But after three months, those filters need an upgrade. The wear and tear of catching all that muck means it needs replacing. So too the Lord’s Supper catches the muck of division. Each celebration of the Supper is like replacing that air filter, renewing the church’s resolve to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace (Ephesians 4:3).
In other words, the unity of the church manifested in our relationships with one another is so important that God implemented a regular, reoccurring table fellowship that demands that all the participants resolve their differences and forgive one another before participating. The supper makes the many into one: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17).
As we remember that the Lord’s Supper is coming, it should motivate us either to dissolve any bitterness we may harbor toward others (1 Peter 4:8) or to seek out reconciliation and work through our bitterness with them (Matthew 5:23–24).
3. BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER CONTRIBUTE TO OUR CORPORATE FIGHT FOR ASSURANCE OF SALVATION.
The Bible teaches that our assurance of salvation should primarily be rooted in the objective work of Christ in our place and second in evidences of grace we see in our own life (i.e. our response to the objective work of Christ (1 John 2:3; 5–6; 3:10). How then should we examine these evidences of grace?
First of all, we should endeavor to maintain a clear conscience and a healthy dose of self-critical honesty. But self-reflection is not the only way we analyze whether our lives exhibit gospel transformation. When understood rightly, baptism and the Lord’s Supper also function as God’s ordained means whereby the entire congregation exercises its authority to strengthen and encourage our personal sense of assurance.
How so? Remember, in baptism the church tells the believer, “We think you’re a Christian.” Well, in the Lord’s Supper, the church tells the believer, “We still think you’re a Christian.” That’s why church discipline involves barring the unrepentant one from communion (i.e. excommunication), not from attending the church.
This means that when we gather around the table, we’re exercising a congregational authority and proclaiming to one another, “Brother or sister, if you are at this Table, then be emboldened and have assurance.” The people of God with whom you live week in and week out and who are examining your profession of faith are telling you, “Yes, your life reflects someone who genuinely believes the gospel.” As one friend of mine puts it, when we gather with our church to take the Supper, our brothers and sisters look at us and sing “blessed assurance, Jesus is yours.”
This article about baptism and the Lord’s Supper originally appeared here.
