Reading the free will issue in Calvin’s Institutes a few weeks ago got me thinking about that classic idea of synergism in salvation. So I wanted to make a separate blog entry. Today I finally got to it.
The issue of synergism in God's salvation work has been with the church is the at least the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Theological positions known as Pelagianism and Arminianism have been the strongest voice for it.
Synergism asserts that man is able to cooperate with God’s grace of salvation. The will is free and able to choose God making faith the action of fallen man. The will of man excited or moved by God cooperates with God by believing.
The Council of Trent (Session 6, Canon 4) Canon 4 declares. “If anyone says that man's free will moved and aroused by God, by assenting to God's call and action, in no way cooperates toward disposing and preparing itself to obtain the grace of justification, that it cannot refuse its assent if it wishes, but that, as something inanimate, it does nothing whatever and is merely passive, let him be anathema.”
Scripture gives us these truths in response the above argument. First, fallen man has no inate natural ability to co-operate with God because of original sin.(Gen 6:5; 8:21; Jn 3:6; Eph 2:1-3; Rom 3:10ff; Ezk 26:26). Second, co-operation with God is impossible because the very nature of regeneration. Dead sinners need to be made alive and this is solely a work of God alone. Regeneration is impossible for man (1 Cor 2:14; Rom 8:7; Jer 13:23). Regeneration is being created in the image of God – only God can create us in his own image (Col 3:10). It is a “creation,” (2 Cor 5:17), a “resurrection” (Col 2:12) which are divine infinite acts of God’s power alone. No man can aid in creation or resurrection. Third, faith is a gift of God (Eph 2:8-9; 1 Jn 4:10, 19; Jn 6:44-45; 1 Jn 2:20, 27; Phil 1:29). Last, the Bible plainly says salvation is the work of God alone (Ps 100:3; Jn 1:12-13; James 1:18; 1 Pet 1:3; Tit 3:5).
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