Of the Holy Supper

The holy Lord's Supper is an ordinance instituted by Jesus Christ in remembrance of Himself, to be observed until His coming, by all who are baptized on true faith in Christ to be one body, in the church of the New Testament. Matthew 26, verse 26; Matthew 22, verse 19; First Corinthians 11, verses 24 and 26.

This rite consists in this: that a minister of the Gospel, according to the institution of Christ and the usage of His apostles, takes bread and wine for a holy purpose, breaks the bread and pours the wine, and, after preparation and giving of thanks, dispenses both to the believing members. The broken bread is eaten and the wine drunk. Christ's passion, or bitter suffering and death, and the shedding of His precious blood; also the motives for this, together with the benefits of His death, by which man receives the remission of his sins, which is signified by this visible sign—all this is proclaimed thereby, so that the believing church may give thanks to God for this benefit and, as befits members of one body, may live and walk together here as one heart and soul, in peace and love and unity. Luke 22, verses 19 and 20; Acts 2, verse 42; Acts 20, verse 11; First Corinthians 10, verses 16 and 17; First Corinthians 11, verses 23 to 25; Acts 4, verse 32.

The sum of all that has been said is: (1) that the Lord Christ is the foundation and only meritorious cause of eternal salvation; (2) that true faith in Him is the means by which we become children of God and partakers of His merits; (3) that the children of God are to be known outwardly by the confession and fruits of their faith; (4) that God, through the outward signs of Holy Baptism and the Supper, sets before the eyes of His children His gracious benefits, and binds them, as members of Jesus Christ, to one body, that is, to a church of God and Christ, whereby they are also admonished of the obedience they owe.

Here the answer to the first question might be concluded; but since the Lord God, for the welfare of His church and the propagation of the truth, as promoting the honor of His name and the salvation of mankind, has instituted other ceremonies and laws, besides certain offices, which, according to the circumstances of the case, the true members of the church of God are bound to observe, we shall, as briefly as is possible and proper, add these to what has gone before. This the more so, because our peace presentation to people of the same faith points partly to them, so that it may appear the more clearly whether they agree with us, and we with them, in the order of the Christian household, to live according to it, through Christian obedience, together in love, peace and unity, without thinking, for any reason, ever again to separate one from another.