The centrality and importance of this sacrament in the life of the local church is extremely obvious from the Bible. It is a way for God’s people, in the context of the local church, to remember Jesus’s death and partake—by faith— in his body and blood. In this, God gives real grace to his people as they follow him.

Sacraments

One of the most important aspects of church life is the celebration of the sacraments—the Lord’s Supper and baptism. But despite this importance, there is much misunderstanding about the sacraments among believers. Hopefully by the end of this discussion you will have a better understanding of the meaning and importance of the sacraments in your life as a Christian and as a member of Christ’s universal and local church.

We’ll start by seeking to define what the sacraments are and the purpose they serve within the church and the lives of believers.

Definition. The word sacrament literally means “holy thing.” So when we talk about the sacraments, we are talking about worship practices that are holy—set apart in a special way for God. As Christians think about the Lord’s Supper and baptism as sacraments, they mean the following:

• These practices were instituted by Jesus in a very special way—unlike any other part of corporate worship.
• These practices are special ways in which the Holy Spirit promises to work in the lives of his people in the church.
• Because these are holy practices instituted by Jesus, he has “attached” his presence to them in a special way.
• These practices are ways in which God communicates his grace to his people in the church. This is not his “saving” grace; baptism cannot save a person from sin! But God’s gracious presence and blessing is given to his people through these sacraments in a very real and special way.

So we can define a sacrament as a physical sign of an invisible reality of God’s Holy Spirit.

Institution and purpose of the sacraments. Because the sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ, we see that they were given by him to his followers, who would practice them chiefly in the context of the community of believers in Jesus Christ—the church. We therefore believe that the Lord’s Supper and baptism are meant to be practices that are done in the church—under the rule of elders and pastors, and in the context of a local church community. The purpose of the sacraments is to serve as signs of spiritual realities to God’s people in the church. They are also very real ways in which God seals the work of belief, by his Holy Spirit, in his people’s hearts.

The Lord’s Supper

The first of the two Protestant sacraments that we will consider is the Lord’s Supper.

From 1 Corinthians 11:23–34 and from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s last meal with his disciples, we know that the Lord’s Supper is a special spiritual meal that Jesus instituted (or established) for the good of his people. As Scripture teaches us, the Lord’s Supper is:

• a symbolic—not literal—meal of bread (which symbolizes Jesus Christ’s body) and wine (which symbolizes Christ’s blood)
• a meal that is to be regularly celebrated by Christ’s followers

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