Preaching as the Primary Means of Grace

I have lost count of the number of books on preaching that I’ve read over the years, everything on the range from practical ‘how to’ books to academic books on the intricacies of handling Bible texts well in their redemptive historical context. As a Pastor and preacher I love to read about preaching. I regularly read books on preacher to continue to grow and Lord willing hone the task God has given me to proclaim God’s Word. As you can imagine then, when I received a parcel from a new publisher for me to review and I saw a book on preaching, I was thrilled. Let me tell you about it.

Preaching as the Primary Means of Grace by Julius Santiago is a book published by Broken Wharfe a confessional Baptist publisher based out of the UK. The publisher produces materials that are in line with their confessional stance (the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689). From the outset I need to say that I would not say that I hold to all the points of the LBCF1689, therefore, there were bits of this book that I did not agree with and there were bits of the book that I enjoyed.

Santiago has tried to take a different approach to the one that many books on preaching take. Most books on preaching are written for preachers in order to help them in their preaching, teach them techniques and some practical advice. Few books on preaching give much space in their pages for the listener of the sermons. However, Santiago takes a step back and instead of trying to speak directly to either the preacher or listener, he wants both people groups to go on a journey to discover more of the theology of preaching and what a sermon is. The main thesis of the book, as it says on the cover, is that preaching is the primary means of grace. Most evangelicals (reformed and otherwise) would say that there are ‘means of grace’ given to the church (baptism, communion, prayer) – instruments that we use, as the Lord’s people, to experience his grace. Santiago argues in this book that preaching is THE primary means of grace because the means of grace are rooted in Scripture and we would not have the Lord’s Supper without the Word, or baptism, etc. Honestly, I am pretty much on board with that, but as I dived more into the book I struggled with his definition of what preaching is. Here is Santiagos definition of preaching

“Preaching as the primary means of grace is the Word of God, at work in all who are listening, both judging and saving through the Word and presence of Christ, who makes it to have a saving effect upon his people by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Page 19

The general way that I’ve describes preaching over the years is that it is the preacher’s faithful application of God’s Word, that is rooted in the pages of Scripture, to the gathered congregation. The effect of preaching I would say is solely reliant on the work of the Holy Spirit who challenges and transforms lives – calling sinners to repentance and calling Christians to greater Christlikeness and holiness.

There were a few things that I disagreed with the book about and a few things I liked about it. Before this review becomes too long, let me just take two negatives and two positives. Let’s take the negative first.

1. Santiago says that when a man is faithfully preaching God’s Word that it is “God speaking through men to save his people. When the Word of God is faithfully handled, it carries the same authority and power of the Bible itself.” page 21
   
   I struggle with this because I do not see how I can say that the words of a man have the same authority and power that the Bible has. The only moment in a church worship service where I would say God speaks directly to his people is during the public reading of his Word (which is why it needs to happen, but that’s for another post!). The preacher is not infallible, he makes mistakes, even if he is faithfully preaching the Bible text, who knows where his heart and mind are, who knows the sins that have gone on in his life that week or that day. That doesn’t mean that we don’t listen to the preacher, but I can’t agree that preaching has the same authority as the written Word.
   
   The text that Santiago uses as his basis for his argument is 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (ESVUK)
   
   I don’t think that this is a strong proof text for the conclusion that Santiago has come to in his book. The wider context of this passage is about Paul’s Apostolic ministry to the Thessalonian church. Paul isn’t talking about our current idea of preaching, which is generally a 30ish minute monologue from a man standing in front of a gathered congregation who then leaves and isn’t seen by most of the church until the following Sunday. Paul’s ministry was all of life, his message was backed up by his character and conduct, his sharing of life with the church and his presence with them most of the time.
   
   Frankly, I don’t think that 1 Thessalonians 2:13 says that Santiago wants it to, I don’t think that his conclusion is a correct representation and exegesis of the verses and therefore his conclusion is off. He does draw on a lot of other authors, books and confessions to back up his point, but the basis of his conclusion is this one verse.
   
2. Who determines what is faithful preaching?
   
   My second issue is, who gets to say what is faithful preaching and what isn’t? Over the thousands of years of church history there have been countless opinions on preaching, on the meaning of certain texts, on the implications and applications of Bible passages concerning doctrines and church practices. Who are we to say what is faithful or not?
   
   I think that we can definitely say whether a preacher is preaching the text in front of them, but even then, the preachers personality and style come into play. A preacher will use his own style to expound a passage rather than just stand and read the verses word for word. This is part of a bigger problem that I think is noticeable in some Bible training models that currently exist in the world today – there are people who say that their model of preaching, their way of getting to the root of the text is the only way and if you deviate from their cookie-cutter you simply are not faithfully teaching the Bible. You and I might read the same passage, we’d study it, we’d do the hard graft of trying to understand it more and then we’d write a sermon. Two people, two different sermons. We may have the same overall idea of what the passage teaches, but it will be framed differently, using different words and the sermons will have different structures and applications depending on the context they’re being preaching in. Who is to say that one is faithful and one is not?

Now for the positives.

1. The weightiness of preaching
   
   When a preacher stands and proclaims the truth from God’s Word to the gathered congregation on a Sunday he isn’t simply reading a text. The preacher isn’t performing. The preacher isn’t rehearsing a pre-prepared spiel. The preacher is taking God’s Word, applying it faithfully and practically to the Lord’s people for their edification, spiritual benefit and to the glory of God. There is a weightiness and responsibility that comes with that task. Santiago does a good job of bringing across the duty of the preacher which should be a joy and a privilege, but also a reality check that the responsibility of preaching is not something to be taken lightly, it is not something to be messed around with. The Lord raises up preachers and he calls them to a weighty task – one that is an incredible blessing and a joy!
2. The responsibility of the hearer
   
   The second positive thing is that Santiago addresses the listener of the sermon too. To often people rock up to church with little thought given to the sermon of that particular day, if any. Consider asking people in your church on Thursday afternoon what the Bible passage preached on the previous Sunday was and what the text for the coming Sunday is, it would be an interesting test. Santiago highlights that the hearer should take time to study their theology of preaching, to study the Bible text in advance of the Sunday, to dive into confessions and catechisms to grow in their understanding of God’s Word and to thrive in him.
   

So, anticipating the question – would I recommend this book? I could recommend it to someone who has already done some thinking about the theology of preaching, so that they could consider different approaches to preaching, to come across ideas and resources that Santiago references that they may not have seen before, but it’s not a book I would wholeheartedly get behind.

In all honesty, it is not a book that I would recommend to your average congregation member, I think your average Christian probably hasn’t thought enough about preaching to have developed their own theology of preaching, so this book may assume too much for them.

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*** I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not change the way I rate the book. My views are my own. ***