- Dec 21, 2013
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The Lord’s Supper is a great meal. It is an ordinary means of God’s grace to his church and a representation of the great sacrifice on the Cross. Along with baptism, the Supper is one of Jesus’s two specially instituted sacraments for the signifying, sealing, and strengthening of his new-covenant people. Some also call this Communion, or the Eucharist. We baptize our children, yet many children (in my denomination) do not participate in communion.
Paedocommunion was the universal practice of the Church until the late medieval period (c. 1200). Biblically, paedocommunion is grounded in the status of children within the covenant. Just as the children of the old covenant were admitted to sacramental communal meals (such as Passover), so too the children of the new covenant belong at the table of the Lord.
Sharing a meal with the Lord has no bearing on salvation anymore than baptism does. I will bring my children to the table and administer the sacrament to them so that they might eat and drink with their Savior. If need be, as their spiritual head I will discern the meaning behind the practice on their behalf, and teach them the meaning. I feel that God welcomes all of His to the table to fellowship with Him and all of His body in celebration of the great gift He's given us.
Paedocommunion was the universal practice of the Church until the late medieval period (c. 1200). Biblically, paedocommunion is grounded in the status of children within the covenant. Just as the children of the old covenant were admitted to sacramental communal meals (such as Passover), so too the children of the new covenant belong at the table of the Lord.
Sharing a meal with the Lord has no bearing on salvation anymore than baptism does. I will bring my children to the table and administer the sacrament to them so that they might eat and drink with their Savior. If need be, as their spiritual head I will discern the meaning behind the practice on their behalf, and teach them the meaning. I feel that God welcomes all of His to the table to fellowship with Him and all of His body in celebration of the great gift He's given us.