PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS EXPLAINED

Relative to the five points, the Calvinist view of sanctification is very close to, and in the minds of many, the same as the Calvinist doctrine of perseverance. This is the fifth point of Calvinism. Some Calvinists have a tough time embracing the third point, or limited atonement, although many non-Calvinists believe they can and do embrace the fifth point—perseverance of the saints. Usually, when non-Reformed Evangelicals say they believe in perseverance of the saints, they have something altogether different in mind than does the Calvinist. Many believers are simply confused about the meaning of the fifth point. As is the case with other distinctives of Calvinism, such confusion is not limited to the so-called lay community of believers. In the article “Resurgent Calvinism Renews Debate Over Chance for Heaven,” the author says:

Most Southern Baptists would have little quarrel with ... Perseverance of the Saints (once saved always saved).⁴⁵ As long as Christians erroneouslyassume that the Calvinist distinctive of perseverancemeans the same thing as the affirmation “once saved always saved,”they will continue to incorrectlythink of themselves as in agreement with the fifth point. The Calvinist writing team of Talbot and Crampton rightly state that:

It should be obvious that the Calvinist doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is not one and the same thing as “once saved, always saved.”⁴⁵⁴

While it is true that Calvinists believe in once saved always saved,so do many non-Calvinists. What most Southern Baptists would have little quarrel with has little or nothing to do with the fifth point of Calvinism. I do not point this out to be critical of Southern Baptists. From what I can tell, the Southern Baptist Convention is doing a very good job of keeping the Calvinists from taking over. I am, however, concerned that a misunderstanding of Calvinism makes the non-Calvinist community vulnerable to the errors of Calvinism. The article “Calvinism Resurging Among the SBC’s Young Elite” is a little more helpful, but it still misses the primary meaning Calvinists give to perseverance of the saints.The author of this article says:

God will preserve in salvation and eternal life those He saves.⁴⁵⁵

If such a misunderstanding can be published in a reputable Christian magazine like Christianity Today,it is little wonder that so many Christians are so confused about the meaning of the fifth point. Perseverance of the saints in Calvinism is really about what I call the inevitability principle.The inevitability principle says:

• The way a Christian is supposed to live, throughout the course of his life as a saved person, he does so inevitably.

And:

• If someone, who is called a Christian, does not live the way a Christian is supposed to live, for the most part, it simply means he was never really saved.

Calvinists and non-Calvinist Evangelicals have no argument about how a Christian shouldlive. According to Reformed Theology, however, there is no difference between the way a Christian shouldlive and the way a Christian willlive.

Much in The Canons of Dortand The Westminster Confession of Faith seem at first glance to contradict what I have just said. A thorough reading of these and other Reformed explanations of what Calvinism means when it talks about perseverance of the saints will clarify those general statements and thereby support my contention. Sproul explains: The Reformed view of eternal security is called “perseverance of the saints.” ... The idea here is ... “If you have it, you never lose it; if you lose it you never had it.”⁴⁵⁶

There is a distinctive view of eternal security that can be called “The Reformed view of eternal security.” Not all views of eternal security are Reformed. In fact, the scriptural view of eternal security is not Reformed. Sproul also says:

I prefer to use the term preservation of the saints. ... Preservation is what God does. We persevere because God preserves.⁴⁵⁷

According to Calvinism, the elect do not persevere because God enables them to persevere as ifthey have a choice to persevere or not. Reformed Theology says that the preservation of God is the cause and perseverance of the saint is the effect and is therefore inevitable for the saint.

There are basically three views among Evangelicals concerning the doctrine of eternal security. The Arminian viewsays that once you are truly saved, it is possible to lose your salvation. In effect, the Arminian says that once you are saved, you need to live as though you are saved or you will lose your salvation. Sproul quotes from the Arminian Conference of the Remonstrants as follows:

Persons truly regenerate, by neglecting grace and grieving the Holy Spirit with sin, fall away totally, and at length finally, from grace into eternal perdition.⁴⁵⁸ The Calvinist view:

If we have it we never lose it; if we lose it, we never had it.⁴⁵⁹ A third view(which is my view and the view of millions of other non Arminian, non-Calvinist Evangelicals) says that once you are saved you are always saved. It does not, however, confuse the importance and need for sanctification with the “faith alone in Christ alone” requirement for justification. Like the Arminian, we do not see sanctification as automatic or inevitable, however desirous that might be. Like the Calvinist, we do not believe a regenerate child of God can be lost.

If you are a Calvinist, you could speak of inevitabilityfrom the point of regeneration, saving faith,or justification.In a manner of speaking, the Calvinist sees the inevitabilitiesbuilt into unconditional election, irresistible grace, the atonement, regeneration, saving faith, and justification. Thus Calvinism says:

• If you are born again, you will live the new life (mostly) for the rest of your life, because you are born again and cannot do otherwise.

• If you have saving faith, which is a living faith, you will automatically have a working faith or a faith that works (mostly) for the rest of your life.

• If you are justified positionally or legally, you will unavoidably be sanctified practically or experientially, and remain so (mostly) for the rest of your life.

• What that new life, works, and sanctification amounts to or equals, according to Calvinism, is perseverance in faith and righteousness (mostly) to the end.

If you ask about the Christian who does not persevere in faith and righteousness to the very end, you have missed the meaning and implication of perseverance or the fifth point of Calvinism. That is, the true believer perseveres and cannot do otherwise. MacArthur contends that:

Those whose faith is genuine will prove their salvation is secure by persevering to the end in the way of righteousness. ... True believers willpersevere. If a person turns against Christ, it is proof that person was never saved.⁴⁶⁰ According to MacArthur:

Genuine believers may stumble and fall, but they willpersevere in the faith. Those who later turn completely away from the Lord show that they were never truly born again.⁴⁶¹

Boice says: The mark of true justification is perseverance in righteousness—to the very end.⁴⁶² The inevitability principle is not so much about what should be,but what will beand what cannot be otherwise.While it is often expressed in terms of persevering in faith or righteousness, it can also be understood in terms of ongoing fruitfulness. MacArthur says:

I do believe without apology that real salvation cannot and will not fail to produce works of righteousness in the life of a true believer.

... God’s work of salvation includes a change of intent, will, desire, and attitude that inevitably produces the fruit of the Spirit. The very essence of God’s saving work is the transformation of the will that results in a love for God. Salvation thus establishes the root that will surely produce the fruit.⁴⁶³ The inevitability principle is also evident in the way Calvinism relates practical sanctification to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Positional justification is that righteousness which is imputed to us through faith. Practical sanctification refers to righteous living. All thoughtful Evangelicals agree that positional justification always and immediately follows faith in Jesus Christ. Calvinists contend that while practical righteousness may be incomplete and progressive in the life of those who have true faith, it is inevitable that they will (mostly) live righteously. MacArthur says: The Apostle Paul . saw practical righteousness as the necessary and inevitable result of true faith.⁴⁶⁴ In similar fashion, MacArthur says:

Righteous living is an inevitable by-product of real faith (Romans 10:10).⁴⁶⁵

We will consider Romans 10:10 a little later to see if it in fact teaches what MacArthur says it does. For now, it should be noted that MacArthur rightly explains:

Justification is distinct from sanctification because in justification God does not make the sinner righteous; He declares that person righteous (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16). Justification imputes Christ’s righteousness to the sinner’s account (Romans 4:11 b) ... justification is an event, sanctification a process.⁴⁶⁶

Crenshaw asks:

What is the relationship of justification to sanctification?⁴⁶⁷ MacArthur agrees when Crenshaw answers:

Sanctification follows inevitably on the heels of justification. ... The Spirit irresistibly enables the saint himself to do good works.

... There is, of course, an inherent and inseparable connection between legal justification and moral sanctification, the former being the cause and the latter being the effect. Justification always comes first logically and is always followed by sanctification automatically.⁴⁶⁸

Those who hold to the Calvinist view that obedience, faithfulness, fruitfulness, perseverance in righteousness to the endare inevitable and automaticfor the true believer are troubled by the suggestion that a true Christian could possibly fail in these matters. In fact, one of the more troubling ideas held by some non-Calvinists, according to MacArthur, is the view that says:

Heaven is guaranteed to believers, but Christian victory is not.⁴⁶⁹

MacArthur is not saying that the possibilityof Christian victoryis guaranteed to believersbut the actualityof Christian victory in this lifetime (at least mostly) is inevitable. In other words, the true believer cannot fail to be victorious (at least mostly) in a practical or experiential sense this side of heaven. Speaking on behalf of all trueChristians, MacArthur says:

... God Himself guarantees our perseverance in righteousness ...⁴⁷⁰ A CARNAL CHRISTIAN? The very idea that a true believer could be characterized as a carnal Christian is anathema to many of those who believe in the fifth point. MacArthur refers to what he calls “The Myth of the Carnal Christian.” He says: The whole idea is based on a misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:3.⁴⁷¹

MacArthur’s explanation of the behavior of at least some Christians in Corinth, however, actually supports this notion of a carnal Christian. He says:

Paul told them their divisive behavior was unworthy of Christians: “You are still fleshly.”⁴⁷² Then in brackets, MacArthur gives us a short lesson in Greek as follows:

[Gr. sarkikos,‘pertaining to the flesh, carnal’].⁴⁷³ He goes on to say:

Clearly Paul was accusing the Corinthians of behaving like non Christians. Factions were not the only problem at Corinth. ... Some were drunk and disorderly in the communion service .⁴⁷⁴ If these are Christians, they must have been carnal Christians. Nevertheless, Reisinger goes so far as to say: This theory [concerning carnal Christians] is one of the most perverse teachings in our generation. It is so dangerous and self deceiving that in many cases it is damning.⁴⁷⁵

Given the Calvinist doctrines of unconditional election/reprobation, definite atonement, etc., it is difficult (if not impossible) to understand how any doctrine could be damning or put at risk anyone who was not already doomed from the womb. According to Reformed Theology, just as faith in Christ is irresistiblefor the elect, so a consistent lifelong faithfulness to Christ(mostly) is inevitablefor the regenerated. Calvinist John Murray argues: A believer cannot abandon himself to sin; he cannot come under the dominion of sin; he cannot be guilty of certain kinds of unfaithfulness.⁴⁷⁶

Note carefully that he does not say a Christian should notabandon himself to sin, come under the dominion of sin, or be guilty of certain kinds of unfaithfulness, but that he cannot.Richard Alderson, in his book No Holiness, No Heaven,gives this notion a very Calvinist-sounding spin when he says: By this lack of holiness they prove they were not so predestined.⁴⁷⁷ This brings us full circle. The Calvinist reasons that since God is sovereign:

• Man has been predestined to heaven or hell and has no say in where he ends up. This also means the reprobate have no responsibility for where they go.

• If a man has the advantage to be among the elect, he will be regenerated irresistibly.

• If a man has been regenerated, he will have a saving faith.

• If a man has a saving faith, he will be justified.

• If a man has been justified, he will persevere in faith and righteousness (mostly) to the end, proving he was among the elect and so predestined to be among the elect.

• If a man does not persevere in faith and righteousness to the end (at least mostly), he simply proves he had the disadvantage of never being among the elect but was instead one of the reprobate.

ASSURANCE WITHOUT SECURITY? The Calvinist doctrine of perseverance of the saints allows for a formal recognition of a true believer’s security of salvation. And yet according to Calvinism, no true believer can have assurance of salvation because full assurance cannot come until you arrive at the end of your earthly sojourn. That is, a believer can only have certain proof of divine preservation and election after he has persevered to the very end. That is why John Piper says:

We do not breathe easy after a person has prayed to receive Christ.

... There is a fight of faith to be fought. We must endure to the end in faith if we are to be saved.⁴⁷⁸ This does not mean that the elect ultimately can be lost according to Reformed Theology. For in keeping with all Calvinists, Piper also says:

God’s elect cannot be lost. 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 .⁴⁷⁹ This enablement Piper refers to, however, does not simply make perseverance possible. It makes perseverance inevitable. The person, therefore, who does not persevere to the end proves he is not elect and therefore not saved or a true believer after all. Since no one except God can know for a certainty that a person will persevere to the end, full assurance of salvation is not possible this side of glory, according to Calvinism. Now if regeneration, and the saving faith that comes with it, inevitably leads to a persevering righteousness, then all we can do is try to ensure that someone has really placed a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and righteous living will automatically and inevitably be the result.

There is no need for exhortation, warning, or ministry of any kind to the saved, except as a matter of obedience to God. Why? Because if we are trying to encourage godliness in the life of the believer in our ministry to the believer, and yet the true believer inevitably and unavoidably will persevere in righteousness to the end, it is clear that our efforts are not really needed. And if we are trying to encourage godliness in the life of someone we mistakenly think is a believer, we are encouraging him to do what he absolutely cannot do.

These matters were settled in eternity past, and we are altogether helpless to make a difference, according to Reformed Theology. When you think about it, Christians are really quite useless when it comes to affecting the destiny of the lost and when it comes to making much of a difference in the life of the saved if Reformed Theology is an accurate reflection of biblical theology. This is not the picture painted by Scripture. While Scripture never divorces sanctification from justification, just as clearly, it distinguishes between them. While God gives us all we need for a victorious life, victory is not guaranteed or inevitable. By suggesting otherwise, the Calvinist view undermines the very thing it claims to be trying to accomplish in the Christian community. That is, if you want to see more godliness among believers, the last thing you should be doing is telling them that godliness is inevitable, automatic, or guaranteed. This is not the approach the writers of the New Testament embraced.

It is certainly true that not everyone who professes to be a Christian is a Christian. Some are mistaken. Some are pretending. At the risk of belaboring the point, however, if all true believers persevere to the end, why does Scripture so often encourage the saints to persevere and just as often warn them of the consequences of not persevering?

Surely Calvinists should understand that if saints persevere because they are saints and cannot do otherwise, then no lack of exhortation or warning is going to prevent them from persevering. If one cannot be a saint because he has not been elected to salvation, no amount of encouragement or warning is going to help him persevere in a faith he does not, cannot, and should not have to persevere in.

Nothing, however, could be more obvious than this: Christians are repeatedly encouraged to persevere. Just as clearly, they are constantly warned of the consequences for not persevering throughout the pages of the New Testament. To challenge perseverance of the saints in the Calvinist sense is not to deny eternal security. To affirm the Calvinist type of perseverance is, however, to deny the believer real assurance.

PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE

It must also be stressed that a challenge to the Calvinist view of perseverance of the saints is not to deny the importance of saints persevering—even to the end. Scripture is replete with exhortations and warnings regarding perseverance. Still, according to Calvinism, salvation, justification, and sanctification are hardly distinguishable. Thus, the problem with Calvinist perseverance is not in its overemphasis, but in its mis-emphasis. Not only so, but a case can be made for the fact that Calvinism can actually result in an under-emphasis on sanctification. That is, since perseverance is a foregone conclusion for the elect, the one who believes he is elect and born again may pay less attention to exhortations and warnings about perseverance. Why? If he is saved, he will persevere. Since you cannot do anything about being elected or not elected, you cannot do anything about all that is inevitable because you are elected or not elected. This includes perseverance. As a side note, there is a little known dark secret of Calvin that further undermines anyone’s assurance that he is one of the elect. Calvin actually taught that someone who is not elect, who is reprobate, who is damned from all eternity for all eternity, could actually and sincerely believe he is elect and loved by God. This “false work of grace” ultimately is caused, not by the individual’s own flawed thinking, but by God’s own work in his darkened heart:

Experience shows that the reprobate are sometimes affected in a way so similar to the elect, that even in their own judgment there is no difference between them. ... The Lord, the better to convict them, and leave them without excuse, instills into their minds such a sense of his goodness as can be felt without the Spirit of adoption. ...

Still it is correctly said, that the reprobate believe God to be propitious to them, inasmuch as they accept the gift of reconciliation, though confusedly and without due discernment. ... Nor do I even deny that God illumines their minds to this extent, that they recognize his grace; but that conviction he distinguishes from the peculiar testimony which he gives to his elect in this respect, that the reprobate never obtain to the full result or to fruition. . Thus we dispose of the objection, that if God truly displays his grace, it must endure for ever. There is nothing inconsistent in this with the fact of his enlightening some with a present sense of grace, which afterward proves evanescent.⁴⁸⁰ In Calvin’s commentary on Hebrews he said that the same kinds of spiritual blessings that are given by God to the elect can be given to the reprobate: But I cannot admit that all this is any reason why he should not grant the reprobate also some taste of his grace, why he should not irradiate their minds with some sparks of his light, why he should not give them some perception of his goodness, and in some sort engrave his word on their hearts. Otherwise where would be the temporary faith mentioned by Mark 4:17? There is therefore some knowledge even in the reprobate, which afterwards vanishes away, either because it did not strike roots sufficiently deep, or because it withers, being choked up. And by this bridle the Lord keeps us in fear and humility; and we certainly see how prone human nature is otherwise to security and foolish confidence.⁴⁸¹

Where, then, is the “assurance” of Calvinism? It cannot come to anyone until the moment of death—when one has finished the race without falling away. It can only come when one’s sincere experience of salvation is finally confirmed by God and one finally knows for sure that he is truly elect, and not merely a reprobate confused by God into falsely believing that he is a true believer. When we define perseverance (at least as it is worked out behaviorally) as faithfully following Christ, being obedient to God’s Word, and walking in the light, we can see that perseverance is what ought to be true for every Christian. Believers are encouraged to do this and warned about failing to, precisely because we have a tendency or inclination to not do it.