OceanSide church of Christ

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Perseverance of the Saints (2)

Victor M. Eskew

 

            Calvinists affirm a doctrine known as the perseverance of the saints.  Some individuals refer to it as “once-saved, always saved.”  Other will refer to is as “the impossibility of apostasy.”  This doctrine is closely tied to the first of the five pillars of Calvinism, predestination.  Before the foundation of the world, the Calvinist says, God selected all those who were going to be saved.  If this is true, then once these individuals have been saved by the grace of God there is absolutely no way they could ever fall from grace.  They will persevere until the very end. 

            This teaching, however, stands in direct contrast to many passages of Scripture and many examples of individuals who have fallen in the past.  As is the case with many false doctrines, there is often one verse in the Bible that boldly contradicts the false teaching.  Galatians 5:4 is the verse that strikes a death blow to the fifth pillar of Calvinism.  Paul had preached the gospel in the region of Galatia.  He had been a part of the conversion of many individuals in that area.  When he learned that the Judaizing teachers were having a negative influence on the Christians in that region, he marveled (Gal. 1:6-7).  His book called “Galatians” was written to keep these individuals from falling away from the faith.  In Galatians 5:4, he warned them with these words:  “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”  Some need to read this verse many times over and focus on the last five words Paul wrote:  “…ye are fallen from grace.”  The Calvinist would rebuke Paul for these words.  They would tell him that he is wrong for making such a statement.  They would inform this inspired man of God that it is impossible for one to fall from grace.  It is difficult to comprehend such a position, isn’t it?  If Paul said it was possible to fall from grace, then why don’t all just believe him?  Remember what Paul told the Galatians in Galatians 1:11-12.  “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  John Calvin cannot make such a claim.

            The doctrine of once-saved, always saved is also destroyed in the opening chapters of the Bible.  God created Adam and Eve.  This couple was like none other who have ever lived.  They were absolutely sinless in the relationship they sustained with God in Eden.  Yet, they fell.  In fact, most students of the Bible would title chapter three of Genesis as “The Fall.”  How did this happen if it is impossible for man to fall from the grace of God?  Were these two always children of the devil?  Did both Adam and Eve never truly believe in the Almighty God?  My friends, they were in a holy relationship with God.  Satan unfortunately beguiled them and corrupted their minds.  Sadly, they yielded to the devil and fell in the process.  When Paul wrote to the saints in Corinth, he told them that he feared the same thing could happen to them.  “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2).  Adam and Eve fell, and Paul feared the saints at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2) could also fall. 

            Here is an interesting question for all those who embrace the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.  If a child of God cannot fall from grace, why are there so many warnings in the New Testament about falling?  While researching information for this article, this writer listed 16 passages of Scripture that warn the faithful about falling.  Jesus taught that some would fall away in his Parable of the Sower.  In Luke 8:13, He describes the seed that fell on the rocky soil.  “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in the time of temptation fall away.”  Jesus noted three positive aspects of these individuals.  They hear.  They receive the word with joy.  They believe for a while.  Sadly, they fail to grow roots that will anchor them in time of temptation.  Thus, when the temptations come, they fall away.  Yes, they fall away.  Was Jesus wrong when He taught this?  Should He have taught that they never truly believed.  If He had said that, He would have contradicted Himself. 

            There are a host of other verses that warn God’s children about falling away.  “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).  “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Heb. 4:11).  “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:  for it ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Pet. 1:10).  “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the effort of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness” (2 Pet. 3:17).  These four verses are just a sampling of many.  Again, we ask:  “If a person cannot fall from grace, why are there so many warnings by the inspired penmen of the New Testament about falling?  Would they warn about something that cannot happen?  Hardly!

            We could discuss many examples of people who fell from the grace of God:  the Israelites, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira,  Demas, and Diotrephes to name a few.  We could also scan the entire book of Hebrews.  This was God’s call to the Hebrew Christians of the first century not to leave Christianity and return to Judaism.  “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).  Did the inspired writer mean this?  Could these Christians have departed from God?

Instead of turning to these areas of study, let’s look at a passage in the second epistle of Peter.  Peter was warning the church of the false teachers who were in their midst (2 Pet. 2:1-2).  In the last three verses of that chapter, the apostle warned about what could happen if the Christians allowed themselves to be brought into the bondage of the false prophets.  “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, let latter end is worse with them than the beginning.  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and, The sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Pet. 2:20-22).  It is clear Peter was speaking of individuals who were saved.  They had escaped the pollutions of the world.  They had known the way of righteousness.  They were obedient to the holy commandments at one time.  Then, they fell.  They were entangled again in the world.  They turned from the holy commandment given to them.  They had been washed, but they returned to the mire of the pig pit.  This text is devasting to the Calvinist who holds to the perseverance of the saints.  Peter lets us know that the latter end of those who fall away is worse with them than the beginning.  Why should it be worse?  He also says that it had been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn from it.  If they did not turn from it, why would it be better for them not to have known it?  Departing from the grace of God is a massive mistake.  Those who depart are deserving of sorer punishment.  Why?  It is because those who apostatize have “trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith they were sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29).