Promises Kept ... and the Signs of the Covenant Observed (Joshua 5)

"There are two such commanded actions for the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper: The first is the initial sign of membership in God's people; the second is the continuing sign of membership in God's people. Baptism is the initial sign of belonging to God's people. . . . The Lord's Supper is the continuing sign of belonging to God's people. . . . Like baptism, the Lord's Supper, properly administered, portrays God's faithfulness to us. But our participation in it also speaks publicly of us personally being known to be partakers of God's grace in Christ. . . . The church means to do all this in Obedience to Christ. And it is marked out as a truly Christian church if it rightly preaches God's Word and rightly administers baptism and the Lord's Supper. It is the church's responsibility, therefore, to define visually for the world what a Christian is." —Mark Dever