Thinking About “Means of Grace”

Where is the grace of God?  How does God work powerfully in my life?

Titus 2:11ff teaches that the very grace of God which brings salvation also continues to work in our lives, teaching us to say “no” to ungodliness.  The grace that saves also sanctifies so that we are increasingly conformed us to the image of Christ.

Get this: If you are truly a believer, then the God who spoke Creation into existence is at work in your life.

Your average Christian then asks, “Well, concretely, how can I expect this to take place?”  Why am I not experiencing more victory?  Why can’t I change?

And, the Protestant answer to that question has been that God works through certain appointed means.  It is as we study God’s Word, pray, fellowship, and worship that God pours out his grace in our lives.  This is not to be understood in a mystical sense.  Nor, is it to imply that God does not work graciously work throughout the day.  But, there is a focus on being sanctified through these central activities of the church.

Berkhof writes, “Sanctification takes place partly in the subconscious life, and as such is an immediate operation of the Holy Spirit; but also partly in the conscious life, and then depends on the use of certain means, such as the constant exercise of faith, the study of God’s Word, prayer and association with other believers.  L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Fourth ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 534.

Grudem adds, “The New Testament does not suggest any short-cuts by which we can grow in sanctification, but simply encourages us repeatedly to give ourselves to the old-fashioned, time-honored means for Bible reading and meditation (Ps. 1:3; Matt. 4:4, 17:17), prayer (Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6), worship (Eph. 5:18-20), witnessing (Matt 28:19-20), Christian fellowship (Heb. 10:24-25), and self-discipline or self-control (Gal. 5:23; Titus 1:8).

So, if you aren’t in God’s Word, with God’s people, praying, worshiping, then don’t expect to experience God’s grace.  (Moreover, you should probably question the authenticity of your faith!)

Want to study more? Read an intersting article by Fred Sanders on Wesley’s views (click here) of the means of grace here.  I don’t mean to imply that I am in complete agreement with Wesley’s positions, which honestly I haven’t studied that well.