'May I receive communion before baptism?' 'I stumbled this week: am I unworthy?' 'What are the bread and cup?' Beginning with Jesus' institution of the Supper, this article explains what it remembers and proclaims, different church understandings of the bread and cup, why most churches invite baptised believers, what unworthy eating and drinking actually means, and how to prepare next time.
“May I receive communion before I am baptised?”
“I stumbled this week and feel guilty. Am I unworthy to receive it?”
“What exactly are that piece of bread and cup of grape juice?”
Whenever communion Sunday comes, someone carries these questions but feels too embarrassed to ask.
Jesus himself instituted the Lord's Supper. Paul passed the account faithfully to Corinth:
“For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.’ In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.’” (1 Corinthians 11:23–25)
It was the night of his betrayal. The cross awaited the next day, yet first he left his disciples a table.
Remembrance. Jesus twice says, “in memory of me”. Receiving communion brings us back before the cross, remembering his body given and blood shed for me.
Proclamation. Paul continues:
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26)
Past and future meet: the Lord has died for us, and he will return. At every communion, the church voices this hope together.
Fellowship. Communion is also a family sharing one table:
“The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread.” (1 Corinthians 10:16–17)
We share fellowship with the Lord and connection with one another.
Church history has discussed this extensively. Broadly, Roman Catholic teaching holds that after consecration, the substance of bread and wine becomes Christ's body and blood while outward appearances remain. Lutheran teaching holds that Christ's true body and blood are given together with bread and wine, without explaining this as a mixture of two substances. Reformed teaching holds that believers truly receive Christ by faith through the Holy Spirit. Many other churches, including numerous Baptist churches, emphasise remembrance and proclamation, understanding the bread and cup as signs commemorating the Lord's death. Orthodox and Anglican traditions have their own formulations.
These differences are real and worth studying. Yet for someone sitting at the table, the greater concern is this: the table points to the cross, and the Lord whom we remember is present among his people today.
Most evangelical churches invite baptised believers who trust Christ to receive the Supper. This order has biblical grounds:
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized… They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.” (Acts 2:41–42)
First faith, then baptism, then breaking bread together within the church. Baptism marks entry into the family; communion is the family's meal.
If you are still exploring faith, or believe but have not yet been baptised, you may sit quietly and pray during communion. This is an invitation towards baptism, rather than rejection. Speak with a pastor about what still stands between you and that step.
Churches differ in details, including whether to invite believers visiting from other churches. Respect the practice of the church where you worship.
These verses frighten people most:
“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.” (1 Corinthians 11:27–29)
Consider why Paul says this. At Corinth's gatherings, “each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken” (1 Corinthians 11:21). Wealthier people ate and drank their fill while poor people went hungry. This was to “despise God’s assembly and put them to shame who don’t have enough” (11:22). Unworthiness first concerns their manner of receiving: contempt, selfishness and division. They neither treated the Lord's body and blood seriously nor recognised their fellow diners as members of Christ's body. Traditions differ in their emphasis when interpreting discernment of the body, but the text at least forbids separating communion from mutual love.
The Supper has therefore never been reserved for worthy people. Nobody is worthy in themselves. This table is precisely for sinners who have received grace. Paul says to examine yourself, and then eat. Examination leads towards the table, rather than away.
If you stumbled this week, confess before God, receive his forgiveness and come. Someone who repeatedly falls yet still desires repentance, help and struggle is not someone determined to remain in sin. Bring your need to grace. If you have decided to continue a known sin and refuse to turn or receive correction, first stop, repent and speak with a pastor. Temporarily refraining is intended to bring you back, rather than send you further away.
Jesus says, “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23–24).
Before communion next time, leave a few minutes for three things:
Then eat this bread and drink this cup, until he comes.
📖 Further reading: