Perseverance of the Saints-He will finish what he started!
Perseverance of the Saints
"6 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". Philippians 1:6
Give me your best Ric Flair "woooohhh"!! Hahaha! Hello, all my friends and weird people. Today we are going to discuss the last, and my favorite point of "TULIP". We are going to take a look at the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. It is an amazing part of the christian life and a wondrous promise from God. I think you're gonna love it! Get your swim caps on and let's dive in!
"Perseverance may be defined as that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer, by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart is continued and brought to completion. It is because God never forsakes His work that believers continue to stand to the very end". Louis Berkhof from Systematic Theology (pg. 546)
But...
We all know people who have professed faith, but who, sadly, fell away. We all have heard of people who have thought they got their 'ticket punched' and went and lived according to their own will and
disregarded the things of God. I think that John addresses these kinds of apostates, or false professors when he says "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 John 2:19 The bible also says he who endures to the end shall be saved; this makes sense, descriptively, concerning the elect of God. This is where the term invisible church comes into the scene. This term signifies the true body of believers, not just those who make up the church outwardly or externally. John was clearly dealing with people who appeared to be disciples outwardly. Jesus also demonstrated this reality when he said “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me" Matthew 15:8 In his famous sermon on the mount, Jesus even warns of those will come to him saying, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:22,23 As we have learned in previous posts and through the reading of the word, God has a plan to save his elect or invisible church. These men were clearly never known by God, so they weren't the sheep. God is the initiator of our christian life. He is the author and perfecter of our faith! What an amazing thought! The Holy Spirit convicts us and keeps making us holy, which is known as sanctification.
Backsliding
This is an important part to mention that this perseverance is not reliant on
our strength. Praise God for that! We can still commit sin and backslide. The only sin most theologians and preachers say that we, as Christians cannot commit, is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Which makes sense if he is living inside of you. My everyday life is a proof for me, but if you need a biblical example of backsliding, I think King David will suffice. We have all heard the story of how he lusted after Bathsheba after seeing her bathing on her rooftop. Long story short, he ends up getting her pregnant. To cover his sin, and try and avoid punishment for her, he attempts to have Uriah (the husband) come home and sleep with his wife so he will think the child is his, but Uriah is loyal and wants to sleep with the palace guards since he is in active service. Finally, King David has Bathsheba's husband, who is a great soldier, sent to the front lines of a battle so he will be killed. How dark! These are pretty crazy sins for the man who was dubbed by God 'a man after my own heart'. However, he is later moved to sincere repentance in an awesome moment when Nathaniel the prophet, with knowledge from God, tells him what he has done through a parable. He fell...like big time, but he was never beyond the grace of God. True Christians can never fall totally from the grace of God. The entire christian life is one of repentance. You can take that one to the bank!
Beware of Pride
"12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it". 1 Corinthians 10:12,13 We should always beware of pride, especially with our own spiritual strength. The above verse shows a clear warning, but also a reminder that God is faithful. He wants us to depend on him. Even Peter denied Christ 3 times after he was forewarned he would! Peter: A man who later wrote two books in the New Testament, a man who got to temporarily walk on water, a man whose sermons are recorded in other books of the bible, a man who got to walk with Jesus. But after his treason against hisKing and friend, he was restored and wow, did he do big things! As RC Sproul says, "That’s why we say that true Christians can have radical and serious falls but never total and final falls from grace". We should all thank God for this promise, my friends!
How is it possible?
So how do we persevere? That is really the question here. Well there are several reasons I can't wait to share with you. And guess what? They are all God centered. The London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 lays out some
amazing reasons(scriptural of course) why we persevere: 2._____ This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him, the oath of God, the abiding of his Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. Wow!! Amazing words. The free and unchangeable love of God the Father! I need me some of that. I'll go over some of my favorite points as to why we persevere and share supporting verses. A covenant of grace-"I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me". Jeremiah 32:40 Only God makes that kind of covenant.
This is mentioned above, but if you have never heard this as a child of God, it will blow your mind! Christ is literally seated at the right hand of the Father and he is interceding (praying) on our behalf. Just let that sink in for a minute. Really think about that. Isn't that incredible? If i have any charismatic friends reading this, you might be shouting or dancing or praising right now, and that is totally understandable! Whereas the old high priest had to enter the holy of holies, then come out because they were men, Jesus has entered the holiest place and he will never leave. Jesus becomes the place where the glory dwells and we get to be a part of his body as the church. That is why he is our new high priest forever. He is the ultimate fulfillment of many things, and this is one of the most glorious. "19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek". Hebrews 6:19
The bible also says that we have the seed of God within us, as the LBCF mentions. "9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[a] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God". 1 john 3:9
In closing, I want to offer one more, very strong evidence for the perseverance of the saints. This is one of my favorite passages of scripture! In John 6, Jesus says why he has come and then says what the will of the father who sent him is. "37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day". John 6:37-40 I would simply ask, "Do you believe Jesus?" . Next, I would ask you, "Do you think Jesus will fail?". Lastly, I would posit the question, "Do you think God's will will be accomplished?". This is one of the strongest reasons to believe we persevere. We are continually being drawn to Christ because we were given by the Father. He will lose none of us and we will be raised up on the last day. This should embolden you in your faith. This should instill peace within you that surpasses all understanding. This will drive you to repentance to have the joy of your salvation restored! This will help you say, at the end of your life, that you have finished the race.
This is the last post in the TULIP series and you are now all experts! haha! I am so pumped that I just finished my first series! I love getting to blog and share my faith with you who are learning on this adventure with me. It is a blessing and I can't wait to share more. I have many ideas for the future and plan on making this a weekly thing. Check back next week to see where we are headed. Until then, I'll leave you with this lyrical excerpt to the song Entitlement by Beautiful Eulogy, which sums up this TULIP series and what we discussed today! I hope this blessed you today. Until next time, this is Blake signing out!
"Adopted to be the children of God and grafted into fellowship Being bound together by the blood of Christ into a common membership Sanctified by the spirit given gradual growth in holiness Increasing in our thinking and behaving in ways that show that were chosen And all the while being preserved and upheld according to his sovereign providence Giving us confidence that he will carry us to completion just like he promised"
