Perseverance of the Saints

We are studying the final petal of the Calvinistic flower, which is also thefinal head of the Canons of Dort under the same name. Insimple terms, this doctrine answers the question: Can a regenerate andjustified person fall from the State of Grace?The Calvinists says no! The Arminians, at least the Remonstrants, appear fromthe Remonstrantia to be unsure. We will briefly analyse theirposition shortly, but it will be helpful for us first to comment on the variousother phrases that professing Calvinists use to describe this doctrine so thatwe have a clearer understanding of what it entails.

Synonyms?

First, one of the most common phrases used is “Eternal Security.” This phraseis very popular among Dispensationalists, but it often belies the acceptance ofthe concept of “Carnal Christians.” We will say more about “Carnal Christians”in another issue, but very simplistically, it teaches that once a person hasprayed to receive Christ, he will be saved even if he exhibits no repentancefor sin and therefore does not have Christ as Lord. According to those who holdto this doctrine (mostly Dispensationalists), such a person will be saved as byfire. “Eternal Security,” when it is thus coloured with this doctrine of CarnalChristianity, 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!” Thisphrase is often used with the same significance as “Eternal Security,” but itis sometimes used by Calvinists who wish to make theology more easilyacceptable to modern Christians—many of whom have a distaste for theologicalterms. Unfortunately, this phrase has contributed to the common modern notionthat God’s work of salvation in the life of the sinner is completed when thesinner “prays to receive Christ.” One of the effects of this misunderstandingis that many modern believers would find it very jarring to read importanttheological statements, such as in the WSC 91, which speaksabout the sacraments becoming “effectual means of salvation.” And so there aresome (including well-known writers!) who, on account of these statements,assert that the Westminster divines taught baptismal regeneration and salvationby works. The fact is that the older theologians have more correctly reflectedthe 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 sanctificationof the Spirit of Christ.

One other phrase that is commonly used, often by very sound Calvinistictheologians, is “Preservation of the Saints.” This term has great merit and isespecially useful to emphasise the fact that the only reason why a Christianremains 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 assaints throughout their Christian journey. In this way, two of the commonArminian objections to the doctrine,—viz.: (1) that it promotes carnalsecurity; and (2) that there are many real life examples of Christians who fallout and denounce the faith,—are answered. The fact is, all Calvinists willmaintain that anyone whose life shows no evidence of the working of gracecannot be regarded as a true Christian; and anyone who does not persevere tothe end has simply never been a true Christian, united with Christ andpossessing a true living faith in Him, in the first place. Positively, thismeans that: “They whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called andsanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from thestate of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and beeternally saved” (WCF 17.1).

The Arminian Contention

Although there are many flavours of Arminianism today, it is helpful for us tolook at what was submitted to the Synod of Dort by the Arminians so that we maybetter understand what the Calvinistic or biblical doctrine is:

That those who are incorporated intoChrist by a true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his life-givingSpirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, andtheir own flesh, and to win the victory; it being well understood that it isever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christassists 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 notinactive, 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 ofChrist, John 10:28: “Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Butwhether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the firstbeginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evilworld, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, oflosing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be moreparticularly determined out of the Holy Scripture, before we ourselves canteach it with the full persuasion of our minds.

Firstly, notice that the Arminians agree that “those who are incorporated intoChrist 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 onlyby the “assisting grace of the Holy Ghost.” In other words, theChristian remains a Christian by his own effort, assisted by grace. Rememberthat for the Arminians, regeneration does not involve a permanent change. Andso, thirdly, since the freewill of the Christian is the final determiningfactor in the Christian life, it cannot be certain from a theologicalstandpoint to assert whether the Christian is “capable, through negligence, offorsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ… of becomingdevoid of grace.”

The Response of Dort

What did the Synod of Dort say to the Arminian contention? First, they reassertthe fact that a Christian is a Christian by the purpose of God or, in otherwords, the perseverance of the saints flows from the fountainhead of theelecting grace of God (Head 5, arts. 1, 6; rej. 1). Secondly, they insist thatthe Christian is regenerated (permanently) by the Holy Spirit and set free fromthe dominion and slavery of sin (art. 1). This means that the Christian has anew heart or principle of life which is not naturally inclined to sin as in thecase of the unregenerate. But thirdly, the Christian is “not entirely in thislife [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 isable and desirous to resist temptation, he is also capable of falling into sin(arts. 3, 4). Nevertheless, fourthly, “God is faithful, who confirms them inthe grace once mercifully conferred on them, and powerfully preserves them inthe same unto the end” (arts. 3, 7). And fifthly, it must be remembered thatthe saints persevere “not by their own merits or strength, but by thegratuitous mercy of God… [so that] they neither totally fall from faith andgrace, nor finally continue in their falls and perish” (art. 8).

In a word, the Synod of Dort disagrees with the Arminians that the perseveranceof the saints is dependent on the effort of the saints. Rather, it insists thatthe saints persevere because God preserves them in grace sovereignly. He doesso by firstly preserving the immortal seed, by which they are regenerated (1Pet 1:23; 1 Jn 3:9); and secondly, by “His own Word and Spirit, He assuredlyand efficaciously renews them to repentance” (art. 7). God, in other words, isthe 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 electedunconditionally every Christian who will be saved, it follows that none who iselected will be lost; for otherwise, it would either mean that God is notsovereign or that election can only be understood retrospectively, which alsomeans 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 isinsufficient 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 yearsafter theCanons of Dort, not only provides the most succinct andeloquent definition of the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints; but italso provides the most comprehensive argument from Scripture for the doctrine:

This perseverance of the saintsdepends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the degreeof 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 ofthe Spirit, and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenantof 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 ofthe Arminians on the head: they have made the perseverance of the saintsultimately dependent upon man’s free will. Secondly, notice the fourfoldarguments: (1) God’s immutable love and decree of election: since God’s loveand decree are unchanging, how could the elect perish? (2) The merit andintercession of Christ: Since Christ paid an infinite price for our salvation,and He is constantly interceding for us, how could we perish? (3) The abidingof the Spirit: since we are by the sovereign will of God united with Christthrough the indwelling of the Spirit, how could anything cut us off fromChrist; and (4) The nature of the Covenant of Grace: since the Covenant ofGrace is unilateral and unconditional, how could we by our sin or otherwiseperish?

To prove the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, we need only to provethese four propositions as given in the WCF. But let’s begin withsome clear statements from the Scripture, which assert that none who are inChrist will perish.

Clear Scriptural Affirmations

Perhaps the most precious statement with regards to our perseverance as saintscomes 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 inthis one statement, does the Lord assure us that those who are in Him willnever perish. First, he gives us eternal life, which is not only a life ofcommunion 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 neverperish (Greek: apollumi) or be destroyed or to fall irrecoverably.But in case someone thinks that if we cannot fall by ourselves, it does notmean 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 outof His hand. What an encouraging thought! He who is the sovereign God isholding us in His strong hands, how can we ever perish?

The Apostle Paul is essentially echoing this thought in his famous and sublimestatement:

Who shall separate us from the loveof Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, ornakedness, or peril, or sword?… Nay, in all these things we are more thanconquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death,nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, northings to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able toseparate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom8:35–39).

Notice how Paul’s statement speaks about our perseverance and not just ourpreservation, for he tells us that “we are more than conquerors through himthat loved us.” In other words, Christ preserves us by making us victors overall that may tempt us to fall away.

What about professing Christians who apostatise? Do they not prove that thedoctrine is wrong or that we have misinterpreted both the Lord and the ApostlePaul? Well, we must always interpret experience with the Scripture and not theother way round. This is particularly so in the case of the doctrine of thePerseverance of the Saints, for here we have the Apostle John writing underinspiration asserting that any who apostatise have never been a Christian inthe first place: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if theyhad 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 Paulasserts in Romans 8:29–30 that those foreknown or elected by God (cf. 2 Tim2:19) will with certainty attain unto glorification. This is because God’sdecree 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 thechosen in Christ (Eph 1:4–5). This is the same love that Jehovah expressed toHis saints of old through Jeremiah: “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlastinglove: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer 31:3). Notice howthe Lord speaks of His love as being ‘everlasting.’ This means that He willnever cease to love His elect. His love for them is unchanging. When the electof God sin against Him, they incur His Fatherly displeasure; this wrath is forthem 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 electwas not to make salvation possible for them but to save them. The writer ofHebrews makes this point when he says: “… we are sanctified through the offeringof the body of Jesus Christ once for all.… For by one offering he hathperfected 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 thephrase: “he hath perfected for ever.” This does certainly not leave room forthe possibility of a fall from grace, which if it occurs would not only meanthat the atonement of Christ is neither perfect nor sufficient, but would alsoimply that the Word of God is unreliable.

Christ, furthermore, did not just suffer and die for the saints. He rose fromthe 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 (Jn17:11, 24). The writer of Hebrews tells us that it is through this intercessorywork of Christ, that He preserves us to the very end: “Wherefore he is ablealso to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he everliveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). We have an idea of how theLord intercedes for us in His words to Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hathdesired 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 ourfaith fail not, and His prayers are always efficacious.

Abiding of the Spirit

We have seen the perseverance of the saints on the basis ofthe work of the Father and of the Son; it is not surprising therefore to readthat the Spirit is involved in our perseverance too. The Lord indicates thiswhen He tells us that the Holy Spirit, the other Comforter, will abide with usfor ever (Jn 14:16). Similarly the Apostle John tells us that as the Spiritabides in us, we shall abide in Him (1 Jn 2:27; cf. 1 Jn 3:9). Indeed, theChristian perseveres because the Spirit or the Seed of God remains in him towork 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 inGenesis 15 where God, in a theophany, passed through the severed pieces ofanimals 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 PCCBulletin, vol. 1 issue 9, dated 29 Aug 1999).

Elsewhere the same thought concerning the everlasting nature of the covenant isrepeated, e.g.: “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I willnot turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in theirhearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jer 32:40); “For the mountainsshall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart fromthee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD thathath mercy on thee” (Isa 54:10).

This covenant, we must remember, is not made with the Jews as a nation, butwith the Jews as the covenant people of God; and the covenant respects oureternal inheritance in Christ rather than the land of Palestine, which is but ashadow and type. And since it is everlasting and unconditional, it follows thatnone of those who are the elect or the children of the promise (Rom 9:8) caneither fail to be saved, or fall away ultimately.

Conclusion

We have, I believe, proven beyond doubt that the doctrine of Perseverance ofthe Saints is sound theologically and biblically. The Arminian vacillation onthe doctrine is largely due to their errors respecting the election of God, theatonement of Christ and the efficacious call of the Spirit. Logically, fromtheir theological propositions in these areas, they ought to be very ready toreject perseverance altogether. However, it seems rather impossible to deny orre-interpret the scriptural assertions of preservation and perseverance.Perhaps this is why the Arminians and the Remonstrants were not prepared to puttheir foot down to say that it is definitely possible to fall from grace.Nevertheless, later Arminians, such as the Wesleyans, insisted on thepossibility.

Does the doctrine of Perseverance mean that the Christian can live any way hechooses and yet persevere all the way to glorification? Not at all, those whounderstand this doctrine will know that anyone who lives in disregard to theWord of God is simply not a Christian in the first place. This is why theApostle Paul teaches us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil2:12), and the Apostle Peter reminds us to “give diligence to make our callingand election sure” (2 Pet 1:10–11). But what a tremendous assurance it is forall who, by God’s grace, walk in the Way of Life, that we will be upheld andled by our beloved Saviour all the way till we join the spirits of just manmade perfect in the Celestial City.

—JJ Lim