Steven A. Bush - May 2, 2021
Our Sacred Ordinances
In Baptism and Communion, we have sacred ordinances that depict and convey and remind us of the Gospel and how Jesus accomplished our salvation, emancipation, and adoptions. But we must always remember that these sacred ordinances, likewise called sacraments, reflect the salvation event, they do not achieve it. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone. Ephesians 2:8-10 affirms it this way: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV) The waters of Baptism and the Bread & Cup point to, illuminate, even dramatize the powerful and beautiful and incredible and joyfully unspeakable redemption purchased for us by Almighty God through Jesus Christ our Lord! That's why they're so vitally important, deeply inspiring, visibly poignant, and immensely uplifting...