21 Perseverance of the Saints

Perseverance of the Saints By Rev. T. T. Eaton, D. D., Petersburg, VA.

“They shall never perish.”—John 10:28. Will all who are truly regenerate persevere in a state of grace to a state of glory? or will some of them finally perish? Many a priori arguments have been used on both sides of this great question, which has for so many centuries divided the professed followers of Christ; but since “the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants,” it is alone worth our while to consider what the Scriptures teach upon this subject.

If the doctrine of election be true, then the final perseverance of the saints follows as a necessary corollary, so that every passage that can be cited to prove the former doctrine also goes to establish the latter. Peter (1 Peter 1:2-5) calls Christians who are scattered over the world,” Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ;” and he adds that they “are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” It is plain this language would not have been true of any Christians in “Pont us, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” who afterwards were lost. It therefore follows that none of them were lost; and if none of them, then no true Christians in any age will perish. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 2:13), “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Now, it is evident that no man can perish whom God hath chosen to salvation, for if chosen to salvation, he must be saved. A salvation that does not save is a contradiction. No man is saved so long as danger still threatens him, for the saved man is safe, and no one is safe who is in danger of perishing. Paul told the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:31),” Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” If there had been any danger of the jailer’s being lost after believing, the Apostle could not have spoken to him thus. The language is not “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and then you will have a probability of salvation,” but “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.” Again, in Acts 2:47, we read, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved,”— or, according to the Greek, “the saved,”—and there could have been no doubtful ones among those added. Other similar passages might be cited, but let these suffice. None who are chosen of God to salvation will perish. All Christians are thus chosen. Therefore no Christian will perish. Our Saviour declared the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints in language as plain as it is possible to use: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24.) Every regenerate man is described by the words, “he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me,” and, therefore, every regenerate man “hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.” Could language declare more plainly that no Christian will finally perish? Universalists tinker at the word everlasting, and attempt to show that it does not mean endless; but even Universalists would scarcely claim that a life which endured only a few years could be rightly called everlasting. It is to be observed Jesus does not say “shall have,” but “hath everlasting life”—the verb (ἔχω) is in the present tense. To make it doubly sure, our Lord adds that such an one “shall not come into condemnation,” which he would certainly do if he should be lost. The change from death to life has passed upon him that believeth, and that change is irreversible forever. Of similar import are other passages, e. g.,John 3:36 : “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” We see that the very terms used in speaking of regeneration forbid the idea of men’s perishing who are regenerate.

There is no such thing as a second spiritual birth. Nicodemus was right, that a second natural birth was impossible. No man is born, and grows a short time, dies and is born again to live a few more years, and so on. The same is true of the spiritual birth from above; it stands at the beginning of the Christian life. No man is born a babe in Christ, to grow in grace for a while, to die and become a babe again. This analogy is of our Saviour’s own choosing (John 3:3-7, and shows that as we have but one natural life, so we have but one spiritual life. This does not of itself prove that the spiritual life may not be lost, but since those who believe the doctrine of apostasy believe that men may be regenerated, lose their faith, and be regenerated again, and repeat the process several times, it is proper to show, in this connection, that a man can be regenerated but once.

Christians are often spoken of as children of God in Script tire, and this is no evanescent relation. Once a son, always a son, though a prodigal. Jesus calls believers sheep, and says, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28.) Here it is plainly declared that no Christian will ever perish — “they shall never perish.” Such language would be false if a single one of the sheep was lost. And at the last day — under the figure of a shepherd’s dividing the sheep from the goats — Christ tells us he will separate the righteous from the wicked (Matthew 25:32 and sq.), placing the sheep upon the right hand and the goats upon the left. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” All who are his sheep will hear this glad welcome — none of them shall perish. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord declared, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23.) Note the expression, “I never knew you.” It is not, “I do not now know you, though I knew you once,” but “I never knew you.” None of that throng were ever truly regenerate, although they had made great professions and had been very active in “many wonderful works,” else Christ would have known them. Paul declares his faith in the doctrine of final perseverance when he writes to the Philippians (Php 1:6): “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The word rendered “perform” is ἐπιτελέσαι, and has the sense of “finish.” God begins the work of grace in every regenerate person, and for that person to perish, would be for God to leave his work in that one unfinished. And since God will finish the work of grace he has begun in each heart “until the day of Jesus Christ,” if any Christian falls from grace it must be after the resurrection, and that no one claims.

Moreover, perseverance in holiness is declared in Scripture to be a test of regeneration; that is to say, those who do not persevere were never truly regenerate. Jesus said to some of the Jews at Jerusalem who believed on him, “If ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed.” (John 8:31.) “If ye continue,” “then are;” mark the words; the future continuance is a test of their present faith. If they continued not, then they were not at any time Christ’s disciples indeed. To the same effect is the utterance of John (1 John 2:19), “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us they would have continued with us.” In King James’ version, the words “no doubt” are inserted, but in italics, to show they do not belong in the passage. Here, then, it is emphatically stated that if those who went out had been “of us”—that is to say, if they had been regenerate —” they would have continued with us.” The seed planted in Christian hearts is declared to be “incorruptible” (1 Peter 1:23), so that whenever what appears to be the result of regeneration becomes corrupt, that proves the regeneration to have been unreal. It is self-evident that what is incorruptible cannot become corrupt. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him.” (1 John 3:9.) If, then, the seed remaineth in whosoever is born of God, no such one can perish. The seed which brought forth no fruit, in the parable, was sown in stony places and by the wayside; that which fell in good ground yielded from thirty to an hundred fold. The house which fell was the one built upon the sand; the one founded upon the rock stood unharmed through the storm.

There are other passages which might be cited, but these are sufficient for our present limits. Let us now consider the texts relied on to prove the opposite doctrine. In Matthew 10:22 we read, “But he that endureth to the end shall be saved;” and this is claimed as implying that some will begin the life of faith, and, failing to endure to the end, will perish. The inference is unwarranted; the passage simply declares that the saved man is he that endureth to the end. This is made clear by referring to the Greek, ὁ δὲὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος οὗτος σωθήσεται. Again, the passage (Hebrews 10:38), “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him,” is relied on to prove the doctrine of apostasy. The next verse makes the meaning plain (verse 39), “But we are not of them that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Here two classes are described: those who “draw back” and those who “believe,” and the passage is equivalent to a declaration that none who believe will draw back. Again (Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3:14): “But Christ as a eon over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end?” and “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” These passages, so far from intimating that true believers may perish, declare just the opposite, for they make perseverance the test of the genuineness of faith. “Whose house are we if,” etc.; “We are made partakers of Christ if,” etc.; that is to say, if we do not hold fart we are not of Christ’s house, nor are we made partakers of him; thus perseverance is made the test of discipleship, as we saw above. Salvation is promised to those who persevere; it is also promised to those who repent, and to those who believe, to those who love God, and to those who call upon him. Now, there is as much reason for saying that some repent who do not believe, or some believe who do not love God, or some love God who do not pray, as there is for saying that some believe who do not persevere.

It is also claimed that apostasy is taught by our Lord in his last discourse to his disciples before his death. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.” (John 15:2.) It is not stated that the fruitless branches ever bore any fruit, which they must have done according to the doctrine of apostasy. Our Lord calls attention to two sorts of branches— the fruitless and the fruitful—and only the latter are said to abide in him. In John 15:6 he declares: “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch,” etc. Here, then, is a branch which did not abide in the vine, which had it done, it would (John 15:6) have borne fruit. There are two sorts of branches on grapevines—the real branch, which comes from the heart of the vine, and the proud shoot, which comes only from the sap. These latter are fruitless, and typify those who make the Christian profession, but have no vital union with Christ, and do not “abide” in him. When our Lord uttered these words he was walking with his disciples through the vineyards which bordered Kedron, and amidst the fires in which the fruitless branches were being burnt by the keepers. No fruitful branch nor one which has a heart connection with the vine will ever be cast away.

Peter’s denial and Christ’s words to him, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” we find cited to establish the doctrine of apostasy. But it must be borne in mind that conversion is not the same as regeneration. Conversion is a turning round, so that a man may be said to be converted as often as he goes wrong, while regeneration gives him a new nature, and this can take place but once. That Peter did not fall from grace is evident from Jesus; saying to him, “But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.” At the grave of Lazarus our Lord prayed, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that thou hearest me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it that they may believe that thou hast sent me.” Since the Father hears Christ always, he heard him when he prayed for Peter, and so his faith did not fail; and as a proof that it did not, after the denial, he “went out and wept bitterly.” And that same Saviour who prayed for Peter, prays to-day for all true Christians that their faith fail not, and therefore in no case will it fail. “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34. See also Hebrews 7:25, and 1 John 2:1.)

Paul is supposed to teach the possibility of apostasy in 1 Corinthians 9:27, where he says, “But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” If he had said, “lest I myself should be an apostate,” then the passage might have borne the interpretation sought to be put upon it. The Apostle is comparing the Christian life to the contests of the Greek athletes—a familiar picture to the Corinthians—and after stating how these athletes were “temperate in all things,” “to obtain a corruptible crown,” he goes on to say: “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. But I keep my body under,” etc. The word rendered “castaway” is ἀδόκιμος and means “spurious.” Plato and other Greek writers use the word to describe counterfeit coin. Now a counterfeit coin never was genuine, and the use of the word in this connection, so far from favoring, is in direct conflict with the doctrine of apostasy. That Paul said to the Galatians, “Ye are fallen from grace,” is sometimes cited to prove apostasy. But the connection plainly shows that the Apostle referred to the doctrinal error of those who claimed that justification was by the law instead of by faith, and the argument is, that such persons, in their belief, had fallen from the doctrines of grace to those of works. A simple reading of the fourth, fifth and sixth verses (Galatians 5:4-6,) will make the meaning clear. “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” But the passages chiefly relied upon to establish the doctrine of apostasy are Hebrews 6:4-6—” For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame;”—and 10: 26,27—” For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, bat a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” If these passages prove apostasy, they prove too much for the advocates of that doctrine, who teach that a man may be recovered after apostatizing, and that, too, more than once. The words apostasy, apostatizing, etc., are used in this discussion as meaning the loss of regeneration and the passing back from a state of grace to a state of nature. But in neither of these passages is it said that a regenerate man may fall away. To say “if a thing should happen,” is not to declare that it ever will happen. But none of the expressions in the above passages are necessarily descriptive of a true Christian. The expression “made partakers of the Holy Ghost and the powers of the world to come “is nearest such a description; but Judas had this qualification, for he wrought miracles by the power of the Holy Ghost; and Judas was never regenerate. It has been claimed that he was regenerate, and John 17:12 has been cited in proof. “Those whom thou gavest me have I kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.” That Judas is here not declared to be one of those given to Christ will appear by citing some precisely similar expressions. For example, in Luke 4:25-27, we read: “But I tell you of a truth, many widows and orphans were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the laud; but unto none of them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian.” Now the widow of Sarepta and Naaman the Syrian are just as much included among the widows of Israel and the lepers of Israel, respectively, as is Judas included among those given to Christ. And neither the widow nor Naaman were Israelites. The passage concerning Judas, fully expressed, would be: “Those whom thou gavest me have I kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition is lost.”

There can be little doubt, however, that these two passages from Hebrews refer to the unpardonable sin. The descriptions suit that view exactly, and since this sin in Hebrews is declared unpardonable, if it is different from the sin against the Holy Ghost, which Jesus declared could never be forgiven, then there are two unpardonable sins, which no one claims. And besides John declares “there is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:16); language he would not have used had there been two such sins.

It was riot the purpose of this discussion to go outside of Scripture, but there is one objection, drawn from expediency, urged against the doctrine of Final Perseverance, and urged with such earnestness that we take space to mention it. It is asked, if the doctrine of Perseverance be true, what is the use of Christians’ striving to keep the law? If a man is saved when regenerated, and nothing can cause the loss of his soul, why should he not sin to his heart’s content? 2fow this objection rests upon the idea that Christians desire to sin, and are only restrained by their fear of losing heaven, and thus their love to God is reduced to “a lively sense of favors expected”—a feeling contemptible in the eyes of all noble men. Salvation is not simply the removal of sin’s penalty, but also deliverance from its power and pollution, and that man who would continue in sin if there was no penalty, is not a Christian. Jesus declared: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it.” (Matthew 16:25.) According to Scripture the regenerate man loves holiness, strives and agonizes to be freed from the pollution of sin, and struggles against the law of sin remaining in his members and leading him into transgression. So that if a man loves sin, and only shrinks from it because of its consequences, he is a stranger to the saving grace of God. The true Christian would avoid sin none the less if he was certain of reaching heaven at last, because he hates sin and loves God. An unregenerate man in the church, if convinced that he was sure to reach heaven, would plunge headlong into sin because in his heart he loves sin; and only to such is the doctrine of Saints’ Perseverance a savor of death unto death. Perseverance, as we have seen, is a test of regeneration.

While there is no danger of apostasy to God’s children, there is great danger of self-deception, and great need for us to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” Those who at the last will say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name,” etc., cannot be regarded as hypocrites, but as deceived; for they evidently went to their graves believing they would reach heaven. How shall we know that we are not deceived? John says: “He that loveth is born of God;” and again, “This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:3.) The verse before is a conclusive answer to the question just asked—”By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.” If we do this with earnest and honest purpose, asking the Holy Spirit to guide us, we can echo from blessed hearts those joyful words wherein the great Apostle declares his belief in the Final Perseverance of the Saints, in that chapter (Romans , 8)which is one long affirmation of this glorious doctrine. “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”