Okay, so a question we received is, should believers be baptized by immersion before taking part in the Lord's Supper? What is your stance on fencing the table for visitors when it comes to those who are members in good standing at a Christ-centered church but were baptized as infants? I think there's something in there that's not quite right either, but that's the question that was submitted. How would you tackle that?
Well, the first question,
Baptism Before the Lord's Supper
should believers be baptized by immersion prior to taking the Lord's Supper? A simple answer to that question is yes. I think
Biblical Order of the Ordinances
we see in the Bible, for example, a particular order, a conspicuous order given with regards to the order of the ordinances following conversion. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 at verse 18, we read Christ saying, "...all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." And so, we see an order there with regards to first, the sinner receives the word preached to them. They believe they are a made disciple.
That made disciple is then to be baptized. And we're saying here by immersion, the word itself means that exactly, by immersion. The Apostle Paul in Romans 6, for example, connecting the doctrine of salvation to the doctrine of baptism and to Christ's burial and resurrection itself. And so, we say yes to the question by immersion because we are buried with Christ in baptism.
We're immersed with him in his burial. with regards to baptism, and we come up in the resurrection up from out of the water. And so that particular picture of the burial and resurrection of Christ is connected to baptism at the point of immersion. And there are other arguments that can be made, but getting back to the order here, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. So, that would include the Lord's Supper, the institution of the Lord's Supper, and the fact that the church is to observe that blessed ordinance or sacrament until Christ comes again.
So, the answer to that question is yes, and there's clear biblical warrant for an answer of yes. Yeah, so would you actually stop people from taking the supper or is it really on their conscience like how legalistic do you get with it? It's a. I know Jim wants to answer that question.
Well, you know,
Fencing the Table in Practice
this comes to policy and polity at the local church level. We've always exercised grace, period, in terms of people coming in because we are a very Pado-Baptist heavy community. The command is given to believers to participate in the supper. I realize there's various degrees of fencing the table.
Again, for me, a podcast is not the place to work all that out or to deal with all of that. So, suffice to say, realistically or ideally, baptized by immersion, take the supper. Yeah, I went through that myself and took the supper and realized I wasn't baptized, it wasn't right. And the issue is not so much taking the supper, but being disobedient on the baptism, right?
So, eventually, I realized I need to get baptized. Yeah. Okay, and