Question:  Dear Greg,

            The Catholic Church teaches that we receive grace by participating in the sacraments: baptism, confirmation, communion, etc.  Do non-Catholic Christians believe that Our Lord dispenses grace in this manner?

            In Christ,

            Dave

Answer:  Dear Dave,

            In part, this was what the Reformation was all about.  The Roman church – the Western church – believed that the church and its priesthood were directly involved in the administration of grace.  The belief was that God uses the institution of the church to dispense grace, and of course, as a result, there were abuses and misunderstandings.

            Protestants believe that God directly imputes grace to his children, and that he does not use or need human conduits of any kind in order to do so.  The Protestant position of the “Priesthood of all Believers” (based upon the passage in 1 Peter 2:9) is a reaction to the idea that God only works through one church, and then only through the ordained professional priesthood, and that only through these humans and the sacraments they administer, can grace and absolution from sins be given.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht