Means of Grace.
(De mediis gratiae.)
As God reconciled the world to himself through Christ's vicarious satisfaction, without consulting men concerning this peculiar method of reconciliation, so also, without consulting men for counsel, he has ordained the means by which he will unfailingly make known to men his gracious disposition, or, what is the same, both offer to men the forgiveness of sins purchased by Christ, and work faith in the forgiveness offered, and, if faith already exists, strengthen it. These God-ordained means are called in church expression fittingly the means of grace.482) Such means of grace are, as will be explained in more detail below, the word of the gospel and baptism and the Lord's Supper. According to the Scriptures, these means have a double power: 1. a presenting or giving power (vis exhibitiva, dativa, collativa), 2. an effective power based in them (vis effectiva sive operativa). The offering power consists in offering to men the forgiveness of sins available through Christ's atoning work, that is, grace in the sense of God's gracious disposition (favor Dei).483) In other words, the means of grace are the means by which God reveals His heart, fully reconciled through Christ, to men, or gives men, for the sake of. The means of grace are, in other words, the means by which God reveals his heart, which is completely reconciled through Christ, to men or makes a declaration of love to men for the sake of Christ's work, which is to be believed by men. The effective power of the means of grace consists in the fact that God, through these means, because they promise the forgiveness of sins or reveal God's gracious heart or are a divine declaration of love, also produces faith in the forgiveness of sins offered and, where it already exists, strengthens it.484) One would think that people would leave
482) Media gratiae, instrumenta gratiae. Konkordienf. 602, 58 [Trigl. 903, Sol. Decl., II, 57-58 🔗]: "Des Heiligen Geistes Werkzeuge", "instrumenta sive media Spiritus Sancti".
483) Formula of Concord 602, 57 [Trigl. 903, Sol. Decl., II, 57 🔗]: "Christ offers his grace to all men in the word and holy sacraments"; "Christus omnibus hominibus clementiam suam [his gracious disposition] in verbo et sacramentis offert".
484) Formula of Concord 602, 56 [Trigl. 903, Sol. Decl., II, 56 🔗]: "The preached, heard Word of God is an office and work (ministerium et organon) of the Holy Spirit, through which He is certainly powerful
122 > The Means of Grace. [English ed. ~ 103-104]
unchallenged the means of grace ordered by God Himself. But this is by no means the case. Just as human criticism has called the divine method of world reconciliation unworthy of God and man, so it has also objected to the means of grace ordered by God. Some, like Zwingli, are of the decided opinion that it is unworthy of God to bind himself with his revelation and efficacy to such external means as the Word and the sacraments are; the Holy Spirit has no need of a chariot for his efficacy.485) In other words, Zwingli and the great crowd of his comrades declare the means of grace ordered by God to be unnecessary and obstructive to true piety. The others — and this is especially the case with the Romans — make their own means of grace486) and make corrections to the means ordered by God.487) This is the reason why dogmatics has to deal with the Christian doctrine of the means of grace. It will also become evident that the rejection and every change of the means of grace ordered by God touches the central article of the Christian doctrine, the article of justification by faith without works of the law. When the means of grace are rejected and changed, the attainment of salvation always stands on human works rather than on Christ's substitutionary satisfaction.