Overview

Q85 required “the diligent use of all the outward means.” This section identifies those means (Q88) and then focuses on the first and chief of them: the Word, showing how it is made effectual to salvation (Q89) and how it is to be read and heard so as to receive that benefit (Q90).

The Questions & Answers

Q88. What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption? A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42, ESV)

Further proofs: Matt. 28:19–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–25; Acts 2:46–47.

Q89. How is the word made effectual to salvation? A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17, ESV)

“…how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Rom. 10:14, ESV)

Further proofs: Neh. 8:8; 1 Cor. 14:24–25; Acts 26:18; Ps. 19:7; 2 Tim. 3:15–17.

Q90. How is the word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation? A. That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practise it in our lives.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22, ESV)

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Ps. 119:11, ESV)

Further proofs: Deut. 6:6–9; Prov. 8:34; 1 Pet. 2:1–2; Heb. 4:2; Luke 8:15.

Exposition: Q88 names the “ordinary means” of grace — “especially the word, sacraments, and prayer” — the appointed channels through which Christ conveys His benefits. They are “ordinary” (the normal way God works, though He is free above them) and “made effectual to the elect” (the means work savingly where the Spirit works). Q89 singles out the Word, “especially the preaching,” as the Spirit’s chief instrument — for “faith comes from hearing.” Note that the power is the Spirit’s: the Word is not magic, but the Spirit makes it effectual to convince, convert, build up, and comfort. Q90 is intensely practical: the Word benefits us not automatically but as we attend to it (diligence, preparation, prayer), receive it (with faith and love), retain it (lay it up in the heart), and obey it (practice it in life). To hear without doing is self-deception (James 1:22).

Connections

• WLC Q154–160 — the outward means; how the Word is made effectual; how it is to be read and heard; how the preached Word is to be received.
• WCF 1 (the Word of God), WCF 14.1 (faith ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word), WCF 21.5 (the preaching and hearing of the Word as worship).
• Loci: The means of grace; the ministry of the Word; preaching; the Spirit and the Word.

Pastoral & Practical Significance

These questions teach us how to come to the Word expecting God to work. Q89 dignifies preaching as no mere human performance but the Spirit’s chosen instrument to convert and sanctify — which is why faithful, ordinary preaching of Scripture week by week is one of the most important things in a Christian’s life, and why we should never despise it. But Q90 puts responsibility on the hearer: the same sermon falls on the careless and the prepared, and only the latter is fed. So we are to come to Scripture and to preaching with diligence (showing up, paying attention), preparation (praying beforehand, examining our hearts), and prayer (asking the Spirit to open the Word) — then to receive it with faith and love, store it in our hearts (Ps. 119:11), and do it (James 1:22). The tragedy of much churchgoing is hearing without doing — “deceiving yourselves.” The promise of these questions is that where the Word is received this way, the Spirit makes it effectual: convincing, converting, building up in holiness and comfort, “through faith, unto salvation.” Come hungry to the Word, and the Spirit will feed you.

For Memory & Reflection

• Memorize Q88, Q89, and Q90; anchor verses: Romans 10:17 and James 1:22. They map how grace ordinarily comes to us.
• Do I come to Scripture and preaching “with diligence, preparation, and prayer,” expecting the Spirit to work — or passively?
• Q90 ends with “practise it in our lives.” Where am I a hearer of the Word but not yet a doer?