Jesus gave the Church two decrees or commands known as ordinances. Some churches refer to these as sacraments. The word sacrament suggests the action itself carries grace to
the Believer. Baptists believe that Jesus gave the ordinances not as a sacrament but as an image and confirmation of God’s grace. These acts are a remembrance of grace and a source of blessing and encouragement to the Church.
Christian Baptism to an act of obedience that signifies the Believer’s commitment to Jesus Christ, His teachings, and the Church. It symbolizes the Christians’ faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and correlates with the Believers’ death to old sinful nature and raised in the new life in Christ. The Believer is submerged in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a triune act. Baptism is a church ordinance required to partake in the Lord’s Supper. The Greek word for Baptism, baptize, is clearly understood as the complete immersion of an object or person in the water. Sprinkling or partial immersion does not satisfy the New Testament meaning of Baptism.
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)
Being dead to self or the flesh and alive to Christ, His will and way, is perfectly depicted in Baptism.
The Lord’s Supper is also an ordinance of the Church. It is an obedient act where the Church eats the bread and drinks the wine to remember Christ’s death and anticipate His second coming. Baptism also denotes the believers belonging to the covenant community known as the Church.
Baptism demonstrates the Believer’s obedience but is not necessary for salvation. Baptism does not save a person but indicates that they have already received Christ as their Savior.
Christ established The Lord’s Supper, and it causes us to remember The Last Supper that He shared with His disciples the night before His crucifixion. During the meal, Jesus explained His death using the bread and the wine—the bread symbolizing His body and the wine His blood. His body was broken for believers and carried the theme of the suffering servant, as explained in the Old Testament. (Isa. 42; 44; 53). There is no good news without the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Scripture instructs Believers to inspect their hearts before sharing in the Lord’s Supper to guard against personal sin. Like Baptism, the Lord’s Supper should be recognized as figurative. It is not a sacrament but an ordinance.
When we participate in the Lord’s Supper as the local Church, we declare and recall our Lord and Savior’s death, burial, and resurrection and look forward to His second coming.
