Required reading
Dogmatic Theology Vol 2 by William G.T. Shedd (Available from Amazon or here) - Chapter 7 'The Means of Grace'.
My summary
This week Shedd we learn about the Means of Grace which are means of sanctification.
The means of grace are:
(i) Confession of faith and church fellowship;
(ii) the Word of God;
(iii) the Sacraments.
Most of the chapter is given over to a discussion of the Sacraments of the Lord's Supper and Baptism.
What grabbed me
I liked the quote from Hooker about the presence of Christ and the Lord's Supper: 'They are exceedingly deceived, who cannot conceive of any presence of the flesh of Christ in the supper, except it be attached to the bread. For on this principle they leave nothing to the secret operation of the Spirit, which unites us to Christ. They suppose Christ not to be present unless he descends to us; as though we cannot equally enjoy his presence, if he elevates us to himself The only question between us, therefore, respects the manner of this presence; because they place Christ in the bread, and we think it unlawful for us to bring him down from heaven. Lei the reader judge on which side the truth lies. Only let us hear no more of that calumny, that Christ is excluded from the sacrament unless he be concealed under the bread. For as this is a heavenly mystery, there is no necessity to bring Christ down to the earth, in order to be united to us.'
By faith we go into Christ's physical presence in heaven, we certainly don't bring him down.
Next week's reading
Commence Chapter I 'The intermediate or disembodied state' by reading up to the paragraph 'The Early-Patristic and Reformed view of the Intermediate State agrees with the Scriptures, as the following particulars prove'. (Page 610 in my edition)
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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