Salvation and the “Sacramental Ordinances” of Baptism & Communion

A large portion (if not the majority) of “evangelical,” Bible-believing Protestants view both baptism and communion as simply being “ordinances[1]” of the church, rather than “sacraments[2]” of the church. In other words, many (if not most) Evangelicals would hold that both baptism and communion are merely symbolic acts that have been commanded by God to be practiced by the church, but that they do not have any real effect upon the soul. Some of them may even say that anyone who believes that baptism and communion are more than just “a sign” are superstitious Christians who have fallen into the “error” of sacramentalism. But my concern is that those who say such things have fallen into an error of their own: their error being that they have adopted elements of an early heresy called Gnosticism[3]. Continue reading Salvation and the “Sacramental Ordinances” of Baptism & Communion →