Bible outlook

By Guest Author

Christian theology is a rather interesting subject to discuss, especially considering all the different views that surround it. Monergism is one of the primary topics discussed when it comes to Salvation in Christianity alongside synergism, transcendence, resurrection, and others.

Both monergism and synergism have been discussed and debated for centuries since they offer fairly different views when it comes to who affects salvation. The following article is going to cover monergism, as well as how it differs from synergism.

What Is Monergism Exactly?

To put it simply, monergism comes from a compound Greek word, which translates to “to work alone.” Here, the monergism view states that God is the one who affects our salvation, which is closely tied to the doctrines of grace; these are held by Reformed and Calvinistic traditions.

In other words, according to monergism, God works with the Holy Spirit to bring salvation to a person using spiritual regeneration. Here, it’s important to note that spiritual regeneration happens regardless of whether the person cooperates or not. 

According to monergism, people have complete freedom as humans before they start the regeneration process. Freedom, in this case, refers to a person’s ability to be able to choose what they want in life. In other words, a human will not possess any inclination to salvation or holiness in general until they’re fully regenerated; this is why they cannot cooperate with the regeneration process.

How Does Monergism Differ from Synergism?

As mentioned before, monergism and synergism are particularly different. While monergism states that God is the only entity that starts the regeneration process through the Holy Spirit, the synergism view argues that humans work alongside God to achieve salvation.

Synergism comes from a compound Greek word that translates to “to work together.” Here, humans are reborn through a combination of human will and divine grace. As you can see, both views oppose each other.

While monergism states that God alone is going to start the regeneration process, synergism (as its name implies) also requires human will alongside the Holy Spirit to achieve salvation in the end. 

Important Points That Support Monergism and Synergism

Both doctrines have strong arguments that support them. However, both are “true” regarding Bible passages. Regarding monergism, for example, we have these passages: 

“…For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, following his pleasure and will.” – Ephesians 1:4-5.

Here, before the world — as we know it — was created, we were chosen to be in Christ by God based on his will and purpose. Still, there’s another passage (by Romans 9:16) that suggests that salvation doesn’t depend on a human’s desires but rather on God’s will:

“It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” According to this passage, it would be safe to assume that God works to save people, not to make them savable.

However, the Five Articles of the Remonstrance show support for the synergist doctrine. According to these articles, “those who decide to believe in Jesus through the Holy Ghost’s grace shall persevere in this faith through God’s grace.” 

John 3:36 also states that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” These arguments would suggest that salvation could be a conditional factor depending on the person’s faith or perseverance.

Bottom Line

Overall, monergism claims that God alone is sufficient to achieve salvation in humans, whereas synergism claims that, while God is a necessary condition, it’s not sufficient since it also needs human will.

However, many argue that there’s a flaw in synergism: We save ourselves by placing our faith in Christ, which would mean that God himself doesn’t save humans since the responsibility falls on ourselves. Still, that would also mean that there’s a possibility that no one would be saved in the end, which contradicts other passages, such as Romans 8:28-30.

The Monergism vs. Synergism debate has been going for quite some time, and it’s not expected to end soon. Still, people need to understand both points of view so that they can come up with better conclusions based on their beliefs.