There's ways of thinking that the way we celebrate sacraments, we mean that we're somehow undermining some type of ritualistic thing you need to add to. We believe in obeying, but the emphasis is not here on you do these works so you can get your magic gift where there's magic over here. And I think that's sort of just the bottom line. What's the role of the receiver to believe it, to have faith, to trust that this is for me. That's what faith is basically open handed begging. You've got nothing in your hands. It's God filling your hands. And so faith receives a gift. Go ahead.
When new converts are brought into the church, they are often loaded up with the need to read the Bible, pray, practice repentance, and get into the community—but equally vital to spiritual health is a right understanding of and participation in the means of grace. In this episode of White Horse Inn, hosts Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, Bob Hiller, and Walter Strickland discuss how the means of grace are used for our sanctification and why they are central to life and identity in the church.