Paedocommunion part 5

Concluding thoughts

This is the conclusion to my series on Paedocommunion. The substance of this 5 part series consisted originally in a paper I wrote back in 2020. It has been an honor to publish it now in this multi-part series. You can find part 1 here. This will likely not be the last post I make on this subject, but this will be the completion of the paper I previously wrote. Thank you for taking the time to read, share, and interact with this series.

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Conclusion

There is a tendency to operate under the basis of God’s eternal decree, or His secret things, rather than what is revealed. Ministers are not commanded to shepherd the flock God has entrusted them from the secret things that belong only to God. God has not given His Ministers cardio-analytic abilities; they cannot look into the hearts of their people. Rather, they are to operate based on what has been 

revealed, namely the covenant; or more specifically, the Word or Law of the covenant. Otherwise, we risk making the covenant as invisible as God’s eternal decree of election. God’s covenant takes place in history; it is where the invisible and secret decree of God takes its shape and form and becomes manifest. 

As this pertains to the topic at hand, we must recognize that those whom God covenantally calls His people should not be withheld those privileges and blessings that God has promised them. God does not call a people to Himself and withhold His sacraments from them. They have been baptized and made part of the body of Christ. They are not only members of the house of God, but they themselves constitute the house! Why then, would we keep them from coming to the table to feast and rejoice in the work their God has done for them in Christ? The sacraments reveal a great deal about the gospel and inform us as to how we understand it. Baptism is a beautiful sign of the love of God and His gracious forgiveness of sins. Especially infant baptism, as it shows that when we are at our weakest, unable to fully understand our own inability, God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. The Lord’s Supper as well reveals much about the Gospel. God not only forgives the sins of His people, but He furnishes a table for them in the wilderness of this world, offering life and sustenance—He offers Himself. When we keep those from the Table other than those outside of Christ, we divide the body and make this meal something that is to be attained by us, rather than received in faith. Admittance to the Lord’s table is not something we earn, but is something graciously given to us freely in Christ. 

It is not my aim in this to have said the final word on this matter; rather, I simply hope to have said something helpful. It is my hope that what I have written will be used to start conversations on this subject, to help us to examine our beliefs and reform as necessary in accordance with the whole counsel of God revealed to us in His Word and as testified in the tradition of his Holy Church.