Question 95: What are the outward and ordinary means
by which Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?
Answer The outward and ordinary means by which Christ
communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially
the Word, Baptism, the Lord's Supper and Prayer; all of which are made
effectual to the elect for salvation.
DAY 1:
Beginning with this lesson we will begin to embark upon several lessons dealing with the ordinary means by which Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption. As you look at some of the wording of some of the questions and answers, don’t become frightened at what you see. Slowly examine the wording of the questions and answers. Make note of “become effective” and “effective means”. This will help us keep in perspective what these ordinances are and what they accomplish. With that in mind, I have decided to change questions 98 & 99 back to their original wording. A copy of the catechism revision will be available on the web site for downloading at http://www.heritagecommunitychurch.net/catechism_lessons.htm. If you are connected to the internet, simply click the link above and you will be directed there.
We will attempt in these three lessons to give brief overviews of these means. The first lesson will be on the Word, the second on the sacraments, and the third on prayer. In the subsequent questions that follow we will go a little deeper into each one.
Now remember that what we will be discussing is the “means” by which the benefits of redemption are communicated to us. This is extremely important for us as Reformed Baptists. The reason is because often people misunderstand us when we speak of God’s sovereignty and His eternal decree. They think we are implying that God just saves people without the means of anything. Nothing could be farther from the truth. However, I would like to point out that God can do so, if he so desired. In brief, we have discussed around the fellowship table that we believe the Scriptures indicate that God does save infants, born and unborn. We see in Acts 9 how Paul was saved and the Word was not preached to him, but in fact the Word came and spoke Himself. We also see in Luke 1 that John the Baptist responded to the words of the mother of the Messiah and the Scripture declares that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). Yet, I am not saying that there was not prayer for these. Nor am I indicating that they never heard the Word of God. I am simply pointing out that their conversion did not necessarily take place at the same time as the means which result in salvation.
We are talking about the outward and ordinary means: the common means which God uses to bring people to those benefits which Christ has purchased on their behalf in his own blood. First let’s look to Romans 10. I believe verses 14-17 are some of the strongest evidence that those who die that have not heard the gospel will not be saved. I speak of those, which John MacArthur refer to as culpable. In this passage Paul very clearly lays out that people need to hear the gospel. Effective evangelism has one major theme: the Word of God. It is not in fancy stories or in appeals to the flesh or to emotion. It is indeed an emboldened man who believes the Word of God is powerful and that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all men (Romans 1:16).
Paul, in verse 12 has already shown that Jews and Greeks are under the same Lord. There is no distinction of God’s lordship. We also saw earlier in chapter 2 and 3 that they are both under sin and both are under law, whether the revealed law given at Sinai or the law of conscience. Yet we have shown that the law whether revealed or that of conscience can only condemn. It is not possible to remove their sins from them. In verse 13 Paul’s conclusion is that, “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Now it is very important that we note the connection here to the next verse. I say that because it is clear that men must believe in the one true God and His gospel. Notice Paul’s train of thought here. First he asks, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” Notice here that believing precedes calling. They must believe in this one who is able to save them. That must mean that they must be able to distinguish this saving God from those who cannot save. This is where it is imperative that we understand what God has revealed about Himself. We must be those who read, study, ask questions and comprehend this glorious God of our salvation. We want to properly and correctly communicate to the lost just who this God is that saves and distinguish Him from the dead idols which populate our sin cursed world. We have previously spoken about the God and the gospel that was brought to the Galatians was not the true gospel of the true God, but was indeed a cursed message and Paul pronounced a curse on such people as bring a false gospel.
Paul continues his thought by
going back one more step. “How shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” So again, we see that men must hear. He has spoken of the gospel (
The conclusion of verse 14 is that in order to hear, there must be a preacher. This does not indicate that it is merely the pastor or elder or deacon’s responsibility to preach the gospel. The word here for preacher is kerusso (kay-roos’-so). The word is a verb in the present active mood. The passage is not indicating one person, but action. In other words, the emphasis is on preaching, not a preacher, though I think we would agree that there must be a preacher if there is to be preaching. However, my point is that one must not be in a leadership position to be a preacher, for the kerusso is defined as, “to proclaim or to herald”.
Paul also says these preachers must be sent (vs. 15). The word for sent is apostello (ap-os-tel’-lo) and
means, “to order (one) to go to a place appointed.” This verb comes from the same root word which
we get our word apostle from. To be an
apostle simply means “one who is sent”.
There must be the order given to be sent forth. However, all believers are sent forth. Jesus gave the command in Matthew 28:19-20
that His disciples were to go and make disciples of the nations. Are we to imply that the command was to them
alone and not to all believers? I think
not. Some are not called to the foreign
field. But all are called to preach the
gospel. There is not one believer who
has not be called to proclaim the glorious gospel by which he was saved.
For the sake of time (and space), let me conclude with verse 17. Paul tells us the faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God. This is
saving faith, not natural faith.
Remember, men exercise natural faith quite easily. This, again, is not saying that you
believe. Rather it is genuine faith in
the God who saves. This faith does not
appear out of thin air either, but the means whereby it is brought to the
sinner is by the preaching of the Word of God.
This is why in our assembly we focus upon the Word of God. Though we do have singing and prayers and
communion and baptism, our focus is upon the Word of God and directing it
towards the minds of our hearers in hopes that God would show mercy to all in
our midst. This is why we must not
follow the vain philosophies of the world around us in the meeting of the
church, but must seek to honor our Savior and God, the Lord Jesus Christ by
proclaiming His gospel of grace.
Recount to your family your own conversion. Describe what took place in your own mind and heart as a result of hearing or reading the Word of God. Ask those of your household if they can distinguish between a true gospel and a false gospel. Do you sense a specific calling, say to another culture or country, to preach the gospel? Is our focus in conversation with others about God, the gospel, and salvation centered on the truth of God’s Word? May God grant us grace to bring the means of the gospel to lost sinners who desperately need to hear, believe and call upon the name of the LORD.
DAY 2:
I apologize for the description of the lessons this week. I was looking ahead to each of the “means” and listed them as lessons for each day. What was I thinking? Each of our lessons this week is focusing upon the ordinary means used by Christ through the administration of the Word.
We discussed in the previous lesson how there must be preaching of the gospel, that reveals the righteousness of God, to bring lost sinners to a point where the Holy Spirit grants them the gift of faith for believing what they hear and acting accordingly. Now let’s see how that action takes place and whether or not preachers can actually claim any glory for their preaching.
In James we find that the
Lord’s half brother has just been discussing how believers should be those who
receive the testing of their faith and the trials that come along with it
should rejoice. In verse 2 we are told
that when divers temptations come, they try our faith and bring about patience
or endurance. Though the word is the
same word used later in verse 13, it seems that there is a distinction between
the contexts though they are linked together.
The word here is not spoken of in a negative context such as
verses13-14. Rather it is used in the
context of being joyful over these things.
It is commonly held that this refers to persecutions and afflictions or
other trials that bear witness to the reality of one’s faith. Notice that these temptations also produce
something good. Namely they bring about
steadfastness in the life of a believer.
In other words they make him stronger.
Though afflictions, persecutions and other things may come into our
lives, it may seem to make us weak, but for the true believer, in his weakness,
Christ is made strong in him (Heb. 11:34).
This eventually brings about character and a consistency in a believer’s
life. He will be brought to a point of
“wanting nothing” or would be best rendered as “destitute of nothing.” These things will help bring about his
perfection (cf. 2 Tim.
James also commends his readers to seek the Lord regarding wisdom in these matters (vss. 5-8). Notice verse 12 speaks of blessing accompanying this endurance of temptation. It is good to endure these things because we have been told that God is working all to our good (Rom.8:28) and because we know that the good that is intended here is a witness worthy of our confession. Verse 13 then gives us a contrast between the temptations spoken of up till now and the ones to be discussed hereafter. Again, though these words come from the same root, you can see the distinct change in what is being addressed here. Notice the nature behind the temptations of verse 13. These are not from God, but from the lusts within man (vss. 13-14), which bring about death, not blessings. Though we have seen that nothing happens apart from the sovereign decree of God, we must distinguish between the intentions of God and the intentions of man. This makes all the difference in the world.
In Acts
I say all that to say this: when we come to verse 18 it is clear that no man would endure the temptations spoken of in verses 2-12 and be patient among them unless he were a child of God. This gives evidence of his faith in God. And since we are discussing this week how the means of the benefits of redemption are communicated it is important to note that verse 18 tells us that God brought us forth by His own will. In other words, God deliberately gave birth to us. This is regeneration. This is the new birth spoken of in John. Subsequently a man is converted. But how does God do this? Notice the next phrase, “by the word of truth.” This is the message of the gospel. The Word of God is the seed that we mentioned briefly in Question 94. This is that seed that as God has tilled the soil of the heart finds a place that it can settle in and geminate and gain a deep root system and grow in the heart of a man. The Word of God is the instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to bring about the new birth and as we saw in the previous lesson, he brings the word by means of preaching. There must be preachers taking the message of the gospel so that men might receive it.
This might lead us to question whether there is something about certain preachers that make them superior to others. Well as we discussed last week out of 1 Corinthians, they were guilty of setting preachers on pedestals and creating sects. How did the apostle Paul respond to this? Did he like the fact that some chose to identify under his name and be the Paulites? No. He confronted their error. In verse 5 we see that he says, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?” Preachers are merely the means that God uses in bringing the Word of God to people in order that they might believe.
As Paul would later write in 2
Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the
excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” Paul said he was merely an instrument of
God. In fact, he doesn’t seem to say
that he was a very beautiful instrument.
He calls himself an earthen vessel.
We might say he was a clay pot. A
clay pot was that which was very useful around the house. It took care of the daily tasks. Though it could be commonly attained, its
purpose was defined by the one who owned it.
Paul recognizes what many do not in our day: he is a clay pot that has been molded by the
Potter to be useful to Him. Over and
over again, Paul sees that his purpose is the preaching of the message of the
gospel (cf. Rom.
Do you find yourself following after “big names” in the gospel ministry? I don’t say this in an antagonistic way. We all have those who have helped us grow in the faith and they should be commended, but have we exalted them above our Lord? Do we understand the centrality of preaching the Word, both in the assembly and in our evangelism? Are we trying to give people a gospel that is emasculated by softening the content of the message to where it is no longer the gospel the apostles proclaimed? Let us be on guard, lest we lose sight of the importance of giving the whole gospel and forget that this is the ordinary means by which God works in communicating the benefits of redemption to the world.
DAY 3:
In the final lesson, let me touch just briefly upon the other ordinances that the church observes and are the means by which Christ communicates to his elect the benefits of redemption.
In doing this, let us turn to Acts 2. Remember that the thrust of chapter two is the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. He has come and has indwelt the believers who were waiting together and they have been given the supernatural ability to communicate to those gathered in their own language. Peter has preached to them and there were about 3000 who were saved (vs. 41). As we have seen before, this was due to the fact that the Word of God was proclaimed to the people and the Holy Spirit brought is to their hearts and convinced them of the truth of what was being said (vs. 37).
What follows is also a testimony of the witness given by
those who were truly saved. They were
baptized (vs. 41). We will deal in depth
with baptism in questions 98-104. For
now, let us see what this is a picture of and hope it is applicable to
believers. First, baptism is a picture
of the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In itself it is a “visual gospel”. Also, baptism is an identification of the
believer to Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (cf.
The context we find in Acts chapter two quite clearly depicts a baptism
of the Spirit upon the believers who were in the house awaiting the promised
Holy Spirit. Every believer since then
is baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the means of man’s union with the
Trinity. This is what it is to be “in
Christ”. In verse 38, Peter tells his
hearers to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Before I go further let me say that I do
believe that the people were baptized with water. However, if I may pose a question, “How does
water baptism bring about the remission of sins?” I don’t believe that it does. However, there is the baptism of the Holy
Spirit which does result in the remission of sins and the adding to the
church. Yet, we do not want to take away
from the fact that we should follow in the steps of the early apostles in water
baptism (cf. Acts
Now, let’s clarify one more thing.
While salvation is a work of God, we have used phrases like “all of
salvation is the work of God”. What are
we talking about when we use the term all?
We are saying that from beginning to end, God is the One working
salvation in his elect people. The plan
of eternity past was His work. The
proclamation of the gospel in the garden and before the coming of Christ was
His work. The coming of Christ, His
perfect life, death, burial, and resurrection and all that follows in His
intercession are the work of God. The
gifts of faith and repentance are the work of God and so are the ordinances,
which are the means He uses to communicate redemption itself.
Salvation is comprised of two elements.
The first is justification. We
have talked about justification. This is
a one time act and declaration that a sinner is pardoned and has been adopted
into the family of God. This is not a
process, but an event. This happens at
the moment that a person truly believes God.
However, there is a second element to salvation and that is not a
declaration, but a process called sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which we are
confronted with the perfect law of liberty (the Scriptures) and we are
convicted by the Spirit of its truths and desire to conform our lives to
it. Therefore, when a person believes
the gospel that is the result of these means effectiveness. Whether it be by the Word, baptisms,
communion, or prayers these means bring about effective results in the elect.
The Lord’s Supper also
is that which communicates the benefits of redemption. As we follow in the footsteps of the apostles
and remember the Lord’s death till He comes, we recall our closing citation of
the passage from 1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” The word her for proclaim is kataggello
(kat-ang-gel’-lo). This is a public
declaration, an announcement or making known of the Lord’s death. In reality, just as we said concerning
baptism, the Lord’s Supper is an outward visual proclamation of the gospel of
Christ. It shows forth our identity with
Him (cf. John
Finally,
the church continued steadfastly in prayers.
As the incense that burned on the altar and enter into the Holy of Holies
served to protect the priest as he went in on the Day of Atonement, so that
incense also becomes a picture of prayer (cf. Lev. 16:11-14). No let us recognize that our prayers do not
in themselves save someone, but are indeed the means by which salvation can
come. We should give ourselves to prayer
for all men (1 Tim. 2:1). We should not
hold back prayers from those who hate us and who are our enemies (Rom.
In
conclusion, do we understand that the ordinances of God are the means whereby
He communicates to us the benefits of redemption? Do we see them as His work and our duty? Do we understand that there are those who
participate in some of these means, but do not truly know Christ? Are we those who know Christ and are partakers
of these means and are aware that these things are made effectual to us for
salvation by Christ? If so, let us thank
God for His mercy that has been shown to us and let us relish in the thought
that He has saved us and not we ourselves.
Let us seek His glory in the proclamation of His Word, in the receiving
of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and in the duty and privilege that is ours in
prayer.
Scripture: Romans 10:17; James 1:18; 1 Corinthians
3:5; Acts 14:1;