PERSEVERANCE-ETERNAL SECURITY
The Puritans
believed that without perseverance in the obedience of faith the result would
be eternal destruction, not lesser sanctification. Therefore, since preaching
and the pastoral ministry in general are a great means to the saints’
perseverance, the goal of a pastor is not merely to edify the saints but to
save the saints. What is at stake on Sunday morning is not merely the upbuilding of the church but its eternal salvation. It is
not hard to see why the Puritans were so serious.
John Piper
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, Bethlehem
Baptist Church, 2002, p. 106.
The assurance
of the believer is not that God will save him even if he stops believing, but
that God will keep him believing – God will sustain you in faith, he will make
your hope firm and stable to the end. He will cause you to persevere.
John Piper
Sermon: Sustained by the Faithfulness of God,
1 Cor. 1:1-9, www.DesiringGod.org.
Used by Permission.
Why do people
punish their bodies to run a grueling marathon race? Most runners name two
reasons: the sense of personal reward they get and the physical benefits of the
exercise. The same two rewards apply in the spiritual realm: great prizes await
those who persevere, and the very process of living by faith builds strong
character.
Hank Hanegraaff
Resurrection, W Publishing Group, 2000, p.
153.
There is no
mere doctrine of “the security” of the believer, as though God’s keeping of us
took place irrespective of the lives we live. Indeed there is no such thing in
the New Testament as a believer whose perseverance is so guaranteed that he can
afford to ignore the warning notes which are sounded so frequently.
Sinclair Ferguson
The Christian Life, p. 175, 1997, by permission
Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
If I did not
believe the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, I think I should
be of all men the most miserable, because I should lack any ground for comfort.
C.H. Spurgeon
13.107.
The doctrine
of the perseverance of the saints is to the effect that 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
Systematic Theology, by permission of
Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 1998,
p. 545.
Perseverance
may be defined as that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer,
by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart, is continued and
brought to completion. It is because God never forsakes His work that believers
continue to stand to the very end.
Louis Berkhof
Systematic Theology, by permission of
Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 1998,
p. 546.
The denial of
the doctrine of perseverance virtually makes the salvation of man dependent on
the human will rather than on the grace of God.
Louis Berkhof
Systematic Theology, by permission of
Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 1998,
p. 549.
Since no
condition in man determines his being chosen, because Scripture teaches
unconditional election, it stands to reason that there is nothing he can do to
get himself “unsaved”…because salvation is by the grace of God and not the
vacillating will of man.
Duane Edward Spencer
TULIP, The Five
Points of Calvinism in the Light of Scripture, Baker, 1979, p. 50, 52.
Because of
these remnants of sin dwelling in them and also because of the temptations of
the world and Satan, those who have been converted could not remain standing in
this grace if left to their own resources. But God is faithful, mercifully
strengthening them in the grace once conferred on them and powerfully
preserving them in it to the end.
The Canons of Dort
The Fifth Main Point of Doctrine: The
Perseverance of the Saints. Article 3- God’s Preservation of the Converted.
Our
perseverance is a gift from God. In our salvation, God blesses us with
assurance through His gift of perseverance (2 Thessalonians 3:5). However, many
Christians lack full assurance of their salvation because their understanding
of assurance is founded on the constantly changing emotions of their hearts
rather than on the eternal Word of God.
Burk Parsons
Assured by God, P&R, 2006, p. 19-20. Used by Permission.
In our first
paradise in Eden there was a way to go out but no way to go in
again. But as for the heavenly paradise, there is a way to go in, but not way
to go out.
Richard Baxter
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 91.
Though
Christians be not kept altogether from falling, yet they are kept from falling
altogether.
William Secker
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 91.
There is
nothing which so certifies the genuineness of a man’s faith as his patience and
his patient endurance, his keeping on steadily in spite of everything.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Spiritual
Depression – Its Causes and its Cures, 1965, p. 229,
Used by Permission from Elizabeth Catherwood (daughter).
We are able
to persevere only because God works within us, within our free wills. And
because God is at work in us, we are certain to persevere. The decrees of God
concerning election are immutable. They do not change, because He does not
change. All whom He justifies He glorifies. None of
the elect has ever been lost.
R.C. Sproul
Chosen
by God, Tyndale, 1986, p. 177.
Another
guarantee of our inheritance is our persevering faith. Peter said we are
protected by God’s power through faith
(1 Pet. 1:5). Faith is God’s gift to us; we don’t generate it on our own (Eph.
2:8-9; Phil. 1:29). Faith is aroused by grace, upheld by grace, and energized
by grace. Grace reaches into the soul of the believer, generating and
maintaining faith. By God’s grace alone we trust Christ, and by grace we
continue to believe.
John MacArthur
Treasure or Trash? from Our Sufficiency in Christ, 1991,
Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org. p. 51.
Perseverance
attests to God’s approval, for it gives evidence of eternal life (salvation).
In other words, perseverance does not result in salvation and eternal life, but
is itself the result and evidence of salvation and eternal life.
John MacArthur
James,
Moody Publishers, 1998, p. 43.
It is true
that God will never forsake His own children.
But the proof that we are His children is that He works in us the
vigilance not to forsake Him. God's not forsaking us is the work He does in us
to keep us from forsaking Him (Philippians 2:12-13).
John Piper
When Is It Dangerous to Look at Jesus? June 15, 2005, Fresh Words, Used by Permission, www.DesiringGod.org.
Those who
fall away have never been thoroughly imbued with the knowledge of Christ but
only had a slight and passing taste of it.
John Calvin
Only He who
gives faith can maintain it.
Author Unknown