Upon having made profession of faith, the way to the Lord’s Supper has now been opened ecclesiastically. Having demonstrated that you are sufficiently acquainted with the truths of Scripture, you are now deemed capable of examining yourself.

After having made profession of faith in the midst of the congregation, you now have the full rights of membership. To this belongs the right to partake of the sacraments, and thus also admission to the Lord’s Supper. Since antiquity there has always been a very close relationship between making profession of faith and the Lord’s Supper.

Above the Compendium, which was formulated by Herman Faukelius for catechumens who wish to make profession of faith, it is therefore written: “For those who seek admission to the Lord’s Supper.” As long as your life and doctrine are not at odds with God’s Word, you have the right to partake of the Lord’s Supper after having made public profession of faith. In fact, it is your duty to do so. You are obligated to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

However, you may not partake of the Lord’s Supper as an unbeliever. You must, prior to partaking of the Lord’s Supper, first examine yourself whether you can partake of the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner. The issue is not whether you deem yourself worthy to sit at the Lord’s Table, but whether you can partake of the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner. The apostle exclaims: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself.” Only by faith can one partake of the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner.

Without repentance and seeking salvation in Christ, one cannot properly partake of the Lord’s Supper. Thus, one must examine himself whether he is in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5).

Although there is a connection between baptism, profession of faith, and the Lord’s Supper, it is not simply a matter of fact that everyone who has made profession of faith also partakes of the Lord’s Supper. The one is not the automatic consequence of the other.

Many claim that it is inconsistent to readily proceed with baptism and to make matters difficult for coming to the Lord’s Table. They are both sacraments, are they not? There is a difference between these sacraments, however.

Baptism is a sacrament whereby God confirms His covenant and its promises to us and our children. The focus is not upon the faith of the parents or the chil­dren, but on God’s covenant and its promises.

Partaking of the Lord’s Supper, however, consists of the personal act of coming to the Lord’s Table in order to commemorate there the death of Christ and to have our faith strengthened. Personal faith in Christ is indeed an issue here. Concerning baptism it is not written that one must first examine himself — even though the use of this sacrament may also neither be form nor custom — but Scripture does state this expressly regarding the Lord’s Supper.

Thus, the doctrine of self-examination is the link between profession of faith and the Lord’s Supper. Ecclesiastically everything can be in order, but in our consciences we must deal with the discipline of God’s Word which declares for whom the Lord’s Supper has been instituted. The church may indeed admit you to the Lord’s Table, but you cannot go to the Lord’s Table merely on the basis of this ecclesiastical right.

Partaking of the Lord’s Table is a matter between God and your heart. Matters must be in order between God and your soul. How does the Lord view all this? If it is well, this must be the great question that should occupy your mind. You cannot merely rely upon the good thoughts a minister or consistory may have concerning you. Though men may say that all is well with you and that you may partake of the Lord’s Table, this does not mean that you have divine approval to do so. Do you have a wedding garment? Do you belong to them whom the Lord considers as worthy partakers of the table of His Son, Jesus Christ?

The Lord’s Supper has been instituted for true believers only. Question 81 of the Heidelberg Catechism reads, “For whom is the Lord’s Supper instituted?” The answer is not: “For all who have made profession of faith.” Instead, the answer is:

For those who are truly sorrowful for their sins, and yet trust that these are forgiven them for the sake of Christ; and that their remaining infirmities are covered by His passion and death; and who also earnestly desire to have their faith more and more strengthened, and their lives more holy; but hypocrites, and such as turn not to God with sincere hearts, eat and drink judgment to themselves.

This answer makes it clear that you cannot partake of the Lord’s Supper merely on the basis of a profession of faith. You might possibly think, “I now have a right to come, and it is my obligation toward the Lord, and thus I will partake of the Lord’s Supper.”

However, you are then bypassing a very significant matter: the matter of upright self-examination.

In order to partake of the Lord’s Supper and to remember the suffering and death of Jesus, you must also know Jesus and have learned to seek your salvation in His atoning suffering and death. How else can you, in a worthy manner, remember the love of Christ who allowed His body to be broken and His blood to be shed for the remission of your sins?

In spite of the fact that you have made profession of faith and the door to the Lord’s Supper has been opened for you ecclesiastically, you thereby neither have a divine right to partake of the Lord’s Supper nor will it yield peace and freedom in your conscience to do so.

You are subject to the discipline of God’s Word. That Word teaches you who are invited to come to the Lord’s Table. Even though you have an ecclesiastical right by virtue of your profession, you need a divine right to partake of the Lord’s Table. Therefore, after profession of faith has been made, the church is not a passive observer regarding participation in the Lord’s Supper. The keys of God’s kingdom have been entrusted to the church — and thus the preaching of the Word identifies those who are the worthy par­takers of the Table of Jesus Christ.

We read of this in Article 35 of the Belgic Confession:

We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus Christ did ordain and institute the sacrament of the Holy Supper, to nourish and support those whom He hath already regenerated and incorporated into His family, which is His Church.

Then follows a description who these elect are:

Now those who are regenerated have in them a twofold life, the one corporal and temporal, which they have from the first birth, and is common to all men; the other spiritual and heavenly, which is given them in their second birth, which is effected by the word of the gospel, in the communion of the body of Christ; and this life is not common, but is peculiar to God’s elect.

The question therefore is whether you have spiritual life. You have made profession of faith and you are permitted to partake of the Lord’s table. However, the question is: “Do I also have a divine right?” Do you have this two-fold life of which Article 35 of the Belgic Confession speaks?

Granted, every member ought to partake of the Lord’s Supper. There are those who attend with ease, but there are also those who refrain with ease. And yet there is not an automatic link between the baptismal font and the Lord’s Table. Between the two are written the words of the apostle, “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 Cor. 11:28-29).

One might posit that the apostle’s admonition pertains to the offensive conduct during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in the Corinthian church and not so much to the disposition of one’s heart. Granted, the apostle first of all has the negative circumstances in Corinth in view, where some would even be drunk while partaking of the Lord’s Supper. During the pre­ceding love feasts, some had eaten and drunk so much that they would partake of the Lord’s Supper in an offensive manner.

Yet, there is a deeper meaning couched in the words of the apostle. Paul is most certainly concerned about the heart of those who partake of the Lord’s Supper. Calvin comments:

Some restrict it to the Corinthians, and the abuse that had crept in among them, but I am of opinion that Paul here, according to his usual manner, passed on from the particular case to a general statement, or from one instance to an entire class. There was one fault that prevailed among the Corinthians. He takes occasion from this to speak of every kind of faulty administration or reception of the Supper. Commentary on 1 Cor. 11:27

According to Calvin, there are several degrees of partaking of the Lord’s Supper unworthily:

Hence there are various degrees of this unworthiness, so to speak; and some offend more grievously, others less so ... Another, perhaps, will come forward, who is not addicted to any open or flagrant vice, but at the same time not so prepared in heart as became him. As this carelessness or negligence is a sign of irreverence, it is also deserving of punishment from God.¹

Thus, 1 Corinthians 11 does most certainly address how one partakes of the Lord’s Supper and with what disposition of heart. The issue is not whether one outwardly partakes of the Lord’s Supper in a reverent manner, but whether one does so with a repentant and believing heart. The marginal notes of the Dutch Statenvertaling say:

That is, examine your heart and conscience whether you perceive a genuine sorrow over your sins, as well as a steadfast faith and confidence in the mer­its of Jesus Christ; and furthermore, whether you have an unfeigned intent to die more and more to sin and to walk in a new and godly life before God. Everyone must therefore examine himself before he partakes of the Lord’s Supper. The Form for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper teaches us what this self-examination consists of.

The First Criterion for Self-Examination⤒🔗

The form for the Lord’s Supper states: “The true examination of ourselves consists of these three parts.” Thus, the form teaches that the doctrine of self-examination consists of three components, namely, the well-known trio of the Reformation: mis­ery, deliverance, and gratitude. You will find this trio in all the writings of the Reformers.

The first thing concerning which we are to exam­ine ourselves is:

First. That every one consider by himself, his sins and the curse due to him for them, to the end that he may abhor and humble himself before God, considering that the wrath of God against sin is so great that (rather than it should go unpunished) He hath punished the same in His beloved Son Jesus Christ with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.

Our partaking of the Lord’s Supper involves a con­sideration of our “sins and the curse due for them.” By nature, we have an aversion for this. We are inclined to cover our sins, rather than bring them back to our memory. We have buried our sins and have, as it were, posted a sign which reads, “Digging forbidden.” The consideration of our sins and the curse due to them is an activity we avoid. We would rather reflect upon our good deeds and qualities, and thereafter go to the Lord’s Table with our good works, earnestness, ortho­doxy, and zeal. However, in order to partake of the Lord’s Table in a worthy manner, we must learn to consider our sins and the curse due to them.

We are inclined to avoid this self-knowledge and self-examination. It is the Holy Spirit who, in true conversion, leads us to consider our sins and the curse due to them. Just as the prodigal son needed to come to himself and consider how he had behaved himself toward his father, likewise we need to come to our­selves by the powerful convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Without such conviction, there will be neither true sorrow nor repentance toward God.

David’s sorrow did not precede Nathan’s visit, but rather followed it. We read of Ephraim, “Surely after that I was turned, I repented” (Jer. 31:19). It is the simple teaching of the Bible that no one has ever repented toward God with sorrow over his sin, unless the Holy Spirit first brought him face to face with the evil and sinfulness of his ways.

“And the curse due to them,” is the language of the form for the Lord’s Supper. A very strong word is used deliberately to point out that our sins are wor­thy of punishment. Our sins make us worthy of the curse, for God has said, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal. 3:10).

When one knows his sins, he sees and feels that this curse rests upon him. Indeed, the matters addressed by the form for the Lord’s Supper are very heart-searching. One must acknowledge that he is accursed of God. In that frame he must come to the Lord’s Supper — not as a pious person, but as an accursed sinner, who seeks his salvation in Christ.

“To the end that he may abhor and humble himself before God”: This is the fruit of a saving conviction of one’s sin and being accursed of God. The knowledge of sin of the natural man leads to self-pity. One then blames others and circumstances for one’s misery. One who has truly been convicted of his sin, however, will abhor himself before God. Then he will no longer maintain himself, but will side with God in con­demning himself. This will make him bow low and render him guilty before God. With heartfelt sorrow, there will be a confession of having sinned against Him. How good it is to be in the valley of humiliation and repentance! For, the deeper man descends into the valley of humiliation and becomes less in his own esti­mation, the closer he comes to God.

Listen to what the Lord says: “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa. 57:15). This tells us that there is no more blessed place on earth than to lie, as a broken and contrite sinner, at the feet of a gracious God and a merciful Savior.

The form continues: “considering that the wrath of God against sin is so great that (rather than it should go unpunished) He hath punished the same in His beloved Son Jesus Christ with the bitter and shame­ful death of the cross.”

From ourselves we do not know what sin is. Sin is such a dizzying abyss that you would be utterly crushed if you were to look into it. There has only been one who has truly plumbed the depths of sin and who knows the measure of God’s wrath which burns against sin. And that is Christ!

In His vicarious and bitter suffering and dying, His crawling in the Garden, and His desertion on the cross, Jesus has experienced how fearfully God is provoked to wrath by sin. God’s wrath toward sin was so great that when God saw the sins of His elect upon His Son, He “punished the same in His beloved Son Jesus Christ with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.”

The form for the Lord’s Supper points this out to impress the evil of sin all the more deeply upon us. Its goal is that all who partake of the Lord’s Supper shall know how dreadful the evil of sin is. The cross of Christ shows us how God judges sin. Sin merits death — eternal death!

He who confesses that may partake of the Lord’s Supper. In that frame, one can commemorate the love of Christ who subjected Himself unto death for accursed sinners.