05.10 - Chapter 33 - The Safety of the Saint
Chapter 33 THE SAFETY OF THE SAINT A Confession of Faith: The Security of the Believer
“Those whom God hath accepted in the beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, and given the precious faith of His elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved, seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, whence He still begets and nourisheth in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality; and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon; not withstanding, through unbelief and temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light, and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from, yet He is still the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palm of His hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from all eternity.” (The Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 17, Section 1; study John 10:28-29; Php 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:19; 1 John 2:19; Psalms 89:31-32; 1 Corinthians 11:32; Malachi 3:6).
♦ John 10:28 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
♦ John 10:29 “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
♦ Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
♦ 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:”
♦ 1 Peter 1:5 “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” The Security of the Believer and Election The final security of the believer is a necessary supposition from the doctrine of election.
None of the elect shall ever be lost. There is Divine certainty that the elect shall be justified and glorified. He who predestinates and calls to salvation will do all that is necessary to bring His sons and daughters to glory. The perseverance of the saints from a human point of view is the preservation of the same from a Divine perspective.
♦ Romans 8:30 “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
While the Arminian doctrine is vigorously opposed to the concept of eternal security or the final salvation of the saints, the Scriptures do teach that in the Covenant of Grace, the Father has given to the Son a people, not upon foreseen faith, but upon unmerited grace and sovereign choice.
♦ John 17:6 “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.”
Though the believer’s salvation is secure, there is no license to sin. While God will forgive transgressions, He knows how to discipline His own so that it can be said, “God Doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified, and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s fatherly displeasure; and in that condition they have not usually the light of His countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.” (The Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 11, Section 5; study Matthew 6:12; 1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9; John 10:28; Psalms 89:31-33; Psalms 32:5; Psalms 51:1-19; Matthew 26:75) The Security of the Believe and Christ The final security of the believer is also implied in the union that each Christian shares with Christ.
♦ Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
♦ Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” The Security of The Believer And The Atonement The final security of the believer is implied in the Atonement. It was at Calvary that Christ purchased His own for time and for eternity.
♦ Matthew 20:28 “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” The Security of the Believer and the Will
“This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and the union with Him, the oath of God, the abiding of His Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the Covenant of Grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.” (The Baptist Confession of 1689, Chapter 17, Section 2; study Romans 8:30; Romans 9:11, Romans 9:16; Romans 5:9-10; John 14:19; Hebrews 6:17-18; 1 John 3:9; Jeremiah 32:40). The Security of the Believer Brings Peace
"Although temporary believers, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God and [in a] state of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which shall never make them ashamed." (The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 18, Section 1; study Job 8:13-14; Matthew 7:22-23; 1 John 2:3; 1 John 3:14, 1 John 3:18-19, 1 John 3:21, 1 John 3:24; 1 John 5:13; Romans 5:2, Romans 5:5) The Security of the Believer Produces Humility
"This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel; and also upon the inward evidence of those graces of the Spirit unto which promises made, and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God; and, as a fruit thereof, keeping heart both humble and holy." (The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 18, Section 2; study Hebrews 6:11, Hebrews 6:19; Hebrews 6:17-18; 2 Peter 1:4-5, 2 Peter 1:10-11; Romans 8:15-16; 1 John 3:1-3) The Security of the Believer Provides no License to Sin
"This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it; yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given to him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of means, attain thereunto: and therefore it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance; --so far is it from inclining men to looseness." (The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 18, Section 3; study Isaiah 50:10; Psalms 88:1-18; Psalms 77:1-12; 1 John 4:13; Hebrews 6:11-12; Romans 5:1-2, Romans 5:5; Romans 14:17; Psalms 119:32; Romans 6:1-2; Titus 2:11-12, Titus 2:14) Confidence in Salvation may be Shaken by Sin
"True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, or intermitted; as by negligence in preserving it, or by their falling into some special sin which woundeth the conscience and grieves the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God’s withdrawing the light of His countenance, and suffering even such as fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light, yet, are they never destitute of the seed of God and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the meantime, they preserved from utter despair." (The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 18, Section 4; Song of Solomon 5:2-3, Song of Solomon 5:6; Psalms 51:8, Psalms 51:12, Psalms 51:14; Psalms 116:11; Psalms 77:7-8; Psalms 31:22; Psalms 30:7; 1 John 3:9; Luke 23:32; Psalms 42:5, Psalms 42:11; Lamentations 3:26-31) Objections to Eternal Security Those who oppose the final perseverance of the saints appeal to selected Scriptures.
♦ Ezekiel 18:25 “Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?”
♦ Matthew 13:20 “But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;”
♦ Matthew 13:21 "Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended."
♦ Hebrews 6:4 "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, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 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."
♦ 1 Corinthians 9:27 "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."
Answer to Objections
Some of these statements may refer to those not regenerated. Some are hypothetical warnings to prevent backsliding or to show the dreadful guilt and danger of neglecting truth and common grace. Even the regenerate may backslide for a time, without being lost. It is possible for the believer to sin, but not to the point that salvation is forfeited. “And though they may, through the temptation of Satan and of the world, the prevalence of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein, whereby they incur God’s displeasure and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves, yet they shall renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end.” (The Baptist Confession of 1689, Chapter 17, Section 3; study Matthew 26:70, Matthew 26:72, Matthew 26:74; Isaiah 64:5, Isaiah 64:9; Ephesians 4:30; Psalms 2:10, Psalms 2:12; Psalms 32:3-4; 2 Samuel 11:14; Luke 22:32, Luke 22:61-62). The Adoption of the Believer
Adoption is a specific act of our merciful God which is distinct from calling, regeneration, and justification. The Greek term (huiothesia) occurs five times in the New Testament.
♦ Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
♦ Romans 8:23 "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
♦ Romans 9:4 "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenant, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises."
♦ Galatians 4:5 "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
♦ Ephesians 1:5 "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."
Adoption is that gracious act by which individuals are made children of God with specific authority and rights being bestowed (John 1:12). When the heart understands the concept of biblical adoption it can only say in astonishment, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God." And we are called the children of God (1 John 3:1 cf. Ephesians 1:5). The Spirit of adoption is the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). The act of adoption is necessary in order to establish filial (family) status. By regeneration, individuals are made members of the kingdom of God (John 3:3, John 3:5) but by adoption, they are made members of His family (Galatians 4:5-6) with the privilege of crying out, "Abba, Father". There is glory for all who are part of the family of God (Romans 8:19). Each will be conformed to the image of God’s own Son as the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). (Baker’s Dictionary of Theology, "Adoption," John Murray) What a joy it is to know that, "All those that are justified, God vouchsafed, in and for the sake of his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of children of God, have His name put upon them, receive the Spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, and are enabled to cry, ’Abba, Father!, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a Father, yet they are never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation." (The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 12; study Ephesians 1:5; Galatians 4:4-5; John 1:12; Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 3:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 2:18; Psalms 103:13; Proverbs 14:26; 1 Peter 5:7; Hebrews 12:6; Isaiah 54:8-9; Lamentations 3:31; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 1:14; Hebrews 6:12)