Judgment in Both Baptism and the Lord's Supper

July 3, 2011

C. F. D. Moule has pointed out that both the sacraments imply a doctrine of judgment. Baptism is regarded as dying with Christ and rising with Him. It is thus ‘a willing acceptance of the verdict on sin, in union with Christ, whose perfect obedience to the sentence has been vindicated and crowned by the resurrection’. Baptism ‘is essentially pleading guilty, accepting the verdict’. It is unrepeatable, and has about it the once-for-all quality of the final judgment. Holy Communion should be preceded by self-judgment, otherwise it will be followed by divine judgment (1 Cor. xi. 28f.). ‘Emphatically, therefore the Eucharist is an occasion of judgment—either of voluntary self-judgment, in acceptance of God’s verdict on fallen man, or else of unwilling liability to God’s judgment.’

—Morris, The Biblical Doctrine of Judgment, 56-57.

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Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.