#Monergism

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Do you think repentance means we simply stop sinning?

Repentance does not mean to simply stop sinning. Instead, it involves the grace-enabled act of turning to the sole Person with the capacity to empower an individual to overcome sin—namely, Christ. Being a Christian is not a self-salvation project, but rather an appeal to the divine grace of God in Jesus Christ as the sole hope for redemption. Bereft of this divine intervention, human beings would remain perpetually incapable of change, irrespective of therapeutic interventions or the exertion of willpower. Prior to Christ's opening of the heart to the gospel, every individual remains ensnared in inescapable bondage. The necessity of Christ's intervention underscores the futility of attempting self-salvation. Part of the problem is that people are still stuck on trying, at least partly, to save themselves.  As articulated in Luke 18:27, what is impossible for humanity—faith and repentance—is possible with God.

Here is an analogy that helps us further understand the nature of repentance:

Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Just as you don't need a doctor unless you are sick, similarly, you don't need a Savior unless you are a sinner. Christ's mission is to save those who recognize themselves as sinners in need of redemption. By nature, humans are inclined toward pride, resisting the admission of their status as rebellious sinners who require rescue. In the context of the aforementioned quotation, the Pharisees interrogate Jesus about his association with tax collectors and sinners, believing themselves to be more righteous. However, this self-righteousness ultimately exposes them as individuals who fail to recognize their own sinfulness and need for grace. Instead, they remain trapped in a cycle of pride, erroneously believing that they merit God's favor.

Thus, the call to repentance commences with the acknowledgment of one's entrapment in sin, the recognition of one's incapacity to escape its grasp, and the appeal to Christ as the sole means of deliverance from both the guilt and power of sin. In this way, repentance transcends the mere cessation of sinful actions (an impossible supposition) and encompasses a profound, grace-facilitated transformation in the individual's relationship with God, enabled by Jesus Christ.

[andrewpcannon]

Daily Devotional: Exodus 19:18-25

Exodus 19:9-17 – Daily Devotionals with Andrew Cannon As we continue through Exodus, we see Moses calling the people to see God manifest so that they will trust him as their leader to the promised land. Exodus 19:9-17 02:40 Sabatarianism 49:42 Congregationalism in the Church 39:40 Criticism Culture 39:31 A Need in Missions 52:24 There are many things we see here in Exodus that translate…

[reformedontheweb]

The Wednesday Word: Jesus, The Grace of God

Titus 2:11-14; For the grace of God that bringeth salvation … As we wrote in a previous Wednesday Word, the Grace of God has appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word made flesh. Let’s face it, our Master is full of grace and truth, (John 1:14), and “of His fullness have all we received and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16). Literally we have received grace “piled upon” grace. In much…

[theologycentral]

Monergism Book App and Kindle

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion The Spirit & The Torah Of The New Covenant Are One & The Same

#DailyDevotion The Spirit & The Torah Of The New Covenant Are One & The Same 2 Cor. 3:4-11 4That is how Christ gives us confidence in God. 5We can't do anything by ourselves and so claim to produce it ourselves, but God gives us our ability. 6He has made us able servants of a new covenant, not of a written Law but of the Spirit, because the written Law kills, but the Spirit makes alive. Here we see the wonderfulness of the Good News of Jesus Christ. We have Christ who gives us confidence in God. Our confidence in God and before God is not in ourselves but in Christ who has accomplished all things for us. Even our living before God now that we have been saved is not of ourselves. We do not produce this new life of ourselves. It is Christ who lives in me. (Gal. 2:20) It is God who wills and works in me. (Phil. 2:13) So here, “God gives us our ability.” You will often hear theologians banter the word “monergism.” It means one work or one power. The work and the power is God's when we as Christians do anything good in thought, word and deed. Paul then directs us to where this comes from. Christ made us servants of a new covenant, not of the written Law but of the Spirit. Anytime you hear the words “new covenant” your mind and spirit should take you to Jeremiah 31 which I quote here, 31“The time will come,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by their hand to lead them out of Egypt — My covenant that they broke although I was their Husband,” says the LORD. 33“But this is the covenant I will make with Israel after those days,” says the LORD: “I will put My law within them and write it on their hearts, and so I will be their God, and they will be My people. 34 And no more will anyone have to teach his neighbor or his brother, and say, Know the LORD,' because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them says the LORD, because I will forgive the wrong they did and not remember their sins anymore.” When we are made partakers of the New Covenant/Testament through baptism, faith in Christ, and the LORD's Supper this is what the LORD of Life is and has and will do with us. Law here, the Law written on our hearts should be understood as the LORD's instructions (Torah) and not as the covenant instructions He gave to Israel, though there is much overlap, particularly in the moral code of it. But here in Jeremiah, when we hear he puts his Torah, we should also hear Spirit. That is what Paul is saying here in 2 Corinthians 3. The Spirit writes himself onto our hearts. He makes our hearts new through the New Covenant. This New Covenant consists of giving us the Holy Spirit. It also consists of knowing the LORD Jesus Christ. It is not enough to know Jesus existed. What does this New Covenant say? It knows, it believes it trusts, “I will forgive the wrong they did and not remember their sins anymore.” Jesus who is the sacrifice of the New Covenant, whose blood washes us clean from sin, makes atonement for us before God, and is our propitiation to God gives us this knowledge, this type of knowledge wrought in us, written on our hearts. The written Law (Torah) of the Old Covenant, killed because it could not be kept with fallen hearts. The New Covenant, written by the Spirit of Christ, is written on our hearts and is kept by the LORD, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who gives us the ability to trust in Christ and his work. Heavenly Father, always give us your Spirit that we may know Christ and be known by him through faith in the forgiveness of sins won by him. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[thenewgeneva]

Is Sanctification Monergistic or Synergistic? Why It Matters

As Calvinists grow in their understanding of the doctrines of grace they eventually ask “Is sanctification monergistic or synergistic?” In today’s post, @TheRealTony777 discusses this question and why the answer is important:

As Calvinists grow in their understanding of the doctrines of grace, the question is often asked whether sanctification is monergistic or synergistic. Some may wonder if it even matters, but this is an important question with significant theological ramifications. If we misunderstand the nature of sanctification, we face the danger of having a flawed view of the nature of justification. Having a…

[saint-ambrosef]

i also spent an hour today trying to figure out lutheran theology. did not succeed.

[slave-of-the-lord-jesus-christ]

[hiswordsarekisses]

“Helpful Reading Tips:

1) Do not be impressed by people who brag about reading 150 books a year. They may have skimmed through the books and didn't learn much from them. Avoid reading for sport. Don't turn reading into a game of trying to read as many books as possible to impress people.

2) Reading a lot of books will make you wiser, but only if you slowly meditate on its contents. The person who carefully reads 25 books a year for 10 years may be much more edified than the person who hastily reads 250 books in 1 year.

3) Reading isn't a race. Stop to take notes. Stop to think. Stop to reflect. There's no prize for finishing a book in haste.” (And it’s really a waste of time!)

~ @monergism on IG

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

by Arthur Dent | O Lord our God and heavenly Father, we, your unworthy children, come into your most holy and heavenly presence to offer you praise and glory for all your great mercies and abundant blessings towards us. We especially thank you for preserving us throughout the past night, keeping us safe from its dangers and fears. You have granted us peaceful rest for our bodies and brought us safely to the beginning of this day...

[andrewpcannon]

Daily Devotional: Ephesians 2:1-10

Daily Devotional: Ephesians 2:1-10

After praying that the saints may grow in all wisdom and knowledge, that their eyes of their hearts may be enlightened, Paul writes of their wretchedness. They were, past tense because they are not in Christ, dead in their trespasses and sins. When we speak of our wretched estate and that of those in our congregations, we also speak of it in the past tense because we are now in Christ. Before we…

[crossoverglobaloutreach]

Our Synergistic God

Have you heard of the theological term ‘monergism’? It’s a word built from the Greek “ergon” (work) with the prefix “mono.” It means to work alone, as in God alone works salvation, etc.

But I say God never works alone. The very first verse of the bible introduces us to God as “Elohim.” The “im” is a plural suffix like our letter ‘s.’ In fact, Elohim in Hebrew speaks of at least three. Yet, whenever the Person Elohim acts, the verbs are written in the singular tense. We don’t have as much of that in English, but I know you can easily recognize the mistake in, “three men runs to the gym.” Ironically, we say one man runs but several run. Hebrew has much more of that than English.

So, the bible opens by telling us of the “plurality” in God Who does things singularly. That is synergism, not monergism.

We Christians, of course, are more precise about God. We say He is the Trinity, Three Persons in one Godhead. This is why I say it isn’t mere semantics to say God never does anything alone. For instance, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Jesus insisted that all He did and said was as the Father was in Him, doing and saying.

So, long before we Christians were called to loving fellowship with each other, the Trinity was Perfect Koinonia. Long before Peter spoke as the Eleven stood behind him in unison with him, God was Perfect Koinonia. The Three worked in perfect unison long before we were sent out two-by-two. The True God is Perfect Synergism, not monergism.

Synergy, therefore, is both the most fundamental truth in existence AND the most transcendental truth. Synergy is the cornerstone of life and its capstone. We were created by the Synergistic One and we are called to the Synergistic One.

So, this isn’t a side issue. John 17 records what is virtually Jesus’ dying prayer to the Father. In it, He asks that we might be one with them – He in us and the Father in Him. He speaks there of the glory of God being seen in this. Christ Himself fully embraces this truth. That’s why, when He confronted Saul of Tarsus, He said, “I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting.” Yet, Paul was persecuting the church. But to attack the Church is to attack Christ. (Let’s remember that the next time a quarrel arises.)

But His troops will be willing in the day of His power: Just as no one can love God whom he doesn’t see if he can’t love the neighbor he does see, so we show our fitness for union with God by leaning into loving union in a fellowship of believers. Since Christ is in His Church, one vital way we can be one with Him today is by flowing with and submitting to a local body. Yes, He comes to us individually, but He comes to US, too. After all, The Singular One isn’t going to marry me or you, He will join with a many-membered bride.

Now, I am aware that merely belonging to a local body does not necessarily mean I am joined to Christ. But I am also aware that it is next to impossible to be joined to Christ apart from being in dear fellowship with a local body. That is especially true if I resist joining a local body, if I refuse to join a local body. We gauge the weather outside by the barometer on the wall. So also, we can gauge our relationship with Him by assessing our relationship with the brethren.

We are called to a high calling in Christ – loving union with the Triune God, through Christ Jesus our Lord. We are invited to join and flow with our Synergistic God. So. let’s look to the Spirit of Christ to help us flow with Christ now, with Him as Lord of each individual life, and with Him in His many-membered body to which we are joined.

- Matt Schilling

[timdcook4]

📸 Look at this post on Facebook

[brucedinsman]

Discipling using books when money is tight — The Domain for Truth

I love discipleship with others.  I love reading with books with others. Yet I also know sound books are expensive.  How do you disciple others with books when money is tight? There’s free books on Kindle. I recommend R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions eBooks Now Free Forever There’s also Monergism dot com.  There’s tons of free classic […] Discipling using books when money is tight — The Domain for…