Man's responsibility and God's Grace

[Jillian]

Hey, Pastor Mike. My question is one that I know has been heavily debated with no clear, simple answer, but I would like your take on it, especially in light of a couple of your recent sermons. I feel like Christians are in a very grace-heavy culture that seems to me to be interpreted as that it doesn't matter what you do or where you are because you can't earn God's freely given grace. Multiple times I've heard preachers and fellow Christians say that reading your bible and praying every day won't earn you more favor with God as we all access Him through Christ, who is always available. This means that we don't need to feel punished by God when we haven't been performing the way we would want to perform. I agree with the truths in these statements and I know from personal experience that nothing I have done has earned me salvation, but in my relationship with God some of these ideas have fallen flat. If I'm stuck in a sin pattern and only pray once a month for a few minutes and go right back to my life like normal, I am not connected with Him and His will in the same way as I am when I'm consciously turning to Him and communicating with Him daily. In yesterday's sermon you spoke of God being angry with prayers for a variety of reasons. A few weeks ago in your sermon on Genesis 35:1-15 you mentioned that if we've strayed from God, He didn't put us there.. We did, and we need to acknowledge our part in it and refocus. I really appreciate you exhorting us to acknowledge where we've failed in our relationships with God. So my question is, how do you think all of this fits together? How much of it is my responsibility? If God sees us as redeemed in Christ, why is there a noticeable difference in my life when I'm actively pursuing Him versus when I'm not (or does pursuing Him just open up my eyes to Him more)? I know that's a lot & I hope I've conveyed it well. I've been chewing on this thought since yesterday & trying to figure out the best way to ask it.

[Mike Miller]

I love this question! I am of the opinion that where salvation is concerned, we cannot possibly over-emphasize the grace of God (though we can distort it). However, with the preaching of grace, some might get the impression that we have no responsibility at all in living out our salvation. This has led some, as Jude said, to "pervert the grace of our God into sensuality" (Jude 4). Paul even anticipated some wrongly taking advantage of grace when, in Romans 6, he said, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Let's think of it in these terms: Justification is monergistic, and sanctification is synergistic. Justification is typically what we mean when we speak of the moment of our salvation. When we turn to Christ by faith, we are declared not guilty by God as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. From that moment on, we are judged, not by our own deeds and condition, but by the perfect righteousness of Jesus. That act of justification is solely the work of God. The term we use to describe that, being the work of one, is "monergism." Ephesians 2:1-10 is one text that explains that we are saved (raised to new life and given the faith to repent and believe) by the grace of God alone. See also John 1:12-13; 3:1-8; 6:44, 65; Titus 3:4-7.

Sanctification, on the other hand, is the process of becoming more like Jesus throughout our Christian life. We call this work synergistic because it is accomplished by the cooperating work of an individual and the Holy Spirit. This means we don't just sit idly and wait for the Holy Spirit to make us holy. Nor do we work in our own strength and wisdom to become holy. Once we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we are prompted by Him by way of conviction of sin, a change in our desires (now desiring holiness), and the reading/hearing of Scripture. As we are prompted by Him, we are responsible to act, and as we do so we can be certain of His empowering us to live out the will of God. So, we err in our sanctification when we do nothing and leave it all up to God, and we err when we try to be good enough apart from the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, as Jonathan Edwards once said, the only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. The Bible consistently emphasizes that we cannot earn or contribute to our salvation. However, Scripture is repeatedly admonishing saved people to act--to be holy, to get rid of sin, to love one another, to pursue the things of God, etc. Though our salvation is secure by God, the quality of our relationship with God will be directly tied to the effort we put into that relationship. If we don't read our Bibles or pray, or if we desire to continue in unrepentant sin, then our relationship with Him will suffer, and we can expect Him to discipline us as our loving Father (Hebrews 12:3-17).

[Jillian]

Synergism and monergism, what a perfect way to describe this! I was speaking with Marshall about all of this before I wrote the question, and one of the ideas I tossed out was whether or not God's grace is more freely given in salvation than in sanctification. I know that that's incorrect and out of line with the immutable character of God, but I couldn't find the proper way to echo my thoughts. Those two words give a perfect description and way to think about it. Thanks!