PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
The Bible teaches, and I believe in the eternal security of the believer. The man who trusts Jesus Christ as his Saviour, has everlasting life and will never perish. The spirit that is saved, is a gift from God; in other words, God did it and only He could undo it and it would go contrary to His nature to do it. Therefore, the believer does not depend upon his perseverance to keep this gift that is given to him by God.
I do not know a single Bible verse that says anything about the saints’ persevering, but there are several Bible verses that mention the fact that the saints have been preserved. Perseverance is one thing, but preservation is another. The saint does not persevere to maintain a saved spirit, that is the gift of God. He perseveres in realizing his soul’s salvation – the purpose for which he was created. Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 13:13, are all in reference to soul’s salvation and not spirit’s salvation. The salvation of the soul relates to the realization of the purpose for which man was made; (to have dominion) to be co-heirs with Christ in the kingdom.
Jude 1
1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
1 Thess 5:23
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Recently, I opened a jar of peach preserves. I don’t know how long the peaches have been in this jar. But the jar was sealed some time ago, and the peaches were preserved. When I took the peaches out and ate them, they were as good as they were the day they were placed into the jar.
But wait a minute! The peaches had nothing to do with it, they were not fresh and good because they had persevered, but because they were preserved. The Bible makes it plain that the believer is kept, and does not or can not keep himself.
1 Peter 1:4-5
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Bible says in, John 10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
That doesn’t sound like the perseverance of the sheep or saints. Here the sheep are in the Father’s hand, and they are safe, not because they persevere; but because of whose hands they are in.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “I don’t believe in the perseverance of the saints, I believe in the perseverance of the Saviour.”
There is the belief that if one does not teach universal salvation, he must either be a Calvinist or an Arminian. In his book, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, Dr. Loraine Boettner says on page 47, “there are only three systems which claim to set forth the way salvation through Christ [and names them].”
(1) Universalism, that all will be saved. (2) Armininanism, which holds that Christ died equally and indiscriminately for every individual…, that saving grace is not necessarily permanent, but that those who are loved of God, ransomed by God, and born of the Holy Spirit may (let God wish and strive ever so much to the contrary) throw away all and perish eternally; and (3) Calvinism, Christ died for a select (elect) few and only those can be saved, the others He damned.
He continues:
Only two are held by Christians, the Calvinist position and the Arminian position.
Calvinists would like to make people believe that if one does not teach universal salvation, he must either be a Calvinist or an Arminian. Since the Arminian position does such violence to the grace of God, many prefer to call themselves Calvinists. But a person doesn’t have to take either position.
I am neither Arminian nor Calvinist. I believe in salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. I believe in the eternal security of the believer. I believe that Jesus Christ died for all men, and I believe what the Bible says, “That whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But I disagree with the five points of Calvinism as John Calvin taught it.
In conclusion, let me say that Calvin and those who follow him claim to believe and follow the Bible. They claim to find at least a germ of the Calvinist doctrine in the Scriptures. But a careful student will find that again and again they go beyond the Scriptures, and that Calvinism is a philosophy developed by man and depending on fallible logic and frail, human reasoning, with the perversion of some Scriptures, the misuse of others and the total ignoring of many clear teachings of the Word. Calvin did teach many wonderful, true doctrines of Scripture, but this is not one of them.
It is true that God foreknows everything that will happen in the world. As a matter of fact He has permitted many with the intention of using them to teach other important lessons, (they are there as examples). Therefore, God definitely ordained and determined some things ahead of time and selected some individuals for His purposes (not to spirit salvation but service). It is certain that people are saved by grace, and kept by the power of God. That far Calvinist may well prove their doctrine by Scripture. But beyond that Calvinism goes into the realm of human philosophy.
It is not a Biblical doctrine, but a system of human philosophy, especially appealing to the scholarly intelligent, the self-sufficient and proud minds. Brilliant, philosophical, scholarly, preachers are apt to be misled on this matter more than humble hearted, Bible believing ones.
Let us prayerfully consider the position we take and ensure that we are “rightly dividing the Word of truth.”
The passage in Romans 9,that is often used to support Calvinism; a proper exegesis of this text will show that the names Jacob and Esau were not in reference to individuals, but to the nations that they represented. [You may have a further study on the issue of Rom. 9 on request].
This was not intended to cause controversy, but to genuinely seek after truth. I do appreciate your criticism and correction, because being a believer and promoter of the doctrine of the kingdom; (the Doctrine of Accountability), I don’t afford to be wrong, because to whom much is given, much is required.
Much of this work was taken from a work done by Dr. Curtis Hutson, a well known fundamentalist preacher and Bible scholar. I have done some additions, derived from my personal experiences and belief.
The Bible teaches, and I believe in the eternal security of the believer. The man who trusts Jesus Christ as his Saviour, has everlasting life and will never perish. The spirit that is saved, is a gift from God; in other words, God did it and only He could undo it and it would go contrary to His nature to do it. Therefore, the believer does not depend upon his perseverance to keep this gift that is given to him by God.
I do not know a single Bible verse that says anything about the saints’ persevering, but there are several Bible verses that mention the fact that the saints have been preserved. Perseverance is one thing, but preservation is another. The saint does not persevere to maintain a saved spirit, that is the gift of God. He perseveres in realizing his soul’s salvation – the purpose for which he was created. Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 13:13, are all in reference to soul’s salvation and not spirit’s salvation. The salvation of the soul relates to the realization of the purpose for which man was made; (to have dominion) to be co-heirs with Christ in the kingdom.
Jude 1
1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
1 Thess 5:23
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Recently, I opened a jar of peach preserves. I don’t know how long the peaches have been in this jar. But the jar was sealed some time ago, and the peaches were preserved. When I took the peaches out and ate them, they were as good as they were the day they were placed into the jar.
But wait a minute! The peaches had nothing to do with it, they were not fresh and good because they had persevered, but because they were preserved. The Bible makes it plain that the believer is kept, and does not or can not keep himself.
1 Peter 1:4-5
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Bible says in, John 10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
That doesn’t sound like the perseverance of the sheep or saints. Here the sheep are in the Father’s hand, and they are safe, not because they persevere; but because of whose hands they are in.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “I don’t believe in the perseverance of the saints, I believe in the perseverance of the Saviour.”
There is the belief that if one does not teach universal salvation, he must either be a Calvinist or an Arminian. In his book, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, Dr. Loraine Boettner says on page 47, “there are only three systems which claim to set forth the way salvation through Christ [and names them].”
(1) Universalism, that all will be saved. (2) Armininanism, which holds that Christ died equally and indiscriminately for every individual…, that saving grace is not necessarily permanent, but that those who are loved of God, ransomed by God, and born of the Holy Spirit may (let God wish and strive ever so much to the contrary) throw away all and perish eternally; and (3) Calvinism, Christ died for a select (elect) few and only those can be saved, the others He damned.
He continues:
Only two are held by Christians, the Calvinist position and the Arminian position.
Calvinists would like to make people believe that if one does not teach universal salvation, he must either be a Calvinist or an Arminian. Since the Arminian position does such violence to the grace of God, many prefer to call themselves Calvinists. But a person doesn’t have to take either position.
I am neither Arminian nor Calvinist. I believe in salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. I believe in the eternal security of the believer. I believe that Jesus Christ died for all men, and I believe what the Bible says, “That whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But I disagree with the five points of Calvinism as John Calvin taught it.
In conclusion, let me say that Calvin and those who follow him claim to believe and follow the Bible. They claim to find at least a germ of the Calvinist doctrine in the Scriptures. But a careful student will find that again and again they go beyond the Scriptures, and that Calvinism is a philosophy developed by man and depending on fallible logic and frail, human reasoning, with the perversion of some Scriptures, the misuse of others and the total ignoring of many clear teachings of the Word. Calvin did teach many wonderful, true doctrines of Scripture, but this is not one of them.
It is true that God foreknows everything that will happen in the world. As a matter of fact He has permitted many with the intention of using them to teach other important lessons, (they are there as examples). Therefore, God definitely ordained and determined some things ahead of time and selected some individuals for His purposes (not to spirit salvation but service). It is certain that people are saved by grace, and kept by the power of God. That far Calvinist may well prove their doctrine by Scripture. But beyond that Calvinism goes into the realm of human philosophy.
It is not a Biblical doctrine, but a system of human philosophy, especially appealing to the scholarly intelligent, the self-sufficient and proud minds. Brilliant, philosophical, scholarly, preachers are apt to be misled on this matter more than humble hearted, Bible believing ones.
Let us prayerfully consider the position we take and ensure that we are “rightly dividing the Word of truth.”
The passage in Romans 9,that is often used to support Calvinism; a proper exegesis of this text will show that the names Jacob and Esau were not in reference to individuals, but to the nations that they represented. [You may have a further study on the issue of Rom. 9 on request].
This was not intended to cause controversy, but to genuinely seek after truth. I do appreciate your criticism and correction, because being a believer and promoter of the doctrine of the kingdom; (the Doctrine of Accountability), I don’t afford to be wrong, because to whom much is given, much is required.
Much of this work was taken from a work done by Dr. Curtis Hutson, a well known fundamentalist preacher and Bible scholar. I have done some additions, derived from my personal experiences and belief.
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