In this article, Kevin DeYoung addresses question of whether sanctification is a monergistic or synergistic work – original source in a leadership training class at our church, a spirited discussion broke out on whether sanctification is monergistic or synergisitic. No, this is not what every class is like at University Reformed Church. But this one was. I wasn’t there, but I was told the discussion was energetic, intelligent, and respectful. I’m glad to serve at a church where people know and care about this level of theological precision.

The terms monergism and synergism refer to the working of God in regeneration. Monergism teaches that we are born again by only one working (mono is Greek for “one,” erg is from the Greek word for “work”). Synergism teaches that we are born again by human cooperation with the grace of God (the syn prefix means “with” in Greek). The Protestant Reformers strongly opposed all synergistic understandings of the new birth. They believed that given the spiritual deadness and moral inability of man, our regeneration is owing entirely to the sovereign work of God. We do not cooperate and we do not contribute to our being born again. Three cheers for monergism.

But what should we say about sanctification? On the one hand, Reformed Christians are loathe to use the word synergistic. We certainly don’t want to suggest that God’s grace is somehow negligible in sanctification. Nor do we want to suggest that the hard work of growing in godliness is not a supernatural gift from God. On the other hand, we are on dangerous ground if we imply that we are passive in sanctification in the same way we are passive in regeneration. We don’t want to suggest God is the only active agent in our progressive sanctification. So which is it: is sanctification monergistic or synergistic?

I think it’s best to stay away from both terms. The distinction is very helpful (and very important) when talking about regeneration, but these particular theological terms muddy the waters when talking about sanctification. Synergism sounds like a swear word to Reformed folks, so no one wants to say it. And yet, monergism is not the right word either. To make it the right word we have to provide a different definition than we give it when discussing the new birth. What does it mean to say regeneration and sanctification are both monergistic if we are entirely passive in one and active in the other?

Those who say sanctification is monergistic want to protect the gracious, supernatural character of sanctification. Those who say sanctification is synergistic want to emphasize that we must actively cooperated with the grace in sanctification. These emphases are both correct. And yet, I believe it is better to defend both of these points with careful explanation rather than with terms that have normally been employed in a different theological controversy. Sanctification is both a gracious gift of God and it requires our active cooperation. I’ve tried to show in previous posts that these two truths are biblical. In this post I want to show these two truths are also eminently Reformed.

Let me give a few brief examples.

John Calvin (1509-64)

Commenting on 2 Peter 1:5 (“make every effort to add to your faith…”), Calvin says:

As it is an arduous work and of immense labour, to put off the corruption which is in us, he bids us to strive and make every effort for this purpose. He intimates that no place is to be given in this case to sloth, and that we ought to obey God calling us, not slowly or carelessly, but that there is need of alacrity; as though he had said, “Put forth every effort, and make your exertions manifest to all.” Continue reading →

Any would-be pilot engages in intense, rigorous training and testing before he is ever allowed to fly a commercial airplane, and rightly so. People’s lives depend on a wise and safe operator of the plane in all weather conditions.

Early on in the training, a pilot learns the difference between visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR). As the words might suggest, one refers to the rules of flight when visibility is good, the other, when visibility is hampered in some way. I am told that a licensed pilot can fly when there are good visibility conditions but only IFR certified pilots can fly when there is cloud cover of any kind.

The instrument panel in the cockpit is a highly expensive part of the plane, if not the most expensive. It is absolutely vital that the gage readings are accurate, allowing the pilot to determine the pitch, altitude and speed of the aircraft. The pilot learns to trust the instruments more than his own feelings and perceptions.

The instruments are right, even when he might feel that they are wrong. He may feel he is not flying so fast, but if his instruments indicate otherwise, he must slow down before landing. He may feel a whole number of things in fact, and many times, what he feels might indeed be true, but his training reaffirms to him, over and over again, and then over and over again… that feelings are not safe; they cannot be trusted; the instruments alone are the final guide in all things.

I think it is fairly easy to see how pilot training illustrates the Christian life. Our senses are not dependable guides when it comes to knowing our standing before God. Like the instruments of the cockpit, the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith for the people of God. By it, we determine our doctrine of God, and of His gospel. The Bible is right when our feelings might well suggest other conclusions. God has spoken with clarity in His word. In fact, it is more accurate than any instrument that man can build. The Bible alone is the infallible, inerrant word of God, because God Himself is its author.

In the storms of life, what a safe refuge the word of God is. The Scripture says “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7) We walk by the instrument of God’s word rather than by our senses.

When condemnation tries to raise its ugly head, how wonderful it is to know that “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 5:1; 8:1). When we feel we just can’t take anything more that the world might throw at us, how great it is to know that “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” On and on we can go, checking our instrument (so to speak), to know with total assurance, the word of God is the sure guide for all of life and ministry – not merely necessary, but totally sufficient.

Make your own application…

Happy New Year to you!!!!

Someone once said that for the vast majority of people, January 1st is the most positive day of the year. We all start with a new and clean slate and taking stock of our lives, can see where we are and what needs to change. Then, determing that with God’s help we can make sure and steady progress in certain areas of our lives, we can resolve to make the changes we know we need to make.

We all tend to over-emphasize the dramatic impactful moments that we call “life changing” but often under-emphasize the seemingly mundane moments found in our daily routine. A weekend of high impact aerobics has a very short measure of lasting change compared to taking 30 minutes each day to take a walk or perhaps some more rigorous exercise (by the way, that’s something I am seeking to implement in my own daily schedule). When we do something every day, over time, the results are remarkable. The secrets of success are found in our daily routine.

In each of the main areas of our lives, January 1st is a good time to resolve to do what we know we should do. Whether we resolve to make change in the spiritual sphere (our personal relationship with God, time spent in prayer and the word of God as well as our commitment to the people of God), or whether physically in terms of health choices (what we eat, how much we sleep, exercise regimen, etc.), emotionally (making taking on a new hobby or a resolve to throw our care and anxiety on to the Lord with greater haste and frequency), intellectually (perhaps reading at least one book every month), financially (setting goals, balancing checkbook, etc.), or whether it be what we do with our family and friends (which is HUGELY important), we can all assess where we are and seek to apply the change we wish to see.

We should always, always, always make changes for the right reasons though. The wrong reason is to do so to try to gain a better relationship with God. Such would be to trample the only Gospel there is, which tells us Christ alone saves, by His work, not ours, by God’s grace and not our merits, through faith alone apart from works. Though we should strive to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” we do so only because God is at work in us on a journey of grace from start to finish – and for grace to be grace, our works are never part of the equation in terms of the grounds for our acceptance with God. Remind your soul of that. Then do it again. Works is the default mode of our human depravity and unless we preach the gospel to ourselves every day, we will all tend to hear another message bellowing forth from our soul telling us if we just do more, God will be pleased with us. Yet God is pleased with us because of the work of Christ for us; while in contrast, all our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The works we do are a response to God’s grace in justifying us, not a means of trying to get it. That’s why Ephesians 2:10 FOLLOWS Ephesians 2:8, 9. Works are the fruit not the root of our justification before God.

We all know that the intake of God’s word should be a regular part of our lives. Man shall not live by bread alone, the Scripture says, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Here’s something I put together regarding Bible reading – at the end of the short article is a link to various ways of engaging with Scripture each day. Enjoy the ride, not driven by legalistic slavery, but by a heart seeking to walk with the One who first loved you, when you were hostile towards Him. We love Him because He first loved us.

Here’s three quotes I pondered today:

“That tiny hill in that tiny land is the centre of all history, not only of this world, but of all the countless galaxies and island universes of outer space from eternity to eternity.” – Paul Billheimer

“Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.” – Tullian Tchividjian

“I made a pile of my good works and a heap of my bad works; and I fled them both to Christ.” – David Dixon

Food for thought indeed!

Once again, have a wonderful and happy new year. I am very much looking forward to growing in grace with you in 2013.

John

Julie Lowe discusses the dynamics involved in trusting the Lord in a season of waiting (2 minute 23 seconds video).

Julie Lowe – Waiting On the Lord from CCEF on Vimeo.

HT: Dane Ortlund

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Richard Gaffin (Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary) explains the connection between God’s electing grace and our personal holiness.

Christ Has a Stake in Our Sanctification from Desiring God on Vimeo.

It’s such a long word — sanctification. And it has such a churchy ring to it. No one uses this language outside the church.

So why not adopt a simpler term from the secular world and freight it afresh with Christian content?

While expositing Romans 6:23, but not the manuscript) to tackle this question and also provide a short but substantive definition of what Christian theology means by the term “sanctification.”

Now I know sanctification is a church word. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the word sanctification in the Minneapolis StarTribune. It’s a church word.

So someone might say, “Why don’t you choose a non-church word?” There are reasons for that — not the least of which is that sanctification is built on the Latin word sanctus, which means “holy,” and the world doesn’t know anything about holiness. That’s a church word too.

I will not let the scope of my reality be governed by the paucity of vocabulary in the fallen, secular world. What a folly to think that the world could create enough words to treat infinite realities we learn from the Bible!

The force must go the other way. There are realities in the Word about holiness that the church must teach the world to know — we have to tell the world what it doesn’t have a clue about, and then create words for it, and say, “You have to get the word holiness into your vocabulary.”

We need the word sanctification. If we tried to built it on a non-Latin word and said “holification,” it wouldn’t be any better. Where there are words with enough overlap, I’m happy to take them — plunder the Egyptians — and use what they have, and make it plain as I can. But I’m not going to sacrifice the word sanctification because nobody in the world uses it. I’m going to teach it.

So here’s the definition: progressively becoming like Jesus. Gradually becoming like Jesus, or becoming holy. Becoming conformed to the image of Christ. Little by little, over time — from conversion till Jesus comes back, or you die — you are in the process of sanctification, becoming sanctified, becoming holy.

HT: David Mathis

From the desiring god website:

Part 1: Earlier this Spring John Piper and Tim Keller sat down to discuss the biblical vision of sanctification. In this 14-minute video they touch on how justification and sanctification relate, along with the psychological dynamics of faith.

Time-markers:

00:20 — How Keller talks about sanctification.

2:25 — What are we conforming to in sanctification?

3:45 — How does justification relate to sanctification?

6:40 — The psychological dynamics of faith.

9:00 — What does it mean to “owe God everything”?

11:20 — “I’m going to work my tail off for Jesus, and it’s all of grace.”

Part 2: The discussion continues in this 15-minute video, including some practical guidance for in-the-moment motivations for holiness.

Time-markers:

0:01 — When action is enticed by a blessing.

3:00 — Looking for the past and future for sanctification now.

4:44 — How pleasure relates to our motives.

7:10 — The battle against pornography and being a “John Owen guy.”

11:10 — Three levels of motivation for holiness.

11:29 — Strategies and means of grace for holiness.

Tim Challies conducted a short interview with Dr. Piper. He writes:

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview John Piper. I promptly solicited questions from you, the readers of this site, and Pastor John was kind enough to answer them. Because the focus of this year’s Desiring God National Conference is sanctification, I asked him questions related to that subject. In this interview he discusses why sanctification is not an instantaneous act, how we can emphasize personal toil in holiness without diminishing the goodness and sovereignty of God, why we need to continue to confess our sins to God, and how we can know if we are growing in sanctification. If you read only one of the answers, be sure it is the final one!

What is God’s purpose in making sanctification a lifelong pursuit rather than an instantaneous act at the moment of conversion?

First, I agree with the assumption that this is true. God does do this. That is, he intentionally does not conquer all our sins in an instant, though he could. He could perfect us now. We know this because he is going to do it when we die. We will not sin in heaven. We will be among “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Heb. 12:23).

And we know that God will finally throw Satan into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10) and take away his influence in the new world entirely. If he will do it then, he could do it now. But he doesn’t. He gives Satan leash. So why is Satan allowed to rage, and why does God let us go on stumbling toward holiness?

I am not aware of any text in the Bible that answers this question explicitly. So we answer with inferences from God’s broader statements of purpose. The largest answer is that God does all things for the greater display of his glory, and so this too must be for his glory.

One clue to make this more specific comes from Romans 9:22-23. Paul asks rhetorically, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy?”

Could God’s purpose in “enduring vessels of wrath” be a pointer to his enduring the sins of his people and the raging of his arch-enemy?

In the case of those who will never repent, God’s patience intensifies the display of his power and wrath. And when God forgives his people 70 times 7 times 7 times 7, does he not intensify the display of his mercy?

And does he not provide the most intense experiences of our own humbling and remorse as we see what becomes of us when we fail to trust God’s grace and power? And so God displays both our inadequacy and his all-merciful sufficiency in allowing us to go on stumbling toward holiness.

How do you emphasize personal toil and effort in sanctification without diminishing sanctification as an act of trust in God?

First by seeking to maintain the biblical proportions. The barometer of our balance is the Bible, not the sentiments of our audience. Over the long haul are we speaking in biblical proportions? This requires not just adding up the effort-passages and the rest-passages, but also being so immersed in the spirit of the Bible that we discern the spiritual tone of how to speak of both.

We do not gloss over the words of Jesus, “Strive to enter through the narrow door.” (Luke 13:24)

Or the words of Paul, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Cor. 9:25-27)

Or the words of Peter, “Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election” (2 Peter 1:10).

But we bring these commands under the blood-bought promise of God’s commitment to complete the work he has begun (Phil. 1:6) and work in us what pleases him (Heb. 13:20-21) and sanctify us wholly (1 Thess. 5:23-24), and “fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power” (2 Thess. 1:11).

We never forget that there is a “holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). And we never for get that “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). Because he strove with sin and death and Satan, and triumphed, we strive with the assurance we too will prevail.

Why do believers need to continually confess their sins to receive forgiveness for them? If Christ has paid for sins past, present, and future, what actually transacts when I confess my sin to God?

One might think that this problem is created by the contrast between John and Jesus on the one side, and Paul on the other. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Similarly Jesus tells us to pray, “Forgive us our debts,” with the same frequency as “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:12).

But Colossians 2:13-14 says, “You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” And Ephesians 4:32 says, “Forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (See also Col. 3:13.)

So Paul seems to treat forgiveness as past and secure, while John and Jesus seem to treat it as future and contingent—“If we confess . . .”

However the problem is not between John and Paul, or Jesus and Paul, but between John and John. 1 John 2:12 says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.” Here John speaks like Paul. All your sins have been forgiven (perfect tense). So the tension is between 1 John 1:9 and 2:12. This matters because while one might be tempted to pit author against author, it is harder to pit an author against himself.

I think there are two kinds of solution.

1. The solution in 1 John comes from noticing what John says in 1:7-8, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess …” Confessing our sins is the opposite of “saying we have no sin.” If we say that, “the truth is not in us.” That is, we are not Christians. We are not born again.

So John sees “confessing our sins” as a habitual way of seeing ourselves “in the light.” Walking in the light (v. 7) includes not saying we are sinless. Walking in the light means seeing sin for what it is and acknowledging it as such. If we walk in the light this way, that is live a life of acknowledged (rather than denied) sin, “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.”

All sin! In other words, John is not thinking that every sin must be recalled and confessed, else it’s not forgiven. Rather, he is thinking: Are we real Christians? Or are we deceiving ourselves by denying we have sin? If we are real, if we are walking in the light, if we have a continual acknowledgement of our sin, then we are truly born again, truly connected to Christ, truly under the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus.

In short, John 1:9 is saying that, if we confess our sins, the truth is in us, and we are really born of God and united to Christ so that all the forgiveness that Christ purchased is ours.

2. When Jesus teaches us to pray daily, “Forgive us our debts …” he is probably pointing us in the same direction as 1 John (and Paul). We need not take him to mean that every sin must be remembered. He knew the psalmists cry, “Declare me innocent from hidden faults” (19:12). We do not know all our sins. We can’t confess them all by name.

So Jesus probably means: Be aware of your sinfulness. Take note of your sins. Feel their sting. Be grieved by them. Do not hide them. Bring them before God, and ask that the Messiah’s blood cover them all. Jesus knew the plan of Isaiah 53:6, “The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And he knew he was the one who would bear the sins of many. “The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

So when he told us to ask daily for forgiveness he meant, Ask that God daily apply to us what Christ bought for us. The price of forgiveness was paid once for all. The application to particular sins in our lives is experienced day by day. We add nothing to the purchase. “Father, forgive us,” does not contradict, “The Lord has forgiven you” (Col 3:13). It means: Apply that decisive purchase, that decisive letting go of sin to this days shortcomings.

How can you know if you are making progress in your sanctification and how can you know how much progress you are making? Is sanctification something that can be measured?

Paul believed that sanctification has degrees. You can grow. He prays that “your love may abound more and more” (Phil. 1:9). He says the Thessalonians are pleasing God and tells them to “do so more and more” (1 Thess. 4:1). He tells the Corinthians that God will “increase the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Cor. 9:10). And prays, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all” (1 Thess. 3:12).

But the New Testament does not quantify these degrees. “More and more” and “increasing” are discernible but not measurable. That is, while length is quantified in inches and feet. Holiness does not have similar measuring units.

So how do you know you are making progress? There is a paradox here. On the one hand, greater holiness is greater victory over sins. But on the other hand, greater holiness is greater sensitivity to and hatred for sin. So it does not follow that becoming more holy will mean becoming more happy with oneself. You may be a better person tomorrow and feel worse about the smaller corruption that remains.

But there are ways to discern growth. One is that those around you will see it and confirm it. Another is that you will see some of it. You will feel the weakening of some temptations as love for Christ pushes the desirability of sin far away. You will feel drawn to holy acts that once were burdens. And you will have holy sorrow when you omit them, not just guilt over a duty neglected. You will see the preferences in your life change. What was once supremely desirable is trumped by a superior desire for Christ and his word and his way. And you will confirm your heart change in action. Action that becomes less burdensome as love grows. “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

We can and should make progress in sanctification. And we can and should be aware that it is happening. This will encourage us that God is at work in our lives. And it will humble us because progress will mean we can see more clearly how far we have to go and how small are our advances. And how much we will always need a great Savior.