The sacraments are a participation in Christ. How much participation would you like?
Read / Listen
Read Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16
Listen to passage & devotional:
Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 65
Q. It is by faith alone
that we share in Christ
and all his blessings:
where then does that
faith come from?
A. The Holy Spirit produces it
in our hearts
by the preaching of the holy gospel,
and confirms it
through our use of
the holy sacraments.
Summary
Our faith is brought about by hearing the gospel preached. The Holy Spirit works through God’s holy Word to bring about faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit confirms this faith by our use of the holy sacraments.
Jesus tells us in the Great Commission (Matthews 28:19-20) to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says that by eating the bread and drinking from the cup of the Lord’s Supper we are participating in the body and blood of Christ.
When celebrating the Lord’s Supper and baptisms, the Holy Spirit works through these two holy sacraments to confirm your faith in Jesus Christ. That is why the sacraments are referred to, along with the preaching of God's Word, as means of grace. By celebrating these two sacraments, you receive God’s grace through the work of the Holy Spirit. The sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), point us to Jesus and His saving work and deepen your relationship with Him.
Dig Deeper
When I was a kid, my mother would only use her good plates on special occasions like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. They were ornately decorated, and were only for important events. Otherwise, they would sit in a hutch.
Is that how the Christian Church views the Lord’s Supper? Is it something that is so special, it can only be brought out occasionally? We think, “we cannot celebrate communion too much, otherwise it is no longer special.” How often does your church celebrate the Lord’s Supper? Is it quarterly? More frequently?
The Lord’s Supper and baptism are a blessing given by Jesus to confirm our faith in him. While we can only celebrate baptisms when there are children or new unbaptized converts to baptize, we can celebrate the Lord’s Supper more frequently.
If the Holy Spirit confirms our faith through the sacraments, shouldn’t we want to celebrate them more often? As followers of Christ, Jesus places the Great Commission before us. We are to go and make disciples. By making disciples we will get to celebrate baptisms, and there will be rejoicing in heaven!
The Lord’s Supper is given to us by Jesus to celebrate and confirm our faith in him. Your elders and pastor oversee the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, so if you wonder why you celebrate it when you do, be sure to ask them.
We will spend more time on Wednesday and Thursday digging into what it means to receive grace from the sacraments. For now, know that the Holy Spirit works through the Lord’s Supper and baptism to confirm our faith in Jesus. While both are holy, we can celebrate them often to help confirm our faith.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God of grace, who sends us, His people, out with the good news;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Draw me closer to you through celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Philippians 4
Comentários