PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS SCRIPTURALLY REFUTED
Doesthe apostle Paul teach us that righteous living is inevitable for those who have true faith in Jesus Christ? Is that what Paul was telling us in Romans 10:10? Paul says: With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Is this the righteous living that comes from faithfully following Christ? Or is this the imputed righteousness that comes to those who believe with faith alone in Christ alone? In other words, is Paul talking about justification or sanctification? Is he talking about coming to Christ in faith, or persevering in faith for Christ? Consider the exhortation of Paul to the believers in the Colossian church: As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. (Colossians 2:6)
Now if it is a foregone conclusion that a true believer will always continue to walk in Christ in the sense in which Paul is speaking, why encourage him to do so? With this in mind, consider Romans 12:1-2 (NASB):
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. ... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed ... that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
It seems clear that Paul exhorts the believer this way because:
This is what the believer ought to do.
The believer, without such exhortation, is less inclined to do this.
The fact that perseverance to the end is not inevitable for true believers, as Calvinists want us to believe, is acknowledged, perhaps unwittingly, by Calvinist John Piper when he says: The fact that such a thing is possible is precisely why the ministry of the Word in every local church must contain many admonitions to the church members to persevere in faith and not be entangled in those things which could possibly strangle them and result in their condemnation.482
Persevering in faith assumes that one has faith in which to persevere. If so, these words of Piper not only deny the Calvinist doctrine of perseverance, but also the biblical doctrine of a believer’s security. My guess is that he did not really mean to say what he said or that he did not think it through very well. Regardless, he is right about the need for “admonitions to the church members to persevere in faith and not to be entangled .” With at least this much I agree. THE CASE OF THE CARNAL CHRISTIAN Is it impossible for a true Christian to live in a manner that would justifiably earn him the label of carnal Christian, as the Calvinist contends? The Calvinist view, based on the inevitability factor, says that there can be no such person. Yet Reisinger, who so vehemently opposes the idea that one could be a carnal Christian, also says that:
... Those [in Corinth] who fell into strife, division, and contentions over ministers in chapters 1-3 [of 1 Cor.] were carnal, resembling the unregenerate, in that particular respect.483
If they resemble the unregenerate and yet they are not unregenerate, they must be regenerate. If they are regenerate, they are Christians. If they are Christians living like non-Christians, that makes them carnal Christians. In addition to MacArthur’s earlier admission from Chapter Ten, MacArthur also concedes that:
Although Corinthian believers were no longer “natural,” they were not “spiritual” (fully controlled by the Holy Spirit). In fact, they were “carnal” (controlled by the fallen flesh).484 This is exactly what is meant by the words “carnal Christian.” No Christian I am aware of is condoning carnality. No Christian I know of has anything good to say about carnal behavior among Christians. The question is not, shouldChristians be carnal? Of course they should not. The question is, canthey be? Is there scriptural evidence to suggest that Christians sometimes do behave in a carnal fashion? And, most importantly, what is the best way to discourage carnality in the life of a believer or in the church as a whole? The Calvinist must be very careful how he answers this question. Every believer knows other believers they would consider to be carnal Christians according to Paul’s definition. Every earnest minister would want to do everything possible to keep this from becoming a long-term pattern in the life of that Christian. If that person remains carnal for a prolonged period of time, however, then it is clear, according to Calvinism, that he is not persevering in righteousness. Surely MacArthur does not believe that being controlled by the “fallen flesh” is persevering in righteousness. If a person claiming to be a Christian is not persevering in righteousness, either he is not a Christian, or perseverance in righteousness is not inevitable. If the Calvinist throws out the inevitability principle, he virtually denies the essence of the fifth point and by extension all five points of Calvinism.
One thing is certain from the record of Scripture and from the common experience of Christians throughout history and everywhere. Despite the way a Christian ought to live, despite all the spiritual help and resources at our disposal, some Christians do not live the way they should. None of us always lives the way we should. Calvinists and non-Calvinists agree on this much. The Calvinist, however, contends that all true Christians persevere to the end in righteousness and faith. I only wish that were so. Paul was very troubled that some in the church of Corinth were not only causing strife and division—and therefore earned the label carnal—but that some were even engaged in an outrageous display of immorality.
Nowhere in this text is there the slightest hint that the guilty parties are not real Christians. In fact, just the opposite is true. It was this very fact that gave Paul such concern. Paul expected and accepted that unbelievers would live lives of immorality. Christians, however, were not supposed to do so. To the Corinthians he says:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! (1 Corinthians 5:1) Paul went on to refer to these people and the activities in which they were engaged as leaven.He chides: Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump. (1 Corinthians 5:6-7) From the context of this passage, we are given every reason to believe that this particular display of immorality was so troubling precisely because the guilty party was a true Christian. That is, the one “named a brother” was indeed a brother.
Some of what troubled Paul was the way the Corinthian church responded or failed to respond to this immorality. He says that they were puffed up and their gloryingwas not good.Whatever he meant by glorying,we know that it was not good.This just demonstrates that individual Christians and whole congregations of believers can behave, to varying degrees, as carnal Christians. To recognize carnality among believers is not to condone it. A failure to admit that Christians are capable of being carnal Christians may be one reason why some Christians can seemingly get away with or excuse carnality in their lives. After all, if they are true Christians, they cannot be carnal Christians, according to the Calvinist view. They can then look at their lives with Calvinist-colored lenses and reason, “since I am a Christian, I cannot be carnal.” A denial of carnality among Christians does not promote spirituality, but it can cause self-delusion among believers. Reisinger never tells us how it is that the Corinthian Christians can be carnal in the way that he admits they were, “in that particular respect,” and at the same time deny that a true Christian can be carnal.
It is certain, however, that they did, according to Reisinger, “resemble the unregenerate, in that particular respect.” This is not the only reference to Christians resembling non-Christians in Scripture. So much that is said in Scripture challenges the inevitability principle in general, and the no such thing as a carnal Christiancontention of the Calvinist view in particular. For example, if persevering in righteousness is inevitable for the true believer, there is no need for the apostle Paul to tell the Corinthian believers to:
Flee sexual immorality. (1 Corinthians 6:18)
There is no need to flee from something that cannot hurt or overcome you. Now at this point, the Calvinist will argue that they do not deny that a Christian can fall into a serious sin such as represented by sexual immorality. And, of course, it is true that they allow for such spiritual lapses. If, however, we are to take the inevitability principle seriously, we must conclude that no matter how serious that fall may be, it will only be temporary. According to the inevitability principle, righteous behavior will always characterize the greater part of a true believer’s life, from the point of regeneration on. So while it may be grieving to see a brother fall, it poses no lasting threat, according to the fifth point.
According to the fifth point of Calvinism, if someone who seemsto be a Christian does not recover from what appearsto be a fall for a prolonged period of time, it proves he was not really a brother in the first place. The very passages, however, that advocates of Calvinism use to provea true Christian cannot fall into a long-term or even a lifetime pattern of sinful behavior prove just the opposite. For example, consider the following words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus:
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:1-18) A number of things relevant to our present discussion are stated in these verses of Scripture.
It is “not fitting” for a saint to commit sin. Whether it is “fornication” or “coarse jesting,” it is “not fitting.” That is, it is entirely inappropriate and unacceptable behavior for a Christian.
A fornicator in particular or an unclean person in general (i.e., sinners of all kinds) forfeits “any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
These sins result in the “wrath of God” coming upon “the sons of disobedience.”
Christians are commanded not to be “partakers with” the children of “disobedience.”
Christians are called upon to act in accordance with what they are now (i.e., light in the Lord) as opposed to what they once were (i.e., darkness).
Christians are exhorted to “walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise.”
Christians should be “redeeming the time ... understanding] what the will of the Lord is.”
Christians are told, “Do not be drunk with wine ... but be filled with the Spirit.”
It would seem very reasonable to assume that Christians are warned about sin of all kinds precisely because they are capable of falling into sin of all kinds. Due to the deceptive and enslaving capacity of sin, spiritual recovery and restoration is not a foregone conclusion as the Calvinist view maintains. It would also seem reasonable to assume that the reason Christians are encouraged to go in the right direction, as opposed to the wrong direction, is because going in the right direction, or living righteously, is not inevitable for Christians. Those things which are not fittingfor a saint, however tragic, are possible.Likewise, those things which are fittingare not inevitable.Both a scriptural and a reality check will confirm the truth of what I am saying. Consider also the severe warnings of 1 Corinthians 10:1-14. Paul says:
I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry, (emphasis added) As most Calvinists would agree, if Paul is speaking to and warning Christians, then it follows that Paul believed Christians were capable of committing that which he warned them about. If he were speaking to non Christians, then he would have preached to them a message of salvation. It is or should be clear, however, that he assumed that those he was writing to and was concerned about were already saved. The message is not about justification by faith but the need for sanctification through faithfulness. Notice what Paul says:
These things[that occurred in the wilderness] became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. ... Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition. (1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11 a, emphasis added) The recording of these terrible things serves the Christian community as a reverse or negative example, says Paul. Instead of the, “Do as I do” kind of example, in effect he says, “Do not do as they did.” “If you do, you will also be judged accordingly.”
If
The Calvinist view is right and a true believer cannot lose his salvation,
And if
It is true that a true Christian can be guilty of the kind of behavior Paul warns against,
Then
Whatever is lost or forfeited (i.e., the inheritance) for such behavior is not justification or glorification, but some or even most of the benefits and blessings available, but not guaranteed to the saved. This applies to time and eternity. In other words, just as Christian victory is not guaranteed, so Christian rewards are not guaranteed to the non-victorious.
If it were inevitable or automatic that the true Christian would live righteously, there would hardly have been a need for Paul to tell believers:
Put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language... (Colossians 3:8)
These kinds of things should not be tolerated in the Christian community. They are wrong and unacceptable. To say, however, that no real
Christian is capable of a pattern of behavior that is characterized as sinful or carnal is simply unscriptural and unrealistic. Paul exhorts those born of God to:
Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and[...] put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24, emphasis added)
And:
Put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. (Colossians 3:10, emphasis added)
These are exhortations and admonitions to the saved, encouraging them to live a sanctified life. Nothing is taken for granted in this regard.
EXHORTATIONS TO ABIDE—MEANINGLESS? In John Chapter Fifteen, where Jesus is talking to the disciples concerning their relationship to Him as the true vine, He exhorts them to abide in Him that they might bear fruit. He then, in verse six, brings up the possibility of not abiding in Him and the subsequent consequences. This warning is totally meaningless and unnecessary if the Calvinist position on perseverance is correct. Sproul, who spends a considerable amount of time defending the Calvinist view of perseverance, asks:
If no one falls away, why even bother to warn people against it?485 Sproul also admits:
It seems frivolous to exhort people to avoid the impossible.486
While Sproul attempts to explain why it is not frivolous to warn people of the impossible, he at least seems to understand why non-Calvinists might find the Calvinist view of perseverance fraught with problems. In the opening verses of the Second Epistle of Peter, we read:
Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. (1:1-7) SPIRITUAL BUILDING BLOCKS The things Christians are told to add to faith, including perseverance, are not automaticallyadded to the life of the true believer. If they were, there would be no need to exhort the true believer to add them. To say they are not inevitable is not to say they are not important. Just the opposite is true. That is, that which will come to pass inevitably is nothing to be concerned about. If we can liken each of these additions to our faith as important building blocks for a truly spiritual and productive life, we can see why Peter says “giving all diligence, add to your faith ...”This is exactly the point Peter is making and why he goes on to say: For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up. (2 Peter 1:8-13) The apostle John says:
He who says he abides in Him[Christ] ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1 John 2:6, emphasis added)
There is nothing inevitable about what oughtto be. If it were inevitable, the apostle would have used the word will,instead of the word ought.The apostle John also says: By this we know love, because He[Christ] laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
(1 John 3:16, emphasis added)
We know what to do for each other because of what He did for us. We know what we oughtto do. The question is, will we do it? The apostle Peter does not seem to take righteous living for granted when he says:
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles. (1 Peter 2:11, emphasis added)
If we are unconditionally guaranteed a victorious Christian life as true Christians, then nothing we do or fail to do will alter this fact. There certainly would have been no need for Peter to resort to begging them to stay away from these sinful activities. Holy living is not guaranteed because we are Christians. Rather, it is guaranteed if we yield to the Holy Spirit and live in accordance with God’s holy Word. We need to take advantage of what is available to us and walk in the Spirit. As the apostle Paul told the church in Galatia:
Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
(Galatians 5:16) Ware rightly reasons:
... When believers are admonished to “live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16), clearly the implication is that they may choose not to live by the Spirit’s power, thus resisting the gracious and transforming work he wishes to accomplish in their lives. Not all grace, then, is irresistible.487 Although it may not seem so to Ware, such reasoning contradicts the heart of the Calvinist view of perseverance. THE CHALLENGE AND THE GOAL The apostle Paul constantly warns believers about the serious consequences of a sinful pattern of behavior. By reducing perseverance to an inevitability, as does the fifth point, all of these words of encouragement and warning are in a very real sense wasted. In Scripture, however, perseverance in faith and holinessto the end is seen as the sacred challenge and reasonable goal of our earthly sojourn on our way to our heavenly home. Perseverance in faith and righteousness should be sought after earnestly. In fact, to say that perseverance is what we willdo because we are true believers is to radically redefine the meaning of perseverance. Instead, we need to see perseverance as what we oughtto do because we are true believers. God is more than able and always willing to help us persevere in faith and righteousness. We must, however, yield to the work of God’s Holy Spirit in concert with God’s holy Word.
Perseverance of the saints as defined by Calvinism says that a Christian is eternally secure, or that once a Christian is saved, he will always be saved. The doctrine of eternal security, or “once saved, always saved,” is not, however, unique to Calvinism. As already noted, it is possible to have a doctrine of eternal security, one which conforms to what Scripture says, without sacrificing the believer’s assurance of salvation. Compare the following two very different versions of eternal security:
The Calvinist says that you are eternally secure for all eternity because you have been eternally secure from all eternity. Faith in Christ during your sojourn in this life is a mere consequence of unconditional election, irresistible grace/the effectual call, regeneration, and Christ’s death on behalf of the elect. Your response to the gospel is an eternally foregone conclusion. It does not make a difference so much as it reflects a difference. The difference it reflects is your unconditional election to salvation.
The non-Calvinist who believes in eternal security believes you are eternally secure because you met the sole, sufficient, and necessary condition for salvation. That sole, sufficient, and necessary condition for salvation is faith alone in Christ alone. Your believing response to the gospel, therefore, makes an eternal difference.
For the Calvinist, once you are saved, you are really no more eternally secure than you were before you were saved. By placing your faith in Christ, you merely prove you were one of the elect that Christ died for. It is election and atonement that guarantees your security. Faith in Christ simply proceeds directly, irresistibly, and inevitably from unconditional election, effectual grace, and the atonement.
For the non-Calvinist, once you are saved, you then, and only then, become eternally saved and can say with confidence that you will always be saved.
The Calvinist says that what you do after you are saved is merely the necessary proof that you are saved and have always been destined for salvation.
The non-Calvinist says that what you do after you are saved is proof of your love for God or evidence of your failure to love Him, and therefore very important. Loving God results in obedience to Him and is rewarded both in time and eternity. A failure to love and obey God for the believer results in a serious loss both in time and eternity.
Typical of Calvinism, Paul Enns equates perseverance of the saints with the Calvinist doctrine of the believer’s security.
He then immediately explains:
Those whom Christ chose and died for are eternally secure in their salvation; they can never fall away or be lost once they are saved.488
Notice that for the Calvinist, eternal security is connected to election and the atonement. Faith in Christ is merely an unavoidable result. It would be just as accurate to say that the lost who are elect can never perish and are therefore never at risk. Even their lostness is only apparent. Calvinists usually give some kind of formal acknowledgment of the role man plays in coming to faith in Christ and in continuing in faithfulness to Him. As noted many times, however, this does not amount to much more than theological lip service. Allow me to explain. On the surface, to say saints must persevere in faith and righteousness to the end seems to place a serious and sobering responsibility on the believer. In the New Testament, of course, perseverance is a serious and sobering responsibility, though we are not left without divine resources and help in rising to this sacred challenge.
Calvinists, however, make it clear that what may sound like human perseverance is really divine preservation. As a believer, you are not really persevering in faith and righteousness, but God is preserving you in faith and righteousness to the end. This perseverance in faith and righteousness to the end must not be thought of as merely positional but practical as well. That is, what you must do to persevere in faith and righteousness, God does in and through you, according to the fifth point. But still, since you cannot be sure that you are one of the elect until you have persevered in faith and righteousness to the end, the Calvinist doctrine of salvation provides no more assurance of salvation than Arminianism does, and perhaps less. As a result of the Calvinist doctrine of perseverance, Boettner believes:
We can never know that we are elected of God to eternal life except by manifesting in our lives the fruits of election—faith and virtue, knowledge ... love of brethren. It is idle to seek assurance of election outside of holiness of life.489 Compare this with the words of the apostle John:
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. ... (1 John 5:1) God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (1 John 5:11) He who has the Son has life. ... (1 John 5:12)
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ... (1 John 5:13) As important as faithfulness to Christ is, biblically based assurance of salvation is linked to faith inChrist, not faithfulness toChrist. The Reformed doctrine of perseverance of the saints, for all practical purposes, confuses faith in Christ,which is requisite to justification with faithfulness to Christ, which is requisite to sanctification.