Perseverance of the Saints – The P of “TULIP”

What the Calvinist says about Perseverance of the Saints: (Taken from: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1985/1487_What_We_Believe_About_the_Five_Points_of_Calvinism/#Grace)

We mean that the saints will and must persevere in the obedience which comes from faith. Election is unconditional, but glorification is not. There are many warnings in Scripture that those who do not hold fast to Christ can be lost in the end.

This means that the ministry of the word is God's instrument in the preservation of faith as well as the begetting of faith. We do not breathe easy after a person has prayed to receive Christ, as though we can be assured from our perspective that they are now beyond the reach of the evil one. There is a fight of faith to be fought. We must endure to the end in faith if we are to be saved.

This is why we believe in eternal security--namely, the eternal security of the elect. The implication is that God will so work that those whom he has chosen for eternal salvation will be enabled by him to persevere in faith to the end and fulfill, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the requirements for obedience.

Nevertheless, we must also own up to the fact that our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith. The way these two truths fit together is that we are justified through our first act of faith because God sees in it (like he can see the tree in an acorn) the embryo of a life of faith. This is why those who do not lead a life of faith with its inevitable fruit of obedience simply bear witness to the fact that their first act of faith was not genuine.

We are not left to ourselves and our assurance is very largely rooted in the sovereign love of God to perform that which he has called us to do.

Therefore we should be zealous to make our calling and election sure.

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Most people claiming to be a less than five point Calvinist say they agree with the teaching of the Perseverance of the Saints. In order to come to this decision they reject Calvinist definitions and embrace definitions they invent. This causes confusion about what is meant or what the person believes. In order to understand the term properly, you must go to the people in this system and ask for their definitions.

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Confusion abounds in the Calvinist explanation of the Perseverance of the Saints when they say, “…God will so work that those whom he has chosen for eternal salvation will be enabled by him to persevere in faith to the end…” and then saying, “…our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith.”

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Even if we are, according to them, Unconditionally Elected, are included in the Limited Atonement, we come to have faith because of our Election, and we are not left to ourselves because of the power of the Holy Spirit, BUT then they say our final salvation is contingent on works? This is being said by a Calvinist? Should they have not said, “…our final salvation is made evident by the subsequent obedience…” and not, “…made contingent upon…”?

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For most Calvinists, Perseverance of the Saints is a direct result of the other points of Calvinism. According to their view, God has chosen the elect from before the foundation of the world. Since only the elect have their sin forgiven through the Limited Atonement of Christ, and the blood of Christ is effectual only for the elect, only the elect will have a persevering relationship with Christ. According to the Calvinists, if someone “falls away” it shows they never were chosen in the first place.

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So how can they say, “…our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith…”? How can that statement fall into alignment with their view of God’s Unconditional Election? It can’t. Or how can it mesh with their understanding of God’s sovereignty? It doesn’t. As an out they say obedience comes from faith, and faith only is given to the elect, so only the elect will have faith, but they don’t stop there.

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In one place they say salvation is 100% God and 0% man, then describe Perseverance as some mixture of God and man, maybe a 50/50 or a 60/40 ratio, if you are saved. Remember, according to the Calvinist, “There is a fight of faith to be fought. We must endure to the end in faith if we are to be saved.” Sounds like an erroneous Arminian view of salvation retained by works, to me.

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Do I believe a person can loose his salvation? No. Do I believe retention of a person’s salvation is based upon his behavior? No. Does the Bible teach either of these ideas? No. Do I embrace the Calvinist teaching of “Perseverance of the Saints”? No. Why not? What does the Bible teach?

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Romans 8:38-39 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.

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2Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

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John 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

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Jude 1:24-25 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

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Clearly once you are truly saved, you are always saved. There is no loss of salvation to those who have salvation. We are secure by the blood of Christ and the strength of God’s Word.

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If someone was claiming to be saved because they were chosen, how could they have any confidence in their sanctification? A Calvinist has no real ground to stand on when claiming salvation because the ultimate test will come at judgment and then it is too late. Until judgment, a Calvinist can only hope they have been chosen.

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I know I am saved, not because of what I have done but because I have placed my faith in what Christ has done for me. I was given the promise: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 and Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I did that and based upon the strength of God’s Holy and Infallible Word, I am saved.

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Now that I am saved I have the confidence of God’s promise, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29 and then there is 1John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

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Additionally, I know God will actively “help” me to become more like Christ as He said in Hebrews 12:6-11:

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“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

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I rest secure in the knowledge I am in Christ and He is in me because if I have truly committed my life to Christ and repented of my sin, there is a relationship that can never be broken. This is not the Perseverance of the Saints but the Perseverance of the Promise.