Perseverance
or Preservation?
Systematic Theology
I.
Definitions
a.
Perseverance – steady
and continued action or belief
b.
Preservation – the
guarding of something from danger, harm, or injury
II.
The
Difficulty: Fallen Christians
a.
What happens if
someone believes but then falls into serious sin?
b.
Why should a
carnal Christian who fails to persevere end up in
heaven?
c.
Many cannot wrap
their head around the fact that God could reward such a person.
d.
Calvinists say
the person was never truly saved; never one of the elect.
e.
Arminians say the person lost their salvation.
f.
Biblicists say
the person is still saved, yet fallen.
They won’t be rewarded but they will still get to heaven.
g.
Look back at the
question in point b. It implies that
salvation is earned, not given. Denial
of the carnal Christian means that some are more worthy of salvation than
others based upon their works. Yes the
Bible tells us that we are all wholly unworthy of salvation. It is purely the gift of God. It is never merited.
III.
The Calvinist
View: Perseverance of the Saints
a.
“They whom God
has regenerated and effectually called to a state of grace, can neither totally
nor finally fall away from that state, but shall certainly persevere therein to
the end and be eternally saved.” – Louis Berkhof
b.
This means that
anyone who is truly saved will strive to follow God all their days. They will never turn away from the faith, at
least not fully. Some allow for what
seems like temporary apostasy as long as the person is once again faithful at
the end of their life.
i.
This sounds an
awful lot like the Catholic doctrine of grace where someone can lose it and
come back. Salvation is dependant upon
whether you are in or out of a state of grace at the time of your death.
ii.
This removes the
assurance of salvation from individuals.
Only by examining your actions can you know if you are saved. As it is impossible to examine future
actions, you can never know if you are truly one of the elect or merely a
poser.
iii.
Works is thus
mixed with faith as the condition for true salvation.
c.
It is important
to note that this perseverance does not come from the individual, but from
God. In fact, an argument against the
concept of fallen Christians is that this would prove God not powerful enough
to sustain the individual.
d.
Scriptural
Evidence
i.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never
perish; and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-29) – All
of the elect will have eternal life and cannot fall away from Christ.
ii.
“For the gifts and the calling of God are
irrevocable.” (
iii.
“But the Lord is faithful, and he will
strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” (2 Thes.
3:3) – God will protect the elect so that they cannot be overcome by the devil.
iv.
“But the one who endures to the end, he
shall be saved.” (Mat. 24:13) – “No man can be saved unless he strive lawfully to persevere to the end of the course.” –
John Calvin.
IV.
The Arminian View:
Conditional Security
a.
“There is no
cleansing from sin, and no salvation, without a continual walking in God’s
light.” – Guy Duty
b.
“There is no
valid assurance of election and final salvation for any man, apart from
deliberate perseverance in faith.” – Robert Shank
c.
Seven tests of
salvation:
i.
Sincere faith in
Jesus Christ
ii.
Honoring Christ
as Lord and keeping his commandments
iii.
Walking after the
example of Christ
iv.
Loving the Father
and his will rather than the world
v.
Habitually
practicing righteousness rather than sin
vi.
Love for the
brethren
vii.
Consciousness of
the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit
d.
Salvation is
maintained by persevering in the faith.
There is no salvation without obedience.
Salvation is obtained by grace but maintained through works.
i.
If part of
salvation is by works, then it is not wholly of God. “Requirements which must be met in order to
secure a certain result, going to heaven, are in fact conditions necessary for
the attainment of that result. And if a
life of works is a necessary condition for obtaining the result of heaven, then
salvation is ultimately conditioned upon works and not faith alone.” – Joseph Dillow
ii.
This, too, seems
similar to Catholic views of salvation.
A person can be saved and not saved at various points in his/her
life. It depends on the final state of a
person whether they go to heaven or not.
e.
Scriptural
Evidence
i.
Matthew 24:13
(above) is often used.
ii.
“Even so, faith, if it has no works, is
dead, being by itself.” (James 2:17) – If one has faith but isn’t acting
spiritually, they are not truly saved.
Their faith is “dead.”
iii.
“For in the case of those who have once been
enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers
of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the power of the
age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to
repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him
to open shame.” (Hebrews 6:4-6) – If you are saved and then fall away, you
will lose your salvation. If taken
literally, this verse would indicate you can never gain it back but this is
contrary to what most Arminians teach.
iv.
“For if we go on sinning willfully after
receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for
sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire
which will consume the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:26-27) – If we willfully
sin after we are saved, we will lose our salvation and be punished in
hell.
v.
Hebrews verses
dealt with in detail below.
V.
The Biblicist
View: Eternal Security
a.
“To be sure, the
Bible teaches the eternal security of the believer. But the believer’s security has nothing to do
with persevering. We are secure because
we are kept by God.” – Curtis Hutson
b.
The saints are
preserved, they do not necessarily persevere.
Salvation is separate from reward.
Christians who persevere are rewarded with crowns they will be able to
present to the Lord. Christians who
skate by will not be rewarded.
c.
Predestination is
proof of eternal security. When we are
saved, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and predestinated to an inheritance in
heaven. We are guaranteed to be made in the
likeness of Christ.
d.
Scriptural
Evidence
i.
“For [because] we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the
body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10) – Christians will be judged for their
actions. Reward will be given based upon
our behavior here on earth.
ii.
“Now if any man builds upon the foundation
[of Christ] with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each man’s
work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be
revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s
work. If any man’s work which he has
built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall
suffer loss; be he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Cor. 3:12-15) – It
cannot be clearer. Each Christian’s
works are tested. If they are found
lacking, the person will be saved, but not rewarded. If they are found worthy, he will be
rewarded.
iii.
“It [salvation] is the gift of God; not as a
result of works, that no one should boast.” (Eph 2:8b-9) – Salvation is not
of works but wholly of the grace of God.
iv.
“Keep watching and praying, that you may not
enter into temptation; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Mat.
26:41) – Christians can be tempted. They
should pray so that they do not fall. If
they cannot fall, this verse would be meaningless.
v.
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (
VI.
Hebrews
a.
Hebrews was
written to Christian Jews who were turning back to the ways of the Law and
Judaism. Once Christ came, the old ways
were bankrupt. It was worthless to turn
back.
b.
Hebrews 6 is
talking about Christians who have turned away and gone back to Judaism. It says they cannot come back to repentance,
not that they cannot come back to salvation.
They could not be turned back to repent.
They were hardened.
c.
Hebrews 10 says
there is no more sacrifice for sin. Jews
looked forward to forgiveness.
Christians look backward. The
author is saying that the next event is judgment. It is not hell but rather the judgment of 2 Cor 5:10. Our
actions here on earth will be judged at the end.