Sanctification Lesson 3 Means of Grace Study Notes

The means of grace explain how the risen Christ continues to build his church and sanctify his people. Word, sacraments, and prayer are ordinary, outward activities, yet Christ uses them to communicate the benefits of his saving work. These notes connect that claim to spiritual practices, the church’s shared life, and the biblical passages that explain Christ’s present action. (Westminster Larger Catechism [WLC] Q. 154; Westminster Shorter Catechism [WSC] Q. 88.)

The lesson in one minute

Christ is the giver; the church receives and participates. His appointed means include all his ordinances, with the word, sacraments, and prayer at the center. These activities also form habits and communities, but their spiritual efficacy rests on Christ’s promise and the Spirit’s work. The ascended Christ gives gifts, makes his word dwell richly among believers, and grows his body as its members speak and act in love. (WLC Q. 154; Matthew 28:18–20; Colossians 3:16–17; Ephesians 4:7–16; 5:18–21.)

The catechism definition

WLC Q. 154 defines the outward and ordinary means by which Christ communicates the benefits of his mediation to his church. The answer has two levels: all ordinances Christ appoints are included, and the word, sacraments, and prayer receive special emphasis. The shorter statement appears in WSC Q. 88. WLC Q. 153 calls for diligent use of the outward means alongside repentance and faith.

Outward: They take visible, audible, bodily, and communal forms: words are read and spoken, water and bread and wine are used, and prayers are offered. Outward does not mean spiritually empty. (WLC Q. 154; Matthew 28:19–20.)

Ordinary: They are the regular ways Christ has appointed for the church’s life. God remains free to work beyond them, but his freedom does not make his appointed means optional. (WLC Q. 154; WSC Q. 88.)

Means: They are instruments Christ uses, not independent sources of power. The catechism makes them effective by God’s action for the salvation of the elect. Sacraments in particular have no saving power in themselves or in a minister’s personal piety. (WLC Q. 154, 161.)

Grace: The benefits of Christ’s mediation are received from him. The focus is his ongoing generosity to the church, rather than a technique for producing spiritual growth by oneself. (WLC Q. 154.)

Related language and the central difference

Spiritual disciplines: Personal or shared commitments such as fasting, meditation, or silence can train attention and desire. Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline is a prominent treatment. Discipline describes the patterned action and its formative effects.

Church practices: A congregation can be shaped by what it repeatedly does together: confession, welcome, generosity, remembrance, worship, and care. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon are associated with this communal approach; Hauerwas’s essay The Liturgical Shape of the Christian Life explores worship’s formative role.

Marks of the church: Martin Luther’s On the Councils and the Church (1539) names seven marks by which Christ’s church is recognized, including the word, sacraments, prayer, ministry, and suffering. This language stresses the identifiable life of the church.

Each category helps explain how repeated action shapes people from the outside in. Means of grace adds a further theological claim: through what Christ has appointed, he himself communicates grace. A practice may have a genuine social or moral effect, yet that effect alone does not explain the spiritual gift promised in WLC Q. 154.

Practices form people for good or ill

Passing the peace is more than a greeting when a congregation repeatedly acknowledges one another as members who share the Lord’s peace. Emmanuel Katongole’s account of a congregation becoming more familiar and hospitable across racial difference illustrates how embodied, repeated welcome can prepare people to hear and practice reconciliation. This example concerns the formative power of a church practice; its value must still be judged by the gospel it embodies.

Worship can also train exclusion. Segregated communion in South African Dutch Reformed settings gives a sobering example of a shared ritual reinforcing racial division. A common table should visibly express the unity of Christ’s people; separate tables can teach the opposite. John W. de Gruchy’s work on the South African church provides historical context for this concern.

Cultural formation can be studied with tools from psychology and sociology, but those tools do not by themselves establish that Christ is giving grace through a particular practice. For background on habit and moral formation, see Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind; Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow; and David Brooks, The Social Animal. Christian reflections named with this topic include David S. Yeago, Messiah’s People; Robert Louis Wilken, The Church as Culture; and Stanley Hauerwas, The Liturgical Shape of the Christian Life.

The risen Christ remains present and active

At the Transfiguration, the disciples fall in fear and Jesus comes to touch them. At the end of Matthew, the disciples meet the risen Jesus on another mountain; he comes and speaks. The parallel draws attention to his comforting presence through speech as his followers prepare for mission. (Matthew 17:1–8; 28:16–20.)

The Great Commission is framed by two promises. First, Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. Last, he promises to be with his disciples to the end of the age. Between these statements, he commands them to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching obedience. The church therefore acts under the authority and continuing presence of Christ; baptism and teaching are not left to human effort alone. (Matthew 28:18–20.)

Why this matters: Christ’s authority establishes his ability to act; his promise of presence establishes his continuing commitment. God’s gift of the Son also grounds confidence in his generosity. (Matthew 28:18–20; Romans 8:32.)

The word of Christ dwells richly in the church

Believers are to let Christ’s word dwell richly among them. Its dwelling is connected to teaching and admonishing one another wisely, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and giving thanks to God. This includes ordinary Christian encouragement and correction, not just formal preaching. Godward singing also ministers to the people singing alongside us. (Colossians 3:16–17; compare Hebrews 10:24–25.)

The word is more than information to analyze. It is received, remembered, spoken, and sung in a community where Christ makes his word at home. Personal reading and public preaching both matter, while the catechism places particular emphasis on preaching as a means the Spirit makes effective. (Colossians 3:16; WLC Q. 155–160.)

The ascended Christ gives gifts and grows his body

Christ’s ascension does not end his giving. Ephesians portrays the exalted Christ granting grace to his people and giving apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for ministry and build up the body toward maturity. Paul draws on Psalm 68:18 to describe the victorious, ascended Christ as giver. (Ephesians 4:7–13; Psalm 68:18; compare Philippians 2:9–11.)

Ephesians holds divine and human action together. Christ is the head from whom the body is joined and supplied; its members speak the truth in love and each part works properly. Christ makes the body grow as the body builds itself up in love. Christian speech and service have real effects because Christ equips and works through his people. (Ephesians 4:15–16.)

Study distinction: Human participation is real, but the church does not generate grace independently. Christ designs, supplies, and sustains the body’s growth. (Ephesians 4:7–16; WLC Q. 154.)

Spirit filled life takes ordinary communal forms

The command is more than avoiding drunkenness: believers are to be filled with the Spirit. Paul then describes speech to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing to the Lord; gratitude to the Father in Christ’s name; and mutual submission out of reverence for Christ. These are intentional activities through which God forms his people, not merely techniques for improving behavior. (Ephesians 5:15–21; compare Colossians 3:16–17.)

Christian maturity has a distinctive shape. Humility and service may conflict with a culture’s preferred image of strength or success. For the historical contrast between Christian humility and ancient Roman ideals, see Simone Weil, The Need for Roots. The pattern also recalls Christ’s humility and exaltation. (Philippians 2:5–11; Ephesians 4:13–16.)

Why an ordinary act can carry a larger effect

When Moses held up his hands during Israel’s battle with Amalek, the result was not caused by the natural power of raised arms. The action mattered because God attached an effect to it in that event. Likewise, an appointed means of grace can have an effect beyond the inherent power of a human action. The comparison illustrates dependence on God; it does not make every action a promised means of grace. (Exodus 17:8–13; WLC Q. 154.)

A habit can shape desire through repetition. A means of grace may also form habits, but its distinctive promise is that Christ works in and through it. That is why believers should seek the places and practices he has appointed: Scripture read and preached, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and truthful mutual encouragement. God may act extraordinarily, yet the ordinary means are where the church is taught to wait on him diligently. (WLC Q. 153–155, 161–164; WSC Q. 88; Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 4:15–16.)

Prayer belongs at the center of this life. The catechism asks God to bless the means of grace and make his people watchful in using them, especially amid temptation. That petition keeps spiritual formation dependent on God rather than on personal resolve alone. (WLC Q. 195.)

Quick recall

Definition: Christ communicates the benefits of his mediation through appointed outward and ordinary means, especially word, sacraments, and prayer. (WLC Q. 154; WSC Q. 88.)

Agent: The risen and ascended Christ remains present and active; the Spirit makes his means effective. (Matthew 28:18–20; Ephesians 4:7–16; 5:18–21.)

Church’s role: Believers hear, pray, sing, teach, admonish, speak truth in love, and receive the sacraments as Christ builds his body. (Colossians 3:16–17; Ephesians 4:15–16; WLC Q. 153.)

Key distinction: Repeated practices can shape a community; means of grace also rest on Christ’s promise to give through what he has ordained. (WLC Q. 154.)

Questions for review

1. In WLC Q. 154, what is included by “all his ordinances,” and why are word, sacraments, and prayer named especially?

2. How do Matthew 28:18–20 and Ephesians 4:7–16 show that the ascended Christ still acts through the church?

3. How can singing be directed to God and simultaneously strengthen other believers? (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19.)

4. What can the passing of peace and segregated communion teach about the formative power of church practices?

5. Why does Exodus 17:8–13 help explain the difference between an action’s natural effect and an effect God grants?