Calvin’s fifth point in his theory or doctrine of predestination is
“Perseverance of the Saints.” Which teaches it is totally God’s will
and
favor that certain men be saved and it is totally by His power that
such
is done. This doctrine continues to take all responsibility away from
man
for any part of his salvation including obedience to the will of God.
Calvin taught with this doctrine that if a man who was predestined
to be
saved were to fall from grace, such would mean that the power of man
is
great than the power of God.
Calvin used such passages as John 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39; 1 John 3:9;
Ephesians 1:13; and Ephesians 4:30 to back up his claim on this teaching.
But as we saw with the other points of Calvin’s doctrine we must look
at
all that God’s teaches on a topic and not just a few passages which
out
of context seem to support a doctrine. This is Calvin’s most popular
doctrine and it is known by many as “Once saved, always saved.” We
agree
that if a person has faithfully obeyed God’s commands that they are
saved, but to many scriptures teach that we must remain faithful in
order
to receive the crown of eternal life. Some of these many scriptures
are
Matthew 13:41; 1 Corinthians 9:27; 10:12; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians
5:4; Hebrews 6:6 and 2 Peter 2:20-22.
In fact when you look at the make up of the New Testament we find that
there are four books that teaches us about the life of Jesus Christ,
one book
which teaches us how to become a follower of Jesus Christ and one book
of
prophecy, but there are twenty-one books that teach us how to maintain
are
faithful fellowship with God. No one can take your salvation away from
you but
you can give it up of your own free will, that is what the New Testament
teaches!
© Copyright 2003 Paul D. Fisher. All rights reserved.