The Biblical Requirement of Preparing For the Supper Vs. Paedocommunion

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

1 Corinthians 11:28NKJV

This morning we look at Westminster Larger Catechism Question 171, which asks, “How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it?” It gives the answer, “They that receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves thereunto, by examining themselves of their being in Christ, of their sins and wants; of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance; love to God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong; of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedience, and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and fervent prayer.” 

In the last few decades most if not all of the Reformed denominations in America have found it necessary to produce official denominational statements rejecting the error of paedocommunion. Theologically and anthropologically aberrant movements, such as the Federal Vision, have made this response necessary. Paedocommunion is the practice of allowing young children to take communion in worship. There are two main types of paedocommunion. The first allows even infants to be given the communion elements from a spoon. The second allows any young child to partake of communion with a mere profession of faith. Notice how thoroughly the Divines reject this minimalist position. As seen in today’s question, in addition to a profession of faith, the Westminster Standards require of all participants in the Supper, their prior preparation by self-examination in the following areas:

1. of their sins and wants

2. of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, and repentance

3. of their love to God and the brethren

4. of their charity to men with forgiveness

5. of their own desires for Christ, and of their new obedience

6. of their continued renewal of these graces by serious meditation and fervent prayer

Surely such requirements should cause even mature Christians to pause! Yet is this not also the case with all of our Christian duties (e.g. love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbors as yourself)? The Biblical passage referred to in deducing these requirements calls for self-examination, which also involves a “discerning” of “the Lord’s body” (1Cor. 11:29). When one is able to discern the whole church as the Lord’s body, he is able to see and walk in his responsibility to love the brethren with Christian love, and his call to love all others with a neighborly love. Thus, participation in the Lord’s Supper demands one’s own self-conscious and self-responsible living the daily life of a disciple of Christ, something that young children cannot and should not be expected to do.

Knowing that the Scriptures do not countenance young and immature believers to come to the table, Federal Vision paedocommunionists try to appeal to church history to justify their position. While Reformed Theology is derived from Scripture Alone, it is important to note that even their appeal to history is without substance, as shown by several Reformed rebuttals, including a 2007 article by Matthew Winzer in The Confessional Presbyterian Journal, “The True History of Paedocommunion.” Winzer shows how Federal Vision advocates seriously distort and subjectively select and take out of context statements from certain church fathers, on which they base their claims, whereas in many cases these same fathers, when speaking directly to the issue, explicitly reject paedocommunion.

The Reformers all understood this fact, which is why they hardly dealt with the issue of paedocommunion; it was as plain and uncontroversial to them as other issues they barely addressed, like marriage not being permitted to two people of the same sex.  Why address something on which almost no one was confused?  The PCA position paper on paedocommunion affirms this fact of history: “Classical Reformed theology has been virtually unanimous in judging that covenant children ought not be brought to the Lord's Table before the age of discretion.”  As the Westminster Divines rightly teach in today’s question: partaking of the elements in the Supper requires personal and discerning self-examination in an introspective time of preparation.  A child simply cannot do this.  To hold otherwise is to distort the above plain verse of Scripture and to misunderstand the meaning of the Supper and how we benefit by it: not merely by eating and drinking, but by a living and active faith as we remember Him!