What the Lord’s Supper Teaches Us
What the Lord’s Supper Teaches Us
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age”
Titus 2:11-12
When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, it is valuable to focus on how we think. “Do this in remembrance of me” reminds us that we should be focusing on Jesus and remembering his sacrifice. The grace that God shows us is something for which we should be immensely grateful. It brings about salvation for us that we could have never achieved on our own.
It is also important to note that Paul tells us that God’s grace trains us as well. When we come into contact with God’s grace, it implies that we have newfound responsibilities. We do not have our sins forgiven and then continue living in the exact same way. Instead, God’s grace teaches us about who we should be and how we should act.
The Lord’s Supper is a reminder of this teaching. We reflect that Jesus’ body was broken for our sins and that his blood was shed for our iniquities. In recalling that this is what was necessary for us to receive God’s grace, we come face-to-face with the fact that our sin is grotesque to our Lord and Savior.
That knowledge should change us. It should motivate us to no longer act in ways that pains God so much that death is required to make it right. As we partake of the bread and the blood of Christ, we should not only remember the death of Jesus, but we should examine ourselves.
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Are we still doing things that make that sacrifice necessary? Are we still living an ungodly life? If we do not transform our lives due to the grace of God, what does that imply about us?
It is easy for people to come to the Lord’s Supper, eat and drink it, and then go home and continue to be full of anger, bitterness, lust, covetousness, and foolishness. If God’s grace is not training us to remove those things from our lives, are we actually receiving it? As we partake of the Lord’s Supper, let us focus on learning what God intended: how to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age”
Titus 2:11-12