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Open or Closed Communion?
First, I am not advocating being rude or physically disallowing a non-Christian to take the Lord’s supper. However, I am advocating that we teach that the communion is only for believers. As you read what is involved in the Lord’s supper, ask, “Is this for the baptized or unbaptized?”
#1 – For those who are part of the new covenant (Matthew 26:28).
#2 – For those who partake of Jesus’s forgiveness through blood (Matthew 26:28). It is for those who share in the blood of Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:16)
#3 – For those who are in the kingdom of the Father (Matthew 26:29)
#4 – For those who partake of the body of Jesus (Matthew 26:26). It is for those who share in the body of Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:16).
Now compare this short list to those who are baptized.
#1 – As circumsion was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, so now baptism is the sing of the covenant of Jesus (Colossians 2:11-12).
#2 – Baptism is when we receive forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
#3 – Being born again into the kingdom of God is being born of water and the Spirit (John 3:3,5).
#4 – The body of Jesus is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23).
Can we see how connected baptism is with the Lord’s supper? No wonder the Hebrew writer stated, “We have an algtar from which those who worship at the Tabernacle do not have a right to eat” (Hebrews 13:10).
When we observe the Lord’s supper, let us teach that it is the Lord’s, and only those who are the Lord’s through forgiveness of sins partake of His supper. It is open to all who are believers, and closed to those outside of the body of Christ.
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