Clearly Scripture commands weekly participation in the Lord’s supper on Sunday for the purpose of remembering Jesus and His work on the cross; however, one is left to wonder who may participate in this memorial. If one examines the Passover feast, he will notice that uncircumcised foreigners were excluded from its observance (Ex. 12:43-49). The reason was because such a feast would have no significance to foreigners, so to them, it would be a mere meal. Similarly, someone who is not a Christian will not see the significance of the Lord’s supper and what it means to the people who are uniquely His. But who qualifies as someone who belongs to the Lord? A Christian is an individual who has submitted himself to God’s will by repentance and immersion …show more content…
An early Christian writing known as the Didache forbids un-immersed people from participating in the Lord’s supper (Witherington 91). Hippolytus, a third-century Christian writer, went so far as to say not even mice should be allowed to eat the bread of the supper (107). Outside of historical testimony, Scripture does not directly address the issue of non-Christians participating in the meal. However, since participation in the supper requires individual self-examination, no one serving the supper could be qualified to judge the individuals participating (1 Cor. 11:27-29; Hamilton, Should non-Christians Participate in the Lord’s Supper?). It might be unwise for non-Christians to participate, but it is not for the congregation to deny the supper to …show more content…
Paul speaks of an “unworthy” manner in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:27). The lexical definition for this term is a careless or improper manner of doing something (Arndt 69). Three consequences plagued people who participated in an unworthy manner: guilt for the Lord’s blood and body, condemnation for being undiscerning, and physical sickness and even death (1 Cor. 11:27, 29-30). These lofty consequences affected these people because of how they treated the supper; to them, it was a common meal, and the poor members of the congregation were excluded (1 Cor. 11:21-22; Bailey 318). Division arose between the two groups, and Paul sternly rebukes them for their treatment of the supper (1 Cor. 11:18-19). In short, the “spiritual feast of love” turned into a “carnal feast of love” (McGarvey, Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galatians, Romans,
In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul set out to address the issues of exclusivity and the divide among the converts of Corinth that has been caused because of spiritual gifts. Paul set a guideline to his converts in Corinth to create order and conduct during times of worship in 1 Corinthians 14:26-33. Doing so, Paul hoped that the divide that has been caused from those with special or “exclusive” spiritual gifts do not cause other believers to become jealous or envious. Paul’s guideline to the Corinthians showed the leadership that Paul had that allowed him to guide the Church to become Hellenistic in just one generation.
The direction now of my research is to begin investigating the context of the debate. To achieve this aim I will need to be consulting books of both secular and church history for the time of Jesus and the Council.
The continuous reading of Cornelius Plantinga Jr.’s book Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living, has left me lingering on a lot of thoughts towards my relationship with God. In the conclusion of his book, Plantinga focuses on the redemptive qualities of God as well the the redemptive possibilities of mankind. Another main subject is the vocation in the Kingdom of God, correspondingly the Bible says in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God- what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Plantinga (2002) states clearly, “given Jesus’ summons, his followers have always understood that to be a ‘Christ person’
In his thought-provoking book, “The Pursuit of Holiness,” Jerry Bridges offers a personal look on what it means to be holy like Christ. The book is scripture backed and covers all areas of holiness as a Christian. In the book, Bridges starts off with assessing just what holiness is. To be holy is to be morally blameless and to have no sin (p. 15). Holiness is being separated from the ways of the world and becoming more like Christ. To be holy does not mean that you obey a set of rules, but is instead string to do always do what is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. In Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, Paul challenges the people to give up their bodies as a holy sacrifice for kingdom work. He continues on saying that this is truly
The church meeting is for worship and for the growth of the saved. The fellowship on the Sunday is to energize us to reach out to the lost. The primary elements of the Sunday worship is the Lord's Supper, prayer, and preaching. Singing and fellowship are important secondary elements of the Sunday service. However those aspects easily become the primary focus of the service. So I make them lesser and it is easier to achieve balance in the service. My preaching must be understandable to even the most uneducated Christian. Furthermore, preaching must be solidly exegetical. I must never afraid to preach the hard things of the Gospel. We should allow non-Christians in the Sunday service, but do not seek them out for that service.
Yet these foreigners were not required to keep most of the ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic law (Ex. 12:43,44,48; 9:33; Deut. 14:21). Only the circumcised were allowed to participate in the Passover, the old covenant communion meal. The two "marks of the covenant" separated members of the "church" from members of the "state." There was also a separation between the priests of the ceremonial law, the Levites, and the magistrates of the civil law, the elders and judges (Lev. 14:35; 27:11; Deut. 1:16; 16:18; 19:12; 21:2; 25:1).
Pesach begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. It is the
"[Christ] feeds and gathers at once, and this gathering of souls is as sweetly refreshing and delightsome to our blessed Lord Jesus, as the plucking of the sweetest flower is to a man walking in a garden. And there is nothing more acceptable and welcome to him, than a seeking sinner....So long as our Lord Jesus has a church and ordinances in it, so he will continue to gather [his people], and he is not idle, but is still gathering; though at some times, and in some places, this may be more sensible and abundant than ordinary"(Durham).
Chapter four addresses the divisions within the Corinthian church, such as jealousy, quarrelling and their defective view of the church. The apostle Paul links their view of the church to church leadership stating “If they had a true view of the church, they would have a true view of the leaders of the church” (p79). The situation was that their view was lower for the church and higher for the leaders thus they were boasting about the leaders. Paul’s view was that the Corinthian church was spoon feed Christians not maturing as they should. Paul’s reference to addressing the church as worldly did not mean they were unregenerate because they did possess the Spirit but they were not being spiritual, not being controlled by the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say “They have experienced new birth by the Spirit but have remained babies in Christ; they have not yet become mature in Christ” (p80) The Apostle most likely would express the same opinion about many Church congregations today. Many churches are elated with their church growth, but it is often superficial. If the church does not offer a real growth opportunity the journey is short lived. The church fills up with Christians not participating in the sanctification process. As with many churches today the Corinthians had a self-serving attitude about themselves and their church. The Corinthians would have never behaved the way they did if they had a higher view of the church and what it stood for and a lesser view of the leaders. Paul outlines three visions of the church “each of which has important implications” (p82). The first metaphor is agricultural: God’s field (v9) 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God...
Paul believes that everyone around him is beneath him. He is convinced that he is superior to everyone else in his school and in his neighborhood. He is even condescending to his teachers, and shows an appalling amount of contempt for them, of which they are very aware.
..., anyone that decides to pursue Him as their Savior is a Christian. It is through Jesus Christ that a person is born again spiritually and made alive through Him.
Lord’s Supper Observed Weekly We are aware of the various methods of teaching in the New Testament, which include Direct Commands, Examples and Necessary Inferences; however, such an in-depth study is not necessary to understand how often the early Christians observed the Lord’s Supper and as is taught by the inspired writers of the Bible. Paul taught Christians to remember Jesus’ body and blood by breaking the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine in the Lord’s Supper. (I Corinthians 11: 23-26) And, the entire context of this chapter reveals that the Lord’s Supper was eaten when the church assembled “on the first day of the week.” (Acts 20: 7)
The Jewish tradition of the Passover has been very important for the welfare and freedom of the Jews since the Old Testament. Each part of the Passover brings forth the knowledge of what God promises to his people. “The name “Passover” is derived from the Hebrew word Pesach which is based on the root “pass over” and refers to the fact that G-d “passed over” the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt during the last of the ten plagues.” The Christian belief is that the Last Supper fulfills the promise made to the Jews through Jesus Christ. The Passover and the Last Supper are important in understanding the relationship between the Jewish belief and Christian belief. They are also important to help grasp what it means to be free with a God.
Another common theme is that the gospel should be spoken to believers and non-believers alike. Luke’s gospel was written to heighten the faith of believers and to give answers to non-believers. There were Jewish and Gentile followers of Christ, and it was spoken that the faith of God is available to both. Matthew’s audience is primarily the Jew who is familiar with the Old Testament. At many points in Jesus’s ministry, he healed people who were outcasts, as well as the poor and the sick. He provided everyone an invitation to join Him since The Kingdom of God does not belong to one particular ethnic group, nation or
A response to the interpretation of Acts 4:32–36 as an endorsement of a type of communal living as being normative for the Christian church.