Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church

Fifth Sunday after Trinity

July 8, 2002 

Psalm 34,  Proverbs 15:1-10, 26   James 3

 The Grace of God in the Sacraments

Where can we find help to live the Christian life?  Where can we find the grace to help us do the very difficult things required of those who follow Christ?  We find grace in the means of grace. A means of grace is simply a gift from God by which He encourages or enables us to live the Christian life.  Dr. Griffith-Thomas refers to grace as “energy” to do the will of God.  We could also think of it as  spiritual food to strengthen us in our walk of faith.  If grace is spiritual food, then the means of grace is the fork which conveys it into our mouths.  The point is that God uses the means of grace to dispense grace to us.  Through the means of grace He makes grace available to convince us to seek and follow Him, and to enable us to seek and follow Him.  We have already looked at prayer as the first and most obvious means of grace.  Ordinarily I would talk about the Bible and worship at this point, but time is limited, so I will follow the Catechism and talk about the Sacraments today.

First, let’s look at the Catechism’s teaching about the Sacraments, found on page 581 of our Prayer Book.

“Question. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church?

Answer.  Two only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say,  Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.

Question. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament?

Answer. I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof.

Question. How many parts are there in a Sacrament?

Answer. Two; the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace.”  

Second, let’s look at three important points the Catechism makes about the Sacraments. 

First, a Sacrament is ordained by Christ.  Let me put this in the form of a question.  Do I have authority from God to write new Scripture?  Say, “no.”  Do you have that authority?  No.  Does any human being living now, or at any time in the future have that authority?  No.  The Bible is complete.  It contains all we need to know about our relationship to God, and we cannot add to or subtract from it.  In the same way, we do not have the authority to add or delete Sacraments.  Christ ordained two, and two are all there ever can be.  We can have other rites, and ceremonies, as long as they are not contrary to Scripture.  “The Form of Consecration of a Church or Chapel,” for example, is a beautiful way to say that a building is set aside for the purpose of worshiping God.  And we may feel that we have grown close to God by participating in it, but it is not a Sacrament.   The Sacraments are different.  They are ordained by Christ, and are not optional.

Next, Sacraments are signs.  They signify the real body and blood of Christ.  There is always a clear distinction between the  sign and that which it signifies. So that in taking the bread we are not literally receiving the body of Christ.  Rather, in taking the signs we are spiritually partaking of the things signified.  Thus, in Holy Communion, we spiritually feed on Christ in our hearts by faith.

Finally, Sacraments are pledges.  The Sacraments promise that the things signified are made effectual to those who receive them by faith.  “What? The things signified are made effectual to those who receive what by faith?”  Not the signs.  Our faith is not in the signs. Nor do the signs make the things signified effectual. The things signified are effectual only to those who receive the true body and blood of Christ by faith.   Likewise, the signs only become effectual to those who have received Christ by faith.  This is just a way of saying that the signs pledge to us, who have already received Christ by faith, that the true body and blood of Christ avail for us.  We must have accepted Him as Lord and Savior by trusting in Him to forgive our sins and to be our peace with God through His self-sacrifice on the Cross.  By this faith in Him, we receive the Sacraments by faith.  So, by faith we receive the Lord’s Supper, and in it God pledges that we are cleansed in our souls by Christ’s sacrifice.

Now, if that is beginning to sound like double talk, let me see if I can make it more plain.*  This is the way the Sacraments, especially the Lord’s Supper, work.  As Christians who have been born again by the Spirit of God receive the signs, we consider the realities they signify.  We also consider ourselves before God.  We see that we have fallen far short of His will.  We become conscious of sin, and we are moved again to confession, repentance, and greater holiness of life.  We cast ourselves on Christ afresh.  We remember again His sacrificial death which makes peace with God for us. And we are reminded of the promise that His death and Resurrection truly do save those who receive Him by faith.  This is how we “feed on Christ” in the Sacrament, and, thus we are strengthened in our souls. 

This leads us to point number four; it is faith, that is, faith in Christ as Savior, which makes the signs effectual.  A person who receives the sacraments without this faith is no closer to Heaven than he was before taking them.  The Sacraments do not forgive our sins.  The Sacraments do not justify us in the eyes of God, nor will they cause a worldly and profane person to suddenly become holy and godly. A dying person who receives “unction” without receiving Christ by faith, has no more hope of reaching the shores of Heaven than he had without receiving unction.  But to the one with faith, faith as the Holy Bible describes it, the Sacraments become all that God intended.  They become “means of grace” to strengthen and encourage us on the long and sometimes difficult road that leads to Home.  God grant us the means of grace.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

*I am indebted to Bishop J.C. Ryle, Practical Religion, pp. 150-154, for his clear exposition of the views expressed in this paragraph.

The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 

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