Okay, I'll bite. But if I'm wrong is only because I'm such a stickler for
words! They must be precisely chosen and refer to the common meaning of the words - not changing their definitions without telling anyone, the way the NPP/FV people do when they "argue" in support of their efforts to call Protestants back to Rome... oops, off-topic again. Where was I? Oh, yes, WORDS. Here goes:
That man has not saving grace of himself, nor of the energy of his free will...
Whoa, stop right there for a sec... Man, if the term refers to
unregenerate Man, does not
have "free will." So even though the rest of the statement seems to be monergistic, this first sentence suggests that salvation is still a matter of choice
once the sinner has been regenerated. I would disagree with that. Even after the unregenerate soul is acted
upon by the Spirit of God, we still cannot do anything contrary to our nature - new or old.
... in as much as he, in the state of apostasy
Whoa, stop: Apostasy? Is this supposed to refer to a person who has repudiated the gospel having once professed to believe it? Is the statement a suggestion that salvation can be lost once it has truly been given by God?
... and sin, can of and by himself neither think, will, nor do anything that is truly good (such as saving faith eminently is);
Waitaminute... saving faith is a
work?!? I don't think so. The Scripture is quite plain about the nature of faith - "and that (meaning faith) not of ourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works (Eph 2:9)..."
... but that it is needful that he be born again of God in Christ, through his Holy Spirit, and renewed in understanding, inclination, or will, and all his powers, in order that he may rightly understand, think, will, and effect what is truly good, according to the Word of Christ, John xv. 5: ‘Without me ye can do nothing.’ (emphasis added)
This part suggests regeneration
plus the understanding of the mind and an act of the will to "effect" the "work" of faith in order to save a lost soul.
It's not as though God does it all and we just sit here passively. We
do get to participate in our own sanctification and that of others (by praying for people, sharing the gospel with people, studying God's word together, etc). We do play a role! But faith is not a "work!" Faith is a
gift that, when it has grown in us, produces the
fruit of good works and right choices that lead to greater and greater sanctification.
Our salvation is in no way an "equal partnership" with God in which He frees us and thus enables us to choose Him. We have been bought, not "freed." It is
not only that our former master (sin and death) has no more claim upon us,
but also that we are bound to a new Master who holds us to Himself.
-Robin
