Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

278 / CORNERSTONE CURRICULUM STUDENT WORKBOOK

for the plain command of Christ, if we desire the pardon of our sins, if we wish for strength to believe, to love and obey God, then we should neglect no opportunity of receiving the Lord’s Supper; then we must never turn our backs on the feast which our Lord has prepared for us. We must neglect no occasion which the good providence of God affords us for this purpose. This is the true rule: So often are we to receive as God gives us opportunity. Whoever, therefore, does not receive, but goes from the holy table, when all things are prepared, either does not understand this duty, or does not care for the dying command of his Savior, the forgiveness of his sins, the strengthening of his soul, and the refreshing it with the hope of glory.

~ John Wesley. “Sermon 101: The Duty of Constant Communion.” The Works of John Wesley . Vol. 7-8. p. 148.

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C hr i s t i an M i n i s t ry

D. The Lord’s Supper is to be eaten in repentance and faith.

1. One of the reasons that Protestant reformers first broke away from Catholic churches was because they felt that the sacraments were being viewed as a magic action rather than as the grace of God received by faith.

page 226 & 16

2. The Lord’s Supper is not like a magic ritual which causes grace to be given just by participating in the action.

The early Protestant reformers objected to the Catholic doctrine which was known as ex opere operato . (This is a Latin phrase that means “by the very fact of the action’s being performed.”) This meant that if the sacrament was given it produced the desired effect whether or not the person offering it or the person receiving it were acting in faith. Reformers objected that this had caused people to view the sacraments as magic: that getting baptized or taking the Lord’s Supper made you into a Christian. Their response was that a person becomes a Christian and grows as a Christian “by faith alone.”