This is just an overview of various texts that prove the doctrine of the Perseverence of the Saints. Those who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit will be kept in the faith by God alone to the end. Those who have been justified sola fide will persevere and never fall away. Not only is perseverence logical, it is very much scriptural.
Perseverence Passages
John 6:38-40
38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39And 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. 40For 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 6:44
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 10:27-29
27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
28κἀγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀπόλωνται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ οὐχ ἁρπάσει τις αὐτὰ ἐκ τῆς χειρός μου.
["...the most forceful phrase in the passage is 'they shall never perish' (v. 28). The Greek construction (ou mē plus aorist subjunctive) is especially emphatic and might be translated more explicitly, 'and they shall certainly not perish forever.'"] -Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (789).
John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life...
John 5:24
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:47
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
1 John 5:13
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
John 3:16-18"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Romans 8:1;31-39
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
1 Peter 1:3-5
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
One must distinguish between Perseverance and the notion that Salvation cannot be lost; they are not the same thing. Reformed Protestants conflate the two.
ReplyDeleteHere is a list that clearly shows salvation can be lost:
a) Mat 18:23-35 is of the unmerciful servant who is forgiven but wont forgive others and as a result is forced to suffer what is in effect eternal torments. Jesus tells His Apostles the same thing can happen to them.
b) Mat 24:12-13 teaches that as the world becomes more wicked “the love of most will grow cold,” while those who persevere will be saved. The “love” here is agape love, the highest form and only available to Christians by God's saving grace. Yet here it states it will grow cold for many of them, and thus they will fall away and not be saved.
c) Mk 9:43-47 has Jesus teaching us that it is better to remove temptations in your life and enter into Heaven having “missed out” on those things rather than indulging in them and being damned.
d) Lk 8:13 is the parable of the sower, and in this case the individual “believes for a while” but later falls away due to temptation. The person was a believer, and thus saved, and yet fell away.
e) Jn 12:42-43 informs us that there were Pharisees who did believe in Jesus, but because they feared persecution they would not publicly affirm their faith.
f) Jn 13:8 is when Jesus washes the disciples' feet and it is Peter's turn. Jesus tells Peter that if He doesn't wash him, Peter will have no part with Jesus. Jesus put Peter's salvation on the line, proving that salvation can be lost, otherwise it was a false threat (a lie in fact).
g) Acts 8:9-24 describes the story of Simon Magnus. In verse 12-13 it says he “believed and was baptized” (cf Mk 16:16), and yet later on in the story Simon tried to bribe Peter and Peter told him he had lost his salvation.
h) Rom 4:6-8 talks about David repenting of sin in Psalm 32, and Paul says this was a moment of justification. The only logical answer here is that David lost his salvation earlier on (and only recovered it upon repenting).
i) Rom 11:19-22 describes the Vine of salvation, yet Paul says, in the past tense, that “branches were broken off” because they stopped believing (though they can be grafted back in if they turn and believe again). Paul also applies this warning to Christians.
j) 1 Cor 8:11 describes a situation in which we should not lead our Christian brothers into temptation. In this example, the Gentile Christian struggles with idolatry, and yet being tempted back into idolatry will cause that brother to fall away. Paul says this brother is someone “for whom Christ died” and yet he “perishes.”
k) Gal 5:4 talks about a person “falling from grace” and becoming “alienated from Christ,” which is impossible if the person was never saved.
l) Gal 5:19-21 shows Paul specifically warning the Christians if they engage in grave sins they will be damned.
m) 1 Tim 3:6 talks about the risk of a Christian becoming prideful and falling “into the same condemnation as the devil,” which is clearly losing salvation.
n) 1 Tim 5:8 says if a Christian father abandons his family he has “denied the faith” and is “worse than an unbeliever.”
o) Heb 10:26-29 says if Christians keep on sinning “no sacrifice for sin remains” and that they can expect damnation.
p) 2 Pt 2:1 mirrors Jude 1:4 and says men whom Jesus ransomed will deny Him. Being ransomed obviously means salvation, yet these men will fall away.
q) Rev 2:19-22 has Jesus warning that if a group of Christians don't change their ways they will be damned. It makes no sense for Jesus to be talking to and warning people who are not even saved.
r) Rev 22:19 warns against having one's “share in the tree of life” and “holy city” removed, this can only be talking about salvation.
Nick,
ReplyDeleteThe doctrine of "Perseverence" of the Saints can be misleading if you don't understand the doctrine rightly. Sproul rightly changed it in his book "Chosen by God" to "Preservation" of the Saints. This spells out the meaning of the doctrine more clearly. The saint perseveres in the faith BECAUSE God is preserving him. A believer's salvation is not dependent on himself but on God. There is no conflation.
I understand the doctrine as St Augustine and the Scriptures describe, which is that salvation can be lost and yet God gives some the grace to avoid falling away so that they persevere to the end.
ReplyDeleteIn the Reformed system, this situation doesn't exist, even theoretically, and thus the notion of 'perseverance' doesn't logically exist. Due to the teaching of Penal Substitution, the believer's sins are already punished, thus the believer never can 'fall away' or come under God's wrath by any sinful act. This is further confirmed with Christ's Imputed Active Obedience, which makes one's legal entitlement to Heaven not based on anything they do. So there is no notion of 'persevering', as if the believer could ever be in any danger.
Yes, because Christ's righteousness is imputed to the Christian by faith alone (that's a discussion for later), there no longer remains condemnation for the believer (Rom. 8:1). As WCF 17 says concerning perseverence-
ReplyDeleteI. They, whom God has 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.
II. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree 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 arises also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
III. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.
So you agree that Perseverance really makes no sense in your system? What is there to persevere when salvation is not based on anything you do but on Christ's twofold Obedience? This is why texts like John 13:8 are direct contradictions of Reformed theology.
ReplyDeleteAs Christians we are called to persevere in the faith. You seem to be implying that perseverence means we can just kick back and sin knowing that we will go to heaven. NO! We are called to grow in holiness and conform to the image of Christ. Justification is different from Sanctification. We are given Christ's righteousness and declared (legal declaration) righteous in the Father's sight. This does not mean that there is no more sin within a Christian. That is where Sanctification comes in.
ReplyDeleteA true Christian who has the Holy Spirit indwelt within him will want to become more like Christ. So there is cooperation that goes on between the believer and the Spirit but the believer's salvation does not depend on that cooperation because he is already justified. Just as Paul says we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (phil 2:12b). Why? "for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (phil 2:13). A Christian's perseverence confirms his election.
Also, your interpretation of John 13:8 is wrong. You seem to be implying that if Peter didn't get his feet washed, he would lose his salvation or not gain salvation. Jesus is not saying that at all. He is making a spiritual point with a physical act. He is teaching that if a person is not washed with his blood and by the Holy Spirit, they will not have any part with him. This is confirmed by the fact that in verses 10 & 11, Jesus says-
"The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean."
Didn't Jesus wash Judas' feet? YES! He is not talking about the outer washing of the feet but of the inner washing of the heart. Judas had his feet washed, but not his heart.
Salvation is not synergistic as you would affirm, it is only the work of God.