: Why "credible profession of faith" of penitent, baptized church members is not the biblically sufficient criterion for admission to the Lord's Supper
The usual standard for admission to the Lord's Supper in Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) congregations (and in congregations of other NAPARC denominations) is that the would-be communicant have a credible profession of faith in the gospel, live penitently, and be a baptized member of a gospel-believing church. The confessional Presbyterian & Reformed view of close communion or confessional communion is not widely known or understood today. Below, this close/confessional view is described in contrast to usual OPC practice, and some Scriptural and doctrinal support for it is presented.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFjrU3M5wg
1. Common OPC Practice
The OPC BD 2.B.2. states “The session shall examine the candidate for [communicant] membership to assure itself so far as possible that he [or she] possesses the knowledge requisite for active faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, relies for salvation on the work of Christ alone, is trusting Christ for salvation, and is determined by the grace of God to lead a Christian life.”
The OPC DPW 3.C.3. states “The minister shall then declare who may come to, and who are excluded from, the Lord's Table according to the Word of God…. to invite all who are right with God and his church, through faith in the Lord Jesus, to come to the Lord's Table. If you have received Christ and are resting upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to you in the gospel, if you are a baptized and professing communicant member in good standing in a church that professes the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ, and if you live penitently and seek to walk in godliness before the Lord, then this Supper is for you, and I invite you in Christ's name to eat the bread and drink the cup.”
The OPC DPW 4.A.1. states “Only those may be admitted to full [Supper] communion in the church who have been baptized and have made public profession of faith in Jesus Christ.”
The OPC DPW 4.B.2. states “The minister shall then require the person to profess publicly his Christian faith by giving assent to these or equivalent questions:
(1) Do you believe the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, to be the Word of God, and its doctrine of salvation to be the perfect and only true doctrine of salvation?
(2) Do you believe in one living and true God, in whom eternally there are three distinct persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—who are the same in being and equal in power and glory, and that Jesus Christ is God the Son, come in the flesh?
(3) Do you confess that because of your sinfulness you abhor and humble yourself before God, that you repent of your sin, and that you trust for salvation not in yourself but in Jesus Christ alone?
(4) Do you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your sovereign Lord, and do you promise that, in reliance on the grace of God, you will serve him with all that is in you, forsake the world, resist the devil, put to death your sinful deeds and desires, and lead a godly life?
(5) Do you promise to participate faithfully in this church's worship and service, to submit in the Lord to its government, and to heed its discipline, even in case you should be found delinquent in doctrine or life?”
According to the above sections of the OPC BCO, as I understand it, and as is my experience of usual practice in OPC congregations, would-be participants are generally admitted to the Lord’s Supper on the basis of meeting several requirements:
A. Having received Christian baptism.
B. Having made a [credible] public profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
C. Living penitently [ie, not in unrepentant sin], seeking to live in a godly way.
D. Being a communicant member in good standing [ie, not under censure] of any church that “professes the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ.”
Specifically, the public profession of faith in Jesus Christ required of those who would be communicant members of the OPC includes several distinct affirmations:
a. Belief in the whole Bible as God’s Word.
b. Belief in the Bible’s teaching of salvation to be perfect and the exclusively-true teaching of salvation.
c. Belief in the Trinity and Jesus Christ's identity as God the Son incarnate.
d. Confession of one’s sinfulness, self-abhorrence, humbling before God, and repentance of one’s sins.
e. Confession of one’s trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
f. Acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as one’s Lord.
g. Promise to serve Jesus Christ entirely, to forsake the world, to resist Satan, to mortify sin, and to live in a godly way.
h. Promise to faithfully participate in the church’s worship and service.
i. Promise to submit to the church’s government and to heed its discipline in doctrine and life.
2. Additional Scriptural Requirements
This includes a requirement that those admitted to the Supper express an understanding of the meaning and nature of the Supper (for example, as explained in OPC DW 3.C.2 and WCF 29.1, 7; WLC 168, 170), particularly Christ’s real, spiritual presence to those who participate in a worthy manner by faith, so that they are really spiritually nourished and strengthened by Him in the Supper. It may be the practice of some OPC congregations to require this, but it is not explicitly required in the OPC BCO (as far as I can tell).
Here is some Scriptural and doctrinal basis for the confessional Presbyterian & Reformed view of close/confessional communion:
While 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 has sometimes been taken to mean that those admitted to the Supper must have a credible profession of faith in Christ alone for salvation, I believe the passage also teaches that those admitted to the Supper must express an understanding of the meaning and nature of the Supper. Those who were being judged for eating and drinking in an unworthy manner, were receiving discipline from the Lord, not as unbelievers, but as believers, so ultimately they would not be condemned (11:32). The unworthy manner in which some were eating and drinking partly concerned their failure to “discern the Lord’s body” in the sacrament. That is, they ate and drank as though it were an ordinary meal (for example, to satisfy their hunger), without properly recognizing the special sacramental character of the Supper, particularly Christ’s nourishing, spiritual presence in the worthy-participation in the elements for believers. And so there is an exhortation to the church to examine and judge ourselves, in order to ascertain whether a would-be communicant has such discernment.
This passage (11:18) also refers to divisions among believers, not only expressed outwardly in their failure to eat and drink together, but improper divisions or disagreements in what they professed to believe (ie, in their “mind” and “judgment”). 1 Corinthians 1:10 says “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” So, part of what is required in 1 Corinthians 11 for proper participation in the Lord’s Supper is not only that believers should partake together and in a worthy manner, discerning the Lord’s body, but also that there must be no improper divisions among them in what they profess to believe.
Another relevant passage is 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 that says “If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” One of the things said in that letter is (2:15) “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” At issue here is not that someone is denying Scriptural teaching that would entail they aren’t a professing believer. Rather, we are exhorted to not have (at least) Supper fellowship with those who, although they may be credible brothers, do not hold to some Scriptural teaching or other.
These Scripture passages mentioned, from 1 Corinthians and 2 Thessalonians, require that those admitted to the Supper express affirmation (according to their ability) of the doctrinal standards of the church, not holding any principled objections to or disagreements with it. Other passages also require that church members must agree in what they profess to believe. Jude 1:3 speaks of contending for “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints;” Philippians 2:2 speaks of “being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Such passages refer not only to a common spirit of brotherly affection, practical care, and mutual edification, but also to a unity of fellowship among church members in their confession of doctrine.
In addition to the Scriptural basis for the close / confessional communion view explained above, this view can also be understood on the basis of ecclesiology, or the doctrine of the church confessed by the OPC, particularly its doctrine of church authority.
3. Required By The Doctrine Of Church Authority
The OPC FG 3.3-5 says the following:
“3. All church power is only ministerial and declarative, for the Holy Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice. No church judicatory may presume to bind the conscience by making laws on the basis of its own authority; all its decisions should be founded upon the Word of God. "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to his Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship" [WCF 20.2].
4. All church power is wholly moral or spiritual. No church officers or judicatories possess any civil jurisdiction; they may not inflict any civil penalties nor may they seek the aid of the civil power in the exercise of their jurisdiction further than may be necessary for civil protection and security.
5. Nevertheless, church government is a valid and authentic jurisdiction to which Christians are commanded to submit themselves. Therefore the decisions of church officers when properly rendered and if in accord with the Word of God "are to be received with reverence and submission; not only for their agreement with the Word, but also for the power whereby they are made, as being an ordinance of God appointed thereunto in his Word" [WCF 31.2].”
The (secondary) doctrinal standards of the church (namely, in the OPC, the Westminster Confession and Catechisms) are a “decision” of the church’s (ministerial, declarative, and spiritual) government which not only officers, but also those who would be communicants and communicant church members must receive and to which they must submit. The Confession and Catechisms are to be received not only as in agreement with God’s Word, but as itself an ordinance of God’s Word, declaring Scripture’s teaching.
The practical consequence of admitting to Supper communion those who decidedly object to certain teachings of the church is ultimately refusing to discipline with censure on those points, and declaring that ultimately one need not submit to the discipline of the church concerning those doctrines. And that is contrary to Matthew 28:19-20 because it is a failure to make disciples, teaching them to observe all Christ has commanded.
4. Taught In The Presbyterian Secondary Standards
In addition to the Scriptural basis for the close/confessional communion view, and how it may be understood from the doctrine of church authority, it is also a view taught in the Larger Catechism (although, obviously neglected by many churches that claim the Larger Catechism as a doctrinal standard). WLC 113 says that among the sins forbidden by the 3rd commandment are “misinterpreting, misapplying, or any way perverting [God’s] Word, or any part of it… the maintaining of false doctrines.” (And, recall that WCF 28 says it is a “great sin” to “contemn” [treat with contempt] or neglect baptism’s application to a believer’s infant). Further, WLC 173 says that not only those who are scandalous, but also those who are “ignorant,” “notwithstanding their profession of the faith, and desire to come to the Lord’s Supper, may and ought to be kept from that sacrament, by the power which Christ hath left in his church, until they receive instruction, and manifest their reformation.” This is to say that those who have a credible profession of faith concerning the gospel should not be admitted to the Supper while they object to the church’s teaching.
5. Conclusion
Those convinced of the confessional Presbyterian & Reformed view of close / confessional communion might find themselves conscience-bound by the Word of God to abstain from participation in an improperly administered sacrament. And a possible, but erroneous, response might be to think that one's beliefs about what Scripture requires for admission to the Supper are irrelevant to the question of whether one should participate oneself. It might be supposed that believers should participate in a sacrament even if it is administered contrary to the Lord’s requirement.
However, since we are forbidden by God Himself to worship Him in any way not prescribed in His Word, then, the only profitable way to convince those who hold this view of close / confessional communion to participate in a Supper communion that includes those who openly disagree with the church’s teaching, is to convince them that admitting such people is warranted by Scripture, contrary to the evidence presented above.
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Cross-posted at: https://gregorybaus.substack.com/p/about-close-confessional-communion
Related Posts:
1. https://honest2blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/one-among-ten-thousand-extended.html
2. https://honest2blog.blogspot.com/2010/02/recovering-reformed-communion.html
3. https://honest2blog.blogspot.com/2010/04/recovering-reformed-communion-2.html
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