Question About Closed Communion

In the past, many churches practiced “closed communion” – offering the Lord’s Supper only to members in good standing. Occasionally, questions will arise today about who can be served the Lord’s Supper. Let us consider what the New Testament says that relates to this issue.

Groups Under Consideration

First of all, we need to understand that there are three groups of people – besides faithful members of the congregation – that could potentially be present in an assembly when the Lord’s Supper is being served.

1. Visiting Christians (non-members) – This is not usually questioned today, but it has been in the past. It is generally accepted that the Lord’s Supper may be offered to Christians who are visiting from other congregations.
2. Unfaithful Christians – These may be Christians who have been withdrawn from over some sin. These could also be Christians who are known to be in sin but have not yet been disciplined.
3. Non-Christians – These are ones who have never obeyed the gospel.

Before we examine the question of whether we can serve the Lord’s Supper to anyone in these three groups, we need to establish a few basic principles.

What is the Lord’s Supper?

The Lord’s Supper was established by Jesus shortly before His death on the cross (Matthew 26:26-29). He included two elements in it that each represent something related to Himself and His sacrifice:

1. The bread represents His body – “Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body’” (Matthew 26:26). The Hebrew writer explained that Jesus’ body had been “prepared” by God so that we could be “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 10:5, 10). It was necessary for Jesus to “share in flesh and blood” in order to carry out His mission (Hebrews 2:14).
2. The cup (fruit of the vine) represents His blood – “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:27-28). Jesus’ blood had to be shed because “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). His blood is able to “cleanse [our] conscience” and provide “forgiveness of our trespasses” (Hebrews 9:14; Ephesians 1:7).

The Lord’s Supper would be observed in the kingdom (Matthew 26:29). Jesus indicated earlier, by using the terms interchangeably, that the kingdom is the church (Matthew 16:18-19). His church (kingdom) was established on the day of Pentecost following His ascension (Acts 2:41, 47). The Lord’s Supper was observed from that point onward (Acts 2:42).

In his first letter to Corinth, Paul said that the Lord’s Supper was to be observed in the assembly of the church. In writing about what was to be done when they “come together as a church” (1 Corinthians 11:18), he explained how the Lord’s Supper was to be observed and established its place in the assembly: “So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another” (1 Corinthians 11:33). There is no example in the New Testament of Christians observing the Lord’s Supper anywhere outside of the assembly of the local church.

We also see in the New Testament that the Lord’s Supper is to be observed on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). This was the only day in which the early Christians, directed by the inspired apostles, did this.

Responsibility of Those Who Partake

In the New Testament, we find three responsibilities of those who partake of the Lord’s Supper. First, they must assemble with the saints. This is a responsibility for all Christians since we are not to “[forsake] our own assembling together” (Hebrews 10:25). As we already noticed, the Lord’s Supper is to be observed in the assembly (1 Corinthians 11:33) on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Therefore, in order to partake, one must assemble with the local church on the first day of the week.

Second, those who partake of the Lord’s Supper must remember the death of Christ. Paul wrote, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). When Jesus established the Lord’s Supper, He said it was to remember His “body which [was] given for you” and His blood “which [was] poured out for you” (Luke 22:19-20).

Third, those who partake of the Lord’s Supper must examine themselves. It is important that those who partake of the Lord’s Supper do so in a worthy manner. Paul wrote, “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27). The “manner” refers to how we partake. We must do so in a reverent manner. Because of this, Paul said, “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). This point is key to our question about who may be offered the Lord’s Supper. Paul said that those who partake are to examine themselves, not that they will be examined by the church.

Can We Offer the Lord’s Supper to…?

Understanding the establishment and practice of the Lord’s Supper and the responsibility of those who partake, let us return to the question about offering the Lord’s Supper to the three groups we listed at the beginning.

Can we offer the Lord’s Supper to visiting Christians? Luke recorded the example of Paul and others assembling with the church in Troas (Acts 20:6-7). They were traveling and were not members of that particular congregation, yet they partook of the Lord’s Supper there. So yes, we can offer the Lord’s Supper to visiting Christians.

Can we offer the Lord’s Supper to unfaithful Christians? When Paul wrote to the brethren in Corinth about the brother who was living in sin, he said they were “not even to eat with such a one” (1 Corinthians 5:11). He was referring to common or social meals, not to the Lord’s Supper (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:22, 34; 2 John 10). In partaking of the Lord’s Supper, each one “must examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28). There is no hint in Scripture of the brethren withholding the Lord’s Supper from one in attendance in the assembly on the first day of the week. So yes, we can offer the Lord’s Supper to an unfaithful Christian in attendance who intends to partake.

Can we offer the Lord’s Supper to non-Christians? In Paul’s first letter to Corinth, he indicated that their assemblies were to be open to everyone – even unbelievers (1 Corinthians 14:23-24). Of course, this assembly is where the Lord’s Supper would be offered (1 Corinthians 11:33). Can the Lord’s Supper be served to non-Christians?

First of all, non-Christians will not be worse off for partaking or not partaking. They cannot be more lost. They still “have no hope” since they are not in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14; Galatians 3:27). If we refuse to serve the Lord’s Supper to visitors who wish to partake, we could unnecessarily offend them which would make it more difficult to lead them to the truth (cf. Proverbs 18:19). Paul said we should strive to give “no cause for offense in anything” (2 Corinthians 6:3). While we cannot help it if people are offended at the truth, we should try to avoid offending them unnecessarily which will often lead them to close their ears to the truth.

Another possibility is that we may just think that one is not a Christian when they really are. The Scriptures teach that when people obey the gospel, God adds them to the church (Acts 2:41, 47). This happened with Saul when he came to Damascus – he “was baptized” (Acts 9:18) and was then part of the body of Christ (cf. Acts 2:47; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27). However, even though He was a Christian, the brethren in Jerusalem “were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). In this example, they refused to accept a fellow Christians because they did not think he was a Christian. In the same way, we do not have a perfect understanding about who has or has not obeyed the gospel and has been added by God to His church. We do not want to be guilty of preventing one from obeying the Lord’s command to “do this” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). So yes, we can offer the Lord’s Supper to non-Christians if they desire to partake.

Conclusion

Our responsibility in serving the Lord’s Supper is not to judge whether or not one is qualified to partake. We do not want that responsibility because we are unqualified to make such judgments. Our responsibility is simply to observe the Lord’s Supper so that those who wish to “do this” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25) are able to do it.

The Lord’s Supper provides an important reminder to everyone – Christians and non-Christians – about the death of Christ. As we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross to make salvation possible for all. We need to take advantage of that sacrifice by conforming to the death of Christ (Romans 6:3-5).