Sacraments are means of grace - 21 June 2010 |
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Sacraments are sometimes described as “means of grace.” That’s a biblical way of thinking, provided of course that we understand biblically what “grace” is. We need to avoid the mistake of thinking of grace in Roman Catholic terms, as some sort of “stuff” that is “dispensed” to us, a “kind of substance that could be poured into the soul.” In biblical terms, “grace is the saving action of the triune God centered in the life, death and resurrection of Christ, which brings us into new relationship which God apart from any merit of our own” (Leonard J. Vander Zee, Christ, Baptism and the Lords Supper, p. 33). If grace is understood in these terms, sacraments are indeed means of grace.
Of course, we derive no benefit from God’s grace without faith, and so as Calvin says the sacraments “avail and profit nothing unless received by faith” (Institutes, IV.xiv.17). Yet faith is itself a gift of God, which is strengthened through (among other things) the sacraments themselves. As Calvin puts it, “sacraments … sustain, nourish, confirm, and increase our faith” (Institutes, IV.xiv.7). Even the faith that God requires is itself his gift to us.
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Meditations for the Lord's Supper, Minister's Blog