Theology of theWestminster Confession

Adult Sunday School

2017

Perseverance of the Saints

Salvation

WCF 17

Of the Perseverance of the Saints

Those whom God has accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere in it to the end and be eternally saved. [WCF, 17.1, MESV]

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Salvation

What God has done

• Remember who you are as a Christian• Accepted in Christ, God’s beloved Son• Effectually called and sanctified by God’s

Holy Spirit• And so much more!

• Of course God will give us all that we need to finish the race of faith

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:6)

God will finish the work of salvation in you

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Salvation

The reason for our confidence

• Christians are the object of a divine gift exchange

• No one will steal a gift from the Father to the Son

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. (Jn10:28-29)

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Salvation

Preservation through perseverance

• The Reformed doctrine of perseverance is not the same as the bare doctrine of preservation• More than the teaching of “eternal security”• More than the teaching of “once saved always

saved”

• It matters very much how we walk before our God

• Perseverance in sanctification is essential for those who would be eternally saved

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet 1:10-11)

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Salvation

Salvation is not a pardon

• There is no encouragement to offer people who confess Christ as their Savior at one moment and then live as if he doesn’t matter

• True Christians will persevere• Learn to walk in God’s ways

• Mature to live in humble dependence on Christ

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 Jn 3:9-10)

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Salvation

What about the “carnal” or “fleshly” Christian?

• Some believe the Bible teaches there are two tiers of Christians: “Carnal” and “Spiritual”. Here’s the idea:• If grace is free and not by works, a person may be saved

if he accepts Jesus as Savior, but does not (yet?) submit to him as Lord. This person is sometimes called a “carnal” Christian.

• But if a Christian matures, he will accept Jesus as Lord. Conversely, this person is called a “spiritual” Christian.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritualpeople but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Cor 3:1-3, NJKV)

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Salvation

No such thing as a “carnal Christian”

• Paul is calling the immature and divisive Corinthian church to live according to their united and exalted status in Christ

• Worldly Christians must trust in Christ as Savior, repent of their sins, and submit to Jesus as Lord

• Any way you slice it, there are not two tiers of Christians. Here are a few unbiblical examples (some even according to nature!) that rank some Christians on a higher level:• Spiritual above carnal

• Spirit-filled above non-charismatic

• Roman Catholic above “separated brethren”

• Orthodox above “schismatics”

• Gnostic above traditional

• Reformed above evangelical or “not Reformed”

• My church/denomination above all other churches/denominations

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Salvation

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Salvation

Of the Perseverance of the Saints

The perseverance of the saints does not depend upon their own free will, but on the unchangeableness of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; on the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; on the continuing presence of the Spirit and the seed of God within them; and on the nature of the covenant of grace. These are grounds of the certainty and infallibility of their perseverance. [WCF, 17.2, MESV]

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Salvation

How Christians persevere

• Not simply by a decision of our own will

• Our loyalty is secured because of God’s gracious and loving election

• God’s love is triune

• We persevere by depending on the Father’s free and boundless love

Thus says the LORD: "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jer 31:2-3)

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Salvation

Christians persevere through Christ

• We rest in Christ’s finished work: his single, “once for all” offering of himself for our sin

• We rest in Christ’s unending work: his continual pleading for our good

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Heb 13:20-21)

Christians persevere by resting in Christ’s finished and unending work

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Salvation

Christians persevere in the Spirit

• The Holy Spirit is our forever helper, comforter, counselor to aid our perseverance

• The Spirit empowers Christians to persevere by indwelling them and preventing them from making a practice of sinning

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (Jn 14:16-17)

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (1 Jn 3:9)

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Salvation

Perseverance to the end is a certainty

• God made a covenant to keep and preserve us

• So read God’s promises for the Christian with an infallible confidence and certainty!

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (Jn10:28)

But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. (2 Thess 3:3)

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 Jn 2:19)

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Salvation

Of the Perseverance of the Saints

Nevertheless, they may—through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the pervasiveness of the corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means by which they are to be preserved—fall into grievous sins and for a time continue in them. In so doing they incur God's displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit; some measure of God's graces and comforts is taken from them; they have their hearts hardened and their consciences wounded; they harm others and give them occasion to sin, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. [WCF, 17.3, MESV]

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Salvation

Temptations to fall

• Some suddenly (or slowly) defect from the ranks of the church militant because they never had a heart for God

• There is a wide spectrum of experience among Christians who continue under Christ’s banner

• Three enemies buffet our faith• The temptations of Satan

• The world

• Our own sinful hearts

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Salvation

Satan

World Flesh

Normative

Situational Existential

• These enemies are comprehensive

Example of Peter’s fall into sin

• Can you find all three enemies tempting Peter to sin? (Also consider the wider story of Peter’s fall)

But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. (Mt 26:70-74)

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Salvation

Peter’s threefold temptation

Three enemies tempting Peter to sin

1. Satan: Peter was warned by Jesus of the approaching tempter

2. The world: Peter cowered under the spell of a hostile, unbelieving mob in a palace

3. The flesh: Peter’s heart gave way under the fear of persecution

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Salvation

Lessons from Peter’s story

• Jesus’ instruction to watch and pray that you will not enter into temptation is essential, not supplemental

• There are real and sometimes painful consequences to unrepentant sin• We will receive God’s discipline as temporal judgment

• We will grieve the Holy Spirit and our own hearts

• We may lose our comfort and assurance of God’s love

• We may sense a diminished usefulness and attractiveness as a Christian

• We may experience a hardened heart

• We may scandalize others, even tender “little ones”

• God is gracious to restore the fallen penitent

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Salvation

How then shall the Christian who still sins stand?

• The Christian—the one who belongs to God—can only bring temporal judgments on himself

• We can receive the Lord’s discipline that is designed for our restoration and preservation

• How? In love the Father chose to bring our eternal judgments upon his Son.

• Therefore the saints of the Lord shall persevere to the end and be saved to sin no more. Hallelujah!

But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Cor 11:32)

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Salvation

Summary of key points

• God will finish the work of salvation in you

• Perseverance in sanctification is essential for those who would be eternally saved

• Worldly Christians must trust in Christ as Savior, repent of their sins, and submit to Jesus as Lord

• Christians persevere by depending on the Father’s free and boundless love

• Christians persevere by resting in Christ’s finished and unending work

• The Holy Spirit is our forever helper, comforter, counselor to aid our perseverance

• There is a wide spectrum of experience among Christians who continue under Christ’s banner

• There are real and sometimes painful consequences to unrepentant sin

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Salvation

Consider and discuss

1. Does the security of believers make perseverance easier or harder? Why?

2. Can true believers fall into sin, even grievously? Give examples.

3. Can a true believer fall from grace? How do you know? How are you persevering now?

4. What separates the true believer from the false? How can you tell the difference between the two?

5. Many parents argue something to the effect of, “My grown child is not walking closely with the Lord right now. But I know they are saved because…” How would you respond in a biblical fashion?

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Salvation

I cannot comprehend

a gospel which lets

saints fall away after

they are called.

Charles Spurgeon

Memorize

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 35:10

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Going deeper

Books

• Milton, Michael. What is Perseverance of the Saints? (Beginner)

• Sproul, R.C. Can I Lose My Salvation?(Intermediate)

• Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim’s Progress. (Advanced)

Articles

• Bavinck, Herman. Perseverance of the Saints.

• Articles on Perseverance of the Saints at Monergism.com.

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