Monergism vs. synergism - which view is correct?

On the one hand, God is sovereign, else none were saved. On the other, man is responsible, else none could be judged. You may not be able to explain God's sovereignty in relation to man's responsibility, but you are called upon to believe both, for both are clearly stated in Scripture. Romans 11 is the plainest, strongest statement as to God's sovereignty. Responsibility is emphasised throughout the entire Word of God.

Let us by the grace of God maintain firmly both these great facts — God is sovereign in His gracious actings: man, though fallen, is a responsible creature and addressed as such. The truth of Divine sovereignty is plainly stated in Scripture. Read such passages as John 6:37-44; Romans 9:10-24; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:2. Equally plain is man's responsibility. Read such passages as John 3:16-18; Romans 2:6-16; 1 Peter 4:5-6, Let us then accept both, even if as yet we do not see far enough to discern exactly how they fit in with each other.

Sometimes God emphasises responsibility in His Word — we have to believe! Sometimes He emphasises His own sovereign work — He has to intervene so that men receive a new nature and eternal life. In some cases, like this one, both sides are presented. However, God’s Word never mixes up the two. Each is true in itself even though we cannot reconcile them because our human minds are limited. In thankfulness, we accept them both as they are.

No doubt salvation is as free as the grace of God can make it. Moreover, it is all of God from first to last. God is its source, Christ its channel, the Holy Spirit its power of application and enjoyment. All this is blessedly true, but we must never forget that man is a responsible being, a guilty sinner commanded to repent and turn to God. It is not that repentance has any saving virtue in it. As well might we assert that the feelings of a drowning man could save him from drowning or that a man could make a fortune by a deed of bankruptcy filed against him. Salvation is wholly of grace; it is of the Lord in its every stage and every aspect. We cannot be too emphatic in the statement of all this, but at the same time we must remember that our blessed Lord and His apostles constantly urged upon men, both Jews and Gentiles, the solemn duty of repentance.

Men may reject this salvation. Regretfully, they do reject it, but that can never touch the question of the wide aspect of that grace which shines with undimmed luster in the gospel and brings a full and free salvation to all. Their guilt in rejecting it flows from the fact that it is freely offered. If they could not get it, where would be their guilt in not having it? Where the righteous judgment in punishing men for not receiving what was never intended for them? (2 Thess. 1:6-10). True it is that God is sovereign, but it is equally true that man is responsible. Are we called to reconcile these things? No, they are reconciled already inasmuch as both are taught in the Word. All we have to do is believe them.

Can we not see a striking type here? The great salvation which is ours is not something that we accomplish, but it is something that we appropriate in faith, and we are warned against neglecting it. By His death and resurrection Christ has wrought salvation on our behalf, and we have no hand in it. But this does not shut us up to that species of fatalism which would say that there is nothing we can do about it, and that, if we are to be saved, we shall be without any move on our part; and that if we are not going to be saved, that is final and nothing we can do will alter it. Truly only Christ can accomplish the work but it is ours to go forward in faith and receive for ourselves the benefit of what He has done. Let us endeavour to hold evenly the balance between these two sides of Gospel truth.

This is admittedly a paradox: it seems to be contradictory, but is not. Believers have often had great difficulty with this matter. Some have seen one side so clearly that they deny the other side, or take away its real significance in an effort to make the two fit to their satisfaction. But both are fully true, and not to be tampered with. Some will say that only God's divine choice is to be considered, and therefore that God gave His Son only for the elect. Thus they preach a limited atonement, available to the elect alone and to no others. On the other hand, some insist that salvation depends entirely on the choice of individuals, saying that Christ bore the sins of all, and the one determining factor in their salvation is their own will in either accepting or rejecting the salvation of God. They insist that God leaves this choice entirely to the "free will" of the individual.

That is so. He who inclines to Arminianism would hold the first view. He who inclines to Calvinism would hold the second. This raises the whole question of how to adjust in our minds the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. We should answer the question by saying, No, not by simply believing the Gospel; for, if by believing only, we should be shutting out factors of even greater importance. But of course we should be equally wrong if we said it was simply by the Spirit; for then we should be shutting out the Gospel, which must not be excluded according to the passage in Peter.

If we wish to speak with scriptural accuracy, the answer must be, No. He has to receive Christ; but that is a somewhat different matter. Choose is a word with active force. It implies certain powers of discrimination and selection. To speak of a sinner choosing Christ supposes that he has powers which he does not possess.

Receive is passive rather than active in force. It implies that instead of exercising his powers, the sinner simply falls into line with God's offer. It is the word Scripture uses.

The gospel of God's grace comes to man as a ruined, guilty, helpless being. Hence God must be a great Actor in redemption. By His counsel alone it was planned; through His mercy alone it was accomplished in "the one offering of Jesus Christ once for all"; and by the Spirit's power alone is the sinner quickened into life and believes the glorious and peace-giving tidings of salvation.