Understanding the Church's Ordinances: Symbolic Rites and Spiritual Significance
The ordinances of the church also called sacraments, are outward rites and symbolic observances given by Jesus and are considered outward signs of the inward work of the Holy Spirit in our born-again and ongoing regenerative experience. The term “ordinance” comes from the Latin ordo, meaning “row” or “order,” and by this etymology, it also means “an authoritative decree or direction.” Sacrament originally meant “an oath of allegiance” and was taken similarly by newly enlisted soldiers.[i]
There are as many as twelve outward sacraments mentioned in scripture. Like the early Church Fathers, the Protestant church observes only two: water baptism and the Lord’s supper (communion). In comparison, the Roman Catholic Church formally decreed seven ordinances at the Council of Florence in A.D. 1439: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist (mass), penance, extreme unction (anointing with oil of the sick), marriage, and orders (ordination of priests and consecration of nuns).[ii]
We must not see the ordinances of the church as something new but rather a continuation of Biblical promises given to Israel that were fulfilled in Christ. Deep spiritual significance is found in the Old Testament and the ancient customs of Israel that point to Jesus as the Messiah and Savior of Israel.
Jesus fulfilled the ordinance of water baptism, using Himself as an example for the church to follow, that we in like manner submit as He submitted to our Heavenly Father in the baptism of His forerunner, a kohen and high priest, John the Baptist.[iii] Peter affirmed this ordinance on the Day of Pentecost, and the apostles upheld it throughout the book of Acts.[iv] Baptism comes from the Greek baptizo and means “to immerse,” as in how Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. While there is debate by some scholars about the manner of baptism, traditional churches prefer complete immersion, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While we are not born again with water baptism, the experience is nonetheless spiritually significant for the believer, many describing an immediate transformation and anointing of the Holy Spirit.[v]
However, long before God sent forth John to baptize Israel with water, He gave them a purification ritual through water immersion, called a mikvah (which is an immersion pool). The mikvah was a type for the coming redemption of the Messiah. To the nation of Israel, the mikvah offered a remarkable gift of purity and holiness, even if only temporary, until Christ would come and fulfill the Law of Moses.
At Mount Sinai, before the officiation of the Old Covenant, the Israelites were required to consecrate themselves, and according to oral tradition, they used a mikvah.[vi] Miriam’s Well (Be’erah shel Miriam—referenced in the Talmud) is believed to be the spring that miraculously provided the mikvah water for their consecration.[vii] It is thought that Aaron and his sons were later consecrated into their priesthood by immersion in this same mikvah. After the construction of the Tabernacle and then the Temple in Jerusalem, the priests and any Jewish person desiring to enter the house of God were required to immerse themselves in a mikvah. On the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest was commanded first to immerse himself in a mikvah lest he die in God's presence.
Although not explicitly mentioned in the Old Testament, the water libation ceremony observed in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) was an oral tradition believed to have been received at Mount Sinai when the Torah was given to Israel (Halachah l'Moshe mi-Sinai). All burnt sacrifices in the Temple were accompanied by a flour offering and pouring of wine on the altar. These represented the blood of the covenant. During the libation ceremony, water taken from the Temple mikvah was poured on the altar as a libation that accompanied the daily morning sacrifice.[viii]
The mikvah is a symbol (a type) of rebirth, the full circle of life. And the mystery revealed to us is Christ, the fulfillment of our regeneration and resurrection in Him—a new creation (and the antitype). As it is written, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Hebrews 9:27-28, NJKV).[ix]
If the waters of the mikvah are a type for the coming redemption of the Messiah, then we can correlate its antitype and fulfillment to the words of Jesus when He spoke of “living water.” He said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). “For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17).
The Word of God comes to life when we understand that Jesus’ reference to “living water” directly correlates to His redemptive gift and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.[x] In other words, He was speaking of our baptism. Therefore, Christ is our mikvah and baptism, the “living water” of God and the Spirit. Jesus promised to live within and eternally flow out of the believer like fountains of living water. Flowing in for our healing, we read, “For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had” (John 5:4).
And, flowing out for the healing of the nations, as it is written, “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live… Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:8-9 & 12).
Through the “living water” of Christ, who is our baptism, we are given the ministry of healing and reconciliation. This ministry is primarily for the restoration of Israel and the nations. The church is called to build and restore the Kingdom of God; as we read, “You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings” (Isaiah 58:11-12).
Jesus, at the last supper (the Lord’s Passover), officiated the New Covenant and fulfilled the ordinances of the Temple by taking bread and wine as a remembrance of His death on the cross.[xi] While Passover celebrates the miraculous Exodus from slavery in Egypt, there is a greater Messianic fulfillment of these biblical festivals. In scripture, the Lord has ordained seven annual festivals and high holy days, four in the spring and three in the fall.[xii] He explicitly declared these holy convocations (Moadim) to be His feasts and ordained times of prophetic fulfillment.[xiii] The Passover and three other sacred assemblies (Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles) are referenced in scripture as eternal.
We now understand that Christ fulfilled four of seven holy convocations given to Israel at His first advent. He was scourged and crucified on the day of the Passover sacrifice. He was buried before the Sabbath on this first day. He lay in the tomb on the second day, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and a Sabbath rest. And He rose from the grave early on the morning of the third day, the first day of the week, and the Feast of First Fruits (what we call Resurrection Sunday).[xiv] Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, and fifty days after this Sunday came the Feast of Weeks, the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell in Jerusalem, and the church was born in the Power of the Spirit to go forth and preach the gospel.[xv]Everything was perfectly fulfilled precisely according to God’s Holy calendar.
There are differing views about the elements of bread and the fruit of the vine, with many churches using grape juice as a non-alcoholic substitute. The Roman Catholic Church believes in a trans-substitution of the elements that are changed into Christ's physical body and blood when blessed by the priest. Con-substitution, the belief held by Martin Luther, is that the elements are unchanged, but the actual body and blood of Jesus are present with the elements. Calvin and most reformers believed that the elements are merely symbolic, but when received by faith, mediate to the believer the spiritual benefits of Christ’s death. Real communion with the Lord is experienced, and the benefits of communion may be mediated—there is a blessing. While some scholars see communion as entirely symbolic, mediating no blessing, the view that closely matches scripture and is most accepted is the latter.
We find evidence of communion in the book of Acts and the teachings of Paul, often called “the Lord’s supper” or “the breaking of bread.”[xvi] Per scripture, He first took the unleavened bread, broke it, and declared: “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). The Hebrew prayer that Jesus likely would have prayed is: “Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth.” The symbolism here is the body's resurrection from the earth's dust. Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24).
Every covenant in the Bible was dedicated with blood.[xvii] We read, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood [i.e., the soul that sustains physical and corporeal life], and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).[xviii] Therefore, Jesus took the cup of wine, traditionally believed to be the third cup that was blessed after the supper, and declared: “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).
For this blessing, the Hebrew prayer that Jesus would have likely prayed is: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe who creates the fruit of the vine.” Here, the symbolism is about the fruit of the Spirit manifest in us and the fruit of good works produced for the Kingdom of God when we are attached to Jesus, Him saying, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). As disciples of Christ, Paul tells us that “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
Again, we explore the deep spiritual significance of ancient Israel that points to Jesus as the Messiah. In Judaism, the blessing over the fruit of the vine is called kiddush, which means sanctification. On Passover, prayers are traditionally made over four cups. There are several rabbinic opinions about the meaning of the four cups of wine. However commonly accepted is their correlation to the Exodus: “Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord; (1) I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, (2) I will rescue you from their bondage, and (3) I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. (4) I will take you as My people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:6).
Here, we see four prophetic promises for the nation of Israel: the cup of sanctification, the cup of deliverance, the cup of redemption, and the cup of restoration. Another explanation for the four cups is they are a prophetic picture of the four cups of salvation that Israel will drink in the Messianic future, correlating with these scriptures. “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot” (Psalm 16:5); “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5); and “I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:13).
We know that Jesus has fulfilled the first three cups, so there is still one cup yet to be fulfilled at His second coming—the cup of restoration, both the resurrection and the restoration of Israel, God’s Kingdom. But we can learn much about our salvation from studying the Old Testament.
Per Jewish law, the time from the beginning to the completion of a menstrual cycle is called niddah.[xix] The feminine noun niddah means separated or isolated and is brought about by a woman’s impurity of blood (called tumah in Hebrew). Tumah is a negative type. We will see the positive antitype in a moment.
Medieval Biblical commentator, Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that the word niddah is related to menadechem, meaning “those that cast you out.”[xx] Thus, a menstruant woman was separated from her husband lest she rendered him also ritually unclean.[xxi] However, after immersion in a mikvah, she and her husband could be united again.[xxii] Tumah is the root of the word terumah. The terumah was the gift or offering brought to the sons of Aaron to build the Tabernacle. However, the deeper meaning of the word terumah is derived from two separate roots that mean both to separate (suggesting sanctifying) and to elevate (as in bringing us back to God).
The rabbis teach that death, which originated from sin, is the harbinger of the tumah, or impurity—the negative type.[xxiii] Therefore, the woman’s impurity of blood (type), which rendered her ritually impure (called tameh), is also the picture of Israel’s, and hence, all, humanity’s present sinful condition. We read, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). The positive antitype, on the other hand, as in fulfillment, is the blood of Christ that now cleanses us from all sin.[xxiv]
Once again, Tumah is a negative type referencing Israel’s separation from God because of her iniquity. In contrast, Terumah is a positive antitype and fulfillment of the gift of God, which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit to sanctify Israel through the blood of Christ so that He would take her as His bride and a holy people unto Himself. This clarifies the verse: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Under the Mosaic Law, water and blood were combined in the purification ritual of the Red Heifer (para adumah)—the purification ritual for an Israelite who had been exposed to a dead person. The rabbis proclaim that the combining (ham’shachah) of cedarwood and hyssop into the altar of sacrifice of the Red Heifer will draw down the sanctity of God from above.[xxv] The placing of mikvah water (living water) into the ashes of the Red Heifer (blood commingled with fire), called the “sanctification of the purifying waters” (Kiddush mei’chatat),” is then believed (Messianic emphasis added) “to draw down the ultimate revelation of God the Father through the manifestation of Christ. This manifestation, from the most supremely sanctified levels of Divinity (Kodesh Ha’Elyon) that utterly transcend this world.”[xxvi]
In other words, combining living water and blood with the fire of sacrifice represents the full baptism of the Holy Spirit. We read, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).[xxvii] The Apostle John also compared the Holy Spirit to fire when he said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). And Jesus said, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you” (Luke 24:49).
Therefore, the full baptism of the Holy Spirit comes on multiple levels. The living water is for our cleansing and inner healing, and the communion with wine (symbolizing the blood and fire of Christ) is for our purification and sanctification. When we first come to Christ, we receive His living water that cleanses and heals us (represented by the water baptism). We also receive His peace as we read, “With that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22). We are then given what some theologians call the second baptism of the Holy Spirit. This second baptism is the Holy Spirit's refining fire (represented by the blood). We read, “These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7).
The refining baptism of the Holy Spirit also brings His power. As it says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes [with tongues of fire] on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). [xxviii] This aspect of our baptism comes through obedience and service to Christ. It may lead to an uncomfortable condition—our suffering. We read, "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).
The instruction of water baptism is a singular occurrence, signifying that we are cleansed, sanctified, and set apart for God’s Kingdom at salvation. In contrast to the Old Testament laws, the New Covenant believer does not require continued immersion as a means of perpetual sanctification. We are sealed for the day of the resurrection, our final and complete redemption. However, Jesus instructed that our communion, the blessing of wine and breaking of bread, be an ongoing reminder of God’s salvific work for us. Hence, the Gospel is both for our salvation and daily walk with the Lord. We are not continually being saved; we are constantly reminded of our salvation to strengthen our faith in the promise of God’s assurance of our eternal life in Christ.
There is a Biblical warning against “eating and drinking unworthily,” and many believers have unnecessarily abstained.[xxix] Unworthy is an adverb modifying the verbs eat and drink and has to do with the manner of partaking, not the person's unworthiness. Paul chastised the Corinthians, who were acting greedily and intemperately.[xxx] We are all unworthy of God’s unmerited grace, yet in Christ, we are imputed with His righteousness, adopted into God’s family, and privileged to partake of the Lord’s supper. However, believers should examine their attitude toward other believers, such as unforgiveness, and we should not partake of communion in an irreverent or frivolous manner.
Continually observing the Lord’s supper can bring a great blessing, even physical healing.[xxxi] However, regardless of whether or not a blessing is received, it is always done out of obedience to the Lord.[xxxii] Communion is a memorial to the atoning death and shed blood of Jesus in fulfillment of the Old Covenant laws and His officiation of the New Covenant of grace.[xxxiii] It is a proclamation, an act of confession by the church, of faith in the efficacy of Christ’s atoning work. The Lord’s Supper is a statement of our faith and belief in the return of Christ and His soon-coming Kingdom.[xxxiv] In it, we experience communion with the Lord and receive, by faith, the strength and fellowship with our Savior, communion (koinonia), our demonstration of oneness in Christ, and participation with other believers at the Lord’s table in the body of Christ.[xxxv]
[i] Duffield, Guy P. and Van Cleave, Nathaniel M. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Foursquare Media. 1910.
[ii] Lombard, Peter. Book of Sentences. A.D. 1100-1164.
[iii] Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19. Mark 16:16.
[iv] Acts 2:38, 41, 8:12, 36-38, 9:18, 10:47-48, 16:15, 33, 18:8, 19:5-6, 22:16.
[v] Romans 6:3. 1 Corinthians 10:2. Galatians 3:27.
[vi] Exodus 19:10.
[vii] The Zohar explains that Miriam stood by the waters of the Nile River and watched over her baby brother Moses to ensure he would be safe. The Midrash connects the well to Miriam’s exuberant praise after the Splitting of the Sea. Since she was so grateful for a miracle that occurred through water, G‑d rewarded her with water. Shurpin, Yehuda. Miriam’s Well: Unraveling the Mystery. Chabad.org.
[viii] Kitov, Eliyahu. The Water Libation. Chabad.org.
[ix] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[x] John 7:39.
[xi] 1 Corinthians 5:7.
[xii] Leviticus 23.
[xiii] Ibid.
[xiv] Matthew 28:1.
[xv] Acts 2:1-4.
[xvi] Acts 2:42, 46, 20:7, 11, 27:35. 1 Corinthians 10:16-21, 11:20-22, 23-34.
[xvii] Hebrews 9:18.
[xviii] Leviticus 17:11.
[xix] What is Niddah? Chabad.org.
[xx] Wikipedia.
[xxi] From the portion of the Talmud, Niddah. Translated into English with Notes, Glossary, and Indices. By Rev. Dr. Israel W. Slotki, M.A., Litt.D. Come-and-Hear.com.
[xxii] Mikvah: Living Waters. Chabad.org.
[xxiii] Terumah—No Small Token. Chabad of the West Side, New York, NY.
[xxiv] Hebrews 10:22.
[xxv] Note of the Rebbe: “So it is explained here. But see Likkutei Torah, Chukat, loc. cit., especially the conclusion of the passage beginning Tosefet Biur on the maamar beginning VeYikchu Eilecha (p. 61b), [where the Alter Rebbe explains that the cedar wood and the hyssop relate to the avodah of elevation, whereas only the addition of the waters is an avodah of drawing Divine energy downward].” Chabad.org.
[xxvi] Ibid. The Tanya of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi—Parah, ch. 6.
[xxvii] Hebrews 12:29.
[xxviii] Acts 2:3.
[xxix] 1 Corinthians 11:27-29.
[xxx] 1 Corinthians 11:20-22.
[xxxi] 1 Corinthians 11:29-30.
[xxxii] 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.
[xxxiii] 1 Corinthians 11:24 Luke 22:19.
[xxxiv] 1 Corinthians 11:26.
[xxxv] 1 Corinthians 10:16-17.