“Dear Christian, if you believe, if you have professed faith before the elders in a congregation with the marks of the true church, if you know the greatness of your sin and misery and are trusting alone in Christ for your righteousness, come to the table.”

Who are to come to the table of the Lord?

Those who are displeased with themselves for their sins, yet trust that these are forgiven them, and that their remaining infirmity is covered by the passion and death of Christ; who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to amend their life. But the impenitent and hypocrites eat and drink judgment to themselves (Heidelberg Catechism, 81).

One of the more challenging aspects of explaining the Reformed confession of the sacraments (covenant signs and seals), in a broadly evangelical setting, to a broadly evangelical religious culture, is that the assumptions of the hearers are always not the same as those of the Reformed churches. As we read the history of redemption, as we understand the external administration of the covenant of covenant of grace there are two stages marked by two signs and seals of the covenant of grace. The first stage is the initiation into the administration of the covenant of grace (circumcision and baptism) and the confirmation or renewal of the covenant of grace. As many Christians think about the church initiation and confirmation are collapsed into one event so that, communion tends to wither. As we understand the history of redemption both stages are important and distinct.

Communion or the Lord’s Supper is the sacrament (covenant sign and seal) intended for those who have been baptized, who have been instructed (catechized) in the Christian faith (including memorizing the catechism and Scripture passages), and who made a credible profession of faith. Those are the external qualifications. The catechism, however, turns immediately to the internal or spiritual qualifications for the Supper. When the catechism was drafted, adopted, and published the external qualifications were not in question among the confessional Protestants (Lutheran and Reformed). Because the Reformed church was a state church in the Palatinate nominalism was a real problem. One year all the citizens of the Palatinate were Romanist. Then they were Lutheran. Now, under Frederick III, they were all Reformed but did they believe? Were they renewed by the Holy Spirit? Did they know personally, genuinely, the greatness of their sin and misery, how they were redeemed from their sins and misery by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone? Were they committed to living lives of grateful obedience, in the grace of God, in union with Christ? Those are the internal, spiritual qualifications for coming to the Holy Supper.

It is not enough merely to say the Apostles’ Creed. One must know what it signifies. One must understand it, assent to it, and embrace all that it represents with true faith. True faith entails knowledge, assent, and trust. Those who truly believe are genuinely sorry for their sins. They acknowledge them before God and struggle against them.

This is why we fence the table. By “fencing” we mean that we invite all those who are members of the true church (i.e., a congregation with the marks of the true church according to Belgic Confession art. 29) to come to the table of the Lord. We challenge those who are present but who do not believe or who have not demonstrated true faith by uniting themselves with the true church not to come to the table of the Lord. Here are some resources on fencing the Lord’s Table.

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