THE NECESSITY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

By Gary Ray Branscome

Since the Lord’s Supper is a ceremonial proclamation of the gospel, we are saved by believing the gospel message that it proclaims, not by receiving the bread and the wine. And, because the same gospel promise is proclaimed through preaching, the Lord’s Supper is not absolutely necessary for our salvation in the same sense that faith in Christ is necessary. At the same time, because Christ works through His Supper to plant and nurture faith, if someone neglects it and has no interest in receiving it, he is rejecting the gospel promise that it conveys, and that could be the sign of a deeper problem.

Now, because partaking of the Lord’s Supper is not absolutely necessary for our salvation, when a congregation excommunicates someone, they are warning that person of a very real danger to their soul, not keeping them from being saved. The words, “Whoever you will bind on earth will be bound in heaven,” convey a very serious warning (Matthew 16:19). And, that warning should never be twisted into a tool for imposing the will of one man on another. In fact, when the Apostle Paul commanded the Corinthian congregation to, “Expel that wicked man from your congregation,” it was only done because he was unrepentant and “in order that his soul might be saved” (1Corinthians 5:1-12). And, because anyone who is placed under church discipline in that way is to be regarded “as a heathen man and a publican,” they are no longer welcome to partake of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 18:17-18).

Examine yourselves, to see if you are in the faith.

2Corinthians 13:5

SCRIPTURE ALONE