Who may come to Holy Communion? Churches and ministers have misunderstood and misapplied Paul’s warning to the Corinthians. The tragic result is that the design of this sacrament (i.e., the confirmation/assurance of our faith in Christ) has been distorted and destroyed. Rather than being an opportunity to receive assurance, the Lord’s Supper has been turned into another opportunity to be whipped by the law. Many American evangelicals and Reformed Christians think of the Lord’s Supper solely as an opportunity to grieve over their sins, to grieve over the reality that our sins sent Christ to the cross, and a time for repentance or worse to clean one’s self up in order to be “worthy” to partake. 

And so the question, “Who may come to Holy Communion,” has plagued the consciences of many believers. Consequently, many have grown up in the church with a distorted view of this sacrament (seeing it as a funeral rather than a feast) and seldom if ever found in it assurance, life and salvation as Christ has promised (Matt. 26:28).

So then, who is invited to dinner? We will briefly explore this question today by offering three traits that characterize those who may come to Holy Communion.