Theology of the Church, Mentor's Guide, MG03

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T H E O L O G Y O F T H E C H U R C H

2. Although Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians have many sacraments, Protestants have usually reserved the term sacrament only for baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These two sacraments have a special place in the history of the Church as a particularly important “means of grace” because they were directly instituted by the command of Jesus. Those who define the Lord’s Supper and baptism as sacraments would argue that when they are received in faith, God is graciously at work in us to fulfill his promises.

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C. The meaning of “ordinance”

1. There are many church traditions which understand the Lord’s Supper and baptism as ordinances, rather than sacraments. The word “ordinance” means an “authoritative command” and so the Lord’s Supper and baptism are done in obedience to the command of Christ. Rather than being a means by which God’s grace comes to us, these churches argue that in baptism and the Lord’s Supper we remember and testify to the grace of God which we have already received.

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2. Exod. 12.14 - This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD - a lasting ordinance.

3. The focus of most Old Testament ordinances was to help people remember to obey by means of a command or religious ceremony. In the New Testament, baptism and the Lord’s Supper serve as public testimony to the grace that God gave to us through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and reminds us that the Church exists and lives through this grace.