Sabbath Meditation

The Means of Grace

A Christian doctrine that has largely “passed from the sight of mortal men” is the doctrine of the means of grace. It was at the heart of much Reformational theology and teaching. Today it is scarcely heard, even amongst those who identify with the teachings and traditions of the Reformation.

Regardless of modern forgetfulness or distortions, Jerusalem must recapture and restore this great Christian doctrine. It is a vital foundation stone to building and extending God's City. To the extent that it has been lost, Jerusalem is the weaker and poorer for it.

Actually, the phrase “means of grace” appears an oxymoron, at first glance. For grace is God's unmerited favour to man. Man is not owed God's goodness or favour; he has no right to it. Nevertheless, when God does bestow His favour, despite the fact we deserve it not, we call it grace. Because God's favour is not on account of any merit we might have, we call it free—as in, God's free grace. The idea that there could be means by which God's grace comes to us at first glance might appear to undermine the idea that God's mercy is free and without debt.

The divine mercy that fell upon Abraham and his descendants provides the eternal pattern. The Lord explicitly says that there was nothing particularly significant about Abraham. He was an idol worshiper along with everyone else, despite the fact that much later, subsequent rabbinic tradition almost deified Abraham. They forgot that every male Israelite was required to confess formally that Abraham his father was a “wandering Aramaean”—that is, a pagan Syrian. The Hebrew word translated wandering means “perishing, lost, in great danger”. (Deuteronomy 26: 5)

Abraham was taken from a family of idolaters, as the Lord declares through Joshua: “from ancient times, your fathers lived beyond the River, Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nabor and they served other gods. Then I took your father from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan.” (Joshua 24: 2,3). From that point on, every descendant, every Israelite through birth and those brought in through profession of faith knew that they were recipients of God's grace through no merit of their own. They simply happened to be descended from Abraham, and therefore God's love had fallen upon them.

Moses explicitly tells the people, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers.” (Deuteronomy 7:8). Thus, every Israelite who could say, “I am loved by God”, when asked, “Why does God love you,” was bound to say, “Because the Lord loved my fathers and made an oath to them.” It was freely done by God. I had no part in it.

Later, as idolatry insinuated itself back into Israel's heart, the free nature of God's grace was obscured, if not entirely obliterated. Being a child of Abraham was distorted into a badge of merit. “Because I am descended from Abraham, therefore God owes me His favour and salvation.” In contrast were the Gentiles whom God was understood not to love. This reached its apotheosis in the time of our Lord, when Israel was rapidly filling up the cup of its transgression.

When John the Baptist was preaching the message of repentance to prepare the way for Messiah, he warned them against what was their habitual mode of thought: “do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham!'” John was calling them to repent. In heart the multitudes were saying, “No, it's OK—we are descended from Abraham and this is sufficient to merit God's love to us.” John rudely confronts such an idolatrous notion, declaring that being descended from Abraham is of no merit whatsoever, for God is able to raise up children of Abraham from stones.

“The very fact that you are a descendant of Abraham should have confirmed to you that the salvation of God was brought to you through no merit of your own. You did not engineer your forebears. Since you have turned it into a basis of merit, let me leave you in no doubt that it is nothing, for God can throw you out, and replace you with stones.”

And so it came to pass. Israel of old would not hear, but clung to their idolatry—clung to their belief that they merited God's favour, that He owed them His mercy, and that He needed them. So they were cast off. But God replaced them, making former stones into sons of Israel—and in this instance, the stones were the Gentiles who were adopted into God's family and made descendants of Abraham, heirs of his promises.

So we read Paul's letter to the Gentiles who were now in the Ephesian congregation: “Therefore remember that formerly, you, the Gentiles in the flesh . . . . that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But . . . you who were afar off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:11—13)

Thus, God's grace is indeed free. He chooses to bestow it on whom He chooses. Nevertheless, God has appointed means (methods, ways, circumstances, and institutions) by which His grace comes to people. If we are to receive God's grace, we are directed to look to the rock from which we were hewn. We are directed to look to the means which God has established. Grace is found where God has appointed it to be.

God's grace is sovereign and free. God also sovereignly has appointed the means by which His grace flows to men. Faith responds by submitting to His appointment, taking up the means of grace that God has appointed, looking to God, and expecting His grace to flow in and through the means, even as He has promised.

This means that the means of grace which He has appointed are holy and sacred—because through these means God comes to us, and we are drawn into His very presence.