Through the course of church history, some have wanted to treat the communion of the Lord’s Table as a penitential discipline, instead of what the New Testament sets it out to be, which is that of a Eucharistic celebration. We are not here to get forgiven; we are here because we have been forgiven. This is a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips giving thanks to His name (Heb. 13:15)
Now whenever sin has been committed, there is no problem whatever with repentance. Repentance is a good thing, but when penitence becomes a constant frame of mind, it is very difficult to keep the whole thing from turning into an ongoing exercise in penance. And it is terribly hard to keep that from turning into a form of works righteousness.
The Old Testament sacrificial system was described as deficient because it kept having to be repeated. When we confess particular sins in the course of our lives, or at the beginning of the service, we are not doing it to improve on our justification. Justification, from the first moment of imputation, is perfect. It is the imputation of the obedience of Jesus Christ, so how could it be less than perfect?
We confess our sins in order to keep our relationship with God honest, and refusal to confess sins to Him is nothing less than dishonesty farming. Whether we are doing that in the right spirit can be measured by how we approach Him at His Table here. If this is a time of joy, gladness, refreshment, peace, gratitude, and hope, then you have been confessing your sins rightly. If this is a time of self-accusation, sternness, or grim resolve, then you are not coming in the right spirit.
You are sons and daughters of the Most High. You have been forgiven for everything. Come then.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.
“We are not here to get forgiven…”
So then you deny the words of Christ “given and shed for you for the remission of sins” …”namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.” (Martin Luther)
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus instituted the eucharist here, but the body and blood poured out was Jesus’ body and blood on the cross. Doug would agree that Jesus’ actions on the cross… Read more »
The actual blood and body were given for forgiveness. The bread and wine are just a recreation of it. You don’t get saved multiple times. You get saved once. Don’t be a Catholic.
We confess our sins earlier in the service. Doug announces the assurance of pardon, “Your sins have been forgiven in Christ Jesus,” and we respond, “Thanks be to God.” It doesn’t make sense to go before God an hour later acting as if we haven’t just been forgiven. If we do, the thing we most need to seek forgiveness for is our unbelief and our slander against God’s grace.
Here are some more of my thoughts on the subject.
The Supper seals to us nothing but the Gospel. The peace and joy of the Supper spring exclusively from a renewed exercise of repentance and faith in Christ. If absolution early in the service makes the Supper redundant, and worse, a slander against the Father’s forgiveness, then eliminate the corporate absolution, and retain the liturgical assurance of forgiveness that Christ explicitly commanded.
We can celebrate forgiveness in the Supper without waiting till then to receive it. The forgiven son and the forgiven wife in my stories are going to enjoy the restored fellowship more because they come to the table already cleansed. How could we engage in a whole service of worship out of fellowship with God until we get to the table? No…confession, repentance, forgiveness must be at the beginning. But it’s all part of the same liturgy…they’re not disconnected.
I think we need to distinguish the actual forgiveness of sin from fellowship with God. I agree exactly with Doug’s post above: “We confess our sins in order to keep our relationship with God honest.” It is not to get forgiven. Doug notes that “justification… is perfect.” I say therefore that Protestant confession/absolution is not a group form of a Tridentine confessional booth, where we are actually forgiven and absolved for new sins. Your own blog post seems to me to work from an “actual forgiveness” perspective, and not a restored fellowship perspective. The son and the wife had to… Read more »
My comment is intended to address the denial of the efficacy of the Sacrament. “Forgiveness of sins is given us in the Sacrament not in the sense as though we did not have any before; for a believer has forgiveness as long as he is in the faith.- Nor do we receive a new supply of forgiveness every time we go to the Lord’s Table; for forgiveness and grace are not offered in parts and portions; we either have forgiveness for all sins, or we have none; we either stand in the grace of God, or we do not.- Nor… Read more »
I see this one as something of a false dilemma, Doug. It’s not either/or but both. The Table should be a time of contrite and hopeful celebration, if you will. If not, we will have bypassed the biblical recipe for a full assurance; and heartfelt attendance to the Supper is part of that recipe (or concatenation as Edwards might say). 1 John, 2 Pet 1. Indeed, Christ’s sacrifice was once for all and finished on Calvary, but saving faith is not done once in a moment of time; it must be maintained for a lifetime.
Thanks for these.
Doesn’t Christ Church’s doctrinal confession hold that all the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice, including forgiveness, are applied in the Lord’s Supper to believers? True, we don’t save up our penitence exclusively for the Supper, but as an application of the gospel, the Supper involves both penitence and faith.