- What are the “Means of Grace?”
In our finite ability to articulate the revealed glories of God in Holy Scripture, we are bound by the limits of language. This can be frustrating for all and even objectionable to some. For instance, the word “Trinity” is not a word found in either the Hebrew or Koine Greek Scriptures. Progressive revelation (the self-revelation of God unfolds in Biblical truth) discloses that God who is One in Three, a mystery unveiled if not fully comprehended (all attempts at useful similes ultimately fail; we are left with the simple revelation: Our God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is one. So, the word “Trinity” is useful. Similarly, the phrase “the means of grace” is a concise way to articulate a key Bible message.
The “means of grace” is a phrase used in Christianity to systematize and describe the Biblical revelation of how God communicates His will and gifts, His plan of salvation in Jesus Christ, and the benefits of redemption. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, used by almost all the beautiful parts of the mosaic of the Body of Christ, is majestic in its simplicity, achieving unrivaled accuracy and broad reception by what it omits as much as what it affirms.[1] On the way that God reaches us, this Catechism states, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation” (WSC 88).[2]
So, we know God’s will and God’s blessings in Christ by means of (i.e., by way of) His Word, His two emblems of entrance and abiding, election and redemption, the Sacraments (baptism, and the Lord’s Supper), and Prayer (private, or “devotional,” as well as public, as in “Common Prayer,” worship). There are many subplots to the story of how God communicates to us, but each are, at length, an expression of one of the three “means of grace”: Word, Sacrament, and Prayer.
- How We Appropriate the Means of Grace
God “could have” saved us without means (again, we are constrained by human deduction and language to express what we see in Creation and receive in Special Revelation, the Holy Bible). Yet, God glorifies Himself and exalts the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, by ordaining and requiring a “means” to achieve His glorious “ends,” viz., His revealed purposes, or “His will.” if you prefer. God also uses the gift of “faith” and the help of the Holy Spirit at work in His people to perceive Christ in the Word, Sacraments, and Prayer. Thus, God’s grace—an act of divine pardon by covenant employing substitutionary atonement, the Virgin-born Christ Jesus who is the resurrected, ascended, and interceding “God-Man” as our righteousness. Aos, Christ Jesus, our sacrifice for sin—is made available and accessible to humankind by ordinary ways that are nevertheless extraordinary (i.e., the supernatural residing within the “sensible”). Therefore, the power (“efficacy”) of the means of grace lies in the nature of God and God’s immutable purposes. For example, these passages describe the divine power of the means of grace quite apart from any contribution of Man:
“I will build My Church . . .” (Matthew 16:18 KJV). “So shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11 ESV). “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:16 NKJV). “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26 ESV).
- The Power of the Means of Grace
The intrinsic power, or “efficacy,” of the means of grace (which is not dependent on the moral attainment of the human ambassador or “minister” of Word, Sacraments, and Prayer) does not diminish God’s commands for His People to be obedient. His ministers are to be godly in character and proficient in the gifts of administering the means of grace (e.g., “An overseer, then, must be above reproach . . .” 1 Timothy 3:2 NASB). “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” 1 Timothy 4:13). What is clear, however, is that the means of grace are effective unto God’s purposes even if the human instruments are (or become) “unworthy.” An example of this truth is demonstrated in Paul’s reflections on ungodly ministers: “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will” (Philippians 1:15). Yet, Paul concludes in Philippians 1:15-18:
“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
- The Sufficiency of the Means of Grace
If God has appointed Word, Sacrament, and Prayer as the means for human beings to repent, believe, and obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we can be sure that God’s ways are sufficient to accomplish His purposes. From the promises to Adam and Eve to the New Heaven and New Earth, we may say with a divine warrant: What God promises, God provides. Exodus 34:10 NKJV says:
“And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.”
Summary
The means of grace is an appropriate and essential theological phrase grounded in Scripture and church history and used by diverse communities within the one true Church to identify how and by what means—i.e., ways—God communicates His revelation in Christ and the benefits of our redemption. Being of God Almighty, the means of grace are the divinely appointed instruments to convert and sanctify (i.e., “grow in grace”) a believer. Likewise, our Lord Jesus Christ builds His Church through the means of grace. Word, Sacrament, and Prayer are the indispensable and sufficient means God has chosen to advance His Kingdom. The question must always be: “Are you exercising Word, Sacrament, and Prayer to know Christ and make Him known?”
References
The Westminster Larger Catechism with Scripture Proofs
The Westminster Shorter Catechism with Scripture Proofs and Commentary
A Sample Scholarly Bibliography on the Means of Grace by Major Traditions within the Church
[1] Many find the modern English version to be helpful. See, e.g., Douglas F. Kelly, editor, The Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English (Jackson, MS: Fortress), online at https://matt2819.com/wsc/.
[2] See, e.g., Mat 28:18-20; and Acts 2:41-42.
Dr. Michael A. Milton (PhD, University of Wales) is the Distinguished Professor of Missions and Evangelism at Erskine Theological Seminary where he also serves as the Director of Chaplain Ministries. The retired fourth presidency and chancellor of the RTS System, Dr. Milton founded and shepherded 3 churches (KS, GA, and NC), and was the senior minister of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga. Mike Milton is a US Army Chaplain (Colonel) retired, and remains President of the D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership. Dr. Milton’s life verse is from Philippians 1:6: “Being confident of this, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ.” Or, as Mike puts it in the title of his autobiography, “What God Starts God Completes.”
