Who Should Take the Lord's Supper?

Who should partake of the Lord's Supper? Everyone, or just the members of the church? The right answer is neither. The Lord's supper is for those who have been baptized out of obedience to Christ.

Some say, "only those in the church and under the care of the elders should take communion." Now, we know in the early church they celebrated the Lord's Table every Sunday (Acts 20:7). Yet Luke, Paul's co-worker, took communion in this church at Troas, yet he was not a member of it, nor in submission to their elders in any formal way. So that view doesn't hold up.

Others say, "We shouldn't limit the Lord's Table to anyone." However, the matter of taking the Lord's Table is a matter of discipleship to Jesus Christ. If we follow His words, we will offer communion to all who have been baptized.

Let me explain.

In Mat. 28:19-20, Jesus teaches that those who are baptized are to be taught to obey Him in all things. The "all things" includes the Lord's Supper, for our Lord said, "Do this, in remembrance of Me." Therefore, this pattern of baptism first, the Lord's Table after, is the "fence" around the Lord's Table.

While membership is of great importance, it is not a fence around the Lord's Table. Nor is communion just to be offered to people based on their own subjective faith. We have something objective to guide people - have they been baptized out of obedience to Christ?

This pattern, baptism prior to communion, is observed in Acts 2:41-42. So in Mat. 28 we have direct command, and in Acts 2 we have a clear example of that command being followed.

There is an exception - those under public church discipline. These should have the Lord's Table withheld from them, if they have been publicly admonished, as Paul makes clear in 2 Thessalonians 3:14.

However, I should add, the baptism in Mat. 28:19 Jesus commands is the baptism of a person who consciously wishes to be His disciple. To baptize a person, and then withhold communion from them, except in the case of discipline, is to fail to uphold our Lord's words in Mat. 28:19-20, which requires us to teach all those baptized to obey all the Lord's commands. Thus, for all who are baptized, they should participate in the Lord's Table also. This helps us counsel those of tender conscience, who look to their own imperfection instead of Christ's perfection in deciding whether or not to partake.

This position, baptism prior to communion, requires that those baptized do so out of a "free will" decision to identify with the Lord in the waters of baptism. In other words, it would be unwise for a church to baptize someone who has not intentionally expressed their desire to be Christ's disciple, out of personal faith.