Are you a monergist or a synergist?

[decipher]

It's rediculous that in my prior post on this question people thought that it was a multiple choice question. Again, I was unable to erase two of the monergist=0 synergist =0. No one answered my post so I'll ask it again. Are you a monergist or a synergist. Which ever you are, add 1 to your choice. You don't have to comment. Only true Christians respond. It seems that there aren't too many of you. I'll start it off.
Monergist=1 and Synergist =0

 

[OMC]

Monergist=1 and Synergist =0

Monergist=2

 

[decipher]

Monergist=2

Thank you.

 

[Dino246]

Only true Christians respond. It seems that there aren't too many of you. I'll start it off.
Monergist=1 and Synergist =0

Do you suppose that you will get more results by implying that most (or even many) of the people on this forum are not Christians?

How about recognizing that even frequent contributors to this forum don't engage in every thread. Be thankful for the responses you do receive, and treat them as individual rather than broadly representative, and certainly not as scientific.

 

[decipher]

I also would like to thank whoever is in charge of this website. God bless you. Everyone else, participate!

 

[decipher]

Do you suppose that you will get more results by implying that most (or even many) of the people on this forum are not Christians?

How about recognizing that even frequent contributors to this forum don't engage in every thread. Be thankful for the responses you do receive, and treat them as individual rather than broadly representative, and certainly not as scientific.

You misunderstood "Only true Christians respond". What I meant by that statement is that if you are a true Christian, then you will respond. If not, you won't. If you think that you are a Christian, as one Christian to another Christian, please respond. I meant it more as a suggestion than as a declaritive statement. By the way, I didn't get any responses that I requested on my first post. I'll be truly thankful if you participate now. God bless you.

 

[DavidLamb]

It's rediculous that in my prior post on this question people thought that it was a multiple choice question. Again, I was unable to erase two of the monergist=0 synergist =0. No one answered my post so I'll ask it again. Are you a monergist or a synergist. Which ever you are, add 1 to your choice. You don't have to comment. Only true Christians respond. It seems that there aren't too many of you. I'll start it off.
Monergist=1 and Synergist =0

Whether or not your prior post was multi-choice, the way you worded the choice gave us no choice, because the wording was exactly the same for the "choices" you gave. So thank you fore now giving us the opportunity to answer properly. I am a monergist.

 

[decipher]

Whether or not your prior post was multi-choice, the way you worded the choice gave us no choice, because the wording was exactly the same for the "choices" you gave. So thank you fore now giving us the opportunity to answer properly. I am a monergist.

Thank you for participating. That makes Monergist=3 and Synergist=0

 

[GWH]

It's rediculous that in my prior post on this question people thought that it was a multiple choice question. Again, I was unable to erase two of the monergist=0 synergist =0. No one answered my post so I'll ask it again. Are you a monergist or a synergist. Which ever you are, add 1 to your choice. You don't have to comment. Only true Christians respond. It seems that there aren't too many of you. I'll start it off.
Monergist=1 and Synergist =0

Yes (.5)

 

[decipher]

Yes (.5)

It can't be half and half. A monergist believes that God does it all without the help of the individual by changing the individual. He gives God 100% of the credit for his salvation and 0% credit to himself. He is super thankful to God for his change.

 

[GWH]

It can't be half and half. A monergist believes that God does it all without the help of the individual by changing the individual. He gives God 100% of the credit for his salvation and 0% credit to himself. He is super thankful to God for his change.

Okay. What does a synergist believe and do?

 

[decipher]

Okay. What does a synergist believe and do?

Synergists believe that God offers His grace of salvation to everyone, but the individual has to accept His grace with his free will. In otherwords, the glory for one's salvation goes to a combination of both God and the individual who accepts His grace.

 

[GWH]

Synergists believe that God offers His grace of salvation to everyone, but the individual has to accept His grace with his free will. In otherwords, the glory for one's salvation goes to a combination of both God and the individual who accepts His grace.

No, we who believe God graces every soul with MFW do NOT believe acceptance of Jesus as Lord is meritorious.
Whoever told you that must have been a tulipist, so you need to amend your defintion to say:

Synergists believe God loves and offers salvation to everyone conditional upon them exercising their God-given MFW to accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord as per Col. 2:6-7: “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord [kerygma], continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught [didache].” They also believe there is no qualitative difference between faith that accepts God’s saving grace at conversion (k) and faith that accepts God’s working grace (d) while walking/living (Eph. 2:8-10, 1Cor. 15:10, 2Cor. 5:7, Rom. 1:17), but only a quantitative difference as each additional moment passes–and of course faith remains non-meritorious during the saint’s entire lifetime.

With that definition, you may count me as a synergist.

For a systematic study of the doctrine of election folks may participate on the "Resolving Problematic Interpretations of Scripture" thread.

 

[decipher]

Thank you for responding. That makes it monergists=3 and synergists=1
As one Christian to another, please respond. Be brave and assert your belief.

 

[GWH]

Thank you for responding. That makes it monergists=3 and synergists=1
As one Christian to another, please respond. Be brave and assert your belief.

I would point out that it is problematic whether monergists/tulipists are bona fide Christians,
because they demean/insult God's omnilove and justness, which is heresy/blasphemy.
However, I recently realized that if the heresy is unintentional, then they may be part of
those whose works/beliefs are burned, but they make it into heaven per 1Cor. 3:13-15.

 

[decipher]

I would point out that it is problematic whether monergists/tulipists are bona fide Christians,
because they demean/insult God's omnilove and justness, which is heresy/blasphemy.
However, I recently realized that if the heresy is unintentional, then they may be part of
those whose works/beliefs are burned, but they make it into heaven per 1Cor. 3:13-15.

It's amazing to me that a simple belief that God does it all has been labeled tulipist, demeaning and insulting God's omnilove (whatever that is) and justness, and heresy. You sound like someone from the 4th century when they used to be judgemental unto death. I asked that you just choose monergist or synergist. You seem to forget that true Christians are filled with love, not hate and name calling.

 

[GWH]

It's amazing to me that a simple belief that God does it all has been labeled tulipist, demeaning and insulting God's omnilove (whatever that is) and justness, and heresy. You sound like someone from the 4th century when they used to be judgemental unto death. I asked that you just choose monergist or synergist. You seem to forget that true Christians are filled with love, not hate and name calling.

I called no one a name, but I did point out that if monergism is another term for tulipism, then it shares the belief that God shows favoritism toward some part of humanity and hates the rest, which is a belief begun by Augustine about 400 AD. I know this because I did a doctoral study on him/his writings during seminary days and learned that this was the Achilles heel of his theology.

However, as I said, I just deciphered while reading 1Cor. 3:13-15 a few days ago that the body of Christ may include heels if their heresy is unintentional or due to ignorance. Sharing this truth reflects both God's omnilove and judgment of wrong works/beliefs as indicated by the .

 

[decipher]

I called no one a name, but I did point out that if monergism is another term for tulipism, then it shares the belief that God shows favoritism toward some part of humanity and hates the rest, which is a belief begun by Augustine about 400 AD. I know this because I did a doctoral study on him/his writings during seminary days and learned that this was the Achilles heel of his theology.

However, as I said, I just deciphered while reading 1Cor. 3:13-15 a few days ago that the body of Christ may include heels if their heresy is unintentional or due to ignorance. Sharing this truth reflects both God's omnilove and judgment of wrong works/beliefs as indicated by the .

Romans 9: 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Are you saying that God does not have that right?
Romans 3: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God.
God's justice demands that all humans be condemned because from birth their motivation for living is love of self first. If He condemns everyone, He would be merciless. If he saves everyone, disobedience would run rampant. To show His justice and His mercy, He saves a few. He saves them by granting them repentance so that they recognize their sins and turn to Him for forgiveness. That is baptism in the Name of the Father. They then through preaching learn that their sins can be forgiven through belief in Jesus Christ's work on the cross. When they believe, they are baptized in the Name of the Son. Those chosen by the Father are baptized by the Son in the Name of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that provides entrance into the being indwelled by the Son and the Father who is in the Son. It is they who change the person's motivation for living from love of self first, to love of God first and all others as one loves himself. That is what Jesus preached when asked about the greatest commandment. That is how we get perfected and how we can recognize a true Christian (by the love they exude).

 

[GWH]

Romans 9: 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Are you saying that God does not have that right?
Romans 3: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God.
God's justice demands that all humans be condemned because from birth their motivation for living is love of self first. If He condemns everyone, He would be merciless. If he saves everyone, disobedience would run rampant. To show His justice and His mercy, He saves a few. He saves them by granting them repentance so that they recognize their sins and turn to Him for forgiveness. That is baptism in the Name of the Father. They then through preaching learn that their sins can be forgiven through belief in Jesus Christ's work on the cross. When they believe, they are baptized in the Name of the Son. Those chosen by the Father are baptized by the Son in the Name of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that provides entrance into the being indwelled by the Son and the Father who is in the Son. It is they who change the person's motivation for living from love of self first, to love of God first and all others as one loves himself. That is what Jesus preached when asked about the greatest commandment. That is how we get perfected and how we can recognize a true Christian (by the love they exude).

No, I say what Paul teaches, that God exercises that right by choosing whoever chooses to cooperate with His condition for forgiveness. Here is the context for Rom. 9:15 (the full study is posted in the thread about Resolving Problematic Interpretations):

29. In Romans 9:1-5 Paul notes how sad it is that those who are part of the human ancestry of Christ reject him as Messiah, but being a member of Abraham’s spiritual children is what is crucial (#17).

30. Romans 9:6-13 states that God had chosen which one of Rebecca’s sons (through whom Messiah’s lineage would be traced) before they were born (cf. Mal. 1:2-3). The word translated as “hate” (miseo) is the same as in Luke 14:26 with reference to family, so a better translation would be “preferred”: loving Jacob/hating Esau refers to God preferring that Jacob’s descendants serve as the heritage for Messiah rather than to individual salvation.

31. Romans 9:14-16 stresses that s/e depends on God’s mercy rather than being achieved by human effort (#12), although the preceding context has shown that (the non-meritorious condition of) faith is involved, which truth can be stated as “God initiates; sinners cooperate—or not”, because of MFW.

32. Romans 9:17 refers to pharaoh in Exodus 9:13-35 as an example of someone whom God allowed to oppose His will so that His power might be manifested by the plagues. The OT passage indicates that pharaoh was conscious of his sin but “He and his officials hardened their hearts” (v.34b).

33. Romans 9:18 says that God “hardens whom He wants to harden”, which raises the question asked in v.19, “Why does God blame sinners who cannot resist His will?” Paul’s response (Rom. 9:20-21) is that God has the might and thus the right to determine what is right. Then he speculates (“What if”) that God might have patiently endured evildoers (#20) as evidence of His glory toward recipients of His mercy (Rom. 9:22-23).

34. In Romans 9:24-33 and 10:1-4 Paul notes that God elected to choose Gentiles with saving faith instead of Israelites who sought salvation by works and stumbled over the Gospel of Christ, even though “everyone who believes” receives righteousness or s/e.

35. Romans 10:9 states God’s requirement for s/e as “confess Jesus as the resurrected Lord”, v.10 clarifies that the condition of faith (#31) precedes the work of confession, and vs.11-13 reiterate that all sinners who call on the name of the Lord will be s/e.

36. Romans 10:18 cites Psalm 19:4, which hints that God’s s/e has been possible for everyone in the world. This implication may also be seen in Gal. 3:8, Col. 1:23 and Tit. 2:11 as well as Rom. 1:20.

The concerns of those who accept TULIP—to affirm the sovereignty of God and the inability of souls to earn salvation—are valid, but the solutions are problematic, because they deny or ignore Scripture teaching the love of God for all sinners and the moral accountability of sinners for rejecting the love of God, thereby effectively perverting the Gospel (Gal. 5:6) and impugning God’s justness/righteousness (Psa. 33:5, Isa. 9:7).

The apparent reasons for these errors are threefold:
1. Ignorance of Scripture that contradicts their dogma, such as those teaching the possibility of apostasy,
2. Viewing faith as a meritorious work rather than as the non-meritorious condition of cooperating with God’s grace, and
3. Unconcern about portraying God as unjust by showing favoritism toward the elect. Once these errors are cured by including Scripture supporting MFW, doctrinal harmony is enhanced.

Hope this helps,

 

[decipher]

No, I say what Paul teaches, that God exercises that right by choosing whoever chooses to cooperate with His condition for forgiveness. Here is the context for Rom. 9:15 (the full study is posted in the thread about Resolving Problematic Interpretations):

29. In Romans 9:1-5 Paul notes how sad it is that those who are part of the human ancestry of Christ reject him as Messiah, but being a member of Abraham’s spiritual children is what is crucial (#17).

30. Romans 9:6-13 states that God had chosen which one of Rebecca’s sons (through whom Messiah’s lineage would be traced) before they were born (cf. Mal. 1:2-3). The word translated as “hate” (miseo) is the same as in Luke 14:26 with reference to family, so a better translation would be “preferred”: loving Jacob/hating Esau refers to God preferring that Jacob’s descendants serve as the heritage for Messiah rather than to individual salvation.

31. Romans 9:14-16 stresses that s/e depends on God’s mercy rather than being achieved by human effort (#12), although the preceding context has shown that (the non-meritorious condition of) faith is involved, which truth can be stated as “God initiates; sinners cooperate—or not”, because of MFW.

32. Romans 9:17 refers to pharaoh in Exodus 9:13-35 as an example of someone whom God allowed to oppose His will so that His power might be manifested by the plagues. The OT passage indicates that pharaoh was conscious of his sin but “He and his officials hardened their hearts” (v.34b).

33. Romans 9:18 says that God “hardens whom He wants to harden”, which raises the question asked in v.19, “Why does God blame sinners who cannot resist His will?” Paul’s response (Rom. 9:20-21) is that God has the might and thus the right to determine what is right. Then he speculates (“What if”) that God might have patiently endured evildoers (#20) as evidence of His glory toward recipients of His mercy (Rom. 9:22-23).

34. In Romans 9:24-33 and 10:1-4 Paul notes that God elected to choose Gentiles with saving faith instead of Israelites who sought salvation by works and stumbled over the Gospel of Christ, even though “everyone who believes” receives righteousness or s/e.

35. Romans 10:9 states God’s requirement for s/e as “confess Jesus as the resurrected Lord”, v.10 clarifies that the condition of faith (#31) precedes the work of confession, and vs.11-13 reiterate that all sinners who call on the name of the Lord will be s/e.

36. Romans 10:18 cites Psalm 19:4, which hints that God’s s/e has been possible for everyone in the world. This implication may also be seen in Gal. 3:8, Col. 1:23 and Tit. 2:11 as well as Rom. 1:20.

The concerns of those who accept TULIP—to affirm the sovereignty of God and the inability of souls to earn salvation—are valid, but the solutions are problematic, because they deny or ignore Scripture teaching the love of God for all sinners and the moral accountability of sinners for rejecting the love of God, thereby effectively perverting the Gospel (Gal. 5:6) and impugning God’s justness/righteousness (Psa. 33:5, Isa. 9:7).

The apparent reasons for these errors are threefold:
1. Ignorance of Scripture that contradicts their dogma, such as those teaching the possibility of apostasy,
2. Viewing faith as a meritorious work rather than as the non-meritorious condition of cooperating with God’s grace, and
3. Unconcern about portraying God as unjust by showing favoritism toward the elect. Once these errors are cured by including Scripture supporting MFW, doctrinal harmony is enhanced.

Hope this helps,

I just find it hard to believe that an all-knowing God would offer His gift to someone and it being rejected. The gift that He offers is repentance for sins committed. That was Jesus' first sermon, to call sinners to repentance. This repentance leads one to turn to God for forgiveness. The knowledge of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus' death on the cross is brought to him through preaching and the Bible. When he believes Jesus baptizes him in the name of the Holy Spirit which acts as a doorway for Jesus and the Father, who is in Jesus, to enter the being indwelled. It is they who change the motivation for living from love of self first, to love of God first and all others as one loves himself. Those are the two greatest commandments that Jesus described when he was asked. The results of this change is acts of love.

​