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Our Reformed fathers never called the safe keeping
of the believers eternal security, but perseverance of the saints, for the
secure Christian will persevere in the faith. They believed that the God who started salvation would complete it ÒBeing confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ JesusÓ (Phil. 1:6). [See CHART #1]
Eternal
security must be balanced by perseverance. While it is true that a saved person can never be lost, it
is also true that once a person is
saved, he can never be the same again.
The
Christian perseveres because God is working salvation in the Christian and the Christian is working out salvation in his daily experience
(Phil. 2:12b-13): ÒContinue to work out
your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will
and to act according to his good purpose.Ó
If the Christian first
works, then expecting God to work, this is human effort, which leads to
legalism. If God works first in the Christian, then the Christian works, this
is grace, which leads to gratitude and true spiritual works.
Perseverance is made
possible because the Christian is preserved by Jesus Christ. ÒTo
him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious
presence without fault and with great joy. . .Ó (Jude 24).
ÒThose whom God has accepted in his beloved Son, called to faith and sanctified by his Holy Spirit, can neither totally nor finally sever themselves from GodÕs gracious love. The gift of faith endures to the end of life, eternally saving the believerÓ (Westminster Confession of Faith – Contemporary Edition: 17:1).
ÒThat continuous operation of the Holy Spirit
in the Christian by which the work of divine grace that was begun in the heart
is continued and brought to completionÓ (Jack Arnold).
ÒThat constant working of God in the
Christian which causes the Christian to voluntarily continue in faith and well
doing until he goes home to be with the Lord in death or is alive at the second
coming of ChristÓ (Jack Arnold).
Luke
21:19: By standing firm (persevering) you
will gain life.
Romans
5:3: . . . suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character.
Colossians 1:11: . . .being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so
that you may have great endurance (perseverance) and patience . . .
Hebrews 10:35-36: So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you
have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
James 1:3-4: Because
you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Matthew 10:22: All
men will hate you because of me but he who stands firm (perseveres) to the end
shall be saved.
There are two extremes when
dealing with eternal security and perseverance. The first extreme is to overly
emphasize eternal security so that a person feels he will go to heaven without
holiness, living to please himself.
The second extreme is to emphasize perseverance so that a person is
working for his salvation, falling into severe legalism. The Biblical position is stated in 1
Peter 1:5: . . . who (Christians)
through faith are shielded (kept) by
GodÕs power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the
last time. The Christian is kept by GodÕs power through
faith and not apart from faith.
PERSEVERANCE AND
MYSTERY [See CHART #2]
There is a mystery
(antinomy) about eternal security and perseverance that we will never put
together with our human minds.
Both are true and neither can be neglected.
Jude
24: To him who is able to keep you from
falling . . .
Jude 21: Keep yourselves in GodÕs love . . .
John 10:27: My sheep listen to my voice; I know them,
and they follow me.
John 10:28: I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. . . .
Hebrews 12:1: .
. . let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out before us.
Hebrews 12:2: Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith . . .
Philippians 2:12
. . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling . . .
Philippians 2:13 . . . for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose.
John 6:47: I tell
you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
1 Timothy 6:12: Take
hold of the eternal life to which you were called . . .
The
aorist tense expresses an event in past time and, if the context
warrants it, can be a once and for all event (Acts 16:31). One initial act of faith brings
salvation immediately to a person.
The
present tense stresses continual, habitual and repeated action in
present time (John 3:16; 5:24; Rom. 1:16). A person believes once for salvation, but he also continues
to believe as a result of being saved.
Faith may fluctuate but it can never be lost. Faith will always manifest itself to some degree in every
Christian.
Faith
is not optional for a Christian.
It is a necessity. The
Christian is kept by GodÕs power for salvation but the means God uses to keep a
believer is faith (1 Pet. 1:5).
The Christian is kept through
faith, not apart from faith. [See
CHART #3]
Intellect
(mind). Faith cannot begin in a
vacuum of knowledge. One must know something before he can trust in that thing
(Rom. 10:14, 17).
Sensibility (emotions). Facts are not enough for true faith but
oneÕs emotions must be involved, so as to love Christ with the heart (Rom. 10:9-10).
Volition (will).
Inherent in the word ÒfaithÓ is commitment. If something is believed, one commits himself to it and acts
upon it (Mark 8:34-38).
Unless mind, emotion and will (the total
personality) is involved in exercising faith, it has never taken place. A person who has really trusted in
Christ will act upon this decision by demonstrating with the life that he has
trusted Christ.
It
is possible to believe intellectually and not be saved (John 2:23-25).
It
is possible to be in a local church and not be saved (1 John 2:19).
It
is possible for a person to have walked an aisle, prayed a superficial prayer,
signed a card, be baptized and a member of a local church and not be saved
(Matt. 7:21-23).
ChristÕs
Teaching on Persevering Faith (Luke 8:4-15). Only those who persevere give evidence of salvation. They all do not produce the same amount
of works, but they all produce some works (Matt. 13:23).
Wayside
Soil (immediate fizzle): Not saved and doesnÕt care – Devil.
Stony
Soil (quick fizzle): Thinks he is saved but is not – Flesh.
Thorny
Soil (slow fizzle): Appears to be saved for a long while but is not –
World.
Good
Soil (no fizzle): Saved and he proves it by his spiritual fruit and good
works – Christ.
ÒHe who fizzles before the finish was faulty from
the first.Ó
Source of Obedience. Faith and
obedience are not the same, but they can never be separated because all true
obedience flows out of true faith (Heb. 11:8). ÒBy faith, Abraham . .
. obeyed.Ó God gives the Christian power to believe and obey but He does
not do these acts for the Christian.
The Christian exercises his own will and is actively involved in every
act of faith-obedience. [ See CHART #5]
Commands and Obedience. There are many positive commands of Scripture (Rom. 12:1; 1
Tim. 6:11-12; 1 Pet. 2:2), and many negative commands (Rom. 12:2; Rom. 6:12-13;
1 Thess. 5:22). The Christian
demonstrates his salvation by a desire to keep the commands of the Bible.
Eliminates Passivism. There are some Christians who teach, ÒLet go and let God,Ó
or ÒIf it isnÕt easy, it isnÕt of God,Ó or ÒAny victory attained by trying is
of the flesh.Ó This is called the
ÒVictorious Christian Life,Ó or ÒThe Deeper Life,Ó and it brings confusion into
the life of the believer. The
Bible, however, teaches the Christian must yield to God in an attitude of faith
but this faith results in obedience and action. Submission to God involves spiritual activity not
passivity. There is rest,
submission and yieldedness in the Christian life and there is also obedience,
struggle and warfare. This is the
life of faith-obedience or resting-activity.
Obedience
and the ÒIFÓ Clauses.
1. John 8:31. Christians are true disciples IF they continue to hold to ChristÕs
teachings (the Word of God).
2. Hebrews 3:6, 14. We are ChristÕs IF we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. Christians are to prove the reality of
their faith by persevering to the end.
Obedience
and the Warning Passages [See
CHART #6]
1. Matt. 7:21-23
2. 1 Cor. 6:9-11
3. Eph. 5:5-8
4. Gal. 5:19-21
Warnings
are given to mere professors in Christ in order to bring them to reality or
weed them out from true believers.
Warnings are also GodÕs means to secure the end of perseverance in the
case of the believer. God
may use exhortations, promises, and even threats to secure His end for the
believer.
PERSEVERING WORKS
Definition: When the Bible speaks of good works, it is speaking of
spiritual good produced by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). The motivation for good works is to
please Christ, not bring glory to self.
Necessity
of Works. Good works are the necessary proof of
true saving faith. Works do not
save, but are a necessity in sanctification to demonstrate the reality of
salvation. All Christians believe in
the necessity of good works but all do not agree on the cause or motivation for
good works. [See CHART #7]
Works
are a Divine Act (Eph. 2:10, Tit. 2:14; Gal. 5:22-23). Works are planned by the Father,
purchased by the Son and produced by the Holy Spirit. A Christian is to walk by faith in the works already
prepared.
Works
and a Human Act (Tit. 3:8; 2:7; Col. 1:10; 1 Tim. 2:10). Works must be learned as well as
produced (Tit. 2:4-5). Doing good
works is a lifetime process.
Source
of Good Works.
Faith is the source of all good works (Heb. 11:6). But without faith it is impossible to please God.Ó Faith and works cannot be separated but
they are not the same (James 2:17-18).
Faith is the root (cause) and works are the fruit (result).
ÒFaith alone
saves, but faith that saves is never aloneÓ (John Calvin)
Importance
of Works
Works
are a Proof of Salvation (Tit. 1:16).
A professing Christian without some works is not Christian at all. Those who desire to do the will of the
Father are saved (Matt. 7:21-23).
Works
are an Evidence of Election (1 Thess. 1:3-4; 2 Pet. 1:10). The Christian works because of his
election and calling to salvation, but he proves and demonstrates the reality
of his election and calling by his good works.
ÒDo all the
good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the
ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the
times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you
can.Ó (John
Wesley)
ÒThe proof of
election is that one perseveres to the end of life.Ó (Jonathan Edwards)
ÒIt is not
only important how one begins the Christian life, but it is doubly important
how one ends the Christian life. (Jack Arnold).