“What makes a Baptist Church…Baptist?” These beliefs have historically identified baptists and distinguished them from other denominations:
- Bible as the only rule for faith and practice
- Regenerate and immersed church membership
- Autonomy of the local church
- Priesthood of the believer
- Soul liberty
- Immersion and the Lord’s supper are the only two ordinances
- Separation, both ecclesiastical and ethical
On the night Jesus was betrayed to the Jewish authorities and eventually handed over to the Romans to be crucified, he instructed his disciples in what would become an ongoing part of the worship of the church. No, I’m not talking about the Lord’s supper but about foot washing. The Gospel of John preserves the account for us: “Jesus…rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:4-5).
Today in some church denominations you will find the ordinance of foot washing. Catholics practice it on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter), while others practice it when they observe the Lord’s supper. But did Jesus mean to institute another ordinance besides the Lord’s supper on that night with his disciples? Baptists have traditionally said no, although there are a few groups which have adopted the practice. If Jesus did establish foot washing as a third ordinance, it would be sinful to neglect the practice. But if he did not, then although it may be acceptable to do, it cannot be held as a binding command of our Lord.
John 13:1-20 records the entire event as Jesus got up from the table after supper and began to wash his disciples’ feet. The significance of foot washing is explained by the Lord in two ways. First, when Peter objected to having his feet washed, Jesus told him that everyone who would take part in Christ must be washed. Foot washing was a picture of that cleansing. And second, Jesus pointed to his own example as their Lord and Master who nevertheless humbled himself to wash their feet. He said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
From this, some have argued Jesus was establishing foot washing as an ordinance of the church. But there are at least a couple of reasons why this is not so. If we pay close attention to his words, we can see that he does not tell them to do what he has done, but to do as he has done, that is, in the same manner. His example was one of humble service, even though he had every right to demand to be served. And the disciples were to cultivate the same spirit in the church.
Foot washing is seen as a good work which demonstrates piety and open-hearted hospitality, not as an ordinance for the church.
Furthermore, there is no teaching of this practice as a church ordinance anywhere in the NT. The only other reference to foot washing comes in 1 Timothy 5:10 as a qualification for a widow to receive financial support from the church. In that instance, the practice of foot washing is seen as a good work which demonstrates piety and open-hearted hospitality, not as an ordinance for the church. It does not appear that Christians in the 1st century understood foot washing to be an ordinance, as even the apostles seem to be silent about it.
Some have suggested that the holy kiss mentioned by Paul (Romans 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26) and Peter (1 Peter 5:14) is also an ordinance established by Jesus. Again, we must examine Scripture to see if this is so, and we note first of all that there is no mention made of it by Jesus while he was on earth. These references do not suggest any significance beyond a warm and affectionate greeting between brothers and sisters in Christ. This kind of greeting was also quite common in the 1st century Roman world, and so is likely to be adapted to each setting. In short, there is no reason to think that Jesus established the holy kiss as an ordinance for the church.
What about the 7 Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church? They are baptism, the eucharist (Lord’s supper), confirmation, confession, anointing of the sick (formerly called Extreme Unction), marriage, and ordination. Baptists agree that baptism and the Lord’s supper are ordinances (although we disagree strongly with the Catholic views concerning their practice and meaning), but we reject the rest as non-biblical.
Confirmation is rejected because it is necessary only in conjunction with infant baptism. Since baptism is rightly administered only to born-again believers, confirmation is both unnecessary and unbiblical.
The confession of one’s sins to God is certainly taught in Scripture (cf. 1 John 1:9), and there is some benefit in confessing one’s sins to another believer for mutual prayer (James 5:16), but there is no mention whatsoever of a human mediator who can offer pardon for the confession of one’s sins and the practice of penance. This violates the principle of the priesthood of the believer, which we have argued for previously.
Like confessing one’s sins, anointing the sick is spoken of in the epistle of James, but there is no indication whatsoever that Jesus commanded this of the church.
Christ upheld the importance and honor of marriage, but there is no evidence in Scripture that he ever commanded it or established it as an ordinance. This idea developed from an unfortunate mistranslation of Ephesians 5:32 in the Latin Vulgate where Paul speaks of the great mystery, the union of Christ and the church, which is illustrated by the marriage of a husband and wife. Instead of the word mystery, the Vulgate reads, sacramentum hoc magnum est (“this is a great sacrament”).
Finally, ordination is the practice of conferring sacramental power to an individual through the laying-on of hands. The laying-on of hands may be mentioned in the NT in a few places, but nowhere do we see Christ establishing it as an ordinance, and it would be anachronistic to argue for the entire Catholic hierarchy in the pages of the NT, where the only church offices are elder and deacon.
There is simply no reason to recognize any ordinances other than baptism and the Lord’s supper. Both of these are easily found in the words of Christ and the historical practice of the church.