The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Sanctification monergestic, synergestic or both.

I was reading about sanctification from two different perspectives. The Lutheran perspective sees sanctification as a monergistic act of God along with justification in which the believer does not participate in his own salvation but is sanctified through the Holy Spirit. However, the Reformed perspective sees it as a progressive event in which God is the initiator and sustainer of sanctification but that the person also contributes to it in some small manner.

So what do you think is sanctification totally monergistic or synergistic, or both?

In short, I believe that our salvation, including our sanctification is totally monergistic. One of my favorite quotes from Calvin's Institutes is as follows:


Calvin goes on to say; "In fine, it is clear from John's words that what belongs to God is transfered by concession to us". We must only and always say that we are indebted to God for any "good works" performed by the believer. IMO, Calvin believed both our justification and our sanctification to be works of God alone.

I more than highly recommend the reading of the Institutes book 2, chapter 5, "Refutaion of the Objections Commonly Put Forward in Defense of Free Will".

Denny

Romans 3:22-24

"Salvation is of the Lord." Jonah 2:9 And, sanctification, being a fundamental element of salvation, that which flows most naturally from justification is of God, (Rom 8:29, 30; Eph 1:3-14). However, this does not mean that a believer has no active part in the process of being sanctified. We are commanded to be sanctified [holy - perfect], (Matt 5:48; 1Pet 1:15, 16). Those who profess to believe upon Christ and have been united to Him are thus responsible to "work out" their sanctification, (Phil. 2:12, 13).

You can find several articles on Sanctification here: Praxis - The Doctrine of the Christian Life.

So would you deny that the believer has an active part with regards to his sanctification? If so what do we do with this:

Bonerges,


Where did I say this? I clearly said: "We must only and always say that we are indebted to God for any "good works" performed by the believer". The believer does have an active part but it is not meritorious only a reflection of gratitude.

Please consider what the Roman Catholics said about this at Trent, session 6, canon 9:

Canon 9. If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema.

IMO, this is the heart and soul of the evil in the RCC. When JPII died was he not going to walk right into heaven because of all the "good works" he had performed?

Is it not the Arminians that say that they are converted and believe in the Gospel by their own "free will"? Our faith (sanctification) was purchased for us and given as an unearned gift by the active obedience of Christ Alone. Therefore our sanctification as well as our justification is a work of God alone.

Denny

Romans 3:22-24

I wouldn't agree with the statement that the believer "contributes" in some small manner to his own sanctification. When you use the term contributes its sounds too much like faith plus works. However, because it's a process rather than an event we need to see that our cooperation with the Holy Spirit is essential as He completes the work that has begun in us.

Progressive sanctification always involves our practice of spiritual disciplines, such as reading Scripture, praying, and not neglecting the means of grace. It also involves putting to death the sinful deeds of the body (see Rom. 8:13) and putting on Christlike character (see Col. 3:12-14). And very importantly it involves a desperate dependence on Christ for the power to do these things, for we cannot grow by our own strength.

Some have the mistaken notion that sanctification consists merely in the drawing out of the new life, implanted in the soul by regeneration, in a persuasive way by presenting motives to the will. But this is not true. It consists fundamentally and primarily in a divine operation in the soul, whereby the holy disposition born in regeneration is strengthened and its holy exercises are increased. It is essentially a work of God, though in so far as He employs means, man can and is expected to co-operate by the proper use of these means. Scripture clearly exhibits the supernatural character of sanctification in several ways. It describes it as a work of God, I Thes. 5:23; Heb. 18:20, 21, as a fruit of the union of life with Jesus Christ, John 15:4; Gal. 2:20; 4:19, as a work that is wrought in man from within and which for that very reason cannot be a work of man, Eph. 3:16; Col. 1:11, and speaks of its manifestation in Christian virtues as the work of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22. It should never be represented as a merely natural process in the spiritual development of man, nor brought down to the level of a mere human achievement, as is done in a great deal of modern liberal theology.


Wes

All right I will modify my statement regarding the actions of the believer. But it sounds to me (unless I am reading you wrong) that you consider sanctification to be a monergestic work of the Holy Spirit and not synergestic. Am I correct?

Denny it is a well known fact that the RCC theology has confused justification and sanctification into some weird mixture of the two. However, when I read say Packer who says:
Packer affirms that our cooperation, even though it is powered by God, is in fact a synergistic work.

You guys are all well schooled in Reformed doctrine so I apologize if I sound like an amateur but...

After justification we have free will restored, no?

So our ability to do what is spiritually acceptable in God's sight (because God Regenerated us) is intact. And the essence of faith will be in exercise for some more often than others which will result in greater rewards in heaven based on the exercise of faith in one's life.

Am I on the right track or no? I think this is what Boanergas is getting at???

Bonerges,

You have quoted Packer:


Then you said:


Packer does not say "is in fact" but clearly says, "in one sense". This means to me that in other senses our sanctification IS NOT synergistic. BTW, J. I. Packer, much to my dismay, has signed the ecumenical document, "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" which confuses our justification and sanctification even more so. You asked in another post what should be done with this verse from Phil 2:12.


All Reformed confessions affirm that our salvation is by grace, Christ and faith (Spirit) Alone. If it were possible for believers to work or earn their own salvation, this verse would be a contradiction, would it not? IMO, the focus of this verse is not working out our own salvation but "with fear and trembling". This verse in context, is a warning to any and all who would take lightly or in vain the meritorious work of God's perfect and precious Son.

Faith is work, but our work is totally "God dependent" just as Packer says. His burden is indeed light, as the Master tells us in Scripture.

There are a multitude of books written on this subject. It is impossible to speak of all the fine points in a short post or two. When all is said and done I believe we are left only with this.


Denny

Romans 3:22-24

I could just say yes and leave it at that. It definitely is monergestic. To put it simply, sanctification grows out of justification. They are two parts of the same saving grace. However, I want to make sure to underscore that even though the two are inseperable there is a distinct difference between them in function. The primary difference is the progressive nature of sanctification. For example regeneration is a momentary act, bringing a person from spiritual death to life. It is exclusively God’s work. Sanctification is an ongoing process depending on God’s continuing action in the believer, and consisting of the believers continuous struggle against sin. God’s method of sanctification is neither activism (self-reliant activity) nor apathy (God-reliant passivity), but human effort dependent upon God (2 Cor. 7:1; Phil.3:10-14; Heb. 12:14). Knowing that without Christ’s enabling we cannot do good works, but also that He is ready to strengthen us for all we have to do (Phil. 4:13), we “abide” in Christ, asking for His help constantly – and we receive it (Col. 1:11; I Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:7; 2:1).

Now that may sound a lot like synergism but it’s not. As in my previous reply I’d like to use the term “co-operation” with God rather than “contribute” to our sanctification in any way. God is the One at work in us and we can do nothing apart from Him. God implants desires in us that were not there before. A desire for God, a desire for holiness, and for glorifying God’s name in the world. He gave us a desire to pray, to worship, to love, and serve others. In sanctification, the Holy Spirit works in us “both to will and to do” according to God’s purpose, enabling His people to fulfill their new godly desires. (Phil 2:12,13) Christians become increasingly Christlike, as the moral profile of Jesus (the “fruit of the Spirit”) is progressively formed in them. (2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 4:19; 5:22-25)

Wes

The problem I have with progressive sanctification is the closer one gets to God, the more unholy they know themselves to be. 2 distinct operations happen to the believer, they are sanctified, meaning only set apart, in election. Sanctified in Christ 100%. Now here is the rub, some have taken this to mean that every action Christ had, every demeanor, every trait is imputed to them!!!! This is a terrible mistake. We do not receive His compassion, knowledge, miracles, forgiveness, etc etc etc. This is where scripture makes a distinction between sanctification and growing in grace, or becoming more holy. This is the fruit of the spirit, this is what we work out. This is where this side of the grave the rubber hits the road. I deny progressive sanctification as becoming more Holy as we get older or along in our journey. Growing in grace I beleive 100%. Growing in a repentant heart 100%, growing in prayer 100%, becoming more holy? I am not sure.

Sin should NEVER make our striving stop. But once we become aware of our progress, self righteousness sets in

I will end with a motto I have taken from Bishop Beveridge.;

'I cannot pray but I sin... My repentance needs to be repented of, and not only the worst of my sins but even the best of my duties, but even my most religious performances... I cannot hear or even preach a sermon but I sin. Nay, I cannot so much as confess my sins but my very confessions are still aggravations of them. My repentance needs to he repented of, my tears want washing, and the very washing of my tears needs still to be washed over again with the blood of my Redeemer. Thus not only the worst of my sins but even the best of my duties, speak me as a child of Adam.'

And MArtyr John Hopper:

'Lord, I am hell, but Thou art heaven; I am swill and a sink of sin, but Thou art a gracious God and a merciful Redeemer. Have mercy therefore upon me, most miserable and wretched offender, after Thy great mercy, and according to Thine inestimable goodness... well Thou knowest, Lord, wherefore I am come hither to suffer... not for my sins and transgressions committed against Thee, but because I will not allow the contaminating of Thy blood and the denial of the knowledge of Thy truth, wherewith it did please Thee by Thy Holy Spirit to instruct me; the which, with as much diligence as a poor wretch might, being thereto called, I have set forth Thy glory'.'

C. H. Spurgeon: 'There are some professing Christians who can speak of themselves in terms of admiration; but from my inmost heart I loathe such speeches more and more every day that I live. Those who talk in such a boastful fashion must be constituted very differently from me. While they all congratulating themselves I have to lie humbly at the foot of Christ's cross, and marvel that I am saved at all, for I know that I am saved. I have to wonder that I do not believe Christ more, and equally wonder that I am privileged to believe in Him at all - to wonder that I am not holier, and equally to wonder that I have any desire to be holy at all considering what a polluted, debased nature I still find within my soul, notwithstanding all that divine grace has done in me.'

Joe K

I basically agree - although we surely experience humility & unworthiness there also is a zeal and true seeking after rightousness - most of us would probably agree that elements of both repentance & obedience are present in the Born Again beliver throughout the lifetime - as long as the initial regeneration is there (which is most vital), every true believer's Christian experience is different, although most of the marks are consistent in varying degrees - this is my understanding.

Perhaps THIS is your problem? That is you are looking at a truth taught in Scripture; the closer one gets to God, the more one comes to see his/her own sinfulness, and then wrongly deduces that it is contrary to the historic Protestant doctrine of "progressive sanctification". If I'm not mistaken, haven't we been around the block on this issue at least once before?

It not either/or but rather both/and. One cannot come to see how sinful they are until they come to see how holy God truly is. And contrariwise, one cannot come to realize how holy God is until they see how sinful they are. "Growing in grace" is a synonym for "sanctification". It is the work of the Holy Spirit Who brings about one's being conformed to the image of Christ (Eph 4:24; Col 3:10; 2Pet 1:4). Is it even feasible for a believer to be transformed into the image of Christ without becoming more "holy", i.e., righteous? Progressive sanctification does not teach any form of perfectionism but rather that one progressively lives more and more in accordance with the moral law of God and whose nature is more Christ-like. But because one's old nature continues to exist and will exist throughout the life of a believer . . . and because the depth of that sinfulness is so deplorable should God choose to allow one to see it's depth they would so loathe themselves that they would cease to strive after holiness and would in all likelihood seek to take their life immediately out of shame and despair . . . the revelation of that old nature is meted out, by God's mercy and grace, as is fitting to each individual.

The issue is simply this: If the Scriptures teach that believers are progressively sanctified, i.e., conformed more and more to the image of Christ; putting off the old man and putting on the new man, then it is a doctrine to be believed, embraced and practiced. Evidently, the vast majority of Christians throughout history have found it to be true as can be witnessed from the myriad writings available to us today.

1. Sanctification, by Thomas Watson, one of the major authors of the Westminster Confession.

2. Sanctification, by B.B. Warfield.

3. The Necessity of Progress, by John Angell James.

4. The Gradual Conquest, by Ralph Erskine.

5. Definitive Sanctification, by John Murray.

In His grace,

Pilgrim basically summed up what the Westminster Confession has to say about Santification-