THE MEANS OF GRACE IN GENERAL

By Gary Ray Branscome

The Bible tells us that we are saved, “By grace through faith,” faith in God’s promise of forgiveness in Christ. (Ephesians 2:8). However there are many ways in which God gives us that promise.

The words, “God… has committed to us the word of reconciliation… as if God were appealing to you by us,” speak of oral communication as a way that God uses to give us His promise of forgiveness in Christ (2Corinthians 5:19-20). The words, “It pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching,” speak of preaching as a specific kind of oral communication (1Corinthians 1:21). The words, “These are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name,” speak of the written word as a way in which God communicates His promise (John 20:31). And, the words, “The gospel of Christ… is the power of God to salvation to every one who believes,” tell us that the power of God works through the gospel, in whatever form it is communicated (Romans 1:16).

However, the words, “All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God,” tell us that faith in Christ brings us everything that God has promised us (2Corinthians 1:20). And, if every promise of forgiveness or salvation that God gives is received by faith in Christ, that means that every promise of forgiveness and salvation that God gave to His people during the Old Testament era, was a promise of forgiveness in Christ. In fact that is exactly what the Apostle Paul was trying to explain when he said, “The covenant concerning faith in Christ, that was confirmed by God at the time of Abraham, cannot be nullified by the law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it is not given by promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise” (Galatians 3:17-18). Paul goes on to explain that, “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be declared righteous by faith” (Galatians 3:24). Notice the reference to faith in Christ! The law consisted of two parts. 1-The purpose of the commandments and warnings was “the knowledge of sin,” (Romans 3:20). 2-The purpose of the sacrifices and offerings was to give God’s people His promise of forgiveness. However, because there is no forgiveness apart from faith in Christ, and because God instituted those sacrifices as a way of pointing people to Christ, the words, “All the promises of God in Christ are yea, and in Him Amen” tell us that God counted faith in the promise of forgiveness He had connected with those sacrifices as faith in Christ (2Cor. 1:20).

The same holds true for the serpent “Moses lifted up…in the wilderness” (John 3:14). Because God told Moses to make the serpent as a type of Christ, His promise of deliverance to all who would look upon it was a promise of deliverance in Christ, and He counted faith in that promise as faith in Christ (Compare Numbers 21:6-9 with John 3:14).

For us today, that means that any promise of forgiveness that God has connected with baptism or the Lord’s Supper is a promise of forgiveness in Christ. And, that means that any forgiveness that is promised to us in Scripture comes to us through faith in Christ, not because the ceremony has any power. The power is in the gospel [God’s promise of forgiveness in Christ] connected with the ceremony, not in the ceremony itself. Martin Luther and his coworker Philip Melanchthon explained it this way.

“The first thing in baptism to be considered is the divine promise, which says: " He that believes and is baptized shall be saved… The second part of baptism is the sign, or sacrament, which is that immersion into water from this also it derives its name. For the Greek baptizo means "I immerse," and baptisma means "immersion." For, as has been said, signs are added to the divine promises to represent that which the words signify" This promise must be set far above all the glitter of works, vows, religious orders, and whatever man has added to it.” (Martin Luther, from “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church”.)

“I have said that the gospel is the promise of grace. Moreover next to promises is the place of signs. For in the Scripture signs are added to the promises for a mark. These signs remind us of the promises and are sure testimonies of the divine will toward us. They also bear witness that of a certainty we will receive what God has promised unto us… Signs do not justify, as Paul says in I Corinthians 7:19: “Circumcision is nothing,” and so baptism and participation in the Lord’s table are nothing but witnesses of the divine will toward you. And your conscience, if at all in doubt, is rendered certain by them of the grace and benevolence of God toward it. As Hezekiah could not doubt the fact that he would recover when he had both heard the promise and had seen it confirmed by a sign; as Gideon could not doubt the fact that he would be a victor, when he was confirmed by so many signs; just so, ought you not doubt the fact that you have attained mercy, when you have heard the gospel preached and received its baptism, and the body and blood of the Lord. But if you will, Hezekiah could have been restored to his health even without a sign had he been willing only to believe the bare promise. Likewise Gideon would have been victorious without a sign, if he had believed. So you can be justified without a sign provided you believe.” (Philip Melanchthon, “The Loci Communes,” 1521 edition.)

God intends for baptism and the Lord’s Supper to work together with the preaching of the Word, not as works, but as ceremonial proclamations of the gospel. On the day of Pentecost, every Jewish man who stepped forward to be baptized was saying by his action that he believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and that there was forgiveness in Him. Baptism then, was God’s way of telling each of those men that He had washed away his sin. So rightly understood, being baptized was an act of faith on the part of each man who came forward, not an act of obedience. Those who were baptized were never commanded to be baptized. Peter’s words, “Repent, and be baptized,” were the answer to a question, not a command. And an answer to a question is never imperative (Acts 2:38). In the same way, every man who comes to the Lord’s Supper, believing what Christ said, namely that Christ’s body was “given” for him [on the cross], and that Christ’s blood was “shed” for him [on the cross] comes as an act of faith. And, through faith he truly does receive Christ’s body and blood, not as something physical, but as the atonement for his sin.