No Room for Synergism

There is no room for synergism in John chapter 6, or as I like to say, there's no "wiggle room." In fact, I would say there's no room for synergism with respect to salvation in all of Scripture. So what do I mean by that? In the realm of soteriology, there are two systems of thought with reference to "how" a person is saved. The Arminian or Semi-Pelagian view which is synergistic and the Reformed view, which is monergistic.

Let's define our terms before we proceed. Synergism is the idea that two or more agents are involved in something in which both parties are required to produce a desired result. Think of a symphony orchestra. You can't play Mozart's 40th Symphony with only one violin. You need the entire orchestra playing together. Monergism is the idea that there is only one agent required to produce the necessary effect or goal. So when it comes to salvation the crucial question becomes, is God the sole author of salvation or is the will of man required?

Man's Freedom or God's Freedom?

Some Christians are so committed to the idea of free will that they end up sacrificing God’s freedom in the process. They claim that God is sovereign over all things and has the authority to do whatever He pleases, yet if you examine their soteriology; you end up with God trying to save people, but being thwarted by human free will. Since God is in fact sovereign over all things, then He is sovereign over salvation as well. As the Bible says, salvation is of the Lord, Jonah 2:9, Psalm 3:8. Fallen sons and daughters of Adam may resist for a season, but when God decides to bring about their salvation, there is nothing that can thwart Him, Job 42:2.

Pastors and teachers don't often talk about how a person is saved, they mainly preach about the need for salvation or give a gospel invitation, and there's nothing wrong with that. This is exactly what they are commanded to do. But I want to focus on the "how" question because it is very important to our understanding of the nature of man, the purposes of God, and the glorious salvation that Jesus perfectly accomplished for us. If we look at the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, we see some amazing things in this regard.

John 6

We all know the story of the feeding of the five thousand, but on the next day in Capernaum Jesus’ followers come looking for Him and they get into a discussion about bread. But this time Jesus turns the conversation around and begins talking about spiritual bread; the living bread, which came down from heaven. In this context Jesus says:

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day,” John 6:35-40.

So what is all this talk about The Father giving people to the Son? I thought we come by our own free will? But you don't find free will in this passage do you? No, in verse 37 the text says all that the Father gives to the Son will come. They will come to the Son and the Son will certainly accept them. In verses 39 and 40, Jesus perfectly fulfills the will of His Father and will "lose nothing of all that he has given me," but raise them up (give them eternal life) on the last day.

We also see this in John 17:6, "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world." And again in verse 9, "I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours." On the night before He is about to die on the cross for our sins, Jesus specifically prays, not for the world, but only those whom the Farther has given to Him.

In John 6:41, the Jews begin to grumble because Jesus said He came down from heaven. Then Jesus responds to their complaint by saying, "Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day," John 6:43-44. There is a direct correlation between coming, and being raised up. Those whom the Father draws, come; and they are the same ones who are raised up on the last day. Jesus reiterates this again in verse 65. I think the context is clear, coming refers to believing, and being raised up refers to the resurrection unto eternal life. Jesus clearly says here that no one can come (believe) unless something happens first, namely the drawing of the Father. So this idea that the Father is drawing everyone in the same way doesn't work because according to this passage, everyone would inevitably come to Jesus. Remember in verse 37 Jesus says, "All that the Father gives me will come to me…" There is a special drawing that is being referred to here, which is also delineated by Paul in Romans 8:30:

"And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

Everyone who is predestined is called, justified, and glorified. It's an unbreakable chain. You can't be called and not justified, and you can't be justified without being glorified. This is the glorious truth of God's purpose in the redemption of His people. His calling is effectual. It cannot fail. All who are brought to the Son find Him to be a perfect Savior. They will never be lost, John 10:28.

Let's get back to John 6. When Jesus' disciples heard His words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, (verse 53) it was too much for them. They said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" But Jesus was not talking about physical things:

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father,'" John 6:63-65.

It doesn't get any clearer than that. Coming to Jesus must be granted by the Father. This answers the "how" question. And this comports with other passages of Scripture such as John 1:13, Acts 11:18, 13:48, 1 Cor. 1:30, Phil 1:29, 2 Timothy 2:25. It is God who draws, and those whom He draws will come. And those who come are the same ones who are raised up on the last day. There’s no wiggle room here. This idea that God draws everyone and then some by their own free will believe, and others don’t, is not found in John chapter 6. The same idea is communicated in John chapter 10. Look at the reason Jesus gives for why the Jews do not believe in Him.

"So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.' Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,'" John 10:24-27.

The reason Jesus gives for why they don't believe is because they are not His sheep. This is an amazing statement. Jesus could have perhaps given other reasons for their unbelief, but instead He said, "You are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice," implying that the reason they don't hear is because only His sheep hear Him. But didn't they have the free will to respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd? They were physically hearing His words, and yet they didn't have ears to hear. They didn't believe. Why? Obviously, because some have ears to hear and others do not, otherwise Jesus wouldn't have so frequently used the phrase, "for him who has ears, let him hear," Matt. 11:15, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8, Rev 2:7, etc.

Why Do Some Believe?

This brings us to another crucial question. Have you ever wondered why some people repent and believe the gospel and others don't? How you answer this question is vital. Let's say two men attend the same church one Sunday morning. They even sit next to each other in the same pew. They both hear the gospel clearly preached; one believes and is born again, and the other rejects it and leaves still in his sins. The question we must ask is, why? Why does one believe and the other doesn't? Is there something better about the one who believed? Is he wiser, smarter, or more spiritually in tune? Isn't repentance and faith pleasing to God? Yes, of course. So why did he believe? Where did his faith come from? Most people answer this question by saying they don't know. This is the error of the synergistic view of salvation. It simply cannot give a satisfactory answer to this question because the logical conclusion of synergism is that the ultimate deciding cause of salvation is the self determination (free will) of the agent. Unless the man cooperates with God, he cannot be saved. God can't overcome his will in the synergistic view. So if the ultimate deciding factor in the salvation of a sinner is the sinner himself, how does this not make man sovereign? God is giving 99 percent. He wants to save the man, but He just can't do it without his cooperation. The man must give that one percent; the decisive one percent, the one percent that makes all the difference in the world. This is a man-centered salvation in which God is subservient to His own creation. Perish the thought!

Reformed theology however, can answer this question because we believe that Jesus saves. He doesn't merely make salvation possible; He accomplished it on the cross, Isaiah 53:11-12, Hebrews 7:25. He died to secure it, Hebrews 9:12. He can overcome our hard hearts; our resistance, and take out our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 11:19. It is God who makes the decisive decision, not man. And it is by His grace alone and for His glory alone, Ephesians 2:8. Salvation is monergistic; it is all of God. The power of the Holy Spirit regenerates dead sinners; He brings us to life. He gives us the grace and the faith to believe, and we do so most willingly because once we were blind, but now we see. We were deaf and now we hear. We were dead in our sins, but now we have been made alive. Free will is powerless to do these things; it cannot produce saving faith. It cannot pull itself up by the boot straps and believe because it isn't free; it is a slave of sin, John 8:34. Only God can break the chains of sin. Only God can raise the spiritually dead.

So how do people come to Christ? They must be drawn by the Father. All whom the Father gives to the Son will come to Him. The sheep hear the voice of their Shepherd calling, and they follow Him, and He gives them eternal life.