In The Book of Common Prayer (1662) there is found, for the first time in an edition of The English Prayer Book, a prayer which is a general thanksgiving for many benefits and blessings, rather than a specific thanksgiving for a known blessing. It was composed in 1661 by Bishop Edward Reynolds of Norwich and one sentence in it is as follows:

“We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace and for the hope of glory.”

Here an intensified thanksgiving (“but above all”) is offered for the redemptive work of Jesus, the Christ and the Lord in his perfect life of obedience, his atoning, sacrificial death and his resurrection from the dead, and for (a) “the means of grace,” and (b) “the hope of glory.” Obviously the two latter are the fruit of the former; that is, they would not be, if there had been no redemption.

So what are the “means of grace”?

“Grace” is the personal, loving, merciful presence and action of God the Father through his Incarnate Son, Jesus, and in and by the Holy Spirit (who is the “Advocate, Counselor and Comforter—John 14-16). Grace is not a kind of divine vapor/gas that flows from heaven into the hearts of human beings. It is the presence and work of the Divine Persons, especially of the Holy Spirit acting in the name of the Incarnate Son, who is the only Mediator between God and man.

“Means” is  plural in form but singular in meaning and refers to “the action or system by which a result is achieved.” As used in theology, it points to the ways that God has appointed and uses to bring his salvation and holiness, his pardon and his cleansing, his assurance and his strengthening, to Christian believers, in order to edify and bless them.

So the “means” is usually understand in terms of the two Dominical Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the public preaching of the Word in worship, and the administration of a basic holy discipline (e.g., in terms of admission to the Lord’s Table).

Or, more generally, “the means” may be understood also to include such things as fellowship meetings, bible-study groups, personal spiritual direction, engagement with others in mission and caring, and so on. However, it is probably better to stay with the basic meaning rather than the enlarged, for with the latter an over-extension may dissolve authenticity.

The “means,” as used by God the Father through his Son and by the Holy Spirit, is certainly intended not to develop and increase individualism (in terms of a claimed one on One relationship with heaven) but, rather, to increase personal holiness and consecration within the Body of Christ, and, at the same time, cause the whole Body, which is the Household of Faith, to mature in faith, hope and love.

The “means of grace” is the divine system, administered by God’s servants, by and through which the Holy Trinity brings people out of their sin into a life of faith and faithfulness, worship and fellowship, mission and edification, so that they truly have “the hope of glory.”

There is danger in the use of “means” to reduce the Personal Presence and Action of the Holy Trinity in salvation into a mere holy system, where “grace” is spoken of as if it were a “divine liquid” flowing through a “divine pipeline” from the heavenly source to the earthly recipient, the human soul.

No!

“Grace” speaks of personal relations between divine Persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—and human persons and the relations are merciful and compassionate, healing and sanctifying. They create communion and friendship unto everlasting life.

Dr Peter Toon is President of The Prayer Book Society of the U.S.A., and his writings may be accessed at www.pbsusa.org; www.anglicansatprayer.org; and www.anglicanmarketplace.com