Ordinance is defined literally as an authoritative decree or law. Certain free-church groups (such as the Baptists) refer to baptism and the Lord’s Supper as ordinances rather than sacraments. In so doing they highlight the voluntary nature of these rites as having been ordained (commanded) by Christ (Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling. Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms).
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