I went to church to hear the gospel but that was not what I heard. What I heard was a Q&A session on tips for marriage. This was a Sunday that stood out to me as a young college student in New Orleans. I had been converted about a year or two previously and was hungry for the gospel. I knew I needed to vigorously fight sin, and each Sunday I was looking for where my motivation and power would come from. Even then, I knew it was not in my own strength but in the riches of the gospel of grace. That is what I went to church to hear—but I did not hear it that particular Sunday. I did not hear the gospel because this church was not committed to the ordinary means of grace.

All local church ministry ought to be concerned with carrying out an ordinary means of grace philosophy of ministry. This is not a personal opinion but a biblical mandate. My thesis might sound too strong, intolerant, or even inflexible. You might be turned off from reading further. Or, perhaps you are intrigued, either because of agreement’s sake or out of a desire to dissect this article. Let me invite you to consider the following: God’s “Plan A” for all ministry to all types of people in all eras of history and among all cultures is that his people minister to others using the ordained means of grace.

Is it “Ordinary” or “Ordained?”

When we say the phrase, “ordinary means of grace,” what are we actually saying? First, what do we mean by “ordinary?” The word ordinary brings to mind numerous ideas. It can convey the idea of something being regular and routine, as in, “it was an ordinary day at work.” It might communicate dissatisfaction or disappointment in something that looked promising. Think of someone commenting on a highly touted restaurant: “It’s nothing special. Very ordinary.” Ordinary, as we typically use it, has something of a negative ring to it.

To be sure, the ordinary means of grace have been described in this way. Consider 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:16 and 2 Corinthians 4 where Paul is answering the criticisms from people who viewed his ministry as nothing special compared to others. In the face of this opposition, Paul declares that he is more than willing for the theme of his ministry to be one of deciding “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). He is content with his preaching being less showy than others so that he can demonstrate the true power of the Holy Spirit (2:4). In that sense, Paul is OK with being “ordinary.” Paul’s “nothing special” ministry was the power of God speaking new life into people as the gospel was proclaimed (2 Cor 4:1–6).

Ordinary also has another aspect to it. Ordinary can also mean “ordained” or something being the appointed means to accomplish an end. In other words, the ordinary means of grace—in this sense of the word ordinary—means God’s sovereignly ordained method of doing ministry.

Where do we see this idea in Scripture? It was clear in the earliest stage of the new covenant church that they were to devote themselves to Word, Prayer, and Sacraments (Acts 2:42). Throughout the Bible, God’s Word is seen as his life giving power (Gen 1; Ps 119; Is 55:10–11; Mark 4:26–29; John 17:17; Rom 1:16; 10:13–17; 2 Cor 4:1–6; Heb 4:12–13). Prayer is one of the earliest descriptions of God’s people (Gen 4:26) and is to be a regular activity individually (Matt 6:6; Luke 18:1; 1 Thess.5:17) and corporately (2 Chron 7:14; Acts 2:42; Rom 12:12; Eph 6:18; Jas 5:14–15). The sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are for the purpose of signifying and sealing the truth of the gospel (Acts 2:38–42; Rom 4:10–11; 1 Cor 10–11). These means are what God has ordained (i.e., instituted and regulated) to be the ordinary (i.e., regular and standard) tools that we use for ministry in order to witness him sovereignly regenerate and renew sinners into the image of Christ (2 Cor 3:18).

In his commentary on the Westminster Larger Catechism on question 154, J. G. Vos says, “These means are called ‘ordinary’ because in ordinary cases the Holy Spirit makes use of them to bring about a person’s salvation, although in special cases (infants dying in infancy; persons mentally incapable of using means) the Holy Spirit may bring about a person’s salvation entirely by His inward Word, apart from any use of outward means.”¹ These exceptions do not create a new norm.²  Rather, they are exceptions to the norm. It is the God-ordained norm that we are to adhere to.

What Do You Mean By “Means?”

It might be helpful again to give a base definition of the word means. According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, means is defined as a method or “way of doing or achieving something.”³ It can be used to refer to tools that one uses to produce something.

Heidelberg Catechism 65 gives one of the best theological summaries of what we mean by means. “Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, from where does this faith proceed? From the Holy Spirit, who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel, and confirms it by the use of sacraments” (emphasis added). Citing Matthew 28:19–20 and 1 Peter 1:22–23, the Heidelberg gives us a biblical summary of what we mean by means. The means of grace are the “instruments” (i.e., “by” in the above quotation) that the Holy Spirit uses in his sovereign work of granting and growing faith in God’s elect. Zacharias Ursinus elaborates on this in his commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism with the following: “The Holy Ghost works and confirms faith in us as the efficient cause, whilst the word and sacraments do this as instrumental causes.”⁴

Our Westminster Larger Catechism speaks similarly in question 153: “The way to escape the wrath and curse of God due to us because of our transgression of God’s Law, He requires of us repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and the diligent use of the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of His mediation.”

Daniel Hyde says, “As Christians, we need more than verbal communication, that is, God speaking to us and conveying information to us. We also need Him to communicate Himself to all our senses and to all the aspects of who we are . . . Yet we cannot see, touch, or hear Him. How, then, do we have an experiential relationship with this God and receive His grace? The Reformers were clear in teaching that God accomplishes this through His ‘means of grace.’ God the Holy Spirit uses these to communicate the holistic presence of God’s grace to us.”⁵

Vos comments again, “[The means of grace] are the appointed way by which the Holy Spirit does His work.”⁶ It is true, as Vos goes on to say, that God’s grace is not absolutely tied to the ordinary means of grace (contrary to what Roman Catholicism believes). But these means communicate to us “the benefits of Christ’s mediation: that is, all the benefits and blessings which Christ purchased for His people through His perfect life and His sufferings and death on the cross.”⁷

The means of grace are characterized well by Louis Berkhof: 1) They are instruments, not of common but of special grace, the grace that removes sin and renews the sinner in conformity with the image of God. 2) They are in themselves, and not in virtue of their connection with things not included in them, means of grace. 3) They are continuous instruments of God’s grace, and not in any sense of the word exceptional. This means that they are not associated with the operation of God’s grace merely occasionally or in a more or less accidental way, but are the regularly ordained means for the communication of the saving grace of God and are as such a perpetual value. 4) They are the official means of the Church of Jesus Christ by which the Holy Spirit works and confirms faith in the hearts of men. ⁸

These means are not a way but the way that the Holy Spirit “has seen fit to bind Himself to the use of [these] certain means in the communication of divine grace.”⁹ This goes for ministry to children, youth, college, young families, grown families, and elderly. This is what God has ordained for all types of people for every culture in every era for his gospel to be ministered. Ordinarily (in the sense of regularly or the standard pattern), God converts and progressively changes all people by his free and willing use of his means of grace. He does not ordinarily convert people or progressively change them without the use of these means. This is why all ministry in the local church ought to be one of commitment to the ordinary means of grace.

If Acts 2:42 is a summary statement of what the earliest post-Pentecost church was devoted to, and if that standard remains the same for us today (Matt 28:18–20; Col 4:2; 1 Tim 4:13–16; 2 Pet 1:3; Rev 22:18–19), then we ought to do all we can to protect and promote the biblical standard of having an “ordinary means of grace” philosophy of ministry applied to all ages, demographics, life stages, ethnicities, sin struggles, seasons of suffering, or whatever other variables there might be. To neglect, leave behind, or devalue the ordinary means of grace is to abandon God’s way of doing ministry.

The glory and majesty of Christ are worth doing all that it takes to conform to his way of doing ministry. After all, it is his ministry, not ours. He is the one who ministers by his means through his ministers to his people. And by grace alone, our Lord converts and changes sinners more and more into his glorious image (2 Cor 3:18­–4:6).

Notes

1. Johannes G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2002), 433.
2. This is important when it comes to the realm of ethics and theological views. An exception, by definition, is something not included in the general statement or does not follow the rule or pattern. An exception is an exception to the general standard and is not something that becomes the general standard. Exceptions are exceptions because there is a standard, and that standard should thus be maintained as the standard.
3. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited, 2021), s.v. “means.”
4. Zacharias Ursinus, Commentary of the Heidelberg Catechism (Grand Rapids, MI: Netherlands Reformed Book & Publishing:, 2015), 340.
5. Daniel Hyde, Welcome to a Reformed Church (Sanford, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2010), 132–33.
6. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism, 433.
7. Vos, 434.
8. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1941), 605.
9. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 604. 

©R. Scott Clark. All Rights Reserved.

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Post authored by:

• Wilson Van Hooser

  

  Wilson is married to Grace and they have three children. He grew up in Montgomery, Alabama where he was baptized as a child of the covenant in the PCA. After graduating from Tulane University, he went on to play professional football in 2014 for the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and Boston Brawlers (FXFL). He attended Reformed Theological Seminary where he graduated with an MDiv. From 2021-2023, he was the Campus Minister for Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at Oklahoma State. He is currently the Senior Pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

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