Philip Davies Supporter

No, a person does not need to be baptised in order to share with other Christians around the Lords table. All that is needed is that you love Jesus and you want to remember his death with other Christians in common fellowship. 1 Cor 11:26

As things often turn out, most people tend to be baptised before they meet around the Lords table simply because baptism is the sign of first becoming a Christian. But even though it is usual it is not essential. There is no biblical qualification of baptism that you have to attain before you can remember the Lord in this way. 

We sometimes turn things like baptism into a requirement when it isn't. I have even heard people say that you can't be saved unless you have been baptised. All of this is quite untrue and quite unnecessary. Baptism is merely a sign; it doesn't do anything to you nor does it qualify you for anything. It is just a helpful reminder of a new start in the same way that the Lords table is a helpful reminder of what it cost to save us. 

So while neither baptism or communion are necessary to salvation, they are given to us to help our spiritual life. But we should avoid turning what is given as a help into a requirement. When we do that, we end up with a religion of works rather than a religion of grace.
Regards
Phil

April 27 2017 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Ezekiel Kimosop Supporter

Does a Christian have to be baptized first before he or she can partake in holy communion?

Scripture is silent on this question. The Bible does not explicitly provide that a believer must first be baptized before they can partake of the holy communion. Matthew 28:19-20 says "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen." (NKJV). 

The above Scripture appears to place baptism immediately after disciple-making. This perhaps suggests that believers should be baptized as soon as they come to faith. During the period coinciding with the Acts of the Apostles, believers were baptized immediately they converted to the faith. Philip the Evangelist baptized the Ethiopian eunuch using this approach (Acts 8:26-40). 

During his visit to Cornelius in Caesarea, Peter directed that Gentile believers should be baptized when he heard them speak in tongues and magnify God. Peter asks in Acts 10:47-48: "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days." (NKJV). 

Most conservative Evangelicals and mainstream Christian traditions insist that the believer must first undergo catechism before they can be baptized and be eligible to partake in holy communion. Some Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions however take a liberal view arguing that the only qualification for partaking in holy communion is the believer's confession of faith in Christ Jesus. 

My view is that even though Scripture is silent on the question, God has permitted the church to draw regulations that should guide the administration of the two rites based on their discernment of Scripture.

No matter what approach a Christian tradition subscribes to, the holy communion celebration should be administered with reverence and decorum in line with the directions and admonitions conveyed in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34.

13 days ago • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report