Juice or Wine?

Ok, I am cheating today and posting something that I did not write. Here is an article from a newsletter that I receive and I wanted to share it with you. It should be discussion inducing; just keep it nice please. If you are interested in signing up for this newsletter just click on the graphic.

Jesus, the Scriptures tells us, served “the fruit of the vine” (Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25) and ‘the cup” (Luke 22:20). We could break down the common usage of these expressions in this time, flipping pages in our word study books until we are blue in the face. Others have done so. The evidence is overwhelmingly one sided. I’d commend to your reading by Ken Gentry, published by Oakdown Press. Or we could start from the other direction and ask this question, “What do we want it to mean?” That is, are people on my side of this issue eager to take flimsy evidence to conclude that it was wine as some sort of justification for our sin, or, are the people on the other side eager to take flimsy evidence to conclude that it was grape juice, or unfermented wine, in order to hold on to the notion that the moderate consumption of alcohol is at best unwise and at worst a sin. That is to say, the question really isn’t about the Last Supper (nor, for that matter is it about the wedding feast at Cana, or the wine Paul encourages Timothy to take, nor the wine and strong drink we are encouraged to buy with our tithes in Deuteronomy 14:26.) The real question is this, is it permissible for the Christian to consume alcohol in moderation?

 

Whenever there is a close call in terms of understanding the Bible, when men of good will and obvious Christian faith disagree, one of my convictions is that it is always wise to look to the wisdom of the church over the ages. Has the church spoken to issue x, and has it given a consistent answer? On this issue we have to begin by noting that while there is in our day some level of disagreement, that this isn’t at all what one would consider to be a close issue. Until 150 years ago, virtually no one in the church ever took the position that drinking alcohol in moderation is a sin. No one. There are no ancient exegetical studies of these accounts of Jesus and wine breaking down the words because no one bothered to do so. Everyone knew it was wine. The question simply wasn’t asked, because there was no reason to ask it.

 

Remember the RC Sproul Jr. principle of hermeneutics- whenever you see someone doing something really stupid in the Bible, do not say to yourself, “How can they be so stupid?” Instead say to yourself, “How am I more stupid?” The same thing applies to church history. When we look at all the foolish distortions of the faith brought into Roman Catholicism when she added tradition as a second source of revelation, we ought to be on guard for our own ways of doing so. The only difference is that our traditions are younger, and thankfully, we can get rid of them. “Consuming alcohol is a sin” is a tradition, a foolish, albeit well-meaning one, in the modern evangelical church. Like the doctrine of purgatory, it has no Biblical support. Like Roman Catholics and their traditions, evangelicals cling desperately to this tradition, against all Biblical evidence.

 

To reject this tradition isn’t, as those who created it will tell us, to start down the road to worldliness. It isn’t to creep toward a life of self-destruction. It is instead to humbly submit to the plain teaching of Scripture. That same Scripture has strong words about abusing strong drink. It likewise has strong words about adding to the law of God. May He give us the grace to submit to Him, and to drink the cup, the fruit of the vine, confessing our sin, rather than trying to be more pious than He.

Two Baptisms

This past Sunday evening there was much rejoicing. Two of our children were baptized!

Acts 2:38-39
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

They were asked several questions in front of a small congregation and gave their testimony in that way. I video taped the questions EXCEPT for the first two questions (I couldn’t remember how to work my camera). The questions not on the video are:
1. What is the sign of baptism? Answer: Washing with water
2. What does the washing with water represent? Answer: that we are untied with Christ and cleansed from sin by his blood.
You can listen to the rest….

Here are a few pictures…..

The service was concluded with someone playing Amazing Grace on their trumpet, which of course, brought tears to my eyes.

Agreements on Baptism

Within the Protestant church there are many misunderstandings and disagreement over the mode & meaning baptism. Sometimes it is important to focus on the things we can agree upon. I can remember one of the best examples of this is when my husband and a fellow minister jointly preached a sermon on baptism. The commonalities between Credobaptism and Paedobaptism and the promise of God’s grace as expressed and experienced through them were explained without tearing each other down. Many people were encouraged and educated. I found this page to be a great example of unity between the Credobaptist and Paedobaptist. On the Reformation 21 blog there is a list of 17 statements that can be agreed on by both. This list is compiled by a Mark Dever(SBC) and a David Coffin(PCA).

Follow-Up Discussion From a Previous Post

This is a follow-up to a previous posting entitled Pharisee or Not?. I have had several emails and comments regarding this post and I feel as if the point that I am trying to get across is being lost. My point, at the heart of it, has nothing to do with alcohol; it is the practice of observing the Lord’s Supper and our customs. I know several people who refuse to take communion because:
(1) they won’t drink any alcohol and think communion should only be served with grape juice, or
(2) communion should only be served with wine, or
(3) bread should be used instead of wafers…and in fact the bread must be unleavened.

My point was that these sorts of things should not hinder or stop us from having fellowship with a particular church or communing with God through The Lord’s Supper. If these things do hinder us then we need to evaluate whether they are truely of God, according to the Scriptures, or whether they are simply self imposed good moral convictions based solely on our tradition, particular upbringing and/or church custom. Basically, are they scriptural? If they are not scriptural then our personal bias should be put aside at times (like when visiting a church that practices the Lord’s Supper differently) for a full scriptural view, so that our personal bias/tradition/custom doesn’t interfere with our taking of the Lord’s Supper, even if we do not like the elements and what is served.

On a side note: Some seemto have taken offense at my use of the word pride. I used that word specifically because I have heard several people use that word when saying “it is not a pride thing but conviction”. I used the word because that is the word others had used in making reference to this issue; and I am not referring to any one individual in particular either. As I said, I have heard this statement made on several occasions by various people across several denominational lines.

I wanted this to be a public discussion of views amongst other believers and did not mean it as a personal attack. This is why it was posted publically and not addressed to any one individual. It seems to me that maybe some have taken this as a personal attack. I want to assure you it was not directed at anyone in particular.

I hope we can keep talking openly and honestly because I truly believe this will help all of us grow spiritually as we wrestle with these issues and our comfort zones are stretched.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

A Pharisee Or Not?

We have begun attending a church that instead of using grape juice for Communion uses wine for the Lord’s Supper. Now I am not a drinker but this does not bother me in the least. It has put me to thinking on this subject lately though. I was once told by someone that they would never take communion in a church that only offered wine. She proceeded to tell me that she had never had any type of alcoholic drink in her entire life and that it was just something she committed to abstaining from. This is very commendable,I completely understand her conviction to avoid alcoholic drink and applaud her on following through with her conviction. However, I have a nagging concern the more I think about this. She also told me that this was not a pride thing it is just something she committed herself to doing. The more I ponder her statements, the more I have begun to feel that it is indeed a pride thing. When we begin to put our own personal righteousness in higher importance than communing with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at His table we have become like the Pharisees.

What are your thoughts on this????