18
Doctrines of Grace
DOCTRINE OF PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
“THIS DOCTRINE IS PART OF GOD’S REVELATION”
1 Peter 1: 5
Sermon by:
Rev. P. den Butter
Published by the
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA.
(May 2003)
LITURGY:
Votum
Psalter 354: 1, 2
Law of God
Scripture: 1 Peter 1: 1 – 12
Psalter 81: 2
Text: 1 Peter 1:5
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Congregational Prayer
Offering
Psalter 347: 2, 3, 4
Sermon
Psalter 429: 4
Thanksgiving Prayer
Psalter 34: 1, 2
Benediction
Doxology: Psalter 187: 4
DOCTRINES OF GRACE - SERMON # 18
THE DOCTRINE OF PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
“This Doctrine is Part of God’s Revelation”
The Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints is the fifth of the Doctrines of Grace. You find that explained, for instance, in the fifth Head of Doctrine in our Canons of Dordt. You may call it the Capstone of these Doctrines of Grace for certainly it is a most glorious truth when we confess on the basis of Scripture that all that are in Christ shall persevere to the end because they are being preserved for God’s eternal Kingdom. It is a glorious truth that of all that God has given to His Son, Christ will lose none. It is a glorious truth that all who come unto Him, He will in no wise cast out, but He will do the Father’s will, namely that He will raise them up in the last day. It is a glorious truth that none will be able to snatch any of the sheep of Christ out of the hand of their Shepherd. The saints persevere because they are being preserved.
Well, this is another truth which is strongly denied by the Arminians. The Arminians in the past, in the seventeenth century, and also today say that there is no certainty as far as the ultimate salvation is concerned. No man can know with infallible certainty whether or not he will inherit the kingdom of heaven. You can be a believer and yet be lost ultimately. You can be a believer in Christ – you can have experiences of the love of Christ, but if you are not faithful and if you do not use your own free will to again and again choose the right, then you will finally miss heaven and you will yet perish. And also in our days, this doctrine of the perseverance of saints is rejected by many, and it is distorted by others.
Therefore our first duty in our first study in this doctrine is to establish from God’s own word that this doctrine is not the result of the imagination of our fathers, that it is not the result of the reasoning of some theologians. No, our first duty is to establish from the word of God that this is part of God’s revelation. We have to prove from Scriptures that the Lord reveals unto us the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. In this sermon much of our time will be taken up to establish from the word of God, the truth of this doctrine, in other words to prove from Scripture what the Lord speaks about this truth.
We speak about the perseverance of the saints. And I think it is Biblical to use this term. It is equally Biblical to also use the term, the Preservation of the Saints, and it is debatable which of these two terms should be preferred. Some say we should call it the Preservation of the Saints. And certainly there is reason to say so. Others say, No, we prefer the term Perseverance of the Saints. And with equal right we may prove from the Bible that this is also true. There is a third term that is used for this doctrine, namely, ‘Eternal Security’, but I think we should avoid the use of that term. You can use it in a proper way, and in a sense indeed, the security of the people of God is an eternal security, but this term in our days has gathered around it so many errors and heresies that it may be better to avoid this term. And let us stay with the old Reformed title ‘Perseverance of Saints’, or if you prefer the other title, ‘Preservation of the Saints’ – all right!
Let us try to prove from Scripture that indeed the Lord reveals this truth. I’ll give you three passages from the word of God, on which I would like to elaborate a little bit, and then maybe I’ll give you some other reference texts to buttress what these three statements say. The first word to which I refer is in Romans 8. In our study in the Doctrines of Grace, we have come to Romans 8 more than once because there indeed the apostle is used by the Lord to teach us much of the grace of God and what this grace does in the lives of sinners. We come to the verses 28 through 30 in Romans 8. There we find that golden chain. (I referred to it in our last study) There are links in that chain. The first link mentioned by the apostle is the link of foreknowledge. The second link is fore-ordination or predestination. But these links are hidden in the clouds of eternity. And then, the third link in the golden chain of salvation is what the apostle calls ‘calling’. Let us read these verses. Romans 8 : 28 – 30 – And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Foreknowledge! Predestination! And then, moreover (vs 30) whom he did predestinate, them he also called (the third link) and whom he called, them he also justified: (the fourth link) and whom he justified, them he also glorified. You see, there is a connection. The chain begins in eternity and it ends in eternity – foreknowledge, foreordination, - then in time - calling, justification – (of course the apostle could have mentioned other links too, because there are more links in that chain), and then he ends in glory - glorification. Now the glorification, of course, tells us that those that are called, that those that are justified will ultimately inherit salvation. Glorification is something that the Lord will give to His people after death, when they have passed through the gates of death, and when they are ultimately raised again, and when body and soul reunited together may live to the Lord in eternal happiness and glory. There they will be glorified. But how could there be glorification if there would not also be preservation? How could there be glorification if the Lord not all the while they are here on earth and when they pass through the valley of death would keep them and preserve them and protect them? So, these texts imply indeed that there is preservation. Otherwise there could not be glorification of all that have been foreknown and foreordained and called and justified. And you see that ultimately the glorification of the people of God is traced back by the apostle to that unchangeable purpose of election. This is what you may call a theological statement testifying to the truth of the preservation of the saints.
Now we come to a word spoken by the Lord Jesus of a more practical nature, not so deeply theological but much more practical. It’s in the parable of the sheep in John 10. In this chapter, the Lord Jesus uses that extended metaphor, that allegory of the sheep and the Shepherd and He shows different aspects of the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. Then we come to the verses 27 and following. There He speaks about His sheep and He gives a few of the characteristics of His sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me. These are characteristics of the sheep. That’s an earmark - they hear my voice. That’s a footmark – they follow me. And then in verse 28, And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. The Lord Jesus then asserts that the sheep - those that are his sheep, those that hear His voice, that have that mark on their ear, those that have that mark on their foot namely, by following him, those whom He knows, those whom He has foreknown already, eternally loved – they will never perish! But there are enemies! Yes, there are – fierce enemies. There are wolves. There are other ravenous beasts. There is the devil. There are all the demons of hell. But no man,- nobody – is able to pluck them out of the hands of Christ. But Christ – can He then always defend them? Can He then always protect them? If anyone raises the question, Is Christ able to defend and protect them? – he receives this answer- He says, ‘If you do not trust Me and if you do not trust My power, I refer you to My Father. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all. He is greater than all the powers of evil. He is greater than all the enemies of My people. And no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand. You see, they are secure! They are in the hand of Christ. They are in the hand of the Father. And when Christ gives them life, eternal life, that life will never, never be forfeited.
And then we turn to the text that we have read already in 1 Peter in the first chapter of that epistle. There the apostle after having introduced himself and after having conveyed his greetings to the people of God in the Gentile world of his days, he begins to speak about the great privileges that God confers upon His people. He speaks – about whom? He speaks about those who have been (vs 3) born again, that have been begotten according to His abundant mercy unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He is speaking about people that have experienced that great miracle in their life, that miracle which we call the ‘quickening’ of the dead sinner. They are the born again ones. They are the people that have been regenerated. And that initial miracle in their life made them enter into a new life, into the life of the children of God. And they are now indeed the people of God, and for them there is an inheritance – an inheritance which is reserved for them in heaven. God keeps for them an inheritance which is incorruptible, and undefiled and that fadeth not away, which is reserved for them in heaven. There is an eternal kingdom awaiting them. Those that have been born again will ultimately reach that eternal kingdom. They will be the inheritors, the heirs of that eternal life to be forever with the Lord.
But between the moment of their regeneration and the moment they may be established in the inheritance, there is a long wait. And that is a difficult wait and that is a dangerous wait because all the way between regeneration and ultimate glory, they are constantly under threat of so many enemies. What happens to them? The inheritance is reserved for them. And God did the initial miracle. He made them see the new life and enter the new life. But what is God doing with them and for them in the meanwhile? How are they preserved? How are they protected? How is it possible for them to persevere? How can we be sure that those that are born again will ultimately inherit salvation and eternal glory? Because the apostle may say that while the inheritance is reserved for them, they, who are the heirs are in the meanwhile reserved or preserved or as it says, kept. They are kept by the power of God. God is not only reserving the inheritance for them, but He is also preserving them for the inheritance. Peter may also testify that there is this keeping, this protecting and this preserving activity from the Lord.
Well, these are at least three statements from Scripture that clearly teach us this doctrine of the preservation of the saints. Let me quote a few more texts. Now I will only quote them. I do not elaborate on them but to show you that the Bible has more to say about them. But if you would like to meditate on them separately, I think that is a good activity. (Phillipians 1:6) Paul says, 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. He who has started the good work in anyone, will also perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. In Jude’s epistle, there is also a reference to this doctrine. Jude 24 – Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty. Jude says that the Lord is able to keep them from falling. Well, what comfort would that be if the Lord would only be able to keep them, if He would not actually keep them? The Lord who is able to keep them – He will indeed keep them and He will ultimately present them faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Now, so far about the proof of Scripture as far as this doctrine is concerned.
You say, But why is this? Why does the Lord indeed preserve His people? Why is there this activity, this keeping activity? Why is it so that the Lord will not let any of His enemies pluck any of His sheep out of His hand? Let me show you that there is an inter-relatedness between this fifth doctrine of grace and the other ones. Remember that we began with the first of these doctrines of grace – the doctrine of election, unconditional election. Why is there the perseverance, the preservation of the saints? Because there is God’s unconditional election and because there is the immutable purpose of God! Remember Romans 8. Who will be ultimately glorified? - Those that are justified. - Those that are being called. Who are the ones that are called and justified and will be glorified? They are the ones whom God foreknew. They are the ones whom God predestinated to be conformable to the image of His Son, way back in time, before time began. In eternity already, the Lord loved a people, and the Lord foreordained a people. He destined them to eternal salvation. That’s God’s decree of election. That’s God’s eternal purpose, and that purpose He will not change. That is an immutable and an unchangeable purpose. They whom He has known, those whom He has loved with an eternal love, He will ultimately glorify. Behind all the blessings that will be bestowed upon the child of God in this life or in the future life – behind all the blessings of grace that are given to an unworthy sinner, there is this eternal purpose in the which God has destined that poor sinner to become an heir of everlasting life. And therefore the preservation of the saints and the ultimate glorification of the saints can be traced back to the immutable purpose of God.