Basic HTML Version
591
assumption that the means of grace always operate in virtue of an inherent power, though
their operation may be made ineffective by the condition or attitude of the recipient.
4. The Word of God may never be separated from the sacraments, but must always accompany
them, since they are virtually only a visible representation of the truth that is conveyed to us by
the Word. In the Church of Rome the Word retires into the background as having only
preparatory significance, while the sacraments, considered apart from the Word, are regarded
as the real means of grace.
5. All the knowledge which is obtained by the recipient of divine grace, is wrought in him by
means of the Word and is derived from the Word. This position must be maintained in
opposition to all kinds of Mystics, who lay claim to special revelations and to a spiritual
knowledge that is not mediated by the Word, and who thereby lead us into a sea of boundless
subjectivity.
II. The Word as a Means of Grace
A. MEANING OF THE TERM “WORD OF GOD” IN THIS CONNECTION.
Roman Catholics can hardly be said to regard the Word of God as a means of grace. In their
estimation the Church is the great and all-sufficient channel of grace for sinners, and all other
means are subordinate to it. And the two most powerful means which God has placed at the
disposal of the Church are prayer and the sacraments. The Churches of the Reformation,
however, both the Lutheran and the Reformed, do honor the Word of God as such and even
regard it as superior to the sacraments. It is true that the older Reformed theologians, such as
the professors of Leyden (Synopsis), Mastricht, à Marck, Turretin, and others, and even some of
a more recent date, such as Dabney and Kuyper, do not treat of it separately as a means of
grace, but this is largely due to the fact that they have already discussed the Word in other
connections. They freely speak of it as a means of grace. And when they consider the Word of
God as a means of grace, they are not thinking of the Logos, the personal Word, John 1:1-14.
Neither do they have in mind any word of power proceeding out of the mouth of Jehovah, Ps.
33:6; Isa. 55:11; Rom. 4:17, or any word of direct revelation, such as the prophets received, Jer.
1:4; 2:1; Ezek. 6:1; Hos. 1:1. It is the inspired Word of God, the Word of Scripture, which they
regard as a means of grace. And even when speaking of this as a means of grace, they
contemplate it from a special point of view. The inspired Scriptures constitute the principium
cognoscendi, the fountain head, of all our theological knowledge, but it is not that aspect which
we have in mind when we speak of the Word of God as a means of grace. The Bible is not only
the principium cognoscendi of theology, but it is also the means which the Holy Spirit employs
for the extension of the Church and for the edification and nourishment of the saints. It is pre-