Perseverance of the Saints
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Do you remember the warning of Jesus, Simon, Simon, Satan would have you and sift you like wheat? But I have prayed for you, so that when you turn, strengthen the brothers. Now, he fell, but he returned. He was restored. And so his fall was for a season. And that's why we say that true Christians can have radical and serious falls, but never total and final falls from grace.
Once saved, always saved. Have you heard that expression before? Is that true? Is God actually saving people? Or is He attempting to save people, but some just don't make it? These are important questions. And for 30 years, R.C. Sproul and Renewing Your Mind have been answering questions like these to help you better know who God is and to better know His Word so that your mind is renewed and your life is transformed to the praise and glory of God. As we close out our special 30th anniversary celebration week, today you'll hear a message from Dr. Sproul's classic series, What is Reformed Theology? on the perseverance of the saints. Here's Dr. Sproul.
We come now to our session in this series on the nature of Reformed theology, and I just want to read a brief entry from the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is a historic doctrinal standard of Reformed theology dating back to 17th century England, where we have this reference to the doctrine of effectual calling. It reads as follows, "...all those whom God has predestined unto life, and those only He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time effectually to call by His Word and Spirit out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature." to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone and giving unto them a heart of flesh, renewing their wills and by his almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ, yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace."
Now, I make this reference once again to the efficacy of the grace of regeneration as a bridge, a transition to the final point of the acrostic tulip, which brings us to the P in tulip and tulip. Now, I'm sure you'll be delighted to know I'm not going to change this letter. And the letter stands for the perseverance of the saints. However, even though I'm not changing the letter, I'm going to make a change in the word. I also think that that little catchphrase, perseverance of the saints, is true. dangerously misleading because, again, it suggests that the persevering is something that we do perhaps in and of ourselves. Now, I believe, of course, that saints do persevere in faith and that those who have been effectually called by God and have been reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit endure to the end. so that they do persevere.
But they persevere not simply because they are so diligent in their making use of the mercies of God, but the only reason we can give why any of us continues on in the faith even till the last day is not because we have persevered so much as it is because we have been preserved. And so I prefer the term the preservation, the preservation of the saints. because this process by which we are kept in a state of grace is something that is accomplished by God. We read this statement from the Confession about God's effectively calling us to faith, that regeneration we call the divine initiative. And it refers to the first step in our transformation, just as we enter into this world through the process of biological birth.
Rebirth does not refer to the whole of the new Christian life, but rebirth refers to the beginning of it, the very first step, the step that is accomplished by God's initiative when He quickens our souls from spiritual death to spiritual life. And so we call this divine initiative the beginning point. And it's a beginning that is performed, again, as I say, by God. Now, what does Paul write to the Philippians? He says that he who has begun a good work in you will perfect it to the end. Therein is the promise of God that what God starts in our souls, he intends to finish.
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