Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Lord's Supper and a Clear Conscience


This coming week at Church in the Boro, we will begin observing the Lord's Supper on a weekly basis. This came about partly through our pastor Rob's experience at the 2009 conference of the Association of Charismatic Reformed Churches where a message was given concerning the Lord's Supper and Revival.


As part of our weekly observance, Rob asked me to prepare a monthly, short, mini-devotional about one aspect of communion. I decided that I would also make these available to the rest of the web through this blog.


When Jesus and His disciples sat down to eat, at one point our Lord took the bread and wine and revealed to them their symbolism. Matthew's account goes like this:


While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins..." (Matthew 26:26-28 NASB)


Luke's account makes clear that the "covenant" being referred to here is the New Covenant which was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, which promised among other things, the forgiveness of sins (Jeremiah 31:34). Christ comes now and announces that His impending death will bring that promise to a realization and now infuses the elements of the meal with symbolism of that fulfillment.


I want to focus particularly on how that fulfillment applies to the forgiveness of sins that the New Covenant brings. According to Hebrews, the Old Covenant which was made with Israel on Mount Sinai was never intended nor able to procure actual forgiveness (Hebrews 10:11). As a consequence, a guilty conscience cannot be made clean because one's sins are still over him (Hebrews 9:9).
However, with the New Covenant, by the blood of Jesus, we can experience true forgiveness and live with a clear and clean conscience before God and man (Romans 8:33,34). As a result of our forgiveness and clean conscience, we are now able to approach a holy, holy God with no fear; knowing that we are accepted and considered faultless. We are able to draw near to God in the Holy of Holies anytime and anywhere, but especially when the saints gather together.
How does this apply to the elements in the Lord's Supper? According to Hebrews 10:19-22, we are exhorted to approach God with a clear conscience through the veil, which is Christ's flesh. We know that His flesh, or body is represented by the bread. Let us therefore eat of the bread and enter the Holiest place by faith through the veil.
Let us also drink of the cup, by faith recognizing that it is Christ's blood which truly takes away our sins and allowes us to finally have a clear conscience (Hebrews 10:22)through the New Covenant that God makes with us.
Dear saints, if you struggle with a guilty conscience, then this meal is for you.

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