5. & 6. Energies and Human Cooperation

 

5.1 Working Out Salvation

Philippians 2:12–13
Greek:
12 ὥστε, ἀγαπητοί μου, … μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν κατεργάζεσθε·
13 θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐνεργῶν ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ ἐνεργεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐδοκίας.

English:
12 “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who energizes in you both to will and to energize for his good pleasure.”

• Our willing and doing become God’s own energy in us; this is the classic biblical statement of synergy.
  
  

5.2 Energetic Prayer and Faith

James 5:16
Greek (key clause):
πολλὴ ἰσχύει δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη.

English:
“The prayer of a righteous man, being energized, has great power.”

• St Maximus says this prayer is “energized” when it is filled with works of the commandments; the divine energy makes the prayer living and effective.
  
  

Galatians 5:6
Greek (key clause):
ἀλλὰ πίστις δι’ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη.

English:
“… but faith being energized through love.”

• Faith is made living and effective by the energy of love; the verb is passive—faith receives energy. This is another synergy text against “faith alone” understood nominally.

6. Evil Energies: Demonic Activity

The same vocabulary is used for demonic operations, underscoring that energies are personal activities, not abstract substances.

2 Thessalonians 2:9
Greek:
οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατ’ ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασιν ψεύδους.

English:
“Whose coming is according to the energy of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders.”

2 Thessalonians 2:11
Greek:
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμπει αὐτοῖς ὁ Θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης, εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει.

English:
“And for this reason God sends them an energy of delusion, that they should believe the lie.”

• Humans can cooperate either with divine energies (holiness) or demonic energies (delusion); the same synergistic structure is at work.