JacktheCatholic posted in message #23:
Quote:
Although the two prominent reformers, Luther and
Zwingli, found a consensus on fourteen points, they
kept differing on the last one on the Eucharist:
Luther maintained that by Sacramental Union, the
consecrated bread and wine in the Lord's Supper were
united to the true body and blood of Christ for all
communicants to eat and drink; whereas, Zwingli
considered bread and wine only symbols of the body
and blood of Christ. On this issue they parted
without having reached an agreement.
Underlying this disagreement was their theology of
Christ. Luther believed the human body of Christ at
the right hand of God was ubiquitous (present in all
places) and so present in the bread and wine. This
was possible because the attributes of God infused
Christ's human nature. Luther emphasizing the oneness
of Christ's person. Zwingli who emphasized the
distinction of the natures, believed that Christ in
his deity was omnipresent, Christ's human body could
only be present in one place.
This subject, although it differs from the subject of
this thread, offers a good opportunity to show how we
can use "Scripture as my measure" to determine the
truth.
The opinions of Luther and Zwingli are not to be our
measure, just as the opinions of any other humans are
not to be our measure. Instead, it is the Bible itself
which will bring us into the truth regarding the
Lord's Supper and Christ's Presence, just as it is the
the Bible itself which will bring us into the truth
regarding all other doctrines and practices:
2 Timothy 3:16 ...All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
While "Luther maintained that by Sacramental Union,
the consecrated bread and wine in the Lord's Supper
were united to the true body and blood of Christ for
all communicants to eat and drink; whereas, Zwingli
considered bread and wine only symbols of the body
and blood of Christ", all that matters is what the
Bible itself teaches:
Matthew 26:26 ...Jesus took bread, and blessed it,
and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and
said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which
is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Jesus does not say "This bread and wine is by
Sacramental Union united to my true body and blood",
nor does Jesus say "This bread and wine are only
symbols of my body and blood". Instead, He expressly,
and so simply, says that "This bread and wine IS my
body and blood". So why can't we just take Him at His
Word, instead of adding to it complex man-made ideas,
or subtracting from it by substituting the man-made
idea that "No, the bread and wine ISN'T His body and
blood; they're only symbols of them"?
Jesus didn't say we had to eat and drink symbols of
His body and blood, but that we had to eat His actual
body and blood:
John 6:53 ...Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
dwelleth in me, and I in him.
So let us take Jesus at His Word, let us take His
Word alone as our measure, and accept that the bread
and wine of communion are His body and blood, and that
we must eat and drink them if we are to be saved.
But if the bread and wine are His body and blood, then
we must look to the Bible to answer the question posed
by the disagreement between Luther and Zwingli
regarding Christ's body: "Luther believed the human
body of Christ at the right hand of God was ubiquitous
(present in all places) and so present in the bread
and wine. This was possible because the attributes of
God infused Christ's human nature. Luther emphasizing
the oneness of Christ's person. Zwingli who emphasized
the distinction of the natures, believed that Christ
in his deity was omnipresent, Christ's human body
could only be present in one place".
The Bible teaches that Jesus' body is physically in
one place: that it ascended into heaven and must
remain there until His second coming:
Acts 1:9 ...while they beheld, he was taken up; and a
cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as
he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 3:21 ...Whom the heaven must receive until the
times of restitution of all things ...
But if Jesus' body, including its blood, must remain
in heaven until His second coming, then how can His
body and its blood be on the earth in the bread and
wine of communion?
Jesus gives us the answer in the Bible. Right after
He says that we must eat His body and drink His
blood:
John 6:60 ...Many therefore of his disciples, when
they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying;
who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples
murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend
you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up
where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit, and they are life.
Note that Jesus foretells that His body, with its
blood, would physically ascend into heaven, and that
the flesh profits nothing, and that the words which
He spoke about eating His body and drinking His blood
must be understood in some spiritual sense, for it is
only in some spiritual sense that His body and blood
can give us life.
This doesn't mean that the bread and wine aren't
His body and blood, but that they aren't His body
and blood in the physical sense, for He physically
ascended into heaven and must physically remain there
until His second coming.
But this doesn't mean that He, His body and blood,
can't come to us in some spiritual sense:
John 14:16 ...And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide
with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to
you.
Matthew 28:20 ... lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen.
So Jesus can be here with us, including His body and
His blood, in a spiritual sense, so that we can
actually eat His body and drink His blood in the
bread and wine of communion, even though His body and
blood must physically remain in heaven until His
second coming.
We cannot look at the bread of communion and say "Hey,
I don't see Jesus' body; all I see is some bread". We
must discern that that bread IS Jesus' body in some
spiritual sense, for if we don't, we will be held
accountable as someone who:
1 Corinthians 11:29 ... eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you,
and many sleep.
Here "sleep" is a euphemism for death; people who
take communion can actually die, or get weak and
sick, because they refuse to spiritually discern that
the bread of communion IS the Lord's body, and not
just a mere symbol of it.
Just as we can use "Scripture as my measure" to
determine the truth regarding the Lord's Supper, so
we can use scripture as our measure to determine the
truth regarding any other doctrine or practice.
We can "Turn It Around" for our Children's sake.......
