Should you accept communion if you are a sinner who has not asked for forgiveness?

Question

My dad said before you partake of the blood and the body of christ, you should be worthy. I never feel worthy. Should I just pass communion up when it is offered?

My dad founded and pastored the same church for over 35 years and he was not nuts. He believed in repentance, but not just to go out and sin again, and he believed you should ask for forgiveness and mean it, not just ask so you could turn around and sin again. Dad died Jan 10, 2006. He was 81yrs, 11 months and 4 days old.

My dad was very well read on the bible. He knew it from front to back and could quote scriptures and know all of the details. He was honest and prayed all of the time.

My grandpa was a Pentecostal minister as is 2 of my uncles, 3 of my cousins, my brother in law, and my dad.

Answer 1

Never partake in Communion if you do not ask for forgiveness first. Yes we all sin, but God forgives that no matter how big or how small. You cant take Communion and sin, and plan to continue sinning even after you have been forgiven.

Answer 2

You should never feel worthy of communion for you are only human and cannot comprehend all that Christ did for us..none of us can...and none of us are worthy. It's the humble understanding that someone gave his life for you, so that you could be forgiven of your sins. If you did not repent and ask forgiveness of sins, then pass the Communion on to the next person. You are not to take it without a repentant and worshipful heart. Repentance means not just asking for forgiveness, but also means that you will not repeat the sin you've asked forgiveness for. You can take communion if you have asked forgiveness beforehand and cleansed your soul of sin, but remember this---the Lord knows if you really mean it. Your sins are NOT forgiven for the future when you ask forgiveness! That is a total misconception. You must daily try not to sin and daily ask forgiveness if you do sin. It is an ongoing thing. "Once saved, always saved" is not true. Read the Bible, it will tell you that a Christian who turns from the ways of God's teachings will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Don't let others fool you on this one---forgiveness is daily. Worship the Lord and learn all you can, it will help you immensely to understand this. Your dad is totally correct on this issue.

Answer 3

WRONG!

The scripture says 1 Corinthians 11:27 So do not eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in a way that isn’t worthy of him. If you do, you will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

It says nothing about BEING WORTHY, only about the WAY we partake.

More in context: 1Co 11:28 A person should take a careful look at himself before he eats the bread and drinks from the cup. 29 Anyone who eats and drinks must recognize the body of the Lord. If he doesn’t, God will judge him for it.

"Anyone who eats and drinks must recognize the body of the Lord. "... that is the meaning and the object of the described self-examination... What IS the "body of the Loird"???

Eph 1:23 The church is Christ’s body. It is filled by Christ. He fills everything in every way.
Eph 5:23 The husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church. The church is Christ’s body. He is its Savior.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning. He is the first to be raised from the dead. That happened so that he would be far above everything.
Col 1:24 I am happy because of what was suffered for you. And in my body I fill up my share in Christ’s sufferings. I do it for his body, which is the church.

Answer 4

Communion is a part of the relationship with God. Refusing to ask for forgiveness would preclude you from being able to participate in that communion, because you have things that need to be resolved first.
Being worthy simply means that you have done all that is possible, asked for the forgiveness, and realize your sinful life and its frailties and strengths...and then come to God with a clean conscience.
I would pass up the opportunity if you have not tried to resolve these things. As scripture says...if you don't, you eat and drink death. Its not a game, or something that God takes lightly.

Answer 5

We are never truly worthy. But you need to ask forgiveness of your sin before you take communion. When they speak of being worthy of this in the Bible it means having accepted Christ and been cleansed of your sin. You should always re-examine your life before you take communion again. Forgiveness does not come through communion. Communion is just an act of obedience to God in recognizing what His Son did for us on the cross.

Answer 6

That was taught in my old church - which now I know it is wrong.

In the bible, it said do not take in an unworthy manner. The bible did not say the unworthy do not partake. Communion is meant for sinners, if only the worthy/righteous people can partake then NONE of us is worthy enough.

Please don't deprive yourself from the blessing you would get from the Communion.

Answer 7

If your dad is correct than no one would ever have communion... once you have received Salvation your sins are forgiven... all of them, past, present and future... you are worthy as a believer to partake of communion... There are no special requirements in the Bible to partake of communion other than being a believer,

Where did your dad come up with that crazy thought???

Answer 8

As sinner we are never worthy of taking the body and blood of Christ. If you approach communion with a genuine repentent heart and take it for the forgiveness of sins, then you should go.

My husband is a pastor and says when people are feeling unworthy and stressed is when they need it most--but you must be repentent.

Answer 9

Restriction: “The only restriction is that of 1 Corinthians 11:28, that we first examine ourselves for the purpose of confessing any area of known sin that we might each be able to truly respond to the significance and meaning of this very meaningful ordinance.”
--You can do this while the elements are passed and if your church does silence before you partake.

Significance: Review the key elements of the Lord’s Table. In a nutshell, this ordinance teaches the following truths that should be shared as a reminder of the importance and meaning of the Lord’s Table.

1. It portrays the person and work of Christ and His presence in our midst to minister His life to us.

2. Partaking of the elements portrays our faith in Jesus Christ and our commitment to continue to live by fellowship with Him—continuing to be nourished by His life.

3. The Bread, which starts out as one loaf, should portray our unity and oneness of mind and heart as fellow believers in Christ. (1 Cor. 10:17).

4. Passing the Bread and Cup portrays our need to minister Christ to one another, and share together in His life.

Answer 10

OK, first of all, if your talking about the communion done in REMEMERANCE of the last supper, yes, you should pass it up, if you do not feel worthy.
However, if you are speaking of the Catholics, who think that a mere man has the power to turn that wafer and wine to the actual body and blood of Christ, don't you think that body would have been eaten up in all these years? If you're waiting on that magic to happen, you may as well have the cracker. Nothing's going to happen anyway.