Means of grace
The means of grace in Christian theology are those things (the means) through which God gives grace. Just what this grace entails is interpreted in various ways: generally speaking, some see it as God blessing humankind so as to sustain and empower the Christian life; others see it as forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Catholic theology
According to the
The Church itself is used by Christ as a means of grace: "As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. 'She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all', 'the universal sacrament of salvation'."[6] The conviction that the Church herself is the primary means of grace can be traced back to Irenaeus, who was expressing a common conviction when he said: "Where the church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the church, and every kind of grace."[7] However, as the Second Vatican Council lamented, "although the Catholic Church has been endowed with all divinely revealed truth and with all means of grace, yet its members fail to live by them with all the fervor that they should".[8] Catholics, Orthodox and some Protestants agree that grace is conferred through the sacraments, "the means of grace".[9] It is the sacrament itself that is the means of grace, not the person who administers it nor the person who receives it, although lack of the required dispositions on the part of the recipient will block the effectiveness of the sacrament.[10]
Lutheran theology
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In Lutheranism, the Means of Grace are God's instruments by which all spiritual blessing are bestowed upon sinners.[12] Lutheran churches teach that the means of grace are the ways that the Holy Spirit creates faith in the hearts of Christians, forgives their sins, and gives them eternal salvation. The efficacy of these means does not depend on the faith, strength, status, or good works of those who proclaim the Word of God or administer God's sacraments; rather, the efficacy of these means rests in God alone, who has promised to work through God's gift of these means to God's church.
For Lutherans, the means of grace include the
Gospel in Word
Lutherans believe that through the Gospel, the good news of Christ's atoning sacrifice for all sinners, the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith in people, whose hearts are by nature hostile to God (1 Peter 1:23). Lutheranism teaches that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ and that the Spirit-worked faith brings about a regeneration in humans and "makes them heirs of eternal life in heaven".[12]
Baptism
Lutheranism teaches that also through the Sacrament of Baptism the Holy Spirit applies the gospel to sinners, giving them
Lord's Supper
Lutherans hold that within the Eucharist, also referred to as the Lord's Supper, the
Reformed theology
The
Methodist theology
In Methodism, the means of grace are ways in which God works invisibly in disciples, quickening, strengthening and confirming faith.[16] So, believers use them to open their hearts and lives to God's work in them. According to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the means of grace can be divided into two broad categories, with individual and communal components:[16]
- Works of Piety, such as:[16]
- Individual Practices--
- Prayer
- Fasting
- Searching the Scriptures
- Healthy Living
- Communal Practices--
- Worship
- Holy Communion
- Baptism
- Christian Conferencing (or "community")
- Individual Practices--
- Works of Mercy, such as:[16]
- Individual practices--
- Doing Good (Good works)
- Visiting the Sick
- Visiting the Imprisoned
- Feeding and Clothing those in need
- Earning, Saving, and Giving
- Communal practices--
- the Seeking of Justice; Opposition to slavery
- Individual practices--
Careful attention to the means of grace is, for Methodists, important in the process of
No one can remain a Christian without the aid of the various means of grace such as assembling together for prayer and worship; observing family and secret devotion; and giving liberally to the work of the church, the support of the ministry, the relief of the needy, and the spread of the gospel throughout the world.―Principles of Holy Living, Emmanuel Association of Churches[18]
See also
- Prevenient Grace
- Christian soteriology
Printed resources
- Felton, Gayle. By Water and the Spirit. 1998. ISBN 0-88177-201-1
- Felton, Gayle. This Holy Mystery. 2005. ISBN 0-88177-457-X
- Neal, Gregory. Grace Upon Grace: Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life. 2014. ISBN 1490860061
- Pieper, Francis. Christian Dogmatics. Volume III. Theodore Engelder, trans. Concordia, 1953. ISBN 0-570-06714-6
- Underwood, Ralph. Pastoral Care and the Means of Grace. Augsburg Fortress, 1992. ISBN 0-8006-2589-7
- The Presence of God in the Christian Life: John Wesley and the Means of Grace, Henry H. Knight III (Metuchen, N.J., The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 1992)
References
- ^ a b Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England & Wales, Ireland and Scotland, One Bread One Body Archived 2013-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, p. 7
- ^ "George Joyce, "The Church" in The Catholic Encyclopedia". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
- ISBN 9781592764419), p. 143
- ^ "Richard Brennan, The Means of Grace (Benziger Brothers 1894), p. 25". 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
- ^ Brennan (1894), p. 337]
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church, 776". Vatican.va. 1973-06-22. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
- ISBN 9780226653716), p. 156
- ^ Second Vatican Council, Decree on Ecumenism, 4 Archived March 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 9780877790440), p. 386
- ^ The sacraments "bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131).
- ^ See Augsburg Confession, Article 7, Of the Church
- ^ a b c d e "VI.: The Means of Grace". This We Believe (Statement of Belief). Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Retrieved 4 Feb 2015.
We believe that God bestows all spiritual blessings upon sinners by special means established by him. These are the means of grace, the gospel in Word and sacraments. We define a sacrament as a sacred act established by Christ in which the Word connected with an earthly element gives the forgiveness of sins...We believe that the Lord gave his Word and the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper for a purpose. He commanded his followers, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19,20). Through God's Word and sacraments he preserves and extends the holy Christian church throughout the world.
- ^ Confessional Lutheranswe believe in baptismal regeneration, the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper, and infant baptism.
- ^ Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Vol. 3. p. 466.
- ^ Horton, Michael S. (2008). People and Place: A Covenant Ecclesiology. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 106–108.
- ^ The United Methodist Church. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ISBN 9781556352430.
He espoused a "method" of study, prayer, and community by which persons might know "sanctification" before God. Wesley thought that the truly devout could "move on to perfection," an ends ethic idea. The Methodist Book of Discipline with "Rules for Methodist Societies" specified what the ways were: daily reading of the Bible, prayer, feeding the hungry, and visiting the sick and those in prison.
- ^ Emmanuel Association. 2002. p. 15.
External links
- Sermon #16: "The Means of Grace" by John Wesley
- Sermon #101: "The Duty of Constant Communion" by John Wesley
- Sermon #104: "On Attending the Church Service" by John Wesley
- The Sacraments as Means of Grace By Gregory S. Neal
- Prayer as a Means of Grace By Gregory S. Neal
- Giving as a Means of Grace By Gregory S. Neal
- Works of Piety and Works of Mercy (Methodist)
- Practicing the Means of Grace (Methodist)
- FAQ: Means of Grace? (Lutheran)