In 1 Samuel 26, David spares Saul’s life … again. It’s a picture of the character of the king that we need. But David proves that he himself is not that king. Because the king we need is a king who can be both perfectly just and completely merciful if our lives and the world around us are ever to be set right. He points forward to that king. And on this side of the cross, we know that king. Listen to Sunday’s sermon to learn more.
PART 2 - DIVING DEEPER INTO BAPTISM
This is the second article in a series put together by the pastoral team to help our church think well about and get the most out of our participation in the sacraments of baptism and communion. These articles are designed to provide a foundational understanding of the two sacraments of the New Testament Church and increase our expectation of the grace we’ll receive through them.
In the first article we defined our terms. We asked the question, “What is a Sacrament?” and we answered it by saying that a sacrament is: 1. A Visible Word, 2. A God-Ordained Activity, 3. A Means of Grace to Us. If you missed this article, you can find it here.
In this second article, having defined what a sacrament is, we turn toward a fuller explanation of all that is signified in the sacrament of baptism. Digging into Scripture in order to increase our understanding of the spiritual realities to which this visible sign points. Asking and answering the questions of how baptism should be practiced. Reflecting on the ways in which the Spirit of God brings to us the soul-altering grace of Christ through this means of grace. And finally, applying our sacramental theology in practical ways that will help us to get the most out of the meaning of this sacrament in the life and worship of our local church.
BAPTISM - OUR DOORWAY INTO THE HOUSE OF GOD
Baptism is the sacrament of spiritual birth in which we participate in the promise of new life in Christ. Through it, we depict our entrance into a new kind of life. As our Sovereign Grace Churches Statement of Faith reads:
Baptism is an initiatory, unrepeated sacrament for those who come to faith in Christ that pictures their remission of sins and union with Christ in death and resurrection. Through immersion in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the believer publicly proclaims his faith in Christ and signifies his entrance into the body of Christ (We Believe: A Statement of Faith section 12, paragraph 3).
In this article, we’ll consider three aspects of the new life in Christ that we participate in via the sacrament of baptism: a pledge of new loyalty, a public entrance into a new people, and a true spiritual participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we die to old loyalties, old identities, and to the sin that enslaved our old man, we pass into new creation life via the sacrament of baptism.
The term baptism comes from the Greek baptisma/baptismos which are the noun forms of the verb, baptizo. The verb indicates the immersing of its object into water. Such that, baptism means immersion into water. This meaning of the term, in addition to what is being signified in Christian baptism is instructive as we consider how we baptize. Do we sprinkle water upon the recipient of baptism? Pour some over the head of the one being baptized? Or do we fully immerse them in the water just as the meaning of the term would suggest? We practice full immersion because: 1. that is what the term means, 2. this mode of baptism best captures the spiritual reality the sign signifies, and 3. because it is was the experience of Jesus himself.
In the New Testament, we read of Christ himself undergoing baptism in the Jordan River (Mt 3:13; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22). Though he was the sinless God-man, he received John the Baptist’s “baptism of repentance” in order to identify with the sinful people he came to save. In the life of Jesus, we see him doing what Israel should have done. Demonstrating their repentance to God via baptism to prepare themselves for the Messiah (Mt 3:14-15). Passing the test in the wilderness and not giving into the devil’s temptations, as wilderness generation did on their journey to the Promised Land (Mt 4:1-11). Keeping the Law of God perfectly (Mt 5:17). Never failing to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength or their neighbor as themselves (Mt 22:34-40). Jesus was the true Israel, who succeeded everywhere they had failed.
Additionally, the baptism of Christ that marked the beginning of his earthly ministry, was also intended to foreshadow the ultimate goal of that ministry: his death and resurrection. Just as Christ was emerged under the waters of baptism, he would be crucified and buried in the tomb. But, just as “he came up out of the water,” he would be raised from the dead never to die again (Mk 1:10). Jesus himself makes this connection in the Gospels as he speaks of the suffering that awaits him in Jerusalem as a “baptism.”
In Mark 10:32-34, Jesus foretells is death and resurrection for the third time to his disciples as they are on the cusp of arriving in Jerusalem. After this, James and John request places of honor in Christ’s Kingdom – presuming that he’ll commence his reign when they arrive in Jerusalem. They are correct that Christ will inaugurate his Kingdom there, but they haven’t quite grasped how. In reply, Christ asks them if they are willing to do what it takes in order to reign with him? And what is that? It is “to drink the cup,” that he drinks, “to be baptized with baptism with which” he is baptized, and quite literally, to give their lives in death (Mk 10:38-45). Christ would be crowned with resurrection glory after giving “his life as a ransom for many” to redeem God’s people (Mk 10:45).
His baptism would demonstrate the reality of new creation life through death. Both as he died and was raised to everlasting life and as his death and resurrection would secure for us the promise of new life. Because of this, our baptisms, too, dramatically depict the reality of new life through death. Passing through the waters of God’s wrath and judgment for sin and rising up to demonstrate that we have been set free from all condemnation.
In summary here, Christ was baptized at the outset of his ministry to identify with the people he’d redeem. At the climax of his ministry, he accomplished their redemption through his death and resurrection. And, at the end of his earthly ministry, Christ commands that all his redeemed identify with him through baptism (Mt 28:19-20). And it’s to this identification that we now turn.
In our baptism, we are publicly declaring our allegiance to the Christ who was demonstrated to be the Messiah and Lord of all via his resurrection from the dead. Baptism is our public declaration of our allegiance to Christ. As we participate in the sacrament, we signal to the watching world that our life is no longer our own but belongs to Christ. We publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives and that we are willing to leave life as we knew it behind to follow him.
We remember that the word sacramentum, from which we derive, “sacrament” was “originally a military term describing the oath of allegiance and obedience that a soldier solemnly pledged to his commander” (Christ, Baptism, And The Lord’s Supper, Leonard Vander Zee). And that following this common usage, the early Christians of the second century, utilized the to describe “the pledge of faith and allegiance made by candidates for baptism to their Lord” (Vander Zee).
In our baptism, we are pledging allegiance to King Jesus and declaring to all the world that we have turned away from a life of self-serving sin to a new life of service and loyalty to Christ.
Acts 2:37-41 provides the paradigmatic framework for New Testament baptism. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter preached a Spirit-empowered sermon in which he declared that Jesus of Nazareth who had just been rejected and crucified had actually been raised from the dead and was the long-awaited Messianic deliverer of God’s people. And not only this, but the crowds gathered for the feast of Pentecost contained the very same individuals who had rejected Christ and called for his crucifixion just 50 days earlier.
Peter proclaimed the good news that Christ was the Messianic deliverer as well as the bad news that those who heard him were complicit in rejecting his lordship over their lives. Through his preaching, the Holy Spirit brings conviction of this sin to his hearers and they are “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). Recognizing their rebellion to the Lord, they ask Peter what they should do. He replies, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of you sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…So those who received his word were baptized (Acts 2:38, 41).
He told them: 1. to repent of the sin of rejecting Christ as Lord and, 2. to acknowledge Christ as Lord through baptism. In this way, they’d publicly declare that the one they’d rejected was now the one who ruled over them. They would turn from the old life they were living in which they didn’t acknowledge Christ’s reign, to a new way of living in which every aspect of life would be submitted to his rule.
Just like them, as we make this pledge of loyalty to the crucified and risen Christ, we’re simultaneously professing our faith in all that his death and resurrection accomplished for us. In our baptism, we publicly indicate that we are following Jesus in a new way of living because we believe he has truly given us a new life. We testify that we have laid hold of Christ and his promises by faith and have become new creations in him.
As 1 Peter 3:21 says, “Baptism…now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Christ.” Now this doesn’t mean that baptism in and of itself has saving power, but that, as Thomas Schreiner says:
“Believers at baptism ask God – on the basis of the death and resurrection of Christ – to cleanse their conscience and forgive their sin…Believers at baptism can be confident on the basis of the work of the crucified and risen Lord that their appeal to have a good conscience [in effect, to be pronounced right with God] will be answered” (1, 2 Peter, Jude).
In other words, in our baptism we sacramentally lay our claim upon the saving promises of the gospel. In this way, baptism now saves us. As we are baptized upon our confession of faith, we are sacramentally making our appeal to God to grant the promise of new life, accept us as his own, and allow us entrance into his Kingdom and people. In baptism, as we confess our faith in Christ, share our testimony, and are immersed in water, we are professing that the promise of new life is ours on the basis of the death and resurrection of Christ for us.
Baptism marks the beginning of a new life lived under a new Lord. And even more than that, it marks the beginning of a new life lived among a new people.
Baptism is our “visible initiation into the kingdom of Christ…[our] integration into the local gathered kingdom of saints” (The Mystery of Christ: His Covenant & His Kingdom, Samuel Renihan). Through baptism, we are added to people of God as the gathered church witnesses and participates in our sacramental entrance into the body of Christ.
Picking back up with Acts 2, we read of the 3,000 new believers on the day of Pentecost: “So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). They believed the gospel, were baptized, and subsequently “added” to the church.
In Acts, hearing the gospel, believing the gospel, being baptized, and joining the church all go hand in hand. So, even as we might read of other conversion accounts in Acts where Luke says people were “saved” or “added” but not baptized, we should infer they were baptized. The biblical model presented here is that baptism was the first step in joining the local church.
As a church, when we witness a baptism take place, we hear the testimony of the baptized and behold the sacramental depiction of their new life with Christ as they are immersed in and raised up out of the water. All this testifies to the reality that this man or woman being baptized has been born again of God and entered into his family. They have become an adopted child of God through their faith in the Son of God and as such, they’ve become a part of our family too. As God ushers them into newness of life, he ushers them into a new people, created by the gospel.
As a means of grace, the Spirit of God works through baptism to incorporate us into the body of Christ. As Paul writes in 1 Cor 12:12-13, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” What’s the connection between this Spirit baptism and our water baptism? The latter is a sign and seal of the reality of the former.
By the Spirit of God working upon our hearts we have come to confess Jesus as Lord and put our faith in him (1 Cor 12:3). He has caused us to be inwardly and invisibly born again. He has brought us into spiritual union and communion with Christ. So too, by the same Spirit that brought us into communion with Christ, have we been brought into communion with each other, the “body” of Christ. This spiritual renewal and unity with Christ and each other are accomplished through the Spirit baptism Paul refers to above.
This being the case, our water baptism becomes a sign and seal of this reality: that we’ve truly been added into the body of Christ along with all others who have believed in him (1 Cor 12:12-13). As water baptism adds us to the visible church, it also signifies that we’ve been spiritually added to the invisible and universal church (the communion of all true believers for all time) through the work of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, as the Spirit has sealed us in Christ (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13) and “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16), water baptism sets a further seal upon our hearts that our belonging to Christ is as real as the water in which we were immersed. The grace of water baptism is to set a seal upon our minds, hearts, and consciences of all that is true because of our Spirit baptism. The Spirit works through water baptism in order to signify and deepen our experience of what we’ve undergone in Spirit baptism. As such, these two realities are really two sides of the same coin. One being the sacramental extension and completion of the spiritual reality began by the other.
So far, we’ve seen that baptism is the public means of expressing one’s faith and joining the church. Yet, underlying this outward expression and identification, there is a crucial inward reality. In baptism, believers are added to the church, or body, of Jesus Christ, because in baptism we signify our union with Christ himself. Truly, we are joined to the church because we have been joined to Christ, the head of the body and Lord of the Church. And as we’ve been joined to Christ, we’ve been joined with Christ in his death and resurrection.
Baptism sacramentally unites us to Christ. It is a sign of our union with Christ through faith and a means of grace by which we participate in his death and resurrection. As we’ve earlier stated that baptism is our participation in the promise of new life in Christ, the Bible teaches that our participation in his death and resurrection is the means by which we come into all that is promised. In other words, this participation with Christ explains how we come into new life in Christ. We pass into new creation life through death. Consider Paul’s words in Romans 6:1-4:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Paul is fielding an anticipated objection to his gospel of grace (see Rom 5:20-21). And, in response to the question, “If grace abounds all the more when sin abounds, why not just go on sinning?” he answers, “Haven’t you been baptized?!”
His response to the Christian who would carry on sinning is to ask them to consider their baptism. He does so because in baptism we physically, visibly, and sacramentally signify that we have been spiritually, invisibly, and truly united with Christ by faith. And what we’ve been united in by faith is nothing less than the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, the basic thrust of his response is, “How can you go on sinning like nothing has even happened? How could you undergo this death and resurrection and somehow live the same kind of life?”
The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit has united us to Christ by faith and that, in this unity, we have truly and really participated in the death and resurrection of Jesus. So that when he died on the cross, we died with him. When he was raised from the grave, we were raised with him. As we died with him, we died to our sin and God satisfied his justice toward us in Christ. As we were raised with him, we received the new life he inherited as a reward for his perfect obedience to God.
In baptism, we unite with these realities in a special way as the same Spirit who united us to Christ works in our souls to set a seal upon the remission of our sins and our new status of righteousness in Christ. Our baptism confirms that we are no longer condemned sinners under wrath, but justified saints under grace. So that for Paul to say, “Have you not been baptized?” is the same thing as for him to say, “Have you not come into a new identity in Christ?”
In this way, baptism is the sacramental turning point of our entire lives. We can’t go on sinning, because in light of our baptism, “We know that our old self was crucified with him…so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:6). Just as “the death [Christ] died to sin, once for all,” so too have we died to sin, “once for all” (Rom 6:10). Not that baptism makes us perfect or takes away our experience of the on-going struggle against sin, but that baptism marked the decisive moment in which our lives were no longer ruled and dominated by sin.
As Leonard Vander Zee says, “As Jesus’ burial was the last step of his dying…so our burial in baptism is the true mark of our absolute death to the old life of sin and death.” Because of this, Paul is saying, “How can you go on living in sin if you’ve already died to sin?!” How could we return to the very sin from which Christ has set us free (Rom 6:7)! You can’t live like you used to, because that person is dead. Christ has made you into something else now, and that new creation has no part in living like the old man. Baptism is the headstone that marks the grave of our old life and self.
But that’s not all! Not only is baptism the “true mark of our absolute death” it is also the “true mark” of our new and everlasting life! For, as Paul writes, “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom 6:5). If we’ve participated in Christ’s death, then we’ll just as much participate in his resurrection life. Christ died to sin once for all upon the cross, “but the life he lives [now and forever] he lives to God” (Rom 6:10). Just as Christ now lives to God, so do we! We who were once dead in sin now, “must consider [ourselves] dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6:11).
We can look backward to our baptism to be assured that we truly have passed from death to life. That the new life we’ve laid hold of by faith is as sure as Christ was raised from the grave and as sure as we were raised up out of the water. The Spirit-wrought grace of baptism is to seal our hearts and spirits with the confidence that we’ve received new life in Christ.
And out of this confidence we can live as new creations, boldly, freely, and joyfully serving Christ. We can look forward to the future and expect that no matter what befalls us, we are Christ’s and that wherever life may take us it will end in eternal resurrection life.
1. Get baptized! If you’ve never been baptized as an expression of your faith in Christ, we encourage you to be baptized if you have believed in him, experienced new life in him, and have been united to him by faith. Signify that in baptism.
We encourage you to get baptized if:
a. You believe in Christ but have not been baptized. Don’t delay in obeying Christ and experiencing his grace through this sacrament!
In the New Testament, baptism went hand and hand with conversion. We don’t read of any unbaptized believers present and participating in the earliest churches for any extended length of time. And even if there were, this would certainly be the exception not the norm. What we do see is that the 3,000 who believed on the day of Pentecost were baptized that same day (Acts 2:37-41). The Philippian jailer was baptized that same night - even in the middle of the night - having been awakened from his sleep by the earthquake that got his attention to receive the gospel (Acts 16:25-34)! The Ethiopian Eunuch demanded his chariot pull over on the desert road as soon as he’d understood and believed the gospel so that Philip could baptize him right then and there (Acts 8:36-38). In the New Testament, there is a proper urgency to baptize new believers.
Why this urgency? Because baptism was and is the first visible step of the Christian life. After the Spirit works in our hearts through the gospel message and we come to faith, we are thereby united to Christ. We come to possess him and all the benefits of his redemptive work as our faith connects us to him. That invisible union being the case, the very next thing to do is express this inward reality outwardly through baptism. As soon as we’ve received the spirit of adoption internally (Rom 8:14-16; Gal 4:6), we are called to demonstrate our entry into God’s household externally through baptism.
b. You were baptized as an infant or young child apart from your own profession of faith in Christ. Baptism is a sacramental expression of our faith-union with Christ, and apart from faith, we are not united to Christ. Simply put, without faith in Christ there is no union with Christ. And without this union, we rob the sacramental sign of the spiritual reality it signifies if we apply it to those without a faith of their own.
c. You were baptized in a church or context in which the gospel – what Christ accomplished in his death and resurrection – was not clearly proclaimed or even affirmed. Christian baptism must be just that, Christian. And to any who may have been baptized in a church that did not practice or proclaim orthodox Christianity (but was instead a cult or heretical sect), we’d encourage you to be baptized for the first time in a biblical manner in a church that faithfully proclaims the word and properly administers the sacraments.
If you’re reading this and asking, “How can I be sure I’m ready to be baptized?” consider the diagnostic questions below. Candidates for baptism should be able to:
1. Communicate an understanding of the gospel.
2. Express faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
3. Evidence godly sorrow over sin and the intention to repent of their sin.
These items should be present in any candidates for baptism, but they don’t need to be perfectly present in order to qualify for baptism. We're saved by grace through faith in the work of Christ alone. Baptism is not a work we do but an extension of Christ’s work in us as we respond to him with faith and obedience. We’re always going to be growing in our knowledge of the gospel (2 Pet 3:18). Our faith will never be immune to wavering. And even as we truly forsake and repent of sin, we’re always going to be engaged in the battle against it (Gal 5:16-17). None of this would disqualify someone from receiving baptism. The question isn’t are the above items “perfect,” but are they, by God’s grace, “present?”
Contact a pastor here to inquire about baptism at Cross of Grace Santa Ana.
2. Remember your baptism. Remember your past baptism with Christ in order to be spurred on to present obedience to Christ. Just as Paul appealed to the Romans in Rom 6:1-11.
3. Don’t get re-baptized IF… Don’t get re-baptized if you feel your first baptism did not coincide with enough gospel knowledge or subsequent spiritual fruit. Re-baptism here refers to an additional baptism after you participated in a valid baptism in which: the gospel was proclaimed, you were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and you had professed your faith in Christ. If you believed with even mustard seed faith, then your baptism was a valid expression of your true union with Christ. Why? Because though our faith is important – it is the instrument that connects us to Christ and the means by which we received the Spirit-wrought grace of baptism – the strength of that faith is less important than the strength of the Savior in whom we’ve believed. Even the tiniest mustard seed faith connects us to the Christ who will hold us fast and allow nothing and no one (not even ourselves!) to snatch us out of his hand (Jn 10:27-30; Rom 8:35-39; 1 Thess 5:23-24; 1 Pet 1:3-5; Jude 24).
Take heart and be encouraged as your shallow understanding of baptism deepens over time (pun intended). Though you did not understand it all in the moment, as your knowledge grows, so will your appreciation for all your baptism meant. Beyond just this, your deepening appreciation of baptism will also coincide with a greater celebration of baptisms as you witness them in the context of the local church.
We thank Christ for the sacrament of baptism: our doorway into the house of God!
Women at all stages of life are invited to come and learn how to be women whose lives honor God - women who live in light of the Gospel.
This meeting will be discussing chapters 3-5 in What is Biblical Theology by James Hamilton Jr, a book we will be reading over the next several months. You can purchase a copy of the book in either English or Spanish.
Women’s Meeting takes place on the 4th Thursday of every month at 7pm at the Schlieder Home. We hope to see you there!
We exist to spread the joy of Jesus to our Santa Ana neighbors. This is a chance for you to walk directly in that mission. We will walk the neighborhood of French Park, praying for and with our neighbors, asking if our neighbors have any home-repair or other needs and inviting them to Easter Sunday Service, all with the expectation that we would behold God's mercy toward our city. Kids are welcome. This is a chance for us to “go into our city” so that we might have the opportunity to “speak to our city”. If the thought of inviting strangers to church is scary or uncomfortable, you can even just drop church invitations on doorsteps to start. But the important thing is that you start. So come and join us.
Our own Angie Cunningham has worked and volunteered for Livingwell Pregnancy Centers for years, advocating for the unborn and helping women considering abortion to choose life instead for their little ones still in utero. She regularly invites our church to participate in this God-glorifying work when opportunities arise. The Walk For Life is one such opportunity.
“This fun-filled family event is a celebration of life and a wonderful opportunity for you to partner with our medical clinic. Proceeds from the Walk enable our clinic to provide free services and support to clients throughout the year who need to hear that God loves them and their babies, and has a plan, purpose, and destiny for their lives.”
Every Tuesday we publish a blog post to lay out in one place what’s going in the life of the church for the upcoming week. See below for a snapshot of what’s on the calendar this week:
7:00 pm - Schlieder Home
8:30 am - Ebell Club
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
From Mark Prater, Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches: “Trinity Fellowship Church was planted by Michael Granger, his family and a small team in Addis Ababa. They started the Ethiopian Pastors College (PC) not long after. This video shares a bit about that story. I’m grateful to God for the many ways He has been good to this church and PC. I can’t wait for you, and the members of your church to watch this video because it tells a story of partnership, answered prayer, and the gospel going forward in the nations. It’s a story that speaks to our passion of advancing the gospel together through the ministry of our local churches.” Watch the video here.
Baptism is one of the sweetest moments in the life of the church. It’s a visible portrayal of the effects of the Gospel in a person. Baptism does not save a person or contribute to their salvation. Rather, it’s an outward display of an inward work that has already taken place. It’s also an act of obedience, something that every believer is commanded to do.
If you’re interested in being baptized or just have questions about baptism, please contact one of our pastors.
In 1 Samuel 25, David, the anointed king, asks for help from a man named Nabal. Nabal had the resources David needed to feed his men. In return for his help, Nabal would have feasted with the king and would have his long-term favor when David finally gained his kingdom. But Nabal instead decided to hoard his belongings and act like king over his own little sham kingdom. The result was his own death. The story illustrates the simple warning and promise of Ps. 2:6-12: reject Christ the King and “perish in the way.” Receive his good & perfect reign and enjoy an eternal “refuge in him.” Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to learn more.
PART 1 - WHAT ARE THE SACRAMENTS?
It’s the hope of the pastoral team that you came away from our annual Communion Service with a renewed appreciation for the sacraments of the church. That even now, you’re both remembering the Lord’s Table and anticipating the next time we’d gather around it. That you reflected on your baptism - whenever it was and whatever level of Christian maturity you then possessed - and we’re freshly reminded that you’ve entered into the house of God through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To help our church think well about and get the most out of our participation in the sacraments of baptism and communion, we’ve put together a series of articles to provide a foundational understanding of the two sacraments of the New Testament Church.
As we do, we offer two disclaimers: 1. The sacraments are also commonly referred to as “the ordinances” and we don’t object to this phrase. An ordinance refers to something which has been ordained, and in the case of baptism and communion, the thrust of the term is that these particular practices of the church have been solemnly and specifically ordained by the Lord of the Church - Jesus Christ - to be observed all throughout the present age until he comes. However, we prefer the use of the term “sacrament” because it: a. connects us to the historic language and expression of the church (see below), and b. refers not just to the origin of the practices in view, but provides a framework to understand their function as well (again, see below). 2. When speaking of the particular sacrament of communion, the terms “communion,” “Lord’s Table,” and “Lord’s Supper” will be used interchangeably throughout.
Now, even as we begin, we know the word sacrament may seem clunky, unfamiliar, just too Roman Catholic, too mystical, too traditional, or too inaccessible to us, for some reason or another, as it crosses our ears and sparks connections in our minds. But, hear us out, we believe it’s a fine word to use to describe these two practices Christ has commanded his church to carry out until he returns.
So, let’s define our terms, what is a sacrament? Historically, what have believers understood this term to mean & how do we use it in the life of our church today? We’ll answer this question in 3 parts: First, a sacrament is a visible word.
The term “sacrament” comes from the Latin word sacramentum which was “originally a military term describing the oath of allegiance and obedience that a soldier solemnly pledged to his commander” (Christ, Baptism, And The Lord’s Supper, Leonard Vander Zee). The term was taken up in the second century by Christians to describe “the pledge of faith and allegiance made by candidates for baptism to their Lord” (Vander Zee). From here, the term over time became applied to the practice of baptism itself and then, later on, to the Lord’s Supper as well. Once the term was firmly associated with these practices, the meaning of sacrament essentially became “the sign of a sacred thing” (Vander Zee). The sacraments are physical signs which point our minds and hearts to sacred spiritual realities.
As signs, baptism and the Lord’s Supper become for us, as Augustin puts it, “a visible form of an invisible grace.” They physically, visibly, and outwardly represent the spiritual, invisible, and inward grace of God that has worked in us through the gospel by the Spirit. Physical immersion into water in baptism signifies our spiritual death to sin and resurrection to new life with Christ. Ordinary bread broken and eaten by us signifies that Christ has become for us the all-satisfying, soul-nourishing, bread of life that sustains our spiritual life and joy. A cup poured out and drunk by us signifies that Christ has poured out his blood to wash all our guilty stains, cleanse our consciences, and seal all the promises of the New Covenant for us.
In this understanding, the visible sign of the sacraments become to us a visible, tangible, and experiential proclamation of the gospel. The sacraments demonstrate the saving work of Christ and depict the drama of our own redemption. As they do, they allow us to participate in the redemptive work of Christ in a special way as we engage it with the fullness of our senses.
Beholding immersion and rising out of water, the breaking of the bread, and the pouring out of the cup. Hearing, “Be buried with Christ and rise to walk in newness of life” and “This is my body, which is for you…this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured our for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Feeling the cool wetness wash over us in baptism and grasping the broken bread and poured out cup of the Lord’s Supper. Smelling the smell of the wet ground around us as we emerge from the water or taking in the scent of freshly baked bread and the aroma of the cup. Tasting the liquid as we rise up out of the baptismal pool and it drips down our face and is caught upon our lips or experiencing the rich flavor of the bread and the sweetness of the cup making first contact with the tastebuds on our tongues. In all these ways, the invisible spiritual reality of our life in Christ and his redemptive work which was applied to our souls becomes visible, tangible, and participated in by us in a physical way that drives our appreciation of it deeper down into our hearts.
Think of it like a kiss between husband and wife. The kiss they share is a sign of their love for each other. It is not the fullness or substance of their covenant-love itself, but it points to that invisible love with which they love each other. But not only that. The kiss doesn’t just point to their love, it expresses their love, and truly joins them in love. And as it joins them in love, it deepens their experience of love. In this way, the kiss is a sign that points to and increases the enjoyment of the love that is signified. In the same way, the sacraments are signs which not only point to the finished work of Christ but allow us to connect with it in such a way that our participation in all the benefits of that work is deepened: strengthening our faith, reinvigorating our joy, and refreshing our appreciation for all we have in Christ.
Second, a sacrament is an activity which has been ordained by God. From its inception, the Church of Jesus Christ has participated in the sacraments because Christ, the head of the Church, has commanded it. Baptism and communion are the only two sacraments ordained by Christ for his Church to observe, practice, and carry on in until he returns. In the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus, the one who said, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” told his disciples to “make disciples of all nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” He told his disciples to proclaim the gospel message and baptize those who would receive it by faith.
Similarly, in the institution of the Lord’s Supper, as Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and later took the cup after supper, he commanded his disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). Instructing them to continue commemorating his sacrificial death upon the cross as they participated in a meal in which they ate the bread which represents his broken body and drank the cup which represents his spilled blood (Lk 22:19-20). Christ commanded his Church to preach the gospel, baptize those who received it by faith, and to commemorate his redemptive death via a meal in perpetuity until he returned.
From the very beginning of the early church in Acts, we see the sacraments observed according to this pattern (Acts 2:37-42). As the gospel was proclaimed by Christ’s disciples and received by those who heard, “those who received” the word were baptized and “added” to the church (Acts 2:41). And as those baptized believers gathered together for worship, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The “breaking of bread” referring to the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
In this way, the proper order of and participants in the sacraments are made clear. Baptism occurs first and marks the entryway and initiation into Christ’s people. The “breaking of the bread,” or Lord’s Supper, follows this and is an on-going observation for those who have: heard the gospel, believed the gospel, and been “added” to the church through baptism. The proper order of participating in the sacraments is baptism and then communion (the New Testament lacks a category for an unbaptized believer taking the Lord’s Supper). The proper participants in the sacraments are those who receive these signs (understanding the gospel realities that they signify) by faith. For a sign is only as effective and as meaningful as it manages to point the one who receives it to the greater reality that it signifies. It wouldn’t make sense to give the sign of baptism or communion to anyone who had not first heard, understood, and grasped the gospel realities to which they point by faith. The sacraments are signs that confirm our participation in the promises of God to give and sustain new life in Christ and those promises must be received by faith. In short, the sacraments are for believers.
The sheer fact that Christ has commanded we observe the sacraments in and of itself makes them worthy of our serious attention, obedience, and willingness to rightly understand what our Lord intended by them. Because Christ commanded them, they are not optional. Because Christ instituted them, he gets to define what they mean and how they are to be observed. We must obey the Lord in our proper practice of the sacraments. But, we shouldn’t allow the reality of this obedience to make them into a mere matter of duty. Far from it! The sacraments are not a matter of dispassionate duty nor a method of meriting grace as we rightly observe them, but a means through which the free grace of God flows out into us to the satisfaction, nourishment, and delight of our souls.
Third, the sacraments are a means of grace. What do we mean when we say, “means of grace?” Richard Barcellos provides a helpful explanation as he says the “means of grace” are, “Delivery systems God has instituted to bring grace - that is, spiritual power, spiritual change, spiritual help, spiritual fortitude, spiritual blessings - to needy souls on earth…The means of grace are those conduits through which Christ alters, modifies, adjusts, changes, transforms, and develops souls on earth” (The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace).
Through these means of grace (which we understand to be the Word of God, prayer, the gathered worship of the local church, and the sacraments of baptism and communion) we receive grace from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit as he works through the ordained means. By faith, we participate in these means and the grace that Christ acquired for us in his redemptive work is distributed or delivered to us.
Think of it this way: Jesus is the great storehouse or warehouse of grace. The means of grace are the delivery trucks which bring his grace to us. And the Holy Spirit is driving the truck, distributing the grace of Christ in heaven to believers upon the earth. If we put it into an equation, it look like this: God’s ordained means + the Spirit + our faith = soul-altering grace to us. It’s important we note every part in that equation here. The means of grace, and the sacraments especially, aren’t magic. They don’t give grace in and of themselves. The equation is not: baptism or communion = soul-altering grace. But, the Spirit of God works to bring us the grace of God as we receive the ordained means by faith. Faith that is placed in the One from whom grace comes and his finished work of redemption, not faith placed in the power and effectiveness of baptism or the Lord’s Supper in and of themselves.
The sacraments are a means of grace to us in many ways, but one of the primary benefits we receive from them is the grace of assurance. As Calvin said a sacrament is “an outward sign by which the Lord seals to our consciences the promises of his good will toward us in order to sustain the weakness of our faith” (Institutes 4.14.1). This is where the grace of the sacraments hits home. They are given “in order to sustain the weakness of our faith.” Because, being honest, we doubt the reality of our new creation life in Christ and the steadfast love of God for us. We doubt. We sin. We struggle. We sometimes find ourselves unable to tell our lives apart from those of unbelievers. We feel spiritually dull or stagnant. We don’t feel like new creations in Christ. We don’t have unity with the church like we know we’re meant to. We hunger for the things of God, but the world is ever-enticing, ever distracting, and always trying to get us to consume this or that and our appetite for spiritual things is affected. We truly, though imperfectly, love Jesus, but we don’t now see him (1 Pet 1:8). Because this is the reality of our lives, we need the real grace of Christ offered through the sacraments.
Our own baptism and the baptism of others assures us that basis of our entry into the house of God is nothing we’ve done but our faith in what the death and resurrection of Christ have accomplished for us.
The Lord’s Table continually assures us that our seat at God’s table and ongoing place in his house are based upon the body and blood of Christ alone. Not maintained by our acceptable record, nor taken away because of our sin, but guaranteed for us because Christ has given his body to bring us into his body and shed his blood to cover all our sins.
Much more could be said, but suffice it to say: In his kindness, God has given us the sacraments to assure us that Christ and all his benefits are ours. They give to us assuring-grace that revives and refreshes our weary souls when we doubt the reality of our redemption.
How can we practically apply this theology of the sacraments? In two ways, remembering & anticipating.
Would you be encouraged as you:
Remember your baptism. Just how much have you died to sin and been raised with Christ to newness of life? How much were you immersed in water and buried in that symbolic grave? How wet did you get? How soaked were your clothes? How fully did you rise up out of that water and exit the tomb of the baptistry or inflatable pool you were in? As real as the water into which you were immersed, is the reality of the new life you have received in Christ. As truly as you physically were buried and raised, so too have you spiritually died and been raised with Christ (see Rom 6:1-4).
Remember the Lord’s Table. What is the basis of your acceptance with God? The body and the blood of Christ represented by the bread and cup that you hold in your hands. How confident can you be that all the promises of the New Covenant are yours? As confident as you beheld the bread broken and the cup poured out for you. How truly do you belong to the body of Christ and live life in the love of God and his saints? As truly as you gathered around the table and shared a meal with a family of redeemed sinners brought together by the grace of God in Christ.
Anticipate the baptisms of others. Look forward to the next time we’re privileged to witness baptisms in our church as new believers are added to the body of Christ and make their public entrance into Christ’s kingdom. Anticipate the moment in which the visible word of the sin-shattering, death-defeating, life-giving power of Christ is proclaimed. Be eager to encourage those baptized to celebrate all the significance of the sacrament and to remember the waters of baptism when waves of doubt assail them.
Anticipate the next time we gather around the Table. Long for that spiritual communion with Christ and expect to be met with grace. See communion as more than just a memorial of Christ’s death, but an active participation in all the benefits he acquired for us through that death. A real spiritual fellowship with the same Christ who gave his body and shed his blood and was raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, and now sits exalted above every power. Our coming to the Table is our coming into the presence of the Risen and Exalted Christ. And not only that! But a Risen and Exalted Christ who is eager to give us himself and feed our souls as often as we gather around his table. Anticipate the Table and expect Christ to work in you by the power of his Spirit next time you eat the bread and drink the cup.
Thank the Lord that he’s ordained the proclamation of these visible words that bring his grace to us!
This concludes, part 1 of this series of articles. In later posts, we’ll dive more deeply into the waters of baptism and feast our minds and hearts even further on the riches of the Lord’s Table. Stay tuned for those, and until then, please see additional resources for further reading below!
Interested in diving deeper into the subject of baptism or feasting your mind on the topic of the Lord’s Table? Here’s a few suggestions for you:
Sovereign Grace Churches Statement of Faith - We Believe: A Statement of Faith - See section 12, paragraph 3, “The Sacraments of the Church.”
The free PDF can be found here: We Believe: A Statement of Faith (PDF)
Books
From Paedobaptism to Credobaptism, by W. Gary Crampton
The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace: More than a Memory, by Richard Barcellos (quoted in Sunday’s sermon)
The Lord’s Supper: Eternal Word in Broken Bread, by Robert Letham
Systematic Theology, by Wayne Grudem (see chapters 48-50, Means of Grace Within the Church, Baptism, and The Lord’s Supper)
Español: Teologia Sistemica
Articles
God's Visible Media: The Sacraments in a Digital Age, by Daniel R. Hyde
Means of Grace, by Ligonier Ministries
What is a Means of Grace, by Nicholas T. Batzig
Counterfeit Communion by Jeff Johnson
Baptism, by Stephen Wellum
The Lord's Supper, by Jonathan Griffiths
The Ordinances of the Church, by Gregg Allison
