memorial view as the common Baptist position, while recognizing that the other view has honorable support among Baptists and that a church may hold either without division.

Objections and Baptist Answers

Objection 1: Jesus said, "This is My body." We should take Him at His word.

Roman Catholics and Lutherans ask why Baptists will not accept the plain sense of the words. Our answer. We take them in the sense Jesus intended. Jesus was sitting at the table in His living body when He spoke. The body in His hand and the bread in His hand were not the same. He often used figures: "I am the door" (John 10:9), "I am the true vine" (John 15:1). In the Passover meal the head of the family spoke over the bread as a memorial of the exodus. The disciples did not think they were eating His flesh. And Jesus Himself said, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

Objection 2: John 6 teaches that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood.

In John 6:53-58 Jesus says that unless a person eats His flesh and drinks His blood, he has no life. Our answer. Most Baptists do not take John 6 as speaking of the Supper, which had not been instituted yet. Jesus explains that He means coming to Him and believing in Him (John 6:35). And He says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63). The eating is faith.

Objection 3: The Mass is a true sacrifice offered for the living and the dead.

This is the Roman Catholic teaching. Our answer. The book of Hebrews says that Christ offered one sacrifice for sins forever, and that by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:10-14). A sacrifice that is repeated each week says, in effect, that the first was not enough. In the Supper we do not offer Christ again. We remember what He finished at the cross, and in the New Testament no priest is named for the church's assembly (see Unit 5).

Objection 4: The Baptist memorial view is too thin, and the Supper is only a funeral meal.

Reformed Christians and some Baptists raise this point. Our answer. A bare memorial is not what the Baptists teach. The Supper is a time of joy as well as remembrance. It is the act of proclaiming, of fellowship, of hope, and of renewed trust. Even those who hold the memorial view say that Christ is present with His people by His Spirit and that faith is strengthened. Where Baptists hold the spiritual-presence view, they agree fully with the Reformed on the point. In either case we reject any idea that the table is merely a ceremony.

Self-Examination and Unworthy Participation

Paul gave a strong warning: "Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27). Some have been so frightened by this verse that they stay away. We should read the context. The Corinthians were divided; the rich ate and drank before the poor arrived, and some were hungry while others were drunk (1 Corinthians 11:17-22). Their sin was a failure of love and a careless attitude toward the body of Christ. Paul's remedy was not to abolish the meal but to examine themselves: "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:28).

Self-examination means asking if I am trusting Christ, if I am at peace with my brothers and sisters, and if I am confessing known sin. Jesus said that a person who remembers that a brother has something against him should leave his gift at the altar and first be reconciled (Matthew 5:23-24). No one is worthy by himself. We come as sinners saved by grace, and we come because we need Christ.

Who May Come, and Other Practical Questions

Baptists agree that the Lord's Supper is for believers, and that it is administered by the church. A priest is not needed; the pastor or a deacon may lead, but the Supper belongs to the congregation. The New Testament does not say how often to observe it. Some Baptist churches keep it weekly, some monthly, some quarterly. Baptists also differ about the contents of the cup. Some use wine and others use unfermented grape juice, and the Bible, speaking of "the cup" and "the fruit of the vine," does not settle the matter for every setting. Churches in places where alcohol destroys families often choose grape juice.

The most debated question is who may take the Supper. "Open" communion invites all believers present. "Close" communion invites only baptized members of churches of like faith. "Closed" communion invites only members of the local church. Baptists have held all three, and the reasons are given in Course 4. We note only that all agree the Supper is for the saved, and that the table should not be turned into a place for debate.

Pastoral Application

In a Baptist church in a Mexican town, a faithful member has not taken the Lord's Supper for two years. After a quarrel with his brother over family land, he says to the pastor: "I am not worthy. I read that if you eat in an unworthy manner you bring judgment."

The pastor does not scold the man or tell him to ignore the verse. He opens 1 Corinthians 11 with him and explains that Paul was correcting a church that shamed the poor at the table. He shows him verse 28, and he asks what Jesus says in Matthew 5:23-24. The pastor sees that the real problem is the broken family relationship. He offers to pray with the man and, if he wishes, to go with him to speak with his brother. He says: "You are not asked to be perfect. You are asked to come honestly, as a sinner who trusts Christ and who is willing to make peace." He also plans to teach on the Supper before each observance, so that everyone knows what the table means and no one stays away from fear.

Summary

The Lord's Supper is an ordinance commanded by Christ on the night He was betrayed. It is a remembrance of His death, a proclamation of the gospel, a communion with Christ and with one another, and a hope that looks to His return. Baptists reject transubstantiation and the Mass as a repeated sacrifice, since Christ's offering was once for all, and they differ from the Lutheran view of a bodily presence. The majority hold the memorial view; others hold the spiritual-presence view of the 1689 Confession. All agree that Christ is met by faith, not by the elements themselves. Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 11 calls for self-examination and reconciliation, not for staying away. Baptists differ on frequency, on the content of the cup and on who may come to the table.

Further Reading

• James Leo Garrett Jr., Baptist Theology: A Four-Century Study (2009).

• John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), a public-domain classic.

• J. M. Pendleton, Church Manual (1867), a public-domain classic.

• E. Y. Mullins, The Axioms of Religion (1908), a public-domain classic.

• The Second London Confession (1689) and the New Hampshire Confession (1833), both public domain.

• The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), Southern Baptist Convention.

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