Calvin Waldon

Chapter 17: The Perseverance of the Saints

In John 10:27-30, the Lord is speaking in the temple to a group of Jews who have gathered around Him. He was answering a question which was asked of Him concerning His true identity. In His answer Christ sets before His listeners the contrast that exists between the Christian and the non-Christian. “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.” He then goes on to speak of the benefits which come to those who hear His voice and follow Him, “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.” He concludes all of this with a glorious statement, “no one will snatch them out of my hands. My 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”.

The benefits from hearing and following the Shepherd’s voice are stated in a twofold manner so there is no mistaking it, “I have given them eternal life and they shall never perish.” The truth which is here declared is that sheep can never become goats or those who are born again can never be unborn.

The certainty of this reality is set forth in the two statements Jesus makes, “no one will snatch them out of my hands… and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” The hands of Christ are under His sheep and the hands of the Father are over His sheep, “thus we are secure in the clasped hands of Omnipotence.”

This is one of the clearest passages guaranteeing the absolute security of every true child of God. This doctrine is opened up in detail in the seventeenth chapter of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. In the paragraphs of this chapter, there are three elements of the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints which the writers of the Confession set forth: there is an explanation of the doctrine, the foundation upon which this doctrine rests and a qualification that must be addressed in light of this doctrine.

EXPLANATION OF THIS DOCTRINE

In setting down a simple explanation of this chapter, the writers of the Confession emphasized two important features of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints: the subjects of perseverance and the substance of this glorious doctrine.

Subjects of this doctrine

Who is it that persevered? The writers of the Confession answer this question by giving us a description of those who are given the gift of perseverance. “Those whom God hath accepted in the beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, and given the precious faith of the elect….”

Those who are preserved are “accepted in the beloved”, they are found in Christ. In writing to the church of Ephesus, Paul tells us that all of God’s favor comes to us in Christ (Ephesians 1:6). In Ephesians 2, Paul sets down the contrast between our ruin and God’s remedy. He draws a dark picture of our natural condition. His readers are those who have come to new life with Christ in His death and resurrection. The thought of believers being made alive in Christ is developed in verses 5, 6, “even when we were dead in our transgressions, (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.”

The writers of the Confession then go on to give, in this description of those who persevere, a description of how they come to be “accepted in the beloved”. Those “accepted in the beloved” are those who were “effectually called”. This call is the work of the Spirit whereby convincing one of his sin and misery, enlightening the mind in the knowledge of Christ and renewing the will. Through this call, the Spirit persuades and enables men to embrace Jesus Christ who is freely offered to them in the Gospel. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity”, (II Timothy 1:8, 9).

Secondly, those “accepted in the beloved” are those “sanctified by the Spirit.” They are ones who have not merely made some decision for Christ, but are a people who have actually experienced a transformation of life by the work of the Spirit. Paul, when expressing thanks to God for the church at Thessalonica, describes them “…brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (II Thessalonians 2:13). It is the work of the Spirit that changes the life of a man, the Spirit sets him a part to be a holy people, so that “old things pass away and all things become new.” Through the work of the Spirit, a person turns from his evil ways.

Thirdly, those “accepted in the beloved” are given the precious faith of His elect”. Faith is that commitment to the Christ of the Gospel, for “without faith it is impossible to please God”.

The subjects of this perseverance are not all those who claim to be Christians, but only those who have by the grace of God been effectively called, sanctified by the Spirit and given the precious faith. Only these therefore, are “accepted in the beloved”. It is these true saints who are the subjects of this work of perseverance.

Substance of this doctrine

Having addressed the subjects of this doctrine; the writers of the Confession move on to address the substance of this blessed doctrine. What is perseverance? God having begun a work of grace continues that work in the life of a true believer to the very end (Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:28-30). The believer will continue to have the Spirit of God and the gifts of the Spirit in his heart. The Confession states those gifts as faith (I John 5:1-5), repentance (I John 1:7-9), love (I John 3:14-15), hope (Colossians 1:23) and joy (Matthew 13:44). It is these graces that the Spirit of God brings to the heart of a true believer. Such graces will never be eradicated from his life.

There will be opposition that the believer will face in this life against this wonderful doctrine. The Confession realizes that the life of the believer is confronted with “many storms and floods which beat against them.” The Believer may go through seasons of unbelief and temptations of Satan that will lead to doubt and will cloud the presence of God in their lives (II Timothy 4:7), But none of these obstacles will change what the believer is in Christ. They shall be kept by the power of God unto salvation (I Peter 1:5; Revelation 13:8). They are those whose names are engraved in the palm of His hands and their names have been written in the book of life from eternity (Isaiah 49:16; Revelation 13:8).

FOUNDATION OF THIS DOCTRINE

In the second paragraph the Confession states that perseverance of the saints rests upon certain pillars. The writers begin by stating that which it does not rest upon, “this perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will…..” The Scriptures teach that free will is not ultimate in salvation (Romans 9:6), but the grace of God. The writers of the Confession point out six pillars upon which the doctrine of perseverance rests.

Immutability of the decree of election is the first pillar. Man is brought to faith in God only by the divine selection of God. Paul says concerning the people of God in Thessalonica that “God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation” (II Thessalonians 2:13), they were divinely chosen by God for salvation. Ephesians 1:4 mentions that this divine selectivity was in reference to Christ to this end, that God receives praise and glory, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him…. to the praise of the glory of His grace.”

In John 6:38-40 Jesus clearly expresses that all who are joined to Christ will be kept and preserved for His everlasting kingdom. “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

The efficacy of the work of Christ is the second pillar. The writers of the Confession put it this way; “the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with Him.” Paul argues that no one can bring a charge against God’s elect and that the believer stands in the place of no condemnation because “God spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all… it was Christ who died, yes rather who was raised, who sits at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Romans 8). This work of Christ on the cross was sufficient to bring about that which God had purposed in calling a people unto Himself and seeing that purpose accomplished all the way to their glorification.

Christ continues to do a work of redemption in the lives of believers as He sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for His people in the role of High Priest. John 17 speaks to this reality. This work of intercession is inseparable from Christ’s work of offering Himself up as a sacrifice for the salvation of God’s people. In Luke 22:31-32 Christ lets Peter know that He will be praying for him and that those prayers will prevail in preserving and keeping Him to the end.

Having been united to Christ, the believer is kept by the living power of Christ in them. Christ’s people will persevere in the state of grace to the very end.

The third pillar upon which this blessed doctrine rests is the oath of God. In Hebrews 6:16-20 we read of the oath which God made toward His people. We are told that Abraham was a recipient of the promise of God and that the certainty of God’s word was given to Abraham by the way of an oath. So it is with the child of God who is called an heir of the promise, God confirms the promise with an oath. God who always keeps His promises, and is not obligated to confirm His promises by way of an oath, does so to bring comfort to the child of God. This promise and oath provides the believer a rest and enjoyment in the salvation provided by God.

Pillar number four upon which the doctrine rests is that of the abiding of His Spirit. Paul writes of the presence of the indwelling of the Spirit as a pledge of the future and complete expression of God’s redemptive purpose in His creatures (Ephesians 1:13-14). The two sides of the one event that the Gentile believers experienced are expressed by Paul in these verses as they believed and were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit. This “seal” that Paul writes about has the idea of ownership and protection in view. Cattle and even slaves were branded with a seal by their masters to indicate to whom they belonged. An owner would guard their property against those who may desire to snatch it away.

The Holy Spirit is now a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance. Mr. O’Brain in his commentary on Ephesians writes, “Their longing for heavenly dwelling results from the certainty that they have been provided with an advance installment of the Spirit… God is not simply promising us a final inheritance but actually providing us with a foretaste of it.” The idea that a true believer who possesses the earnest of the Spirit may totally and finally fall from grace suggest that God may default on His solemn commitments.

Pillar five is the seed of God within them. The seed of God which is in every believer, I believe, refers to the fourth pillar and is what the scripture calls the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I John 3:9, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” John goes on and points out how abiding in the seed keeps the believer from falling away, “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him” (I John 5:18).

The final pillar that the writers of the Confession states concerning the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints rests is the nature of the covenant of grace. Unlike the Old Covenant, the New Covenant gives assurance of salvation and perseverance to those within the covenant. (Jeremiah 31:33-34; 32:40; Hebrews 10:11-18). Sam Waldron writes in his Exposition of the 1689 Confession, “The idea that anyone who has a genuine title to the New Covenant, who really is in the New Covenant, may fail to continue and persevere in it and finally perish is foreign to the Bible.”

With all these pillars upholding this biblical truth, the result must be that the perseverance of the saints is certainly and absolutely true.

QUALIFICATION OF THIS DOCTRINE

The writers of the Confession give a word of qualification concerning this blessed doctrine. The qualification centers on the reality that while the perseverance of the saints is absolutely certain, true saints do fall into grievous sins and continue in them for a time; this is the biblical doctrine of backsliding. It is this reality the writers deal with in the final paragraph.

The causes of this reality

There are four causes stated which leads the believer into grievous sins. First, there is the temptation of Satan. In Mark 1:13 we read of the experience of Christ being tempted by Satan. Peter tells us that he is like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (I Peter 5:8). A second cause for a person to backslide is an attraction to the world. I John 2:15 warns the believer of this temptation “do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” The third cause is the ongoing conflict with remaining corruption within men. James tells us that one is tempted when he is “carried away and enticed by his own lust” (James 1:14). The final cause of backsliding mentioned by the writer is that of neglecting the means of perseverance. The believer has been given that which he needs to be kept from grievous sins. Such things are prayer, the Word, and fellowship. Neglecting these things will lead to backsliding and grievous sins. The writer of Hebrews warns, “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

The consequences of this reality

The writers of the Confession point out six sad consequences the believer can experience when he falls into grievous sins. The consequences are God’s displeasure (Psalm38:1-8), the Spirit is grieved (I Thessalonians 5:14), their graces and comforts impaired (Psalm 51:10-12), hearts harden, conscious wounded (Psalm 32:3-4) others are hurt and scandalized (II Samuel 12:14, Romans 14:13-18), and they bring temporal judgments upon themselves (I Corinthians 11:27-32). Each of these consequences are a sobering reminder for us to continually be watchful least any of us fall into such grievous sin as to lead to such sad consequences. The perseverance of the saints does not mean the believer can take his sin lightly, but must recognize that his fall will lead to serious harm.

The conclusion of this reality

The writers bring this section to an end by stating the truth concerning genuine believers. “Yet shall they renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end.” The reality is whatever pleasure a Christian finds in sin is short lived and that by the grace of God, he is brought to turn from it (Luke 22:32, 61-62).

This does not teach that men will be saved regardless of how they live or irrespective of whether they repent of the grievous sins into which they fall. Psalm 130:3 teaches us that there is forgiveness with God. With such forgiveness there is found within a forgiven man, a fear of God placed in his heart.

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