We’ve been looking at how so much of the church today has been led to believe God does everything for us in salvation and we don’t have a part to play. We’ve seen (I hope) that this is wrong, and it’s harmful, because it keeps us from fully experiencing salvation and carrying out our mission in the world. What is needed today is a return to the disciplines of Christianity as taught by Jesus, His apostles and early disciples. As John Wesley said, “It was a common saying among the Christians in the primitive Church, “The soul and the body make a man; the spirit and discipline make a Christian;” implying, that none could be real Christians, without the help of Christian discipline. But if this be so, is it any wonder that we find so few Christians; for where is Christian discipline? In what part of England (to go no farther) is Christian discipline added to Christian doctrine? Now, whatever doctrine is preached, where there is not discipline, it cannot have its full effect upon the hearers.” (sermon 116) Let’s continue to look at this in today’s study.
We need to do this, because Christians cannot live a truly spiritual life just because their pastors exhort them to. They cannot do it because they feel guilty or because their emotions are whipped up at church services for a brief time. It can only be achieved as we understand what is required of us and begin to take it seriously by applying spiritual disciplines in our lives.
Our greatest problem is confusion about what salvation by grace means. We easily excuse lack of spiritual application and effort because we know we cannot earn our salvation. But as Dallas Willard so rightly explains, “God is not opposed to effort but to earning.” (quoted by Hull, The Kingdom Life, 128). We must not think that practicing spiritual disciplines earns us our salvation or the favor of God.
At the same time, we must not think that a truly spiritual life can be ours without discipline and effort. After all, even the words disciple and discipline are formed from the same root. Jesus told us to “take my yoke upon you and learn of me” (Matt. 11:29), and most recognize that such language was understood in that day to mean one was taking on the discipline of a rabbi (find some source for this). The apostle Paul spoke of Christian life as if it were an athletic event (1 Cor. 9:24-27). He talked about the need to sow to the Spirit, which surely speaks of spiritual effort (Gal. 6:7-9). While clearly giving credit to the Spirit’s work within him, he nevertheless also wrote of the great effort he himself put into his life and ministry (Col. 1:29-2:1).
Early Christians in the East understood this need for human effort without confusing it with legalism. Veli-Matti Karkkainen says about them, “The idea of divine-human cooperation in salvation is not only accepted but is enthusiastically championed, although it is not understood as nullifying the role of grace.” (69) He further explains that, “Prayer, asceticism, meditation, humble service, and similar exercises are recommended for the attainment of the noble goal of deification. The notion of merit, though, is foreign to those of the Eastern tradition.” He adds, “The Eastern tradition never separates grace and human freedom.” (70) Of those of Orthodox persuasion, he says, “It is not a question of merit but of cooperation, of a synergy of the two wills, divine and human. Grace is a presence of God within us that demands constant effort on our part.” (71)
This latter statement aligns perfectly with Titus 2:11-13: 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. NIV
God’s grace is present with us today through the Holy Spirit, and this reality was made possible through Christ’s first appearance here on earth. This has been revealed to us. But does grace in this passage mean we may be passive spectators while some force or energy sent by God does all the work? No, Paul says that the grace teaches us what we must do in response to it. We must say no to something (ungodliness, worldly passions), while choosing to say yes to a life of discipline and self-control that conforms us to the image of Christ and transforms us from the inside out. Keith Matthews puts it this way, “grace in very real terms becomes the daily fuel for living a holy, transformed life, yet not without our effort.” He goes on to explain how repentance is part of that effort, and it requires that we truly understand the claims of the Kingdom of God and take action in accordance with Jesus’ invitation. He further writes that it is only as each of us makes this kind of commitment to “long-haul obedience” that we become different people, the only kind of people who can make a difference in this world! (page 94 in TKL book).
Another biblical passage which teaches divine-human cooperation is Paul’s section on “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22). All Christians realize that when the Spirit of God comes into our lives, He changes us from the inside out, and the “fruit” that comes from our lives is very different from what it was before our conversion. The immoral become chaste, the hateful become loving and forgiving, the self-indulgent tend to become self-disciplined. Even unbelievers sometimes see and admit the change the Spirit works in a person.
Years ago, while serving in the Navy, I was assigned to a new ship. One night I had to take my position in the ship’s boat, ready to be put in the water to rescue any pilots whose aircraft experienced trouble during night-time flight operations. Another member of the crew came aboard the boat where I was already standing by. He asked if I had a cigarette. I told him I used to smoke, but had quit. He asked if I smoked anything else, like pot. I told him I used to, but had quit. He asked if I drank alcohol, and I likewise responded that I used to, but had quit. He then exclaimed, “Praise the Lord!” I asked him why he had said this, and will never forget his response, “Well, there is no other power I know of that changes a man so that he quits all those vices so suddenly and uses them no more!” Even this profane and very worldly sailor recognized the unique work the Holy Spirit does in a life, and this is a glorious truth no one would deny.
Nevertheless, there are questions which must be asked. Is the fruit of the Spirit the work of the Spirit alone? In other words, is it something He does in a believer without any cooperation or involvement on their part, or is human participation required? To answer this question, one need only read the rest of the Book of Galatians. If the Spirit produces the fruit without human involvement, why did Paul feel the need to write this epistle? Why did he have to urge the Galatians to avoid the yoke of bondage (5:1), to be sure to stand in faith and not fall back into legalism (5:2-6), to not indulge their flesh (5:130, to love instead of biting and devouring one another (5:13-15), to live by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit and keep step with the Spirit (5:16, 18, 25)? Why did he exhort them in chapter 6 to restore fallen ones, while being careful lest they be tempted (6:1), to bear one another’s burdens (6:2), to be humble (6:3), to sow to the Spirit, not the flesh (6:7, 8), and to not become weary, but to be constant in doing good, (6:9)?
Why are there so many other exhortations in the New Testament to say no to wrong impulses and tendencies and yes to those in line with the Spirit and in line with God’s will? Why did the apostle Peter exhort believers to “make every effort” to add to their faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and genuine love (2 Pet. 1:5-7)? If indeed the fruit of the Spirit is totally of Him without any human involvement, why do some have more of it in evidence in their lives than others? Why did Paul have to struggle so with the Corinthians, but not so much with the church in Thessalonica? Why does Jesus (in the Book of Revelation) have only words of rebuke for the church of Laodicea, and only words of praise for the church of Philadelphia, if in fact, the Spirit makes us godly in equal measure with or without our participation? Why, in fact, is there a need for a Final Judgment, if God produces all the fruit and we have no part to play in it?
Obviously, the fruit of the Spirit is actually the fruit that comes from human cooperation with the Spirit. It is not something He alone produces without human participation. R. T. Kendall says it this way: “the fruit emerge in proportion to our obedience.” (172). This is a very mysterious reality, one all Christians wrestle with, yet its truth is recognized by those of all persuasions. We have taken note of it above in the writings of Orthodox theologians. It is seen in the writings of church fathers of both East and West throughout Church History. (footnote, Augustine speaks of our need to “struggle” against sin and weakness, while also asserting that it is only by God’s help we can win, Enchiridion, 81) It is referred to in the works of ancient and Medieval believers. (footnote, works of Bernard On Loving God, on how we proceed through four levels of loving God as we strive to let Him work in us, chapter 15, Catherine of Siena, In Dialogue, she wrote of the need for saints to participate with Christ in living His way).
All of the Protestant reformers likewise taught it as well. For example, John Calvin extols the work of the Spirit in us, confessing that only He can produce what God requires, then spends many chapters explaining how this can only happen through self-denial, as we consciously seek to put down the impulses of our flesh and submit ourselves instead to God. (Institutes, Book III. chapters VII-IX) He says the very first step we must take is “to abandon ourselves, and devote the whole energy of our minds to the service of God.” (III, VII, 1) Furthermore, Calvin says believers should “receive” with calm and grateful minds any tribulations we go through, (III, VIII, 11), we must “carefully strive to disencumber ourselves” of the fetters of this life (III, IX. 2) believers should “train themselves” to feel contempt for this world (Book III. chapter IX, 3). It is clear that Calvin believed the work of salvation was monergistic, yet even he constantly exhorted believers to be disciplined in obeying what scripture teaches as our human responsibility.
John Wesley, a man surely on the other end of the spectrum from Calvin, devoted countless sermons and written tracts to the need for human participation in the things of the Spirit. We have already mentioned his Sermon on the Inefficacy of Christianity above. In On Perfection, one of his most famous sermons, he declares that the fruit of the Spirit will be produced in those who are led by the Spirit, thus demonstrating the need for human cooperation. (Sermon 76, The Works of Wesley). This is done, he says, when Christians obey Paul’s exhortation in Rom. 12:1, 2, to present their bodies as living sacrifices to God (Sermon 76 – On Perfection).
In a website article devoted to the fruit of the Spirit, R. C. Sproul lists all of the fruit and very consistently indicates the Spirit unilaterally produces them. Then in his very last paragraph, he sums up by saying, “These are the virtues our Lord wants us to cultivate.” (emphasis mine, website). Even this very careful man of God, despite the fact that he was writing at a website dedicated to monergism, could not refrain from saying human beings must “cultivate” the fruit in order for it to flourish. What does this mean, if not that human beings play a role in the fruit’s production? J. Rodman Williams points out that, “In all the gifts there is both a divine and a human activity,” (332) and goes on later to say that in all manifestations of the spiritual gifts, “The human element is fully present.” (333). Likewise, Williams believes this is true regarding the fruit of the Spirit. He briefly mentions this in his discussion of love as taught in 1 Cor. 13, saying love is the fruit of the Spirit, and all these fruit must be “put on,” and adds, “hence, there is a continuing action of the will.” He goes on to say that, “If this comes slowly, we must keep at it.” (Williams, 431) Williams therefore believes the fruit of the Spirit come about through human cooperation with the Spirit of God.
If the fruit of the Spirit is the fruit of a sanctified life, the words of theologian Wayne Grudem regarding sanctification are pertinent here. “Some object to saying that God and man ‘cooperate’ in sanctification, because they want to insist that God’s work is primary and our work in sanctification is only a secondary one.” He goes on to say that this is only so if we do not properly understand the respective roles of God and of man. Humans have both passive and active roles, and unfortunately, an overemphasis of the passive at the expense of the active is “a tragic distortion of the doctrine of sanctification, for it only speaks of one half of the part we must play, and, by itself, will lead Christians to become lazy and to neglect the active role that Scripture commands them to play in their own sanctification.” (754) He goes on to discuss how believers must cooperate with the Spirit by saying no to immorality and other forms of evil and saying yes to that which will “build up patterns and habits of holiness.” (755) Again, the fruit of the Spirit, the sanctified life, is produced not unilaterally by the Spirit, but through divine-human cooperation.
That’s all the time I have for this today. I hope you’ve gotten the main point – God works in us, but we must cooperate with Him, if we want to fully experience the spiritual life God has for us. We have a crucial part to play! I hope you’ll ponder that and pray about it, and stay tuned as we continue along this line next time.