Pentecostal Worship, Preaching, and Ministry — Unit 7: Ordinances and Sacraments in Pentecostal Practice

Key Verse

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

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

1. Why most Pentecostals call baptism and the Lord's Supper "ordinances," and how this differs from the word "sacrament."

2. The Pentecostal teaching on believer's baptism by immersion, and how it differs from Spirit baptism.

3. The Pentecostal understanding of the Lord's Supper and how a church should prepare for it.

4. Why some Pentecostal bodies practice footwashing, and why others do not.

5. The main objections from other Christian traditions and how Pentecostals answer them.

The Voice of This Unit

This unit is written from inside the classical Pentecostal tradition, for pastors who belong to it. Pentecostal churches are not all alike on these matters, and we say so. Other Christians, including Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Reformed and Anglicans, hold sincere and ancient views. We state them fairly and then give our answer.

Ordinance or Sacrament?

The two words are often used for the same acts. A sacrament is usually understood as a holy act through which God gives grace in a way that is tied to the act itself. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches count seven sacraments. Most Protestant churches, including Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican, count two: baptism and the Lord's Supper. An ordinance is an act that Christ commanded His church to keep. In this view it is a way of obeying, confessing and remembering, and God is truly present and blessing those who come in faith.

Most Pentecostals use the word "ordinance." We hold that Jesus commanded two acts for the whole church: baptism in water, and the Lord's Supper. We keep them because He said to. We do not teach that the water, bread or cup carry saving grace by themselves. Salvation is "by grace . . . through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Pentecostals are not all the same here. Some churches, and some Pentecostal theologians, ask whether "ordinance" says enough. They point out that God does meet His people in baptism and at the Table by the Holy Spirit, and they are willing to use more sacramental language. We can respect that discussion while holding firmly to the center of our practice: Christ commands these acts, faith must be present, and the Spirit is the One who makes them alive.

Water Baptism

What Jesus commanded

The risen Lord told His church to baptize disciples "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). The Great Commission joins making disciples, baptizing, and teaching. Jesus Himself was baptized, and when "He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water" (Matthew 3:16). In Acts the pattern is clear: people hear, believe and are baptized. When Philip preached in Samaria, "when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized" (Acts 8:12).

The Pentecostal teaching

Most Pentecostal bodies hold three convictions about water baptism.

It is for believers. The person being baptized must have repented and trusted in Christ. For this reason, we baptize those old enough to understand and confess their faith.

It is by immersion. The Greek word baptizo means to dip or immerse. The picture in Romans 6:4 explains it: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Going under the water shows burial with Christ, and coming up shows new life.

It is a witness. Baptism is a public statement that a person belongs to Jesus. It is an act of obedience and testimony, and the church gathers to rejoice.

Water baptism and Spirit baptism

Do not confuse the two. Jesus said, "For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5). Water baptism is something the church does, with water, to a believer. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is something Christ does, giving power for witness. They may come close together, but the order is not fixed. In Samaria the people were baptized in water first, and received the Spirit later through the apostles (Acts 8:12-17). In the house of Cornelius the Spirit fell first, and then the people were baptized in water (Acts 10:44-48). A pastor should invite new baptized believers to seek the fullness of the Spirit, but should never suggest that water baptism is incomplete without it, or that Spirit baptism makes water baptism unnecessary. Course 2, Units 4 and 5, teaches Spirit baptism.

Who is to be baptized, and the formula

Pentecostal churches generally do not rebaptize believers who were baptized by immersion after faith, whatever church did it. Those who were baptized as babies are usually invited to be baptized as believers, since we do not count infant baptism as the baptism of Scripture. This must be done with respect and love, never with contempt for the family's church.

The great majority of Pentecostals baptize with the Trinitarian words of Matthew 28:19. Oneness Pentecostals baptize "in the name of Jesus" only and consider the Trinitarian formula wrong. We answer from Scripture in Course 2, Unit 7. In brief, Matthew 28:19 speaks of one "name" belonging to Father, Son and Spirit, and Acts shows believers baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38) as a way of saying baptism belongs to Him and under His authority, not as a magic phrase.

The Lord's Supper

What Paul received

Paul wrote that he handed on what he had received from the Lord. The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread and the cup and told His disciples to do this in remembrance of Him. Then Paul added, "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). Three truths stand here: we remember the Lord's death, we proclaim the gospel, and we look ahead to His return. Many Pentecostals add a fourth: we commune, meaning that we share together in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16).

What Pentecostals teach

Most Pentecostals regard the bread and cup as symbols that remember Christ's body and blood. We do not believe that they become His body and blood. Yet they are not empty symbols. Christ is present with His people by His Spirit when they gather in His name, and the Supper is a time of thanksgiving, repentance, healing for the soul, and renewal of the covenant. Many Pentecostal pastors welcome prayer for the sick at the Table, because 1 Corinthians 11:30 links careless attitudes at the Supper with weakness and sickness, and the Table points us to the cross, where our healing and forgiveness were won.

How we prepare

Paul wrote, "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:28). The Corinthians were divided, some were hungry and others drunk, and the poor were despised. Paul's remedy was self-examination and waiting for one another. So a pastor should invite the people to confess sins, to make peace with those they have wronged, and to come in faith. He should teach plainly who may come. Most churches invite all who have trusted in Christ. Some limit it to their own members. Either way, the teaching must be clear and loving.

Practice varies. Some churches hold the Supper each week, others each month or each quarter. Many use grape juice, while others use wine. Some serve the people in the pews, and others invite them to the front. Scripture gives no exact schedule or method, so each church should choose with prayer and teach its reasons.

Footwashing

In John 13, Jesus washed His disciples' feet and said, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:14). Some Holiness-Pentecostal bodies, such as the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church, practice footwashing as a third ordinance, usually at the Lord's Supper. Their reasoning: Jesus gave an example ("you should do as I have done to you," John 13:15), and the early church honored humility.

Other Pentecostal bodies, including the Assemblies of God, do not make footwashing an ordinance. They say Jesus was teaching humble service to one another, and that the New Testament gives no sign that footwashing became a regular church rite. Both views are held by faithful Pentecostals. The lesson on which all agree is plain: leaders serve, and no task is too low for a disciple.

Other Acts of Worship

Pentecostals also practice acts that are not ordinances. Child dedication replaces infant baptism. Parents bring a child, as people brought children to Jesus (Mark 10:13-16), and the church prays and the parents promise to raise him in the faith. Anointing the sick was treated in Unit 6. Laying on of hands for ordination and commissioning appears in Acts 6 and 13. Marriage and burial are also marked with worship and prayer, though they are not ordinances in Scripture.

Objections and Our Answers

Objection 1: Infants should be baptized.

Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist churches baptize infants. They point to household baptisms such as that of Lydia and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:15, 33), and to Paul's link between circumcision and baptism in Colossians 2:11-12. They add that the practice is ancient.

Our answer. These are serious arguments, and we do not dismiss the faith of parents. But in every clear case in the New Testament, baptism follows a person's own hearing and belief. In Acts 16 the jailer's whole household "believed" and "rejoiced" (Acts 16:34). Scripture does not say infants were in these households. Colossians 2 speaks of a circumcision "made without hands" and of being "raised with Him through faith." Baptism is the answer of a person who has faith, and we place children in the arms of the church through dedication until they can answer for themselves.

Objection 2: Pouring or sprinkling is as good as immersion.

Many churches pour or sprinkle. The early church manual called the Didache, probably from the late first or early second century, says to baptize in running water, but if there is none, to pour water three times on the head.

Our answer. We honor the Didache as a witness, but it treats pouring as an exception where immersion is not possible, and so it confirms that immersion was the normal practice. Romans 6:4, the meaning of baptizo, and the examples of going "down into the water" (Acts 8:38) point the same way. We do not question the salvation of those baptized otherwise, and in cases of sickness or where water is unavailable, a pastor may use wisdom. But we teach immersion as the biblical practice.

Objection 3: Baptism saves.

Some read Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38 and 1 Peter 3:21 to mean that baptism itself brings forgiveness or new birth.

Our answer. These verses show how closely faith and baptism belong together in the New Testament. In the early church, a person who believed was baptized at once. But Scripture also says we are saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and the thief on the cross was promised paradise without baptism (Luke 23:43). We therefore baptize those who are already saved, as the obedient answer of faith, and we urge every believer to be baptized without delay.

Objection 4: The Lord's Supper is only a memorial, or it is more than a symbol.

At the Reformation, Zwingli taught that the Supper is a memorial. Luther held that Christ's body and blood are really present with the bread and wine. Calvin taught a real spiritual presence by the Spirit. Catholics teach transubstantiation.

Our answer. We stay with what Paul wrote: remembrance, proclamation, communion and hope. We do not accept that the elements change into the body and blood. But we also do not accept that the Supper is a bare memory. The Lord keeps His promise to be with those who gather in His name (Matthew 18:20), and the Spirit applies the truth of the cross to believing hearts.

Pastoral Application

A woman named Carmen, raised in a Catholic home, comes to faith in Christ through your church. She was baptized as a baby and wants to be baptized now as a believer. Her mother is deeply upset and says, "You are insulting your family and the Church."

The pastor does four things. First, he visits Carmen's family if she agrees, and listens to the mother's pain without criticizing her church. Second, he explains to Carmen from Scripture, with Acts 8:12 and Romans 6:4, why we baptize believers, and he makes sure she is baptizing out of her own faith and not to win an argument. Third, he teaches her to speak with love to her mother: "I am not rejecting my family. I am obeying Jesus." Fourth, he plans a joyful baptism service in a baptistry or river, where Carmen gives her testimony, the church sings, and her mother is invited. Later the pastor invites Carmen to seek the fullness of the Spirit and to share in the Lord's Supper with the church.

Summary

Most Pentecostals call baptism and the Lord's Supper ordinances: acts commanded by Christ and kept in faith, though some Pentecostals use more sacramental language. We baptize believers by immersion in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as a witness of burial and new life, and we distinguish water baptism from Spirit baptism. The Lord's Supper is for remembrance, proclamation, communion and hope, and it needs self-examination. Some Holiness-Pentecostal bodies also practice footwashing, while others see it as a lesson in humble service. Child dedication takes the place of infant baptism. We answer objections about infant baptism, mode, baptismal saving power and the nature of the Supper with Scripture and with respect for those who disagree.

Further Reading

• The Didache (early Christian church manual), chapters 7-10.

• Justin Martyr, First Apology, chapters 61-67, an early description of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

• John Wesley, sermon "The Duty of Constant Communion."

• Wolfgang Vondey, Pentecostal Theology (2017).

• Frank D. Macchia, Baptized in the Spirit (2006).

• Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (2nd ed., 2014).

• Vinson Synan, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition (1997).

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