Monergism: The view that the Holy Spirit is the only agent who effects regeneration of Christians.
It is in contrast with synergism, the view that there is a cooperation between the divine and the human in the regeneration process.
Monergism is a redemptive blessing purchased by Christ for those the Father has given Him (1 Pet 1:3, John 3:5,6, 6:37, 39).
This grace works independently of any human cooperation and conveys that power into the fallen soul whereby the person who is to be saved is effectually enabled to respond to the gospel call (John 1:13; Acts 2:39, 13:48; Rom 9:16).
It is that supernatural power of God alone whereby we are granted the spiritual ability to comply with the conditions of the covenant of grace; that is, to apprehend the Redeemer by a living faith, to come up to the terms of salvation, to repent of idols and to love God and the Mediator supremely.
from:Monergism.com: Classic Articles and Resources of the Historic Christian Faith
[thanks, TulipGirl, for sharing about this site!]
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this is, in a nutshell, what i believe.... you can see how it would effect one's view on evangelism, i'm sure!.... i don't have to run to the lost screaming, 'repent now or you're going to hell!'.... becuase they can't. when and if they do repent, it is a work of God.
i find it so pompous when i read quotes like this:
"You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go not only to those that need you, but to those that need you most…It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance.”
John Wesley
hello, they can't just CHOOSE what they can't see... they are blinded by sin and satan!!!! they can't come without the grace of God first touching them at His will.
so what is my role?
to love, to share the gospel, to disciple, to minister..... and to relax and remember that i am NOT responsible to keep someone out of hell. it's God's job to save people, not mine. it's my job to love them, water them, reach out to them, speak the truth in love.... not to try to manipulate the unregenerate into mentally assenting to something that in their fallen state they cannot understand.
i am a missionary. i am a missionary in my back-yard. i am a missionary to the seekers whom God puts in my path. if i am called to china, then great; but how often are the perishing IN THE CHURCHES ignored? the people who do not know Jesus, but who are there becuase it's the 'right' thing to do? the people who have heard the gospel, but only through vessels whom have abused them? becuase they only heard religion... not love. THEY are who i am called to be a missionary to.... right here in canada.
"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once."
Oswald J. Smith
i'm sorry, but i think that one's a bunch of baloney.... becuase those people may have heard it with their ears, but have totally not understood it with their hearts... not felt the love behind the gospel.
if a gardener sows seeds, and they fall on hard soil, what does he do? he goes back and tills the soil... and tills the soil some more... until it is ready to recieve the seed.
God tills the soil... i am merely the tool He uses.
i will preach the gospel again, and again, and again, until, God willing, they finally UNDERSTAND.
"The reason some folks don't believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn't worth propagating."
unknown
that's true... it isn't worth propagating.... no religion is. THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IS NOT WORTH PROPOGATING. there, you heard me say it. becuase Jesus isn't religion, He's relationship.
and where there is love, there is the desire to share that love. God is love. it's His very nature to love. Him in us gives us the very nature to love. that is being a missionary.
” Whenever, in any century, whether in a single heart or in a company of believers, there has been a fresh effusion of the Spirit, there has followed inevitably a fresh endeavor in the work of evangelizing the world.”
A. J. Gordon
THAT is the gas in the tank of the evangelism motor: LOVE... a person's relationship with Jesus.. how much they love Him and He gives them His heart for the perishing.
it's not guilt. God doesn't guilt us, the accuser does...
"'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world."
William Booth
message: you are a hearless, disobedient, un-christian lazybones. result: GUILT!
"If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death."
Dave Davidson
message: you are hiding the medicine for the person YOU supposedly can heal...GUILT!
"In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions?"
Dave Davidson
message: you are lazy, lazy, lazy...GUILT!
"The reason some folks don't believe in missions is that the brand of religion they have isn't worth propagating."
unknown
message: and you call yourself a christian... tsk tsk... GUILT!
"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time"
Carl F. H. Henry
message: you're not doing your good works fast enough!!!! hurry!!!.... GUILT!
"As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those who have both."
J. L. Ewen
oh, this one makes me mad... does the call to exhort, edify, and encourage the body mean nothing to you?
the message: don't waste time on those who are already saved.... GUILT!
"The command has been to 'go,' but we have stayed -- in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth ... but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland."
Robert Savage
message: if you don't leave home, you're 'without it'.. ie faith. ...GUILT!
"Believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story."
K.P. Yohannan
message: don't waste time speaking to yourself with hymns, songs, and spiritual songs.... GUILT!
ok, enough, you get my point.
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