Water Baptism and Communion
Water Baptism is the act of being immersed in water in obedience to Jesus. While some churches practice “Sprinkling of water” this has no scriptural foundation and another important fact is Baptism is what we choose to do so we must of an age when we understand what we are doing. It is important to remember that Jesus insisted on being Baptised and we read the account of His Baptism in Matthew 3:13-17. If Jesus insisted on being Water Baptised then all who are born again should follow His example and be Baptised. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Romans 6:3-12 teaches what Water Baptism means to us. We understand that when we are born again that our sins are forgiven by God. While our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God, however, there are some old habits and thoughts that can affect us. Romans 6 teaches us that when we are baptised we are made dead in Christ Jesus so that we are no longer slaves to our old life. Verses 7-8 says: “For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him”. Verse 11 says: “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Being baptised is a foundation on which we build a closer relationship with Jesus and He becomes more real to us.
Communion or The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus the night before He was crucified, it is also called the table of remembrance. Jesus understood the weakness of mankind in that we can forget important things, not on purpose but because other things can demand our attention. So Jesus instituted something that would help us not to forget what He did on the cross for us. What Jesus did is recorded in Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:14-23, and revealed to Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. When Jesus introduced the Lord’s Supper to His disciples because it was before He was crucified, at that time His disciples did not understand the significance of what Jesus taught. Before we look at what it means, how often should we celebrate communion? Most churches celebrate weekly, some monthly, and I know of people who celebrate daily with their daily devotion. The Bible does not say but tells us that every time we celebrate we are proclaiming Jesus’ death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ). Jesus is very clear that the bread represents His broken body and the cup represents His shed blood for us. Every time we come to celebrate the Lord’s Supper it is a fresh new experience and it reinforces to us what a great Salvation we have. We are warned in John 6:53 if we do not partake of communion we have no life in us. I am so glad that Jesus gives us this opportunity to remember what He did for us on the cross so that we can experience new life continually.