Means of grace

"[7] However, as the Second Vatican Council lamented, "although the Catholic Church has been endowed with all divinely revealed truth and with all means of grace, yet its members fail to live by them with all the fervor that they should".

[12] Lutheran churches teach that the means of grace are the ways that the Holy Spirit creates faith in the hearts of Christians, forgives their sins, and gives them eternal salvation.

Lutherans believe that through the gospel, the good news of Christ's atoning sacrifice for all sinners, the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith in people, whose hearts are by nature hostile to God (1 Peter 1:23).

[12] Lutheranism teaches that also through the Sacrament of Baptism the Holy Spirit applies the gospel to sinners, giving them regeneration (Titus 3:5) and cleansing them from all sin (Acts 2:38).

[12][13] Lutherans hold that within the Eucharist, also referred to as the Lord's Supper, the true body and blood of Christ are truly present[13] "in, with, and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine for all those who eat and drink it.

[12] The Reformed churches refer to the ordinary means of grace as the Word (preached primarily, but also read) and the sacraments (baptism and the Lord's Supper).

[17] In Methodist theology, the means of grace are necessary in the maintenance of the Christian faith; the Emmanuel Association, a Methodist denomination in the conservative holiness movement, thus teaches:[18] No one can remain a Christian without the aid of the various means of grace such as assembling together for prayer and worship; observing family and secret devotion; and giving liberally to the work of the church, the support of the ministry, the relief of the needy, and the spread of the gospel throughout the world.―Principles of Holy Living, Emmanuel Association of Churches[18]