It is
legitimate to speak of “receiving grace,” and sometimes (although I am
somewhat cautious about the possibility of misusing language) we speak
of the preaching of the Word, prayer, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper as
“means of grace.” That is fine, so long as we remember that there isn’t a
thing, a substance, or a “quasi-substance” called “grace.” All there is
is the person of the Lord Jesus —
“Christ clothed in the gospel,” as Calvin loved to put it. Grace is the
grace of Jesus. If I can highlight the thought here: there is no “thing”
that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me.
There is only Jesus Himself.
Grasping that thought can make a
significant difference to a Christian’s life. So while some people might
think this is just splitting hairs about different ways of saying the
same thing, it can make a vital difference. It is not a thing that was
crucified to give us a thing called grace. It was the person of the Lord
Jesus that was crucified in order that He might give Himself to us
through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. - Sinclair Ferguson
"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17)
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