Westminster Shorter Catechism #91

Q: How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation? 
A: The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that does administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them. 
 1 Corinthians 3:7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Turning now to the "sacraments" portion of the ordinary means of grace, this question and answer of the shorter catechism addresses a subject that has been a point of contention for almost the full 2000 years of the Church's life. The effectualness of the sacraments, what is being accomplished and how is it accomplished in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, is not only a point of contention between the Roman church and the Protestant church, but is even debated amongst Protestants. And I think this all stems from the fact that generally throughout the history of the Church, Christians have been aware that baptism and the Lord's Supper are not merely signs. They are not merely reminders. They are not merely symbols of something. But rather, that there is something happening when the sacraments are rightly administered and received in faith. 

Just a few weeks ago, we discussed what is happening in the administration of the sacraments. We talked about how the sacraments (along with the reading and hearing of the Word and prayer) are the God-ordained means of Christian discipleship. We talked about how these means of grace "communicate the benefits of redemption", and how that is used to make us more Christ-like. This week, we'll discuss how that happens. How is it that God uses the sacraments to communicate the benefits of redemption? How do they become "effectual means of salvation"?

Once again, Starr Meade is helpful:

Because the Lord Jesus gave us the sacraments, He blesses them when we use them. The Holy Spirit, also, works inside those who receive the sacraments by faith. Water baptism shows that the Holy Spirit baptizes people into the body of Christ and makes them members of Christ's body forever. When believers share the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, they share in Christ and in His Spirit.

It is Christ, and his work by the power of the Holy Spirit, in and through the sacraments that make them effectual in communicating the benefits of redemption to us. This is why the catechism is so clear in pointing out that the sacraments' power comes, "not from any virtue in them, or in him that does administer them", but only from Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit working in and through the lives of God's people as they receive the sacraments in faith*. And Starr Meade leaves us with this very helpful reminder that the sacraments are, ultimately, only one part of "Word and Sacrament" ministry:

Fairy tales often tell of magic rituals, such as rubbing the lamp in which a genie is living. In the fairy tales, whenever the ritual is performed, even when someone does it by accident, the magic happens. The sacraments are not like magic rituals. God did not intend for the sacraments to be used all by themselves. They are to be used with God's Word.

*As we examine the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, we will examine more closely what it means to receive them "in faith"

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Westminster Shorter Catechism #90

Q: How is the word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation? 
A: That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with
diligence, preparation and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our
hearts, and practice it in our lives. 
1 Peter 2:1-2: So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like
newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into
salvation. 

As we continue to work through these ordinary means of grace, we come to a question that reminds us that we, as readers and hearers of the Word, have responsibilities. We must consider how we are to receive the Word read and preached. 

Starr Meade reminds us of something very true. She writes, "God's Word is not like a magic formula that makes things happen whenever someone uses it. We must read and hear God's Word in certain ways if it is going to be effective..." The catechism answer this week tells us of these "certain ways" that we are to read and hear the Word. First, we should be diligent in the reading and hearing of the Word. This means we need to read it and hear it preached often! The ministry of the Word, as we saw in last week's blog, is something that we need to participate in often. It's vital to both the conversion of new Christians, but also to the ongoing discipleship of God's people. Secondly, we need to prepare ourselves for the hearing and reading of God's Word. Prayer is the recommended (and probably the best) way to prepare for the reading and hearing of God's Word. Whether we are going into a worship service, or we are opening the Bible in our devotional life, our hearts need to be prepped to hear the Word of God. We can pray for the Holy Spirit's help here. We can ask for the Spirit to prepare and soften our hearts for what God is about to say to us in his Word, and we can ask the Spirit for understanding as we explore the words of the eternal God. Thirdly, we are to receive it in faith and love. We as God's people need to recognize that this is the Word of God! We receive it, trusting that God's Word is, indeed, trustworthy! B.B. Warfield, an early 20th century Presbyterian theologian, wrote about this often. He wrote about how we as Christians should come to the Word without a spirit of skepticism, but rather, in a spirit of faith, of trust, knowing that if God is indeed trustworthy, then his Word is equally trustworthy. We receive the Word in love, knowing that this is the revelation of our loving God, and he has been incredibly gracious to us in giving us his Word! Fourthly we are to lay the Word up in our hearts and practice it in our lives. This is what James is talking about in James 1:22, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves". If we read and hear the Word prayerfully, receiving it in faith and love, then what logically follows is that our actions, the way we live, will slowly be shaped by the Word. And if we do not find our lives, our actions, our works, being shaped by the Word, then it begs the question, are we truly receiving it in faith and love? Are we truly laying it up in our hearts? Or, are we being "hearers only"?

If I can get personal for a moment, I must confess that too often, I do not do this kind of preparation when I read or hear the Word. And I'm certain that I'm not alone in this. But while this catechism reminds us of our duty and responsibility when it comes to reading and hearing the Word, we know that God's grace is still at work. We have this promise of Isaiah 55:11:

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Westminster Shorter Catechism #89

Q: How is the word made effectual to salvation?
A: The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching, of the word, an effectual means of convicting and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Jesus gave us a simple formula for Christian discipleship. Matthew 28:19 records the words of our Lord as he said, “therefore go and make disciples of all nations”. Now, too often, we act like that's all Jesus said. We hear the “great commission”, but we tend to neglect the instructions on how to carry out that commission. But Jesus did tell us how to “make disciples”. He continued, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

What Jesus gave his disciples, and what he gives us today, is a simple “Word and Sacrament” ministry. Preach the Word and administer the sacraments (baptism here in the “Great Commission”, but as we see the New Testament church grow and thrive, we see that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was and is just as vital to discipleship). Over the next several weeks, we're going to examine this “Word and Sacrament” ministry and see how it is truly effective for the spread of the gospel and for Christian discipleship.

This week and next, we will look at the ministry of the Word, particularly the preaching of the Word. This week's catechism reminds us that the Holy Spirit uses the reading, and especially the preaching, of the Word of God to convict sinners and lead them to repentance. The Apostle Paul reminds us of the effectiveness of the Spirit's work through preaching in Romans 10:14 when he writes, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

It's interesting that, as we look at the history of the church from the time of the Apostles forward, the true revivals, the ones with long-lasting effects such as what we see in the book of Acts, or we see in the early centuries of the Church, or in the time of the Reformation, or during the Great Awakening, have all been based around the preaching of God's Word. It's almost as if Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said to make disciples by, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”!

But notice too, that the catechism doesn't just say that the preaching of the Word is useful for conversion, but also for building us up in holiness and comfort. And this is what Paul is talking about in our Scripture reference for the week. The Word of God is not only useful for conversion, but also for “teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete...” In other words, the preaching of the Word is a vital ministry for the whole of the Christian experience. God, through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the ministry of the Word, draws in his elect people, and then uses the same ministry of the Word, again through the power of the Holy Spirit, to conform his people to the image of his Son Jesus Christ. This is why Starr Meade writes,

The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to bring non-Christians to faith in Christ. The Spirit of God also uses the Word of God to cause Christians to grow in holiness. A non-Christian who never hears or reads the Word of God will probably not become a Christian. A Christian who never hears or reads the Word of God will probably not grow in holiness.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Westminster Shorter Catechism #88

Q: What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?
A: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation
Acts 2:41-42 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Recently at Proclamation, our youth Sunday School class did a series on "The Worship of God's People". During that series, we talked about how our worship services need to be services of "Word and Sacrament", soaked and saturated in prayer. And why? Because these are the very means that God has chosen to communicate his grace to us, his people. These are the very means by which God applies the benefits of redemption, reminds us and feeds us with the gospel of Jesus Christ, reminds us that we are part of God's covenant people, and through the working of the Holy Spirit as he works in and through these ordinary means, molds and conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ. Listen to what Starr Meade says about this section of the catechism:

The Lord Jesus paid fully to redeem his people when he died on the cross. Nothing more needs to be done to redeem them. But the benefits of being redeemed need to be brought to God's people. The Lord Jesus has chosen ways to bring those benefits to us. This answer lists those ways. The Word of God, the sacraments (baptism and the Lord's Supper), and prayer are the 'ordinary, external ways Christ has chosen to bring us the benefits of redemption.' As we read and hear God's Word, as we pray, and as we receive baptism and communion, we enjoy the benefits of redemption Christ bought for us.

This is God's plan for Christian discipleship! This is the ministry of Christ's Church. The Christian cannot thrive without these means of communicating God's grace, and this should be at the heart of every Christian church's "discipleship plan". Whatever else the local church does to disciple her people, at the center of it all needs to be the Word preached and read, the right administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and prayer. Everything else is negotiable. Everything else is an add-on. Everything else, quite frankly, is unnecessary. God's plan for feeding his people, for communicating his grace, for "applying the benefits of redemption", for raising up disciples, revolves around these "ordinary means" of grace, and if a church is grounded in the Word, in the sacraments, and in prayer, then that church is doing its job. Your local church may not have all the programs you desire. They may not have the youth group or the VBS or the women's Bible study or the men's fellowship group or even a small group ministry. But if she is saturated in the Word read and preached, if she feeds God's people with the sacraments, if she is steeped in prayer, then your local church is doing her job in discipleship. She is being faithful in her call because she is making use of the God-ordained means by which the "benefits of redemption" are communicated to us, God's people!

Please understand, I'm not saying these other "programs" are bad. In fact, they can be ways by which churches can feed their people and provide more opportunity for the Word to be read and taught and for God's people to join together in prayer. And they can certainly provide ways for the people of God to enjoy fellowship and encourage one another. These are good things! But we've come to a place in Evangelicalism where, in our consumer culture, we decide whether a church is giving us what we need or not based upon the "extras". The reality is, a church can have wonderful programs for babies up through seniors. A church can have every financial resource in the world. A church can provide you with an activity every single night of the week. But if the church is not feeding you with the Word, the sacraments, and with prayer, then that church is not giving you what you truly need as a son or daughter of the Living God.

If you are attending a church that is failing to feed you with these means of communicating God's grace, with these means of communicating the benefits of Christ's redemption to you, then I encourage you to find a church that is faithful in this call. Even if that church does nothing else, if they are faithful in reading and preaching the Word, in administering the sacraments, and in prayer, then you can have the assurance that that church is providing you with what you need as a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

And if you belong to a church that is faithful in feeding you with Word, sacrament, and prayer, then praise the Lord! Whatever else you may feel that church lacks, you can rejoice in knowing that God is indeed communicating the benefits of redemption to you, and that through these ordinary means your faith is being fed and you are faithfully being discipled!

Just one final note. We've been talking about the role that the means of grace play in our gathered, corporate church life, but there is a personal side to the means of grace as well. Apart from the sacraments, which are signs and seals given to the church and have their meaning within the context of the covenant community (which will be discussed in coming weeks), believers should be making full use of these means of grace in their personal and family lives. The reading of the Word and prayer should be staples in every believer's life, and for parents, we should be striving to make use of the reading of the Word and prayer in our homes as we seek to raise Godly children. And we can trust that, just as God has given these means of grace to the gathered church for Christian discipleship, these means of grace will continue to communicate the benefits of our redemption in Jesus Christ in our personal and family lives. 

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Westminster Shorter Catechism #87

Q: What is repentance unto life?
A: Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.
2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

We've been discussing how God provides everything we need for salvation. This is sometimes referred to as "monergism". Monergism is a fancy way of saying that salvation is the complete work of God. In other words, salvation is not a "team effort" between God and man. The Triune God does it all. Most of you may be familiar with the term "synergy". Synergy, or synergism, is the idea of a cooperative effort. When people team up, work well together, and accomplish a great task, we say that team of people has synergy. Some people view salvation in the same way. They believe salvation requires teamwork between God and the person being saved. But the catechism, and we believe the Bible itself, teaches that salvation is all together, from start to end, a work of the Holy God. It is not a synergistic work (a cooperative work between God and man), it is a monergistic work-the work of one, namely, the one true and living God. 

So two weeks ago we saw how God requires faith and repentance for salvation. But then last week, we saw how faith itself is a gift from God, and when someone expresses saving faith, that too is a work of the Holy Spirit in that person's life. Now, this week, we see that repentance is also a gift from God. The catechism, just as it did with faith, refers to repentance as "a saving grace". This means that even repentance is a gift from God. Once again, God is requiring something for salvation, but also is providing what he requires! 

Last week we asked, "what is faith"? And it's only right that we ask the question, "what is repentance?" I don't think there's really a better answer for this question than what the catechism already gives us. Repentance is not merely "being sorry" for your sins. It's also not the act of simply confessing that you have sinned and that you are a sinner. Repentance is much more than this. First, it's a grief and hatred for our sin. Nothing should grieve us more than the fact that we are sinners and that we have sinned against a Holy God! There is nothing more terrible than to sin, to rebel, to offend the infinitely Holy God. And that grief for and hatred of our sin should cause us to flee from sin. It should cause us to turn away from it. Repentance isn't just deep sorrow for sin, it includes action. It means that we desire to turn away from our sinful patterns. And what are we turning to? We're turning to lives lived with a "full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience."

Thank God that repentance is a gift from him! Who could ever achieve repentance apart from the work of the Holy Spirit? Part of me cringes to write this blog because, like all of you reading this, I know that I fail even at repentance. I'm so quick to fall back into the same sinful habits time and time again. We're so often like the Israelites. God delivered them from the bondage of the Egyptians, and yet in their desert wanderings, how many times did they cry out, "oh that we were still in Egypt!" God has delivered us from an even greater bondage. He has delivered us from the bondage and slavery of the power of sin, death, and the devil, and yet we live our lives in a way that screams, "we want to go back to our old slave masters!" But just the fact that we recognize this, just the fact that we battle against this day in and day out, shows us God's grace at work in our lives. Repentance is not a once-done action. It's a pattern for the life of the believer in Jesus Christ. As we live day in and day out, we should be grieved by our sin, and continue to look to God in grief and sorrow, confessing our sins, and striving to live lives with a "full purpose of, and endeavor after" obedience to God. We do this not to maintain our salvation, but rather, because our salvation has already been accomplished. And that's the great hope in all of this. We have the promise that, as the author of Hebrews wrote, he (Jesus Christ), by a single offering has "perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Heb. 10:14). In other words, at the cross Christ has already perfected his people. And while the sanctification process is a life-long grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives, a work that will only be completed when we are either called home or Christ returns, we know that as we live lives of repentance, as we strive to live lives that reflect the reality that we are indeed new creations in Jesus, our salvation-our perfection-has already been accomplished at the cross. It is a once-and-done, finished work. What better hope do we have than that!? What better motivation do we have than that to live lives of obedience to the Word of God!?