There are three prevailing beliefs in Christianity today.
Monergism. - God does it all. Everything that happens is totally out of our control.
Generally these are things like predestination. God decides who gets saved, it is out of our control.
Irresistible grace. The Holy Spirit controls your thoughts and actions, it is out of our control.
Total depravity - None of us seek God on our own volition, if we seek Him.. He caused it 100% it is out of our control.
Once saved always saved. Once you get saved. God controls (all or enough) of your thoughts and actions to make sure you never lose your salvation. It is out of your control.
Synergism - It is a joint relationship between you and God. God does some of it. But some of it is up to you.
(how much differs between believers... anywhere from 10% to 99%) But even if God does 99%, 1% is still up to you. . We can't be saved without God/Jesus guiding us, leading us. We can't be saved without God's grace and mercy, and we certainly can't do it on our own. But we still have free will and are able to rebel against God if we so desire.
Autorgism - It is all you. God really doesn't get involved at all. As Bette Midler's song says.
God is watching us from a distance. All circumstances and decisions are controlled by you and you alone.
These people don't deny God exists. But rather He sits back and watches what we will do. He doesn't really
help you, lead you or guide you at all. If you make good choices, that's great. If you don't. That's too bad.
There are Bible verses that can be taken t support the first two views. They are common in Christianity today.
The last one is more difficult to support from scripture, but still many people believe that way.
extreme Monergism - There are some people who take the belief that God is totally in control to the point, that they believe even when you sin. It is God that ultimately caused you to sin.
I believe that how you view God's "involvement" determines how you walk your Christian walk.
Now of course I've said this as a blanket statement, and there are people who cross these lines in different parts of their theology, but for the most part this seems to be the case.
.. to be continued ...
Monergism. - God does it all. Everything that happens is totally out of our control.
Generally these are things like predestination. God decides who gets saved, it is out of our control.
Irresistible grace. The Holy Spirit controls your thoughts and actions, it is out of our control.
Total depravity - None of us seek God on our own volition, if we seek Him.. He caused it 100% it is out of our control.
Once saved always saved. Once you get saved. God controls (all or enough) of your thoughts and actions to make sure you never lose your salvation. It is out of your control.
Synergism - It is a joint relationship between you and God. God does some of it. But some of it is up to you.
(how much differs between believers... anywhere from 10% to 99%) But even if God does 99%, 1% is still up to you. . We can't be saved without God/Jesus guiding us, leading us. We can't be saved without God's grace and mercy, and we certainly can't do it on our own. But we still have free will and are able to rebel against God if we so desire.
Autorgism - It is all you. God really doesn't get involved at all. As Bette Midler's song says.
God is watching us from a distance. All circumstances and decisions are controlled by you and you alone.
These people don't deny God exists. But rather He sits back and watches what we will do. He doesn't really
help you, lead you or guide you at all. If you make good choices, that's great. If you don't. That's too bad.
There are Bible verses that can be taken t support the first two views. They are common in Christianity today.
The last one is more difficult to support from scripture, but still many people believe that way.
extreme Monergism - There are some people who take the belief that God is totally in control to the point, that they believe even when you sin. It is God that ultimately caused you to sin.
I believe that how you view God's "involvement" determines how you walk your Christian walk.
Now of course I've said this as a blanket statement, and there are people who cross these lines in different parts of their theology, but for the most part this seems to be the case.
.. to be continued ...