Should Real Wine Be Used In The Lord's Supper?

R.C. Sproul was asked if why can't we use Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and Dr. Pepper for the Lord's Supper. His simple answer was because Jesus did not consecrate these, but he used bread and wine in His Last Supper with the disciple. The issue of what instruments to use in the Lord's Supper has been debated for years especially wine.

Some churches say we should use real wine in the Lord's Supper while other say it is inappropriate to use it. There are some churches that have written in their church covenants that they should abstain from all forms of Alcohol. Others say we are disobeying the Lord if we don't use real wine in the Lord's Supper. In 1 Corinthians 11, the Apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gave the church these instructions in regards to the Lord's Supper:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Corinthians 11:23-29).

Notice Paul said, "bread and cup." He never said anything about what was in the cup. Of course, there might be the argument that the people assumed Paul meant wine, however, the Corinthian church was known for people getting drunk during the Lord's Supper. So the question is, does it really matter if we should use wine in the Lord's Supper? Also, how does the bread have been prepared? Finally, if we use wine, what kind? John Calvin addresses this issue in his Institutes of the Christian Religion:

In regard to the external form of the ordinance, whether or not believers are to take into their hands and divide among themselves, or each is to eat what is given to him; whether they are to return the cup to the deacon or hand it to their neighbor; whether the bread is to be leavened or unleavened, and the wine to be red or white, is of no consequence. These things are indifferent, and left free to the Church...


As long as the Lord's Supper is done with a heart of worship and not done in an unworthy manner, I think, this is my opinion, it is irrelevant as to how the bread is prepared and if what is in the cup is either juice or wine.