One of the most popular beliefs of all the Calvinist doctrine is
Perseverance of the Saints or as it is better known as “once saved;
always saved” I would like for us to take a look at the scriptures
Calvin
used to try and back up this doctrine.
First, John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they
follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father,
which
gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them
out
of my Father's hand.” Some states this passage makes a promise without
qualifications, but please note the marks of Jesus’ sheep. They “hear”
and “follow”. In the Greek text we find that the tense of these words
show that it is a continuing action, thus those who continue to “hear”
and continue to “follow” are Jesus’ sheep. From this we can see that
faithfulness is essential on the part of the sheep to receive the promise
that “no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” This passage
teaches, and rightly so, that no outside force can take us from God
(cf.
James 4:7-8), but we obviously have the choice of whether to stay or
not
(cf. John 8:31, 51; Joshua 24:15).
Second, Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor
things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall
be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our
Lord.” Again some argue that this promise is without qualifications.
Note
that many passages above this one in the book of Romans show the
possibility of apostasy, so did the Holy Spirit have Paul write
contradictions in the New Testament? This passage like the one in John
teaches that no outside force can take us from God, but again we
obviously have the choice of whether to stay or not.
Third, 1 John 3:9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for
his
seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
Some who follow Calvin’s teaching claim that this passage points out
that
the “elect” of God cannot sin. The word “commit” is in the present
tense
which indicates a continuing action. Does not commit or continue to
commit sin. Many passages teach that “cannot” does not mean the
inability, rather it means that there will be a penalty to be paid
if one
does such thing (Ezekiel 18:4). When we keep this passage in the context
of the epistle of 1 John we see that this passage cannot mean that
those
who are born of God cannot commit sin. Look at 1 John 1:6-2:3, “If
we say
that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and
do
not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son
cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us. My little children, these things write I
unto
you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with
the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for
our
sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”
Notice “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,” also
the
need by Christians to “keep his commandments.” Christians understand
that
this is a penalty to be paid for living in sin and they also understand
that as a Christian sin in our lives causes us to have the need to
repent
and confess our sins to our heavenly Father so that our sins can be
forgiven.
Fourth, Calvin used Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30 to claim that we cannot
fall
from the grace of God. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that
ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” And grieve
not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.” Calvin claimed that if we are “sealed” then we cannot
fail.
Calvin and his followers used the example of a sealed box cannot lost
it’s contents. Is this the only way the word “sealed” can be used?
According to A. T. Robertson in his Word Picture of the New Testament,
this “sealed” means the “mark of ownership...marked and authenticated
as
God’s heritage.” The apostle Paul had this in mind when he referred
to
the Holy Spirit as an identifying mark or “seal” to those who are saved
(Galatians 4:6). It is necessary for us to have this other “witness”
to
our faithfulness (Matthew 18:16; Mark 14:56; Romans 8:16).
Does the doctrine of Perseverance of the saints or once saved, always
saved stand the test of the New Testament? An honest answer would be
“NO!” To many passages teach for Christians to remain faithful to God
to
answer in an other way.
© Copyright 2003 Paul D. Fisher. All rights reserved.