Endurance and Salvation in Faith: Biblical Perspectives and Perseverance

27. Perseverance

Salvation Requires Endurance in the Faith Bible states that faithful persistence results in salvation Mark 13:13 the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Col. 1 22 [God] has reconciled you by Christ s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. Alternatively, there are warnings about falling away 2 Tim. 2 11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us. Heb 10 26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the know- ledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Terminology Concerning Endurance Common Christian term used: eternal security Problem with this: Static concept: decision of faith ticket for entering heaven Undermines biblical exhortations for endurance in the faith Danger: can lead to depreciating life of faith and obedience Better term: perseverance of believers Reflects biblical teachings on persistence in faith and obedience Phil. 3 13 I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Perseverance Not Based on Our Abilities We cannot maintain the faith in our own strength The 3 main things that tempt Christians: External: The world - sinful desires, lust for things, pride (1 John 2:15) Internal: Sin still within us Rom. 7 18For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me does it. Spiritual forces of evil: the devil seeks to destroy believers (1Pet 5:8) Eph. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Perseverance is Based on Gods Preservation Preservation due to the activity of the Triune God God the Father completes the work of salvation he began in us Phil. 1:6 [God] who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 1 Pet. 1 3 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in his great mercy has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. God s power enables Christians to resist temptations and to continue in the faith to the end The Father is the Protector of our salvation and will not let us fail. (Robert Peterson)

Perseverance is Based on Gods Preservation God the Son completes the work of salvation begun in us Jesus our High Priest lives forever and saves forever Rom. 8:34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Jesus, our Lord. is at the Father s right hand sustaining us John 10 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 1 John 5:18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, & the evil one cannot harm them.

Perseverance is Based on Gods Preservation The Holy Spirit is the active agent working Christ s life in us The Spirit is the seal of our perseverance 2 Cor. 1:22 [God] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Eph 1 13 When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God s possession to the praise of his glory. The Spirit empowers us to grow in faith and obedience Rom. 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Gal. 4:6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father .

Definition of Perseverance The doctrine [of the perseverance of the saints] means that all whom the Father has chosen to salvation in Christ will certainly be brought to saving faith, be maintained in faith by the Holy Spirit until the very end of their days, and so inherit eternal life. [Robert Letham, Systematic Theology, 743] The triune God s work of salvation maintains us in his love Rom. 8 - 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Foundation of Perseverance 1) The faithfulness of God He is true to his own character: powerful, loving, gracious 1 Cor. 1 8[God] will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 2) The truth of God s promises God s promise is true expressing his attitude to his people Jer. 7:23 I will be your God, and you will be my people 3) The sovereignty of God s grace The Spirit of God works renewal in us and brings it to completion 1 John 5:18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, & the evil one cannot harm them.

Perseverance Refers Primarily to Christ The Father promised from eternity to give Christ the church John 17 1[Jesus:] Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him . 24 Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Heb. 10 - 21 since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings It is one of the precious things about the Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on his firm grip on us. (Leon Morris)

What about Those Who Have Fallen Away? We all know professing Christians who abandon the faith Two biblical ways to understand this: Christians can fall away for a time, then return to faith Example of Peter: denied Christ 3 times, and then repented Those abandoning the faith were never true believers 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. Outward appearance of faith and obedience is for worldly reasons No true saving faith thus, hearts not truly transformed by the Spirit

Warnings of Apostasy for Christians? Purpose of biblical warnings of apostasy: Help the church distinguish true from false believers 1 Pet. 5:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. Urge the church to prayer and resistance to sin Matt. 6:13 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Emphasize the necessity of perseverance Col. 1 24[God] has reconciled you by Christ s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation 23if you continue in your faith, established & firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

Gods Grace in Warnings and Perseverance God is very gracious to us. He wants those within churches who do not know Christ to come to know him; so he warns them of the danger of forsaking the gospel. He loves his people and he wants to nurture their relationship with him; so, through words of preservation and promptings to persevere he strengthens them and assures them. -Robert Peterson If from the side of God, the issue is clear-cut, then we must affirm from the human angle that God s ultimate purpose will never fail. Since there is to be no breakdown of the plans of the holy Trinity, from our side all true believers will persevere to the end, whatever the obstacles may be. This is rooted in the purposes and promises of God, which come to expression in Jesus Christ. Robert Letham

Thank you!