Perseverance of the Saints

Philippians 1:6 “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:” - 2 Timothy 4:18 “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

We now bring to an end our five articles on TULIP with the Perseverance of the Saints. If we understand that God has before the world predestinated all things to be and that God chose His beloved sheep before the world began, and with the understanding that salvation is of God then we must also believe that none can be lost. Paul said “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:” how can one have confidence without assurance, and how can one have assurance without Perseverance of the Saints. If we sin or if we trip in life then doesn’t that cause one to fall from grace, and if we fall can we not be renewed? The writer of Hebrews said “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5.) And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6.) If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Hebrews 6:4 – 6 if it is “impossible… If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance” then without Perseverance of the Saints we will all go to hell because we are all going to sin after we are saved. The central thought here is “…seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Because Christ died once for sin and if it wasn’t for all of our sins then He must be crucified again and that is impossible. A repeat of salvation is not scriptural neither can be because it is simply a lie. Paul said Perseverance of the Saints is our confidence in God that since He has saved us then we will never loose that salvation, Paul went on to say in the last part of Romans 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, not even ourselves. We had nothing to do with our salvation and we do not have the ability to cast our salvation asunder.

Once saved always saved, is a myth in that it leaves too much room for error. I do not know where this quote came from but it is not a good saying. I must admit I have used it many times but without a slip I shall never use it again. Once God has saved us then we are eternally saved and Preserved until the day of Jesus. We must understand that there are countless millions who have admitted that they are saved Christians but in truth they are not, they have simply made a confession of faith. One Puritan writer of old once said “Perseverance of the saints does not teach this. Perseverance of the saints teaches that once God has renewed the heart of a sinner through the application of the redemption wrought by Christ upon the cross, he will continue to be saved and show forth the fruits of that salvation.” This is so true, once saved, then we are servants of God for life, then for eternity. People use this quote “once saved always saved” to justify their not attending church or tithing or working for the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not Perseverance; this is being lost. When God saves sinners then they want to work for the Lord Jesus Christ, James said “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18 we are all saved for a purpose and that purpose is to work until Jesus returns. Those not working for Jesus Christ and His beloved church may not truly be saved. Thomas Watson once said; "God’s decree is the very pillar and basis on which the saints' perseverance depends. That decree ties the knot of adoption so fast, that neither sin, death, nor hell, can break it asunder."

Irresistible Grace

“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” John 5:21

This week we come to our 4th letter of TULIP which is “Irresistible Grace”. The doctrine of Irresistible Grace teaches that when the Spirit of God is sent to change a person's heart, that person cannot resist the change. This is another one that the religionist of today hate and will use a lot of “out of context” scriptures to attempt to disprove it, because God forbid that salvation is not totally in the hands of the lost sinner who is totally at enmity with God and has no desire to ever serve the God of the bible. But some how the old leopard is going to change his spots and turn to Christ for salvation. But God said (A.) Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” and (B.) Psalms 14:2 - 4 “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. (3.) They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (4.) Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.” Now the religionist will say that God wants all to be saved, but apparently they do not believe that God can accomplish all His will because if God wanted all to be saved then all would be saved. So they will have you believe that while God cannot save the sinner (because it is totally up to the sinner) then I guess the sinner is more powerful than God. If one believes this theory then why do we pray to God for the sinner to be saved, why not just pray to the sinner since salvation is in their hands? And where is Grace, it has nothing to do with salvation since God has nothing to do with it. I guess Jesus was the great liar since He Himself said John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” But I must add if the Father draws man and then man rejects Christ then doesn’t that make God a FAILURE? Doesn’t that mean the “counsel of His own will” is not completed? They say that “God's will is frustrated by man” This means the will of God is “obstructed” by man because he chooses not to accept the call of God, but doesn’t this contradict Gods word in that His will is always accomplished? Thank God we were not there when He was creating the world because with that many bosses He would have never gotten it done. They like to quote 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” First of all there is no indication here that God is speaking of all mankind, secondly, this is speaking of Gods longsuffering and promises not salvation, and thirdly, if it meant that God absolutely willed all to be saved and some refused too then that contradicts the rest of the bible. Besides wasn’t Peter speaking about “us-ward” which would include those like him or those elected to salvation just as he was. They also like to use Romans 2:11 “For there is no respect of persons with God.” and there is not and this is why we believe in Unconditional Election also because God did not choose us because we are black, white, red, or yellow – Jewish, or Gentile, He chose us because He wanted too. This is like John 3:16 and the word “world” does God truly love everyone in the world, no He does not because He hated Esau and He also hates the “WORKERS” of iniquity Psalms 5:5. He loves the different Nations of the world not just the Israelites. God never said He loved all the people of the world just as He never said He wanted all the people to be saved. This is religionist preaching error #1. But beloved if God has chosen you to salvation then we will not resist His call but run and accept it without fail, and this is most glorious because without it we would all suffer the eternal wrath of God in Hell. Francis Turretin once said “This calling is an act of the grace of God in Christ by which he calls men dead in sin and lost in Adam through the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, to union with Christ and to salvation obtained in him.” – This is Irresistible Grace, Amen!

“Limited Atonement”

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” John 17:2

This weeks study brings us to our third letter of TULIP which is “LIMITED ATONEMENT”. This bible doctrine is certainly the most hated of all biblical teachings because it limits salvation to a limited number of souls and crushes the Arminian teachings of “God loves every one”, “God wants everyone to be saved”, and “Salvation is your choice”. First, let’s please set the record straight, none of these are true, they are what are known as myths created to please and prick the hearts of the lost world. Therefore we can see why the Religious world hates this teaching.

The doctrine of limited atonement is absolutely proven in the scriptures and therefore whether you hate it of love it, it is so, so true. John chapter 17 is known as the real “Lord’s Prayer” because it is not simply an example prayer or model prayer but a real prayer between The Son and the Father. John 17 is a lot like John 6 it puts the act of giving salvation to God and not man. Here Jesus prayed that “he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” That is the Son should give eternal life to as many as the Father gave Him before the world was created in the eternal covenant. Jesus went on in verse 6 to say “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” Noting that the Father indeed gave this “limited” number of souls to the Son. Jesus never promised salvation to an unlimited number of people but rather to a limited number. Let’s look for a moment at the Arminian teaching that “it is Gods will that all men be saved” if this were true would not all men be saved? Isn’t the absolute will of God always accomplished? “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” Ephesians 1:11 Why does Jesus in His prayer to the Father just before His death declare a limited number that will be given eternal life? We also see Jesus say in John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” And also in verse 44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” That same limited number is spoken of again. We also see a limit to salvation in Acts 2:39 “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” This call is done by the Holy Spirit and we see the conclusion to this call in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” because God cannot fail.

The doctrine of limited atonement is not a hate doctrine but rather a love doctrine because it guarantees at least some of mankind will be saved rather than all be lost to eternal destruction. This is what Charles Spurgeon meant when he said “I may be called Antinomian or Calvinist for preaching a limited atonement; but I had rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of man be joined with it.” Limited Atonement makes salvation “efficacious” or capable of or successful in producing an intended result. What end result do the Religionist have, maybe they were saved or maybe not, even Charles G. Finny one of the fathers of our religionist teachings of today once said, “we don’t know if this is working or not” beloved if God does it, it is done and with 100% success. We do not know what the exact number is of limited atonement, but what we do know for sure is with every doctrine, even with the most liberal teachers and their myths, there is only a limited number saved because never is everyone saved. However Limited Atonement guarantees that some will be truly saved.

“Unconditional Election”

This week brings us to our second letter of T.U.L.I.P. which is “Unconditional Election” or God by His own choosing elected a limited number of sinners to be justified before creation. While this teaching may on the surface sound horrible on Gods part it is not when the bible is taken in context. If Total Depravity is true and it most certainly is as proven last week, then Unconditional Election has to be true and it most certainly is. If all of mankind is totally depraved then no one can or will come to Christ without being delivered. Now the question is who will God deliver? If the answer is all of mankind then God has failed because He was unable to deliver all of mankind, but the scripture has concluded that God elected to hate Esau and to love Jacob, twin brother that God chose to love one and hate another. The average Religionist Pastor will say election shows a non-loving God but that is false because while God did not have to love one single person He elected to love a limited number of mankind. If you study the bible there is a 100% more scripture to prove unconditional election than there it to prove that salvation is man choice which is not biblical at all.

Election concerning Israel: Israel is most certainly a product of Gods electing grace which is proven in Deuteronomy 7:1 “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;” God chose Israel over all of the other nations of the world but I must as WHY? Was God unjust to the other nations of the world? Was God unjust to Egypt and Pharaoh in using them the way He elected too? I don’t hear the Religionist Pastors denying this election by God, but they laugh and mock when we say that God elected Gentiles. Romans chapter 9 clearly explains in verse 15 “…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” And God goes on in verse 16 to say “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” No one is a child of God because they chose too, but rather because God chose them to be His children. In verse 18 God gets clearer when He said “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” I.E. Pharaoh, and Esau, God could have chose to love these two men but He chose rather to hate them and use them in evil ways and neither of these men could have ever chosen to be saved.

Election concerning Gentiles: Everyone that is not an Israelite is a Gentile. Religionist Pastors will explain that election in the New Testament refers to Israel but if that was true then only Israelites would be saved, however God changed things in the New Testament and no longer uses the Israelites but now uses the elect Gentiles and Gentile churches if you will notice the Israelites are setting idle among a bunch of heathen who wishes they were dead rather then being used of God. Let us also notice in Romans 9:24 God said “Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” He said He also loves some Gentiles. Now notice in 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” If God “COMMANDED” the light of the Gospel to shine then it must shine without fail or God failed in His will. Beloved there was nothing about us that brought about our salvation and we could never cause salvation because we cannot overpower Satan. 2 Corinthians 4:3 – 4 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (4.) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” It is evident that only a limited number of mankind will be saved and that God has elected that number and since this election was before the world was created then it must be unconditional. 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”