DOGMA IN THE PAULING EPISTLES

Salvation in Baptism and The Eucharist

St. Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians

References:

Salvation in the Orthodox Understanding,

H.H. Pope Shenouda III

Sacramental Rites in the Coptic Orthodox Church-Part 4-Eucharist

H. G. Bishop Mettaous

Overview:

Part 1: BaptismBiblical examplesMeaning of Baptism- Dogma and Spirituality

Part 2: The EucharistChrist’s WordsSpirituality, Benefits, Necessity

BAPTISM AND SALVATION

Baptism

Common references:

Jesus Himself- Matthew 3:16, Mark 1, Luke 3Peter of Pentecost-Acts 2:38Samaritans and Simon the Sorcerer-Acts 8:12St. Paul-Acts 9:18Phillipian Jailer-Acts 16:31Ethiopian Eunuch- 8:38Cornelius- Acts 10:44Lydia seller of purple-Acts 16

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that

all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

1 Corinthians 10: 1-6The Israelites were very dear to God, and much in His favor, He would

work miracles for their deliverance, and take them so immediately under His guidance and protection.

1. The Cloud: The Jews were all under the divine covering and guidance Shining on one side to show them their way, dark on the other to hide them

from their pursuing enemies. It sometimes spread itself over them as a mighty sheet, to defend them from

the burning sun in the sandy desert.

2. Crossing the Red Sea They were miraculously guided through the Red Sea (baptism), where the

pursuing Egyptians were drowned. It was a lane to them, but a grave to the Egyptians: a proper type of our

redemption by Christ, who saves us by conquering and destroying His enemies and ours.

1 Corinthians 10: 1-6 3. They had sacraments like ours.

(V2.) They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea, or into Moses, that is, brought under obligation to Moses’ law and covenant, as we are by baptism under the Christian law and covenant. It was to them a typical baptism.

They did all eat of the same spiritual meat, and drink of the same spiritual drink, that we do.

Of course we know this to be a symbol of The Eucharist. The manna on which they fed was a type of Christ crucified; the bread which came down from heaven, which those who eat shall live forever.

1 Corinthians 10: 1-6 One would think that this should have saved them; that all who ate of that

spiritual meat, and drank of that spiritual drink, should have been holy and acceptable to God.

Yet was it otherwise: With many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness, (V5).

As Christians too, we may enjoy many and great spiritual privileges in this world, and yet come short of eternal life.

Many of those who were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and sea, that is, had their faith of His divine commission confirmed by these miracles, were yet overthrown in the wilderness, and never saw the promised land.

Let none presume upon their great privileges, or profession of the truth; these will not secure heavenly happiness, nor prevent judgments here on earth.

Salvation: Dogma of Baptism

The St. Paul, having recited their privileges, proceeds here to an account of their faults and punishments, their sins and plagues, which are left upon record for an example to us, a warning against the like sins, if we would escape the like punishments. We must not do as they did, lest we suffer as they suffered.

“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23

Death is essential present throughout Salvation.Starts with deathContinues in deathEnds in death

Salvation Begins with Death “For the wages of sin is death…”

Salvations began with the death of Our Lord Jesus on the Cross

Through His death He paid the wages of our sins○ Bought us with His Blood

In order then to share in this salvation, we too must die with Him and rise with HimBy this we are glorified with HimSt Paul confirms this in Phil 3:10

○ “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death”

Salvation Begins with Death Without partaking in this death, we are

deserving of the second death which is eternal suffering in the lake of fire (Rev 20:14)

Knowing then that we must partake of His death to share in His resurrection, we must ask how....?

Salvation Begins with Death

St. Paul answers this very question in Romans 6:3-4

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Salvation Begins with Death

Our death and burial with Christ is what makes us share with Him.

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” Romans 6:5-8

Salvation Begins with Death

Process When we are immersed in water we are “buried with

Him into death.” When we come out of the water we are “raised in

the newness of life” Through this death our “old man is crucified with

Him, that the body of sin might be done away with” Baptism then in necessary for salvation.

It’s a union with Christ in His deathIt is believing in this death as a way to liveIt is confessing that the wages of sin is death.

Role of Faith

Faith is believing the that the wages of our sin is death and that Christ died for us and that we must die with Him first in order to live with Him

This Faith leads us to promise of Salvation by dying with Him in Baptism.

Salvation Continues by Death

St. Paul summarizes out Orthodox faith in Romans 6:12 by his statement “Let not sin reign in your mortal body…”

We received salvation through Jesus’ death, thus we must keep ourselves free form sin by dying to the lusts of the world

As long as the body is dead salvation runs through it, however when the lusts of the body become alive and active we become liable to lose salvation as St. Paul has stated that salvation is worked out through death

Salvation Continues by Death

Prayer of the 9th hour we pray: “O You, Who tasted death in the ninth hour for our sakes, we the sinners, put to death our carnal lusts, O Christ, our God and deliver us.”

Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

2 Corin 4:10-12 “-always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.”

Romans 8:10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness

Romans 8:36 “ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter

Salvation Continues by Death

Therefore, as we walk the way of salvation, we must keep our bodies dead to sin. Death should always be working in us

A person who claims to be saved but loves the world and the things of the world is deceiving themselves.

“friendship if the world is enmity with God” James 4:4

Salvation continues with the death of the deeds of the body, the desires of the flesh, and the material things of the world that are constantly in struggle with the spirit.

Salvation Completed by Death

“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev 2:10)

As long as we are mortifying the works of the flesh, we are working out our salvation.

“Do not boast in vain, for many have begun in the spirit but ended in the flesh” (Gal 3:3)

THE EUCHARIST

Dogma in St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians

Dogma: Eucharist1 Corinthians 11

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.    

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

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

29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

THE MEANING OF COMMUNION AND ITS ROLE IN SALVATION IS SO CONFUSED BY CHRISTIANS

TODAY AND IS A HUGE DIVIDING ISSUE.

IF ONLY WE COULD ASK JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF WHAT HE

TAUGHT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNION

AND ITS ROLE IN OUR SALVATION?

JOHN 6:53-58“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in

you.

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.

This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who

eats this bread will live forever.”

Theology of the Eucharist In Baptism, we are saved from original sin, the

beginning step of Salvation We become children of God, worthy of

receiving the merits of the blood. Yet we sin every day “If we say that we have

no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)

The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ washes away these sins

Theology of the Eucharist

The Holy Sacrifice in the sacrament of the Eucharist is no more than an extension of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Therefore we can have no atonement for our sins without it“This is given for salvation and the remission of sins” and

we dwell in Him by it “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion

of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. “ 1 Corin 10 :16-17

Theology of the Eucharist “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the

members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. (1 Corin 12:12-14)

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (1 Corin 12:27)

Partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ unites mankind into one body, with Christ as the Head.

Spiritual Benefits

1. Abiding in Christ according to His precious promise: “He who eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood abides in

Me, and I in him” (John 6:56). By receiving this Sacrament we become members of

His Body, of His Flesh and of His Bones (Ephesians 5:30), and we also become partakers of the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4).

2. It gives us the promise of eternal life: “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal

life and I will raise him up at the last day. He who eats this Bread will live forever” (John 6:54, 58).

Spiritual Benefits

3. It provides growth in the Spirit and spiritual perfection and life in Jesus Christ, for He said: “For My Flesh is food indeed and My Blood is drink

indeed .... As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me” (John 6:55,57).

As food develops the body and keeps it healthy, so too the spiritual food, which is the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, strengthens the soul so that it may grow continually in grace.

Spiritual Benefits

4. It provides remedy to the soul, body and spirit, as we say in the Offertory Mystery : “That they (Holy Body and Precious Blood) may become to us all for

participation and healing and salvation for our souls, bodies and our spirits”

Partaking of the Communion without worthiness causes weakness, sickness and death, for as St Paul said : “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30).

Also Communion received worthily and with preparation results in health, and strength for our bodies and souls. Our holy church fathers called Communion ‘the remedy for the death of sin’.

Spiritual Benefits5. Communion results in our salvation and remission of sins; as mentioned in

the final ‘Confession’ in the liturgy :

“Given for our salvation, remission of sins and eternal life to those who partake of Him”.

By repentance and Confession before the priest we are granted the remission of the sins we have confessed, but in Communion we are granted remission of sins that we are unaware of, including the sins of lust that we are not conscious of. Communion is the washing and cleaning of the repenatant’s heart from all sins, as we read in the Book of Revelation about those redeemed and saved who are,

“The ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14).

Spiritual Benefits

6. Communion gives a person immunity against sin. Material food gives us health and immunity against disease and illnesses that attack us. Likewise, partaking of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ gives the spirit immunity and inaccessibility against the viruses of sins, Satanic warfare and bodily lusts, so we live in victory in our spiritual struggle.

The Psalmist says :“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”

(Psalm 23:5).

This verse was a prophecy about the table of Communion and its benefits for victory against our enemies.

Spiritual Benefits

7. The introduction to the Litanies is as follows:

“We ask You O our Master, to partake of Your holies for the purification of our souls, our bodies and our spirits. That we may become one body and one spirit, and may have a share and an inheritance with all the saints who have pleased You since the beginning...”

Spiritual BenefitsWe find many benefits of Communion in this prayer : It gives purification for our souls, our bodies and our spirits. St Paul advises us, “Let us

cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

It provides the unity of the body and spirit, as St. Paul our teacher says : “For we being many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17).

As the bread that is transubstantiated to the Body of Christ was previously grains of wheat having become bread after much grinding, kneading and baking, and the wine that is transubstantiated to become the Blood of Christ was previously many grapes pressed to become liquid, so too all the community of believers, partaking of the Holy Body and Precious Blood, become one in Christ.

For this reason, in the Gregorian Mass we pray, “May the unity of heart that is for love, be rooted in us,” and this is achieved through partaking of the same Body and Blood of our Lord.

It gives us an eternal inheritance with all the saints who have pleased the Lord by their good deeds, and this is our greatest longing and aim of our struggle; to please the Lord and granted an inheritance amongst His saints. Communion helps us achieve this goal.

Glory be to God, Amen