The Westminster Shorter Catechism provides as helpful a definition as any of the means of grace:
The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates 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. (Question 88)
All the ordinances of God, but especially the Word read and preached, the sacraments of baptism and the Supper, and the prayers of the people of God: these are the outward and ordinary means Christ uses to impart the blessings of the gospel to his people by the Holy Spirit. And I daresay that every evangelical would agree that these are the constituent elements of Christian worship, commanded by Scripture, and normative for the church.
To be sure, some of us might quibble over the language here or there. Some dislike the word “sacraments.” Some worry that calling these ordinances of God “means of grace” might convey the mistaken idea that simply in the performance of these outward acts grace is conferred (which is not at all what the phrase intends). But these differences aside, the Word of God read and preached, prayed and sung, seen in baptism and
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