Church Ordinances

Church Ordinances

Course: PLED 350- D01

Student: Alex Zeedar

Date: 4/29/13

The two types of ordinances instituted by Christ are communion and baptism. It is important, as believers, that these two ordinances are understood so that the will of God maybe fully followed. To belittle or over emphasize either of these ordinances generates a risk of harming the purpose of each one. Thus, we must look to the Word of God to see how our Lord intended for each ordinance to be followed.

Communion is the mimicking of the Passover meal between Christ and His disciples. In the event, Christ broke bread and stated that it represented his body; He then poured wine and stated that it represented His blood and the new covenant brought by Him (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). In the end, Christ stated that the event was dedicated for the remembrance of Him; therefore the ritual of communion was birthed from then on.

As depicted by the scene itself, Christ shows us that this ceremony is only for His close followers. In the event, each individual is symbolically accepting the sacrifice of Christ as the key to salvation; not only this, but each individual is taking time to remember Christ' gift to us, as He commanded in 1st Corinthians.

The frequency of the event has changed overtime. In the early church the Lord's Supper was celebrated on a daily basis (MacArthur, 286). In churches today, it is normal for the Lord's Supper to be celebrated on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. However, regardless the frequency, each Christian must be certain to approach the ceremony with the right mindset.

Communion can be done both at home and at church, but Christians must be certain to never de-synthesize themselves to its importance. The purpose of communion is "a memorial to the One who lived and died for us, a time with communion with Him, a proclamation of the meaning of His death, and a sign of our anticipation of His return" (MacArthur, 287). Therefore, the response of each believer should be a mix of respect, worship, thankfulness, praise, and rejoice. The Apostle Paul warns that if we do not hold importance to communion we "shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord".

Baptism is a similar to communion, where it is symbolic in manner and meant for believers of Christ alone. Jesus reflected the importance of baptism in two ways; first by being baptized Himself, and secondly, by commanding His disciples to baptize others (Matthew 28:19). As descried by MacArthur, baptism is the ceremony in which a person is immersed into water to represent his/her newness in Christ.

As stated before about communion, baptism is not the actual event of a person being saved; it is simply a ceremony after their salvation

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