“Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.” — 1 Corinthians 11:2

The Lord Jesus Christ gave His churches two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Few questions have stirred more discussion among Baptists than this one: who may come to the Lord’s Table? Many churches today invite anyone who professes faith in Christ to take part. Others, holding to what has long been called strict communion, receive at the Table only those who have been scripturally baptized and walk in the order of a gospel church. This article explains what strict communion is, why Baptists have held it from the Scriptures, and how it may be practiced with both faithfulness and grace.

What Is Strict Communion?

Baptists have generally used three terms to describe who may partake of the Lord’s Supper:

  • Open communion admits anyone who professes faith in Christ, whether or not he has been baptized as a believer, and whatever church he belongs to.
  • Close communion admits baptized believers who are members of churches of the same faith and order.
  • Closed communion admits only the members of the local church observing the Supper.

“Strict communion” is the historic name for the position that baptism, by immersion upon a profession of faith, must come before the Lord’s Supper. Strict Baptists have held it in both its “close” and its “closed” forms. Both forms agree on the central point: the Lord’s Table is not open to all comers, but belongs to baptized believers walking together in the order Christ appointed for His churches.

What the Lord’s Supper Is

Before asking who may come to the Table, we must be clear about what it is. The Lord’s Supper is not a sacrifice, and the bread and cup do not become the literal body and blood of Christ, as Rome teaches. Christ offered Himself once for all, and His work is finished. The Supper is a memorial of His death, a proclamation of it until He comes, and a communion of His people with Him and with one another.

“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” — 1 Corinthians 11:26
“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 being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” — 1 Corinthians 10:16–17

Because the Supper is the communion of one body, it is not a private act of devotion that any individual may take up on his own. It is the ordinance of a gathered church, showing forth the unity of those who have been joined together in Christ.

The Order Christ Gave

In the Great Commission, the Lord set out the order of His work: first make disciples, then baptize them, then teach them to observe all things He commanded. Baptism comes immediately after faith and before the rest of the Christian life of obedience.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” — Matthew 28:19–20

The apostles followed exactly that order on the day of Pentecost. Those who received the word were baptized, were added to the church, and then continued in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers.

“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” — Acts 2:41–42

There is no example anywhere in the New Testament of an unbaptized person sitting at the Lord’s Table. The order is always faith, then baptism, then the fellowship of the church and the breaking of bread. Strict communion simply keeps the ordinances in the order in which they were delivered.

A Church Ordinance

The apostle Paul describes the Lord’s Supper as something done when the church comes together. It was given to the church at Corinth as a body, and it was to be observed by that body, assembled in one place.

“For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you… When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.” — 1 Corinthians 11:18, 20

Because the Supper belongs to the church, the church is responsible for how it is kept. The same letter that teaches the Lord’s Supper also commands the church to put away from its fellowship those who live in open sin, and not even to eat with them.

“But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.” — 1 Corinthians 5:11

If a church has no say over who comes to the Table, it has no means of exercising this discipline. A church can only guard the Supper among those who are under its care.

Baptism Before the Table

Under the Old Testament, the Passover could be eaten only by those who had received the sign of the covenant. A stranger was welcome to keep the Passover, but first he had to be circumcised.

“And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it… for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.” — Exodus 12:48

Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, and the Lord’s Supper stands in the place of that feast. Just as the outward sign of entrance came before the Passover, so baptism, the ordinance of entrance into the visible church, comes before the Lord’s Supper.

The Scriptures know of only “one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5): the immersion of a believer upon his profession of faith. The sprinkling of infants is not baptism at all, since it has neither the right subject nor the right mode. For this reason, strict communion churches do not receive at the Table those who were only sprinkled as infants, even when they are sincere Christians. This is not a judgment that such people are unsaved. It is a recognition that they have not yet obeyed the Lord’s first command to His disciples.

A Long Baptist Witness

Strict communion is not a new idea. Among the English Particular Baptists of the 1600s, William Kiffin led the first church to hold strict communion in 1638, and in 1681 he defended it in A Sober Discourse of Right to Church-Communion. On the other side, John Bunyan argued for open communion in A Confession of my Faith, and a Reason of my Practice (1672) and Differences in Judgment About Water-Baptism, No Bar to Communion (1673). Bunyan was a dear servant of Christ whose writings have blessed generations, but on this point Kiffin held more closely to the order of Scripture.

The question arose again in the early 1800s. Robert Hall Jr. argued for open communion in On Terms of Communion (1815), and Joseph Kinghorn answered him with Baptism a Term of Communion at the Lord’s Supper (1816). In the nineteenth century, the Strict Baptists, including William Gadsby and J. C. Philpot, held firmly to closed communion, and many Strict and Particular Baptist churches still do today.

Answering the Objections

“It is the Lord’s Table, not the church’s.”

That is exactly why it must be kept as the Lord commanded. Because the Table belongs to Christ, His churches have no right to change the terms He set. The Lord gave the ordinances to His churches and charged them to keep them as they were delivered (1 Corinthians 11:2). Keeping His order honors His ownership of the Table.

“It is unloving and divisive.”

Love for Christ is shown by keeping His commandments (John 14:15), and love for our brethren does not require us to set those commandments aside. Strict communion does not deny that other believers are Christians, and it should never be practiced with pride or coldness. But true unity is found in the truth, not in overlooking it.

“Let each man examine himself.”

Paul does command every partaker to examine himself (1 Corinthians 11:28). But that command is given to church members who are already baptized and gathered together. Self-examination is the duty of each one who comes; it does not cancel the church’s duty to guard the ordinance.

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” — 1 Corinthians 11:28–29

“But they are Christians too.”

Many of them certainly are, and we gladly own them as brethren. But being a Christian has never been the only requirement for the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament. Every believer is called to be baptized, and the right answer for an unbaptized believer is not to set the order aside, but to obey the Lord in baptism.

Practicing Strict Communion With Grace

  • Teach it plainly. A church should explain its practice from the Scriptures, so that members understand it and visitors are not surprised.
  • Announce it kindly. Before the Supper, the pastor can explain who is invited to partake and why, in a spirit of humility.
  • Point people to obedience. When a believer who has not been baptized is present, the church should lovingly encourage him to be baptized, and receive him gladly once he has obeyed.
  • Guard against pride. We are not admitted to the Table because we are better than others, but because Christ died for sinners. Strict communion is about obedience, not superiority.
  • Keep the focus on Christ. The purpose of the Supper is to remember the Lord’s death until He comes. The church guards the Table so that the Table may keep pointing to Him.

Conclusion

Strict communion is not a matter of human tradition or church pride. It rests on the order Christ gave in the Great Commission, the pattern followed by the apostles at Pentecost, the nature of the Supper as a church ordinance, and the church’s duty to keep the ordinances as they were delivered. Faith, then baptism, then the fellowship of the church at the Lord’s Table: this is the Lord’s order, and His churches honor Him by keeping it. Let us come to His Table with humble hearts, remembering the death of the Lord Jesus, who gave His body and shed His blood for His people, until He comes.

“Let all things be done decently and in order.” — 1 Corinthians 14:40
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” — John 14:15