The means of grace in Christian theology are those things (the ''means'') through which God gives grace. Just what this grace entails is interpreted in various ways: generally speaking, some see it as God blessing humankind so as to sustain and empower the Christian life; others see it as forgiveness, life, and

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

Catholic theology

According to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the means of grace that Christ entrusted to the Church are many.Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England & Wales, Ireland and Scotland, ''One Bread One Body''
, p. 7 They include the entirety of revealed truth, the sacraments and the hierarchical ministry. Among the principal means of grace are the sacraments (especially the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

), prayers and good works. The

sacramentals A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Cat ...

also are means of grace. The Church itself is used by Christ as a means of grace: "As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. 'She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all', 'the universal sacrament of salvation'." The conviction that the Church herself is the primary means of grace can be traced back to

Irenaeus Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...

, who was expressing a common conviction when he said: "Where the church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the church, and every kind of grace." However, as the Second Vatican Council lamented, "although the Catholic Church has been endowed with all divinely revealed truth and with all means of grace, yet its members fail to live by them with all the fervor that they should". Catholics, Orthodox and some Protestants agree that grace is conferred through the sacraments, "the means of grace". It is the sacrament itself that is the means of grace, not the person who administers it nor the person who receives it, although lack of the required dispositions on the part of the recipient will block the effectiveness of the sacrament.

Lutheran theology

In Lutheranism, the Means of Grace are God's ''instruments'' by which all spiritual blessing are bestowed upon sinners. Lutheran churches teach that the means of grace are the ways that the Holy Spirit creates

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people ofte ...

in the hearts of Christians, forgives their sins, and gives them eternal

. The efficacy of these means does not depend on the faith, strength, status, or good works of those who proclaim the Word of God or administer God's sacraments; rather, the efficacy of these means rests in God alone, who has promised to work through God's gift of these means to God's church. For Lutherans, the means of grace include the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

(both written and proclaimed), as well as the sacrament of Holy Baptism, and the Sacrament of the

. Some Lutherans also include

Confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

and

Absolution Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pr ...

as ''sacraments'' and as such a ''means of grace'', although they are not counted as such by others because no physical element is attached to Absolution, as is the case in both Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Gospel in Word

Lutherans believe that through the ''Gospel'', the good news of Christ's atoning sacrifice for all sinners, the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith in people, whose hearts are by nature hostile to God
1 Peter 1:23
. Lutheranism teaches that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ and that the Spirit-worked faith brings about a regeneration in humans and "makes them heirs of eternal life in heaven".

Baptism

Lutheranism teaches that also through the Sacrament of Baptism the Holy Spirit applies the gospel to sinners, giving them regeneration
Titus 3:5
and cleansing them from all sin
Acts 2:38
. Lutherans believe that Jesus Christ points to the blessing of Holy Baptism when he promises that "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved"
Mark 16:16
. Lutherans also believe that Baptism is for all people
Matthew 28:19
, including infants.

Lord's Supper

Lutherans hold that within the Eucharist, also referred to as the Lord's Supper, the true body and blood of Christ are truly present " in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine for all those who eat and drink it. Lutheranism teaches that as Christians receive his body and blood, they also receive the forgiveness of sin
Matthew 26:28
and the comfort and assurance that they are truly his own. Unbelievers also receive Jesus Christ's body and blood, "but to their judgment"
1 Corinthians 11:29
.

Reformed theology

The Reformed churches refer to the ordinary means of grace as the Word (preached primarily, but also read) and the sacraments (baptism and the Lord's Supper). In addition to these means of grace recognized by the Continental Reformed (Dutch, etc.), the English Reformed also included prayer as a means of grace along with the Word and Sacraments (Westminster Larger Catechism 154; Westminster Shorter Catechism 88). The means of grace are not intended to include every means by which God may edify Christians, but are the ordinary channels he has ordained for this purpose and are communicated to Christians supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. For Reformed Christians divine grace is the action of God giving and Christians receiving the promise of eternal life united with Christ. The means of grace are used by God to confirm or ratify a covenant between himself and Christians. The words of the gospel and the elements of the sacraments are not merely symbols referring to the gospel, they actually bring about the reality of the gospel.

Methodist theology

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...

, the means of grace are ways in which God works invisibly in disciples, quickening, strengthening and confirming faith. So, believers use them to open their hearts and lives to God's work in them. According to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the means of grace can be divided into two broad categories, with individual and communal components: :

Works of Piety "Works of piety", in Methodism, are certain spiritual disciplines that along with the " works of mercy", serve as a means of grace, and are necessary for Christian perfection. All Methodist Christians, laity and ordained, are expected to employ t ...

, such as: ::Individual Practices-- :::Prayer :::Fasting :::Searching the

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

s :::Healthy Living ::Communal Practices-- :::Worship ::: Holy Communion :::

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

:::Christian Conferencing (or "community") :

Works of Mercy Works of mercy (sometimes known as acts of mercy) are practices considered meritorious in Christian ethics. The practice is popular in the Catholic Church as an act of both penance and charity. In addition, the Methodist church teaches that the ...

, such as: ::Individual practices-- :::Doing Good (

Good works In Christian theology, good works, or simply works, are a person's (exterior) actions or deeds, in contrast to inner qualities such as grace or faith. Views by denomination Anglican Churches The Anglican theological tradition, including The ...

) :::Visiting the Sick :::Visiting the Imprisoned :::Feeding and Clothing those in need :::Earning, Saving, and Giving ::Communal practices-- :::the Seeking of Justice; Opposition to

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

Careful attention to the means of grace is, for Methodists, important in the process of sanctification as one is moved on toward Christian Perfection through the work of the Holy Spirit. In Methodist theology, the means of grace are necessary in the maintenance of the Christian faith; the Emmanuel Association, a Methodist denomination in the conservative holiness movement, thus teaches:

Printed resources

* Felton, Gayle. ''By Water and the Spirit.'' 1998. * Felton, Gayle. ''This Holy Mystery.'' 2005. * Neal, Gregory. ''Grace Upon Grace: Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life.'' 2014. * Pieper, Francis. ''Christian Dogmatics.'' Volume III. Theodore Engelder, trans. Concordia, 1953. * Underwood, Ralph. ''Pastoral Care and the Means of Grace.'' Augsburg Fortress, 1992. *''The Presence of God in the Christian Life: John Wesley and the Means of Grace'', Henry H. Knight III (Metuchen, N.J., The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 1992)