Is there in the Church of Christ a means not only to receive forgiveness of sins, but also to be strengthened in virtue?
Yes. In the Sacrament of Repentance, believers in Christ the Savior receive forgiveness of their sins, and in the Sacrament of Communion, with the sincere desire of a person to free themselves from sinful inclinations and escape "the corruption that is in the world through lust," the Lord grants the Christian eternal life, strengthens him in virtue, and makes him a "partaker of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4).
How is this miraculous partaking of the divine nature accomplished?
It is accomplished through a special heavenly nourishment, which the Merciful Lord granted to His Church. During His earthly life, the Savior promised to grant this miraculous nourishment. "Do not labor for the food which perishes," He said, "but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you" (John 6:27).
What is this heavenly food?
The Savior explained that He would give Himself as food to believers. "I am the bread of life" (John 6:48).
What is the nature of this promised miraculous nourishment?
"Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead," the Savior continued. "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:49-51).
What is the significance of this promised mystical nourishment?
Without it, a person is as if dead. The Lord said: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:53-58).
When did the Lord grant this promised heavenly nourishment?
The Lord gave His Body and Blood as food to people at the Last Supper under the forms of bread and wine. "And as they were eating (i.e., the 12 Apostles), Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins'" (Matt. 26:26-28).
Did the Savior limit Himself to the sacred rite He personally performed?
No, He did not. "Do this in remembrance of Me," the Lord said, and by this He commanded the Apostles and their future successors to perform the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord (Luke 22:19; cf. 1 Cor. 11:24-25).
And besides, it's not a ritual, but a sacrament.
Is the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ performed in the Church?
It is, and from the very beginning of its existence. "The cup of blessing which we bless," writes the Apostle Paul, "is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16-17).
How long must the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ be performed?
Always, until the very second coming of Christ. The Apostle Paul says: "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (1 Cor. 11:23-26).
How do Christians regard the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord?
Christians have always regarded and regard it as the greatest sacrament, and know that one must approach it as the greatest shrine, with deep reverence. "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and 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 manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep" (1 Cor. 11:27-30).
Do sectarians recognize the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ?
No, they do not. Among the Tolstoyans and most Molokans, there is no action at all, even resembling the Sacrament of Communion; among Baptists, Pashkovites, and Adventists, there is a ritual similar to Christian Communion, but when performing it, they eat bread and drink wine, not recognizing them as the Body and Blood of the Lord.
Why do they not recognize the necessity of eating the very Body and Blood of Christ?
Because the sectarians do not believe either the Lord Savior or Holy Scripture, but only themselves.
How can we point out to the sectarians the incorrectness of their understanding of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord?
We must ask the sectarians: Do you eat the flesh of the Son of Man? Do you drink His blood? If not, then there is no life in you.
What do the sectarians answer to this?
They say that according to Scripture, there is no need to eat the very Body and Blood of the Lord, but that one should only eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of the Lord.
What should be said to the sectarians about this?
We must remind them of the Savior's words: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:53-54). Here the Lord speaks of eating His Body and drinking His Blood, not of eating bread and drinking wine, as the impious sectarians lie about the Savior. And at the Last Supper, giving the Apostles bread and the cup, the Lord said that He was giving them His Body and Blood, not bread and wine, as the sectarians slander. "Take, eat; this is My body," said the Lord, and not "this is bread." Likewise of the cup: "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood," and not "this is wine" (Matt. 26:26-28).
Is it not madness to suppose that the Almighty Lord deceived the Apostles and that, although He could miraculously change bread into His Body and wine into His Blood, He did not do so?
The Lord truly gave His Body and Blood, as the Evangelist testifies, and as the Apostle Paul confirms, saying: "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'" And further the Apostle says, warning: "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:23-25, 27). Yet the sectarians do not believe either the holy Apostles or the Savior Himself, as if the Lord and His disciples deceived the whole world.
What do sectarians say when you point out to them the clear words of the Savior about His Body and Blood and the same words of the holy Apostles?
Some of the sectarians blaspheme thus: they say that when the Savior distributed bread to the Apostles, and when they were eating, He then said to them: "this is My body" and supposedly at that point pointed to His body, which was to suffer torment. Thus, according to the sectarian concept, it turns out that the Lord offered one thing (bread) to the Apostles, but spoke of something completely different (His body).
What should be said to the sectarians for this justification of theirs?
It must be said that they are perverters of Holy Scripture and slanderers of Christ and the Apostles. The Savior, giving bread to the disciples, spoke of it, that this is His body, because the bread, after the Lord's blessing, became His body.
But if we momentarily admit the sectarian's blasphemous perversion of the Lord's words about the body, here is what would result. The Lord, having given the bread to the Apostles and supposedly pointing to His body, said: "this is My body." Further: "Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'" At what, we ask, did the Lord point, saying: "this is My blood"? Did He wound Himself at that moment and point to the dripping blood? See how far sectarian madness can go! In reality, at the words "this is My blood," the Lord pointed to the cup of wine, miraculously changed by the power of thanksgiving (Matt. 26:27-28) into the Blood of Christ.
What do sectarians say when their lie and slander against Christ and Scripture are thus exposed?
The sectarians say that the Lord did not call the bread and wine body and blood, but supposedly explained that the bread and wine are symbols (signs) of His Body and Blood.
What to do with such a perversion of Scripture by the sectarians?
We must tell them that in the Word of God there is not a single place where it is said: bread and wine are "symbols of the body and blood"; on the contrary, everywhere in Scripture it is indicated that one must partake not of symbols, but of the actual Body and Blood of Christ. "The cup of blessing which we bless," writes the Apostle Paul, "is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16)?
Does the Apostle Paul really understand less than the sectarians when he writes thus?! Do not the sectarians think to teach even the holy Apostles?
That is exactly how it turns out with them. The sectarians recognize the Almighty Lord Christ as powerless to change bread and wine into His Body and Blood, and the Apostles as fools who called bread and wine the Body and Blood of Christ. In this way, the sectarians put themselves above Christ and the Apostles. But they forget that "whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder" (Matt. 21:44). And such people will have their part in the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8).
What do the sectarians say in their justification when their blasphemous nonsense about the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is exposed?
Sectarians refer to Heb. 13:9: "It is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them." From this they conclude that Communion is unnecessary.
How should one answer them?
In the cited epistle, the Apostle warns Christians not to be carried away by Jewish teachings about distinguishing between clean and unclean foods, and not to be carried away by various Jewish dishes, which were a shadow of the future, but the body is in Christ. But what relation does this have to the Body and Blood of the Lord? The Apostle Paul, who wrote this, wrote elsewhere: "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:14-16). This is what the Apostle says. And in the epistle to the Hebrews, he also says: "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat."⁶
How then do the sectarians justify themselves?
They point to the words of the Lord Jesus: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63), and reason thus: therefore, nourishment by the Body of Christ is useless.
What to answer to such a perversion of Holy Scripture?
Nothing is said here about the Body and Blood of the Lord being useless for believers. Here the Savior said how His words about the bread of life should be understood. The Lord's promise is not a useless carnal reasoning, not self-deception, as it seemed to the Pharisees, but reality: "the words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). When the Lord at the Last Supper gave the Apostles "His Flesh" and said: "Take, eat; this is My body," the Apostles did not say to the Lord that this was useless, as our sectarians say, but received the most pure Body and Blood, and themselves performed the Sacrament of Holy Communion and taught us to do this. They even composed the Divine Liturgies of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Such are the liturgies of the Apostles James, Mark, and Peter.
What to answer the sectarians when they also say with the Apostle's words: "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer" (2 Cor. 5:16)?
Nothing is said here about the Sacrament of Communion, about which the Apostle writes in 1 Cor. 10-11; here the Apostle only affirms that after the Resurrection of Christ, we no longer know anyone in mortal flesh, but are convinced of the immortality of all. Before, we knew Christ according to the flesh, we knew that He ate, drank, slept, suffered on the cross; but now we know that He, with His resurrected flesh, "sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12). His body became spiritual and glorified, and the body of every true believer in Him He "will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21).
What to answer the Tolstoyan sectarians when they say that by the bread of life in Scripture is meant the teaching of Christ, by which we must be nourished?
In answer, we must ask them what, in that case, is meant by the "cup of blessing" (1 Cor. 10:16). The Apostles perfectly understood what was meant by the bread of life, and yet they teach about the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. The holy Apostles, to the shame of the Tolstoyans and all sectarians in general, composed the order of the liturgy. None of the sectarians deny this Divine sacred rite, and they must all confess that they have strayed far from Christ and become like the ancient Jews, who said of Christ: "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?... This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" (John 6:52, 60).
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