Perseverance of the saints
- Also known as “once saved, always saved” or “impossibility of apostasy.”
“The elect are not only redeemed by Christ and renewed by the Spirit, but also kept in faith by the almighty power of God. All those who are spiritually united to Christ through regeneration are eternally secure in Him. Nothing can separate them from the eternal and unchangeable love of God. They have been predestined to eternal glory and are therefore assured of heaven.” – Steele, Thomas, and Quinn, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 64
“Many who profess to believe fall away, but they do not fall from grace, for they were never in grace. True believers do fall into temptations, and they do commit grievous sins, but these sins do not cause them to lose their salvation or separate them from Christ.” – Steele, Thomas, & Quinn, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 64-65
As the Westminster Confession of Faith states, saved people “can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.” – as cited in Steele, Thomas, and Quinn, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 65
- Romans 8:29-30
- foreknew ➡ predestined ➡ called ➡ justified ➡ glorified
“We have seen before the ironclad chain of divine work in Romans 8:30 … What is evident from this verse is that those who are effectually called into the hope of salvation will indeed persevere to the end and be glorified. There are no dropouts in this sequence. These are promises of God rooted in unconditional election in the first place and in the sovereign, converting, preserving grace that we have seen before. The links in this chain are unbreakable, because God’s saving word is infallible and his new covenant commitments are irrevocable.” – John Piper, Five Points, p. 65-66
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- Calvinists misinterpret these verses. Who is predestined here? It’s not individual people but a category of people – those who have decided to obey God.
| According to Calvinism | According to the Bible |
|---|---|
| “According to Romans 8:29-30, God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified.” - gotquestions.org | “God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:34-35) “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16) |
- Romans 11:16-24 – Jews were removed from the metaphorical tree because of unbelief. Gentiles can be grafted in if they are faithful, but can also be removed just like the Jews if they fall away.
- Galatians 3:26-27
- Colossians 1:2, 13, 21-22 – Paul is writing to Christians.
- Colossians 2:5 – They were stable in their faith.
- Colossians 1:23 – Notice the word “if”!
- I Timothy 1:19-20; 4:1
- Hebrews 3-4
- Hebrews 3:1 – This is written to Christians
- Hebrews 3:5-6 – “if indeed we hold fast …”
- Hebrews 3:7-11
- Hebrews 3:12-14 – Don’t fall away!
- Hebrews 3:15-19 – They were guilty of unbelief. He is drawing a parallel between heaven and Canaan.
- Hebrews 4:1-11
Conclusion
- Don’t let this false doctrine make you thing you can disobey God and still go to heaven.