Jul 25
20
Baptist Catechism 93
Q. 93. What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?
A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances, especially the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation. (Rom. 10:17; James 1:18; 1 Cor. 3:5; Acts 14:1; 2:41,42)
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:41–47
“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. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:41–47, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
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God ordinarily works through means. That is a very important concept to understand.
Now, sometimes God works in an immediate way. For example, when God created the heavens and the earth in the very beginning, he did not work through means. He simply called the heavenly and earthly realms into existence. But often God works through means, or through conduits. He uses people and things to accomplish his purposes. Take, for example, the parting of the Red Sea. God could have worked in an immediate way. He could have simply caused the waters to part in front of Israel, but he chose to part the sea through Moses. He revealed his will to Israel through Moses and commanded that Moses lift his staff, and in this way, he parted the waters. Though God could always work in a direct way and without the involvement of people and things, he often uses means. He parted the sea by means of Moses and his staff. He brought you to faith in Christ by means of the prayers and gospel witness of others. And he is sanctifying you now by means of your life experiences, and your relationships, among other things. God is at work in the world, and he typically works through means.
Here, our catechism is not only teaching us that God works through means, but that there are few things that God has determined to use regularly to distribute his saving and sanctifying grace to his people. These we call the ordinary means of grace.
How does God bring his elect to faith in Christ? How does he purify, strengthen, and preserve them? I suppose he could do it in an immediate way. He could speak his gospel directly to sinners from on high. He could purify us in the mind and heart directly by zapping us with spiritual power from on high. But he has determined to give us his grace through means. And some of these means are called ordinary means because they are the means that God has determined to ordinarily use. They are the Word of God (read and preached), baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.
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Baptist Catechism 93
Let us now consider the answer to Catechism 93 piece by piece.
First, our catechism clarifies that it is talking about “the outward” means. These are things external to us that God uses to work his grace within us. Does God do a work in us when he regenerates us and sanctifies us further? Yes! He does this inward work immediately by the power of the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit of God does also use things that are outside of us to work on our minds and hearts. So, we are talking about the outward means here.
Secondly, our catechism clarifies that it is talking about the “the ordinary” means. Does the Lord sometimes use things other than the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer to work within his people? Of course! Often, the Lord will use life circumstances —even the trials and tribulations of life—to purify and strengthen his people. But these circumstances will be unique to each one of us, according to the will of God. We are not called to chase after these sanctifying circumstances, therefore. We are not called to chase after trials and tribulations so that we might be sanctified by them. God may use these things to refine us, but they are not the ordinary means that God has set apart for his people to use, so we need not pursue them.
Thirdly, our catechism is specifically speaking of those means whereby Christ “communicateth to us the benefits of redemption”. Here, “communicate” does not refer to the dissemination of information, but to distribution. So the question is this: Christ has earned our redemption, but how do we come to have the benefits of it as our own? Or, more to the point, what are the things that God has determined to regularly use to distribute his gift of salvation and sanctification to his people?
Fourthly, the question is answered in a very succinct way with these words: “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances…” “Ordinances” are those things that Christ has ordered, or commanded, us to use.
Think of it. God has his elect in the world. Every one of them will be saved, for this is the will of God. But how will these elect come to be saved? Well, what has Christ commanded or ordered? He has ordered us to preach the gospel. God works through means, remember? Gospel proclamation is the means that God will use to bring his elect to salvation. It is a converting ordinance. How do we know? Because Christ has ordered it.
Fifthly, our catechism highlights four things in particular when it says, “especially the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper and prayer…” These are the outward and ordinary things that God uses to distribute the benefits of the redemption that Christ has earned to his elect.
As has already been said, the elect are brought to faith through the preaching of the Word of God. And the elect are further strengthened and preserved in the faith through the word of God. This is why Paul says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17, ESV). Do you wish to see your loved ones come to salvation? Then one thing you must do is share the word of God with them, for God brings sinners to salvation through his word. And do you wish to grow in the grace of God? Then you had better be reading and hearing God’s word, for it is one of the outward and ordinary means that God has determined to use to grow his people up in the faith.
Next, baptism is mentioned. We will learn more about baptism in questions 97-101. For now, I will say, baptism is not something that we are to partake of over and over again. No, we are to be baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the beginning of the Christian life, after faith and repentance. But God does use baptism to distribute the benefits of the redemption that Christ has earned to his elect. The elect are baptized into Christ. They are baptized by the church and into the fellowship of the church. The Spirit of God works mightily in his people through the waters of baptism. Does baptism save us? Does the water wash away sin? No! It is the thing that baptism signifies that saves us, namely, faith in and union with Christ Jesus. But God does strengthen his people through baptism, for it is a means of grace.
Next, the Lord’s Supper is mentioned. We will learn more about the Lord’s Supper in questions 102-104 of our catechism. For now, let us confess that the Lord’s Supper is not only a memorial. It is not only a time for the church to remember what Christ has accomplished (though it is certainly not less than that). No, the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace. God works powerfully through the Lord’s Supper both to strengthen his church and to purify her.
Lastly, prayer is mentioned. We will learn more about prayer in questions 105-114 of our catechism. For now, know that God works through prayer, brothers and sisters. You’ve heard it said that prayer changes things, and it does! It does not change the eternal decree of God. But God does work through the prayers of people to accomplish his decree. More than anything, prayer changes us. Prayer is an outward and ordinary means of grace, and so we are to be diligent in it. We are to pray without ceasing.
The sixth and last phrase of the catechism is, “all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.” So, who does the word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer benefit? They benefit the elect of God. And who is it that makes these things effectual, or effective? We know that it is the Spirit of God who makes these ordinary means of grace effective.
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Conclusion
Please allow me to make two observations by way of conclusion.
One, our catechism will clarify in the following questions that these ordinary means of grace do not work in an automatic way. No, they are only effective when they are received by faith, and we know that faith is the gift of God.
Two, by identifying these things as outward and ordinary means of grace, our catechism is urging us to use them. You know, it never ceases to amaze me to see professing Christians look to other things besides these things for growth in Christ. They will look to this program and to that discipline, and to this method to find spiritual nourishment while neglecting the ordinary things that God has ordained.
The first Christians, after being baptized, “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The rest of the Scripture confirms that these are the ordinary things that we are to make use of for growth in Christ Jesus.
