Today we're pleased to share with you an audio essay written and read by Kevin Emmert entitled

Why Do We Get Baptized One Time, but Take Communion Many Times?

Kevin is the author of The Water and the Blood, How the Sacraments Shape Christian Identity

from Crossway.

Why do we get baptized one time, but take communion many times?

Written and read by Kevin Emmert.

Understanding the Sacraments

Many Christians today have a weak understanding of the sacraments, also often called ordinances,

and what they accomplish in the lives of believers.

We know they are important because Jesus commanded that we observe them, but we are largely unaware of their purpose and power.

One specific point of confusion is whether baptism is a one-time event in the life of the believer,

and whether anyone, baptized or not, can take the Lord's Supper.

Even if certain Christians affirm that baptism can be received only once,

they may not understand why, and they may not know whether the Lord's Supper should be given to only those who have

been baptized. Baptism first. In order to understand the relation between baptism and the Lord's

supper, we must first understand what baptism is. Christians debate what exactly happens when a person

is baptized, and such debates will

likely abound until Christ returns. Nevertheless, all Christians believe that baptism signifies,

points to, something. Many Christians today think that baptism simply symbolizes personal faith

in Jesus Christ. While baptism and faith are

frequently connected in scripture, functioning like two sides of the same coin, scripture teaches

that baptism represents far more than personal faith. Baptism transliterates the Greek noun Baptisma,

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