• Sign in

• Home
• Write for World-Wide Bible Studies
• Sign in
• About
• Contact

Water Baptism And The Lord’s Supper

I. Water Baptism

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Matthew 28:18-20

Water baptism is our public declaration that we have given our lives to Christ. We are baptized in obedience to Christ’s command.

Water baptism symbolizes death to self and being raised from spiritual death and separation from God to a new and eternal life with God. Water baptism also symbolizes the fact that our sins have truly been washed away by the forgiveness of God. God forgives us by placing our faith in Jesus, not because we were baptized in water after the fact. When we surrender our lives to Jesus and believe in who He is as the eternal Son of God and Messiah, and what He has done, in taking our sin upon Himself at the cross, we are made right in God’s sight and given the free gift of eternal life. So water baptism is simply an act that illustrates what has actually happened in our lives.

When we place our faith in Christ, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. That is why John the baptist said,

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11

So, water baptism also represents this baptism with the Holy Spirit, which all Christians receive at the moment we place our faith and trust in Jesus and are born again of the Spirit of God. He is with all of us before we receive Him or give our lives to Him. Jesus said the Spirit is there convicting us of our sin and our need for Him (John 16). When we believe, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us.

Water baptism has no value or power alone. One must place their faith in Christ and be born of and in dwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. That is why just being dunked under water, whether as a baby, an adolescent or an adult is not enough to save us. If the washing of water itself saves, then all those summers as a kid playing with the hose out front of my house earned me quit a bit of salvation! Eternal life is not something we earn, it is a free gift that we must receive from God by surrendering our entire selves to Jesus. We must truly give Him our hearts.

Well, since we know that water baptism only represents the actual reality of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we should talk about what it means to be baptized into Christ.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism...
Ephesians 4:4-5

If there is only one baptism, and John the baptist told us that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit, than Paul isn’t speaking of water baptism here when he says that there is only one baptism. He is speaking of being filled with God’s Spirit at the moment of our salvation. This is what is meant by being baptized into Christ.

1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered inoperative, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 6:1-7

The key to understanding what it means to be baptized into Christ is found in verse 5 of Romans chapter 6: “Since we have been united with Him...”

Through our faith in Jesus, God has given us new life. We have been united to Christ, our spirit becoming one with His Spirit, and we enter into this eternal relationship with the Lord right away. This unity in Christ, with Him and other Christians, will continue on into eternity and last forever. This is what is meant when we say we will be glorified together with Christ. We will finally be freed from our body of sin and go on to fully enjoy this unity with God that we now have by faith in Christ alone. This is why Jesus prayed,

20"My prayer is not for them (the disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
John 17:20-26



II. The Lord’s Supper

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Luke 22:19-20

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17


Communion, in the greek koinonia, means the following:

1) fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intimate unity
 a. to share which one has in anything, participation
 b. fellowship, intimacy

From Vine’s Expository Dictionary:
Communion: "a having in common (koinos), partnership, fellowship", denotes the share which one has in anything, a participation, fellowship recognized and enjoyed; thus it is used of the common experiences and interests of Christian men, Act 2:42; Gal 2:9; of participation in the knowledge of the Son of God, 1Cr 1:9; of sharing the realization of the effects of the Blood (i.e., the Death) of Christ and the Body of Christ, as set forth by the emblems in the Lord's Supper, 1Cr 10:16; of participation in what is derived from the Holy Spirit, 2Cr 13:14 (RV, "communion"); Phl 2:1; of participation in the sufferings of Christ, Phl 3:10; of sharing in the resurrection life possessed in Christ, and so of fellowship with the Father and the Son, 1Jo 1:3, 6, 7; negatively, of the impossibility of "communion" between light and darkness, 2Cr 6:14;

Like water baptism, one aspect of the Lord’s Supper is that it represents deeper truths in our lives. Jesus instituted communion the night before His crucifixion. In Luke 22, He said to do this in remembrance of Him. So, when we take communion at church, we are remembering what the Lord has done for us in giving His life for the sin of the world. The bread represents His body, broken for us. The wine, His blood shed for us. As Christians, when we take communion, we remember and contemplate the work that Jesus completed on the cross for us, individually and as a whole group or body. The New Covenant between God and humanity is that He has given His own Son for our sin, and all that turn to Jesus and give their lives to Him will be saved from judgement and given eternal life.

The Lord’s Supper is only for Christians to participate in. Like water baptism, it has no intrinsic power to save. It is a time to commune with the Lord, as a group of Christians, and remember and worship Him as our Lord and Savior.

But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4

And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:35

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."
John 6:51

Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11

Jesus is our daily bread. The bread that sustains the health of our body is representative of the bread from Heaven that sustains our spirit, our very being at it’s core. Just as we take in food to our bodies several times a day, we are to take in the Lord daily. Just as we eat food for sustenance, we are to partake of the things of the Lord- reading God’s word, spending time communing with Him in prayer and Bible study, and in fellowship with other Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

To sum up, the Lord’s Supper is also called Communion. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper is about remembering what Jesus has done for us at the cross. It is also about fellowship (communion, koinonia) with Him, partaking of Him personally. And it is about celebrating the Lord’s death and life as a church, as a whole group. The Bible describes Christians as part of a body, the body of Christ. This is a perfect analogy to describe that we are to consider ourselves one in Christ, individually and as a whole. We are part of His body, we have become one with Him and one with each other in Him. This is what God has done for us because we are His children now through faith in Christ.

So, water baptism is similar to the Lord’s Supper, in that both are for Christians only. And, neither have any intrinsic power to save a person or make that person right with God. They are both acts of obedience and worship that we do as Christians who are already saved by God’s good grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Both of these that we have looked at today are acts that represent deeper truths in a Christian’s life. The true act of being made alive to God through salvation, which takes place in the heart, is symbolized by water baptism. And the truth of our now being one with the Lord and of our fellowship together with Him personally and His children as a group, is represented by our communion as a body with Jesus when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
 

» left by Teresa Ortiz (1 year 359 days ago.)

Excellent Job Brian. There is so much to be said about these two important aspects of the Christian faith. I think it is important for all Believers to recognize the different baptisms taught in Scripture. Have you ever seen my study on the seven different baptisms? I still need to complete parts 5-8, but 1-4 can be found on Searchwarp in my archived articles - you can also find them by googling "the seven baptisms" and look for my name and the searchwarp article. You might be interested in them :-)

 

Again, well done. Great information that should encourage all of us to draw closer to our Lord.

Respond to this comment

» left by Brian Farrell⁽²⁴⁶⁾ (1 year 355 days ago.)

Thanks, Teresa. Lord bless and keep on keepin' on.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead (Ph 3)...
 

Respond to this comment

» left by Marijo Phelps⁽¹⁹⁹⁾ (1 year 355 days ago.)

Great writing Brian and much needed reminders. Very good reading and writing! Marijo

Respond to this comment

» left by Brian Farrell⁽²⁴⁶⁾ (1 year 355 days ago.)

Thanks, Marijo- highly respect your opinion. Lord empower us!

Respond to this comment

• Home
• Terms of Service
• Privacy
• Categories
• Writers' Guidelines
• Write for World-Wide Bible Studies
• Tag Cloud
• About
• Contact