- Feb 25, 2016
- 11,536
- 2,723
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Non-Denom
- Marital Status
- Single
Is it necessary or is baptism enough?
I think this is where the distinction between the esse and the bene esse (or plene esse) of the Christian life is useful.
That is, it is possible to be a kind of minimalist Christian (that would mean having only the esse, or what is essential). But then there is the fullness of Christian life, which has real benefits, and which is more than the esse.
You could be Christians who never partook of the Eucharist, and that would be enough for salvation. But it would not be enough for the fullness of Christian life.
I think what you're asking is are there conditions to being in God's Grace. If I read that as true then bear with me. We are all permitted a choice to hearken to the word of God that is alive in the sermons of Jesus Christ.Is it necessary or is baptism enough?
I think what you're asking is are there conditions to being in God's Grace. If I read that as true then bear with me. We are all permitted a choice to hearken to the word of God that is alive in the sermons of Jesus Christ.
Acts 16 tells us, believe in the Lord and you shall be saved.
Belief, faith in Jesus, is all that is required to be saved. James 2 is a great read because it tells you what essentially is, when you are in Christ and regenerated as a newborn in God's love, your work on earth is that of the Father. Because what is belief in a God of love if the believer does not show the charity that Jesus who was sent by God taught by example?
When we love our fellows and treat them with loving kindness, we are at work in the Lord. When we don't scorn those in need but answer their pleading, we are at work in the Lord.
And yet too often there are moments when we think we have to earn Salvation. But Jesus already did that on our behalf by dying so that all we had to do was believe in his sacrifice and why it was done, ask him to give us the gift God's Grace defines,deifies, and we are then His.
You don't have to: Be Baptized. Accept Communion.
Those are rites that give you a fuller union with what it is to be washed clean of your sins. And remembering Jesus and what he did for you by giving his flesh and blood to redeem you from the evils of the world. Sin.
So to answer your question, yes. You are a Christian if you've never had communion. Think of those who are alone but have heard of Jesus. Or took a tract, found a New Testament, read it, and accepted Christ . No one there to immerse them in water. No one there to give them a piece of unleavened bread and a sip of wine. They simply chose to lay in bed, drop to their knees, stand to their feet and shout to the rafters, whatever the Spirit that beckoned them inspires further, and accepted Jesus Christ.
And they are therefore eternally His. And no one shall take them from His hand.
If you are seeking that feeling, may God guide you further. If you can partake of Baptism that is a blessing. Communion, that is a blessing as well. But they are not conditions (works) you must meet in order to be a member of the body of Christ. Faith alone is.
Grace be of God and brings you home.
John 6:53 ►
New International Version
Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?
That was eat my flesh, not eat my brains.
I think this is where the distinction between the esse and the bene esse (or plene esse) of the Christian life is useful.
That is, it is possible to be a kind of minimalist Christian (that would mean having only the esse, or what is essential). But then there is the fullness of Christian life, which has real benefits, and which is more than the esse.
You could be Christians who never partook of the Eucharist, and that would be enough for salvation. But it would not be enough for the fullness of Christian life.
John 6:51This is the scripture which provoked the question:
I spent most of my life thinking that it wasn't necessary since the vast majority of the members of the denomination I belonged to
felt that the sacraments were only intended for a special group called the anointed. But I am no longer a member and just recently went to a Catholic Church and partook of the bread or body. They dispense the wine or blood on Saturdays so I still need to complete the Mass by partaking the wine as well.
After having partaken of the body I feel different. As if a supernatural evil which had been hounding me has finally retreated. I no longer need a certain medication which I had been on for twenty years. Whether it is all some coincidence or not I don't know. But it doesn't feel like a coincidence.
So my question is strongly motivated by this experience as well.
How do you know if you have never tried to find fullness without it? Many people talk about fullness being in sacraments, but I think its actually in fellowship of the spirit that we find fullness. There is also much fullness found in bearing our cross, and finding personal strength in the Lord, which is found in various trials and tribulations. As paul said, he gloried in necessities, hardships and tribulation, because the power of Christ would rest on him. I think its unwise to put God into a box and say fullness is found only in sacraments, especially if you are not talking from experience. It seems to follow the same mistake the NC Jews followed, they couldn't find fullness without following food restrictions and purity laws.
John 6:51
Jesus' ministry was delivered in a didactic form. He was the bread of life. Verse 53 isn't saying if you don't eat of the communion bread and drink of the wine you are not saved. He's telling you that to believe utterly in him, sustain yourself on his word, is to have life everlasting. Because his truth is food of the soul.
I was baptised as an adult, so I have had my own time without the sacraments on which to reflect.
However, I was not arguing that the sacraments were the only thing which define the bene or plene esse of the Christian life, simply that they are part of it. And I base that, as much on anything else, as on the fact that Jesus commanded them.