The Instituted Means of Grace
As taught in the Methodist / Wesleyan tradition
The primary practices ordained by Christ: prayer, searching the Scriptures, the Lord's Supper, fasting, and Christian conference.
Within the Methodist tradition, the doctrine of the "Means of Grace" serves as the vital connective tissue between the sovereignty of God’s redemptive work and the active, disciplined response of the believer. The central question this subtopic addresses is: How does a person "wait" for the grace of God without falling into either the trap of works-righteousness (believing our actions earn salvation) or the trap of "quietism" (believing we should do nothing and wait for a mystical experience)? For John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the answer lay in a robust understanding of the "Instituted Means of Grace." These are not merely human traditions or helpful suggestions; they are the specific, divinely appointed channels through which the Holy Spirit ordinarily conveys preventing (prevenient), justifying, and sanctifying grace to the human heart.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the five primary Instituted Means of Grace as defined in the Wesleyan tradition (Prayer, Searching Scripture, The Lord’s Supper, Fasting, and Christian Conference).
- **Distinguish** between Instituted Means (divinely commanded) and Prudential Means (pastorally wise but not explicitly commanded for all times).
- **Explain** the theological relationship between human effort and divine grace, avoiding the errors of Pelagianism and Quietism.
- **Articulate** how the "search for Scripture" involves a three-fold movement of reading, hearing, and meditating.
- **Trace** the historical development of the Means of Grace from the Apostolic Church in Acts to the 18th-century Methodist revival.
- **Defend** the practice of fasting as an instituted means against modern secular and theological objections.
- **Apply** a "Rule of Life" that incorporates these instituted means into a daily and weekly rhythm of Methodist discipleship.
- **Compare** the Methodist "sacramental" view of the means of grace with the more "memorialist" or "mystical" views found in other Protestant traditions.
Scripture
The full lesson, its study guide and questions, and an AI tutor that answers from Scripture with citations are free with an account.