Perseverance of the Saints
We are studying the final petal of the Calvinistic flower, which is also the
final head of the Canons of Dort under the same name. In
simple terms, this doctrine answers the question: Can a regenerate and
justified person fall from the State of Grace?
The Calvinists says no! The Arminians, at least the Remonstrants, appear from
the Remonstrantia to be unsure. We will briefly analyse their
position shortly, but it will be helpful for us first to comment on the various
other phrases that professing Calvinists use to describe this doctrine so that
we have a clearer understanding of what it entails.
Synonyms?
First, one of the most common phrases used is “Eternal Security.” This phrase
is very popular among Dispensationalists, but it often belies the acceptance of
the concept of “Carnal Christians.” We will say more about “Carnal Christians”
in another issue, but very simplistically, it teaches that once a person has
prayed to receive Christ, he will be saved even if he exhibits no repentance
for sin and therefore does not have Christ as Lord. According to those who hold
to this doctrine (mostly Dispensationalists), such a person will be saved as by
fire. “Eternal Security,” when it is thus coloured with this doctrine of Carnal
Christianity, is far from what the Synod of Dort propounded. The Synod taught
“Perseverance of the Saints,” not “Preservation of Sinners.”
The second phrase, which is commonly used, is: “Once saved always saved!” This
phrase is often used with the same significance as “Eternal Security,” but it
is sometimes used by Calvinists who wish to make theology more easily
acceptable to modern Christians—many of whom have a distaste for theological
terms. Unfortunately, this phrase has contributed to the common modern notion
that God’s work of salvation in the life of the sinner is completed when the
sinner “prays to receive Christ.” One of the effects of this misunderstanding
is that many modern believers would find it very jarring to read important
theological statements, such as in the WSC 91, which speaks
about the sacraments becoming “effectual means of salvation.” And so there are
some (including well-known writers!) who, on account of these statements,
assert that the Westminster divines taught baptismal regeneration and salvation
by works. The fact is that the older theologians have more correctly reflected
the usage of the term ‘salvation’ in Scripture (e.g., Phil 2:12; 1 Thes 5:8;
etc.) when they speak about salvation as including the work of sanctification
of the Spirit of Christ.
One other phrase that is commonly used, often by very sound Calvinistic
theologians, is “Preservation of the Saints.” This term has great merit and is
especially useful to emphasise the fact that the only reason why a Christian
remains a Christian once he is regenerated and justified is the power of God.
Personally, however, I would still prefer the wordings of the Canons,
for it especially emphasises the fact that the saints (Christians) persevere as
saints throughout their Christian journey. In this way, two of the common
Arminian objections to the doctrine,—viz.: (1) that it promotes carnal
security; and (2) that there are many real life examples of Christians who fall
out and denounce the faith,—are answered. The fact is, all Calvinists will
maintain that anyone whose life shows no evidence of the working of grace
cannot be regarded as a true Christian; and anyone who does not persevere to
the end has simply never been a true Christian, united with Christ and
possessing a true living faith in Him, in the first place. Positively, this
means that: “They whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called and
sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the
state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be
eternally saved” (WCF 17.1).
The Arminian Contention
Although there are many flavours of Arminianism today, it is helpful for us to
look at what was submitted to the Synod of Dort by the Arminians so that we may
better understand what the Calvinistic or biblical doctrine is:
That those who are incorporated into
Christ by a true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his life-giving
Spirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, and
their own flesh, and to win the victory; it being well understood that it is
ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christ
assists them through his Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hand,
and if only they are ready for the conflict, and desire his help, and are not
inactive, keeps them from falling, so that they, by no craft or power of Satan,
can be misled nor plucked out of Christ’s hands, according to the Word of
Christ, John 10:28: “Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” But
whether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first
beginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil
world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of
losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more
particularly determined out of the Holy Scripture, before we ourselves can
teach it with the full persuasion of our minds.
Firstly, notice that the Arminians agree that “those who are incorporated into
Christ by a true faith… [cannot] be misled nor plucked out of Christ’s hands.”
But, secondly, notice how they emphasise that the Christian is preserved only
by the “assisting grace of the Holy Ghost.” In other words, the
Christian remains a Christian by his own effort, assisted by grace. Remember
that for the Arminians, regeneration does not involve a permanent change. And
so, thirdly, since the freewill of the Christian is the final determining
factor in the Christian life, it cannot be certain from a theological
standpoint to assert whether the Christian is “capable, through negligence, of
forsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ… of becoming
devoid of grace.”
The Response of Dort
What did the Synod of Dort say to the Arminian contention? First, they reassert
the fact that a Christian is a Christian by the purpose of God or, in other
words, the perseverance of the saints flows from the fountainhead of the
electing grace of God (Head 5, arts. 1, 6; rej. 1). Secondly, they insist that
the Christian is regenerated (permanently) by the Holy Spirit and set free from
the dominion and slavery of sin (art. 1). This means that the Christian has a
new heart or principle of life which is not naturally inclined to sin as in the
case of the unregenerate. But thirdly, the Christian is “not entirely in this
life [free] from the flesh and the body of sin” (arts. 1, 2). In other words,
the Christian has remaining corruption, and though by the grace of God, he is
able and desirous to resist temptation, he is also capable of falling into sin
(arts. 3, 4). Nevertheless, fourthly, “God is faithful, who confirms them in
the grace once mercifully conferred on them, and powerfully preserves them in
the same unto the end” (arts. 3, 7). And fifthly, it must be remembered that
the saints persevere “not by their own merits or strength, but by the
gratuitous mercy of God… [so that] they neither totally fall from faith and
grace, nor finally continue in their falls and perish” (art. 8).
In a word, the Synod of Dort disagrees with the Arminians that the perseverance
of the saints is dependent on the effort of the saints. Rather, it insists that
the saints persevere because God preserves them in grace sovereignly. He does
so by firstly preserving the immortal seed, by which they are regenerated (1
Pet 1:23; 1 Jn 3:9); and secondly, by “His own Word and Spirit, He assuredly
and efficaciously renews them to repentance” (art. 7). God, in other words, is
the author and cause of our perseverance.
Also, the Calvinistic position follows logically from the other four points,
which we have already proven from Scripture. For example, if God has elected
unconditionally every Christian who will be saved, it follows that none who is
elected will be lost; for otherwise, it would either mean that God is not
sovereign or that election can only be understood retrospectively, which also
means that God did precisely nothing when it is said that He elected.
Additionally, if Christ died to pay for the penalty of the sin of the elect,
then if any of the elect perish, it would mean that the death of Christ is
insufficient even to pay for the sins of these who perished.
Perseverance of the Saints Proven Biblically
The Westminster Confession of Faith, which was written some years
after theCanons of Dort, not only provides the most succinct and
eloquent definition of the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints; but it
also provides the most comprehensive argument from Scripture for the doctrine:
This perseverance of the saints
depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the degree
of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father;
upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of
the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant
of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof (WCF 17.2).
Note first from this statement how the Westminster divines nail the error of
the Arminians on the head: they have made the perseverance of the saints
ultimately dependent upon man’s free will. Secondly, notice the fourfold
arguments: (1) God’s immutable love and decree of election: since God’s love
and decree are unchanging, how could the elect perish? (2) The merit and
intercession of Christ: Since Christ paid an infinite price for our salvation,
and He is constantly interceding for us, how could we perish? (3) The abiding
of the Spirit: since we are by the sovereign will of God united with Christ
through the indwelling of the Spirit, how could anything cut us off from
Christ; and (4) The nature of the Covenant of Grace: since the Covenant of
Grace is unilateral and unconditional, how could we by our sin or otherwise
perish?
To prove the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, we need only to prove
these four propositions as given in the WCF. But let’s begin with
some clear statements from the Scripture, which assert that none who are in
Christ will perish.
Clear Scriptural Affirmations
Perhaps the most precious statement with regards to our perseverance as saints
comes from the lips of our Lord Himself, the “author and finisher of our faith”
(Heb 12:2), for concerning the sheep for whom He laid down His life (Jn 10:15),
He says: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (Jn 10:28). Three times in
this one statement, does the Lord assure us that those who are in Him will
never perish. First, he gives us eternal life, which is not only a life of
communion with God (Jn 17:3), but it is, as the word ‘eternal’ (Greek: aiônios)
suggests, an everlasting life. Secondly, He assures us that we shall never
perish (Greek: apollumi) or be destroyed or to fall irrecoverably.
But in case someone thinks that if we cannot fall by ourselves, it does not
mean that the enemies of God cannot destroy us, the Lord assures us, thirdly,
that no one will be able to pluck (Greek: harpazô) or snatch us out
of His hand. What an encouraging thought! He who is the sovereign God is
holding us in His strong hands, how can we ever perish?
The Apostle Paul is essentially echoing this thought in his famous and sublime
statement:
Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword?… Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom
8:35–39).
Notice how Paul’s statement speaks about our perseverance and not just our
preservation, for he tells us that “we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us.” In other words, Christ preserves us by making us victors over
all that may tempt us to fall away.
What about professing Christians who apostatise? Do they not prove that the
doctrine is wrong or that we have misinterpreted both the Lord and the Apostle
Paul? Well, we must always interpret experience with the Scripture and not the
other way round. This is particularly so in the case of the doctrine of the
Perseverance of the Saints, for here we have the Apostle John writing under
inspiration asserting that any who apostatise have never been a Christian in
the first place: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out,
that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 Jn 2:19).
God’s Immutable Love and Decree
We have already previously seen how the Apostle Paul
asserts in Romans 8:29–30 that those foreknown or elected by God (cf. 2 Tim
2:19) will with certainty attain unto glorification. This is because God’s
decree to save the elect is unchangeable. If it were in any sense changeable,
the Apostle Paul could not have spoke so definitively.
The election of the saints by God is according to the “good pleasure of his will,”
and His predestination of the saints is founded upon His eternal love of the
chosen in Christ (Eph 1:4–5). This is the same love that Jehovah expressed to
His saints of old through Jeremiah: “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer 31:3). Notice how
the Lord speaks of His love as being ‘everlasting.’ This means that He will
never cease to love His elect. His love for them is unchanging. When the elect
of God sin against Him, they incur His Fatherly displeasure; this wrath is for
them but for a moment (Ps 30:5). It never impinges on the love of God for them.
And since the final destiny of man is entirely determined by the will of God,
we know for certain that those whom God loves will never perish.
Merit and Intercession of Christ
We have already seen that Christ’s atonement for the elect
was not to make salvation possible for them but to save them. The writer of
Hebrews makes this point when he says: “… we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.… For by one offering he hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Heb 10:10, 14; cf. Heb 13:20–21;
9:12–15; Rom 8:33–39). Notice the language of completion and permanence in the
phrase: “he hath perfected for ever.” This does certainly not leave room for
the possibility of a fall from grace, which if it occurs would not only mean
that the atonement of Christ is neither perfect nor sufficient, but would also
imply that the Word of God is unreliable.
Christ, furthermore, did not just suffer and die for the saints. He rose from
the dead, is ascended to the right hand of the throne of God, is interceding,
as He did before His death, for His saints whom the Father had given Him (Jn
17:11, 24). The writer of Hebrews tells us that it is through this intercessory
work of Christ, that He preserves us to the very end: “Wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). We have an idea of how the
Lord intercedes for us in His words to Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath
desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee,
that thy faith fail not…” (Lk 22:31–32). The Lord is praying for us, that our
faith fail not, and His prayers are always efficacious.
Abiding of the Spirit
We have seen the perseverance of the saints on the basis of
the work of the Father and of the Son; it is not surprising therefore to read
that the Spirit is involved in our perseverance too. The Lord indicates this
when He tells us that the Holy Spirit, the other Comforter, will abide with us
for ever (Jn 14:16). Similarly the Apostle John tells us that as the Spirit
abides in us, we shall abide in Him (1 Jn 2:27; cf. 1 Jn 3:9). Indeed, the
Christian perseveres because the Spirit or the Seed of God remains in him to
work efficaciously in his heart (1 Jn 3:9), so that he cannot fall habitually,
finally and totally into sin.
Nature of the Covenant of Grace
The Covenant of Grace is most beautifully displayed in
Genesis 15 where God, in a theophany, passed through the severed pieces of
animals to indicate that His covenant with the seed of Abraham is unilateral,
unconditional and everlasting (cf. Heb 6:13–20; Gal 3:16, 29; see PCC
Bulletin, vol. 1 issue 9, dated 29 Aug 1999).
Elsewhere the same thought concerning the everlasting nature of the covenant is
repeated, e.g.: “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will
not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their
hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jer 32:40); “For the mountains
shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from
thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that
hath mercy on thee” (Isa 54:10).
This covenant, we must remember, is not made with the Jews as a nation, but
with the Jews as the covenant people of God; and the covenant respects our
eternal inheritance in Christ rather than the land of Palestine, which is but a
shadow and type. And since it is everlasting and unconditional, it follows that
none of those who are the elect or the children of the promise (Rom 9:8) can
either fail to be saved, or fall away ultimately.
Conclusion
We have, I believe, proven beyond doubt that the doctrine of Perseverance of
the Saints is sound theologically and biblically. The Arminian vacillation on
the doctrine is largely due to their errors respecting the election of God, the
atonement of Christ and the efficacious call of the Spirit. Logically, from
their theological propositions in these areas, they ought to be very ready to
reject perseverance altogether. However, it seems rather impossible to deny or
re-interpret the scriptural assertions of preservation and perseverance.
Perhaps this is why the Arminians and the Remonstrants were not prepared to put
their foot down to say that it is definitely possible to fall from grace.
Nevertheless, later Arminians, such as the Wesleyans, insisted on the
possibility.
Does the doctrine of Perseverance mean that the Christian can live any way he
chooses and yet persevere all the way to glorification? Not at all, those who
understand this doctrine will know that anyone who lives in disregard to the
Word of God is simply not a Christian in the first place. This is why the
Apostle Paul teaches us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil
2:12), and the Apostle Peter reminds us to “give diligence to make our calling
and election sure” (2 Pet 1:10–11). But what a tremendous assurance it is for
all who, by God’s grace, walk in the Way of Life, that we will be upheld and
led by our beloved Saviour all the way till we join the spirits of just man
made perfect in the Celestial
City.
—JJ Lim
