God’s Word for You

Philippians 2:13 Divine Monergism

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, March 18, 2026

13 for God is the one who works in you, to will and also to work for his good pleasure.

Paul continues his call to sanctified living by using the gospel to encourage the Philippians and everyone who reads his letter. God is the one working in us, but not as if we are his puppets, doing nothing on our own but only what he wills. When we talk about God doing everything with regard to our salvation, this is called divine monergism; “God is the (only) one working.” Jesus says, “No one can come to me until the Father who sent me draws him out” (John 6:44). And about faith, Paul says, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). This is the same divine monergism theology that we find all throughout the Old Testament. “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord” (Jeremiah 24:7). And Jonah says, “Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). Again, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” but is this on account of their own impulse and choice? No, for “the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls” (Joel 2:32). Another prophet says: “I will then restore pure speech to the peoples so that all of them may call on the name of the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:9). Nowhere in the Bible do we find anything supporting a doctrine like synergism, which is the idea that man cooperates in his salvation.

Professor Thomas Nass writes: “We live in a world where synergism seems to be part of the air we breathe. People in large measure think that they have the ability to contribute to their salvation. It is good to be reminded by Joel [he is referring to Joel 2:32] and the Old Testament prophets how it works in reality. When it comes to salvation, God is the initiator. God calls believers. God gives a new heart.”

The same divine monergism at work in our salvation (justification) is also at work in our lives of sanctification, except that here God motivates us. But he is still the sole motivator. This is where our verse, Philippians 2:13, comes in. “God is the one who works in you.” “This appealing passage is of very great comfort to all devout Christians who perceive and discover a little spark and a longing for the grace of God and eternal salvation in their hearts” (Formula of Concord). God, who lit the match that began this little flame of our response to faith and godliness in our hearts, wills and desires to keep supporting us, holding us up when we are weak, helping us to remain in true faith until the end of our days.

It is the Holy Spirit, remember, who opens our minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). He is the one who gives each of us a mind that understands, eyes that see, and ears that hear the word (Deuteronomy 29:4). And James says, “Every good gift comes from God” (James 1:17). This includes our desire to thank God with our lives and our good deeds. An unbeliever can’t do a single good work, because nothing that an unbeliever does comes from faith, and what does not come from faith is wickedness and evil in God’s sight. It is no different than a wicked priest offering sacrifices to idols, and who “cannot take pity on a widow or do good to an orphan.” But a believer, enlightened by the Holy Spirit and driven to do good by the same Holy Spirit, does many good things he isn’t even aware of, simply because they come from faith. Perhaps it would be best here just to recall the words of Dr. Luther’s Small Catechism:

“I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

Browse Devotion Archive