Is baptism required before a person can receive communion?

Response

It is not mentioned in Scripture that a person must be baptized before being able to receive the Lord’s Supper. However, the same prerequisite for both baptism and participating in the Lord’s Supper is salvation through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Supper was established by Jesus with His disciples the night before His crucifixion (Matthew 26:20-28). In Matthew 28:19, following our Lord’s death and resurrection, He entrusted the Great Commission to His disciples to go into all the world and teach His Gospel, accompanied by the directive to also baptize the new believers. Baptism by water in the name of the Trinity has been observed by the church since its inception. The sole requirement, as mentioned earlier, is that the individual has placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. By doing so, the individual acknowledges that this is a representation of the salvation encounter and is an act of obedience to our Lord. Many Bible scholars view it as the initial stage of Christian discipleship.

Perhaps this is why some churches mandate baptism before participating in the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is meant to be shared only by believers in Jesus Christ. Baptism is meant to be a distinguishing symbol of believers in Christ. Hence, some churches stipulate water baptism before an individual can partake in the Lord’s Supper. Nevertheless, once again, Scripture does not provide us with this directive.