I need some simple answers heh

[BigToe]

Ok, so I have an odd dilema. Not a major problem. But it makes it more difficult to understand some issues. So I grew up in the Episcopal Church for like 17 or 18 years. Then I went to a Baptist and/or Non-Denom Church for the past 3 or 4 years. So obviously having grown up in different churches with different interpretations, my own beliefs on things seem to um combine the thoughts of both. So I was wondering. What exactly is the meaning and/or point of communion in the Protestant church?

 

[sola fide]

I'm not sure exactly how the Anglicans/Episcopalians view the Lord's Table, but I can summarize a few things that I know for certain many protestants believe.
1. Jesus instituted the Lord's supper as 1 of His 2 ordained sacraments (ordinances) for the church administer until He returns.
2. That as an ordinance, the Lord's supper is a visible sign of the gospel of Christ-
The bread represents His body which was given for His people.
The wine (fruit of the vine) represents His shed blood poured out for His people.
Each time we partake of the supper we see, touch, smell, and taste a representation of the gospel.
3. The bread and wine given in the supper remain just that, bread and wine, and undergo no change whatsoever. (*I know that Lutherans would disagree with that statement, being that they adhere to the consubstantion theory),
4. Although the bread and wine remain bread and wine, yet they are special because they were set apart by Christ for holy use. And because of this, only bread and wine (or grape juice) should be used in the supper, i.e. pizza and pepsi would not be acceptable.
5. Again, although the bread and wine remain just that, the fact that Jesus commands that we must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood reminds us that we are commanded to consume the gospel by faith, to eat it, to partake of it richly. Yet this is in the spiritual realm, not in the flesh.
6. We partake of the supper in remembrance of Christ, using it as a time to reflect on Him, His Word, and how He has impacted our lives by the cross.
7. The supper is not to be taken in a flippant or irreverant manner. Repentance is a necessary prerequisite by the command of the Apostle Paul.
Therefore the table is in no means to be taken by the non-believer, lest he heap up wrath upon himself. The same applies to unrepentant Christians engrossed in blatant sin.
8. Even with the extreme reverance that must be involved in the supper, yet still, all the more it is a time of rejoicing, knowing that Christ is our Passover Lamb.
9. The table is the Lord's table. Not the table of a particular church, a particular denomination, etc. It is His table. And when we dine at His table we are reminded that one day we will sit with Him at the greatest banquet of all, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

I'm sure there's plenty I left out.
I did not use Scripture quotations for the simple fact that they all would have come from the same passages in Matthew 26 and 1 Cor. 11.

Again, that by no means is all that the Lord's supper is, but I think it's a decent, although small summary.

Grace and peace.

 

[Terri]

Thank you Sola Fide. That is a wonderful explanation. Just beautiful. I can't find anything I disagree with or anything I can add.

 

[BigToe]

so when you say its symbollic... what exactly is meant?

 

[sola fide]

I'm not sure exactly what you are talking about. I don't recall actually using the word symbolic. Please explain. Thanks.


Grace and peace.

BTW thanks Terri, I love the Lord's supper, it's a beautiful event and a beautiful doctrine.

 

[BigToe]

no i didnt mean you. but it represents Christ's body and blood. why?

 

[sola fide]

Well, I think it comes down the the very nature and institution of the table. Jesus' earthly ministry was one that was full of "signs".
Miracles such as healing, extraordinary feats dealing with wine, fish and loaves, and raising the dead were never intended to be a display given for the flesh, nor were they intended simply to attract "awe-struck" masses to Jesus.
Truly the intention of each of these miracles was to be a sign of His kingdom.
What does a sign do? It points to something else, it represents another thing.

A stop sign is not a "stop"- it is a "sign". It shows us a reality that the sign is not in and of itself.
That's what the miracles of Jesus were. They were signs that pointed to greater things- the things of the Spirit and of the spiritual realm.
When Jesus raised someone from the dead, i.e Lazarus- this was a sign of a greater reality, i.e. spiritual rebirth- being born again.

Christ chose two signs to be carried on in the church until the end of the age- baptism and the Lord's supper.
Since we're on the subject of the supper, let's look at it as a sign.

The Lord's supper is a sign that points to a greater reality also. It is not the actual flesh and blood of Christ. It is not the actual return of Christ. It is not the actual covenant itself.
Yet it is a sign of all of these things. It points to them, reminds us of them, even hurls us into these greater spiritual truths.

If we perceive the supper as any of these things, including the flesh and blood of Christ, we are guilty of the same mistake of the non-believing Jews. That is looking for the physical while all along Christ is working on the spiritual.

Therefore, the bread and wine "represent" Christ's body and blood because they are given as a physical sign pointing to a greater spiritual reality- the necessity of feeding upon Christ by faith, dining at His table, and anxiously awaiting His return, plus scores of other things.

Grace and peace.

 

[BigToe]

OK, I am leaving town for Christmas. So you guys just keep explaining and I will ask more questions when I get back. Have a blessed week and a Merry Christmas!

 

[Lotar]

Wow, good answers sola fide. It'll be good to have you around.

 

[Lotar]

Deuteronomy 16:1-3
"Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
[size=-1]"You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name.
[size=-1]"You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.
[/size][/size]

[size=-1]

[size=-1]Luke 22:19-20
And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
[size=-1]And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.[/size][/size]

[/size]



[size=-1][size=-1]The purpose of communion is parallel to the passover. It is to remember. The passover was to remember how God freed the Jews from slavery to Egypt, and communion is to remember how Christ freed us from our slavery to sin.


[/size][/size]