. . . .This also means i.e. that Baptism is not needed for salvation.
Esdra & GeorgeTheWild,
The SBC describes The Lord’s Supper as a
symbolic act of obedience, memorializing the death of the Redeemer and anticipating His second coming. If you look at the SBC Scripture references for this belief, you will find that
John Chapter 6 is omitted. See
The Baptist Faith and Message, VII. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Link:
sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp#i.
Yet, some critical things are revealed to us in
John Chapter 6, including the revelation that the flesh of Christ is true food, and His blood is true drink; those who feed on His flesh and drink His blood, abides in Him, and Christ in them; the necessity to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, in order to have life in us–in order to have eternal life and be raised on the last day.
**John Chapter 6:
35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
55 For my f
lesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.**
Matthew, Mark, and 1 Corinthians also point to the bread and wine being the body and Blood of Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:18 even says, "Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?"
Matthew 26: 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said,
"Take, eat; this is my body." 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, 28
for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 14: 22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said,
"Take; this is my body." 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them,
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
1 Corinthians 10: 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18
Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?"
SBC beliefs, that
The Lord’s Supper is merely a
symbolic act of obedience; and
Baptism is merely a
church ordinance, seem to directly contradict Scripture.
**If, you celebrate the Lord’s supper as a purely symbolic remembrance of Christ; how do you fulfill the requirement to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, in order to have life in you–in order to have eternal life and be raised on the last day? **
Esdra & GeorgeTheWild, I’m really hoping that you will both find time to return to this thread and offer your comments regarding the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.
Esdra, you started this thread about whether or not Baptists have Sacraments. So I don’t understand why you would leave responses to your thread unanswered. I do realize that it is certainly your right, and GeorgeTheWild’s right, not to answer my questions.
I started a thread in January 2010 entitled,
Baptists, Does Scripture point to the Catholic Lord’s Supper/Eucharist? At that time, I was really studying the issue of the Lord’s Supper. Only one Baptist posted on the thread, and he did not answer the questions of the thread. I participated on another thread about Baptism. There were participants on that thread that just dropped out of the discussion rather than answer questions.
Esdra & GeorgeTheWild, maybe you have both just been busy or missed my last post.
Whatever the reason, I would really like to hear your comments on The Lord’s Supper, and Baptism–when you get a chance (see Post #23 for questions re Baptism). No rush. Enjoy this Holiday.
The Lord’s Supper and Baptism are such important issues.
Peace to all,
Anna