Little Red Book Ministry

B. Who may partake of the Lord’s Supper?
The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of what our Savior did to procure our salvation. Therefore it is meaningless to an unsaved person. It is for believers only, and furthermore, it is for believers whose lives are clean. It is for those who are not careless about their relationship with their Lord.

C. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper unworthily
First Corinthians 11:26–30 makes a strong statement about partaking of the elements of the Lord’s Supper unworthily. It says that those who do so are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. It says that these people eat and drink damnation to themselves and that “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [have died!] (1 Corinthians 11:30).

Because of this verse, many people have come to fear the commemoration of the Lord’s Supper. But this is an entirely unwarranted attitude in most cases. All Christians sin after they are saved and some sin frequently. This is the time to recall your weakness and commit it to your heavenly Father. Ask Him to forgive you and help you clean up your act right then and there. Partaking in the ceremony will often give you greater resolve to deal with your sin problems more diligently. However, there are circumstances under which it would be very unwise to partake of the elements.

A Christian living in open, unconfessed sin, with no intention of changing the situation, has no business partaking of the elements. This is the type of Christian that is being warned in this verse. A person in this condition is already under God’s chastisement and is, in effect, mocking God. Common sense tells us what a dangerous situation that creates. If this does not desribe your situation, then you ought to gladly partake of the special communion with God that this ceremony offers.

D. Why partake at all?
We partake of the Lord’s table for several reasons. We partake because our Savior has asked us to. We partake because it causes us to examine our lives and set straight any faults or sin that might be creeping in. One important reason we partake is so that we will remember that we have been bought with a price and our lives are no longer entirely our own. We are the entrusted caretakers of lives that belong to God and therefore we should glorify Him with our lives (1 Corinthians 6:20).