Ronald Hanko
& Ronald Cammenga
[Source:
Saved By Grace: A Study of the Five Points of Calvinism (RFPA, 2002),
pp. 150-157]
(a.) Psalm 37:23, 24. “The steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall
not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.”
This passage reminds us that it is possible for God’s
people to fall into sin and temptation, but in contrast to that also speaks of
the impossibility of their falling away completely and ascribes this not only
to the power of God but to His eternal decree (“his steps are ordered by
the Lord”).
(b.) Psalm 37:28. “For the Lord loveth judgment,
and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved forever: but the seed of the
wicked shall be cut off.”
This passage not only speaks both of preservation
and of the fact that it is the saints who are preserved, but also indicates
that this all depends on God. The saints are “his,” and they are preserved because
God in His faithfulness does not forsake them, and He does not forsake them because
He is righteous—not because they are. Their preservation does not
depend on themselves.
(c.) Isaiah 45:17. “But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded
world without end.”
Perhaps even more important than the passage itself is
the context, which grounds the assurance of salvation in the power of God and
insists (v. 19) that to say otherwise would make God’s call powerless, and He
Himself unrighteous and a liar, for He would then be promising what He Himself
was unable to give.
(d.) Isaiah 49:16. “Behold, I have graven thee
upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
Not only does this verse connect election and
preservation in a most beautiful way, speaking as though the names of God’s
people are actually engraved eternally in the palms of His hands but it also
assures God's people of this in answer to their fears. This verse is an answer
to Zion’s complaint: “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me”
(v. 14), a complaint often heard in times of trouble.
(e.) Jeremiah 32:40. “And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them
good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not turn away from
me.”
Jeremiah’s message is particularly important because
it makes Israel’s restoration after the captivity a figure and type of the
preservation of the church in every age, assuring the people of God that the
fruit of grace will be that they will not turn away from Him. Jeremiah shows,
therefore, the connection between the grace of God that preserves and the
resultant perseverance of the saints.
(f.) Luke 22:31, 32. “And the Lord said, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
Christ not only assures Peter, and with him every one
of us, that He will pray for Peter in time of temptation, knowing already what
will happen, but He also tells Peter, even before he falls, that he will be
converted again in answer to His prayer.
(g.) John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.”
Strangely enough, this verse, which is so often
quoted by those who believe that salvation and eternal life depend on the
choice of man’s own will, actually teaches the very opposite, namely, that
those who believe shall not perish, but, through faith, have
everlasting life. That could not be true unless faith, like eternal life, was
God’s unchangeable gift and not man’s changeable choice. Similar passages are
John 3:36 and John 5:24.
(h.) John 6:39. “And this is the Father’s will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day.”
Jesus shows the connection between election and the
atonement. He actually saves (does not lose) those whom the Father gave
Him, and He does that according to the Father’s own will. He also shows the
connection between both of those doctrines and preservation. Those whom the
Father gave Him and whom He does not lose shall be raised up again on the last
day. We have, then, from Jesus Himself, a very beautiful and powerful reminder
that the guarantee of perseverance and eternal security is not our faithfulness
but God’s grace in election and in the cross.
(i.) 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.”
This passage grounds the preservation of saints in
election (“I know them”) and in the almighty power of God that cannot be
thwarted (“My Father ... is greater than all”). In the context, which speaks
of Jesus as the shepherd of the sheep, it also shows that these sheep are
preserved and must be preserved, because the blood of the good shepherd was
shed for them. Nor may we overlook the fact that, through all this, the sheep
follow Jesus. They are not preserved to walk their own way, but in holiness of
life and obedience to Jesus.
(j.) John 17:11. “And now I am no more in the
world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as
we are”
(k.) John 17:24. “Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the
world.”
In light of Luke 22:32, which shows that Jesus’
prayers on behalf of His people are surely answered, these verses are most
significant. Jesus is not only praying that His people may be preserved in the
world (v. 11), but also to final heavenly glory. So we see that the
preservation of the saints is the result also of the perfect intercession of
Christ, which would be revealed as powerless and ineffectual if they were lost.
(l.) Romans 8:35-39. “Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed
all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 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.”
Paul assures believers of three things: first, that
persecution and other such trials will not cause them to be separated from
Christ; second, that neither will spiritual powers, including the devil himself,
be able to do that; and third, that this is true because of the love of God in
Christ, which is revealed in the death of Christ, in His resurrection and
intercession, and in our justification before God (vv. 29-34). Once again, we
are taught that for saints to fall away, the cross and intercession of Christ
would have to be made of none effect and the love and grace of God become
powerless.
(m.) I Corinthians 1:7-9. “So that ye come behind
in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall confirm
you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful by whom ye were called in the fellowship of his Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord.”
That we are confirmed unto the end is simply an
evidence of the faithfulness of God who called us. Not to be confirmed unto the
end and unto blamelessness would be unfaithfulness on God’s part, not just to
us, but to Himself and His own work, for He called us. We, of course, are
always unfaithful and fail, but God’s faithfulness never fails.
(n.) II Corinthians 4:8. “We are troubled on
every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body.”
Here we learn that the perseverance of the saints
does not mean that God’s people are preserved from all troubles, trials, and
temptations, but that God protects them in their tribulations and brings them
safely through.
(o.) Philippians 1:6. “Being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ.”
Again, the perseverance of saints is ascribed to the
faithfulness of God and the work of God. The fact that salvation is of grace at
the beginning means that it is all of grace and shall certainly be
finished in all those in whom it is begun.
(p.) II Timothy 2:19. “Nevertheless the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are
his. And, let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
This assured statement is made in the face of the
evil work of those who had been troubling the church and had even “overthrown
the faith of some” (v. 18). “Nevertheless,” that is, even though it might have
appeared that some had lost faith and salvation, the foundation of God stands
sure. What God has worked cannot be defeated or destroyed.
In spite of the strong language used to describe the
defection of some, the verse leads to two conclusions: that those whose “faith”
was overthrown did not have true faith, the faith God gives; and that those who
had true faith could not, and would not, lose it.
We are reminded, however, that the seal that
guarantees that God’s foundation and work cannot perish is election (“the
Lord knoweth them that are his”). The other side of that seal, however, says, “Let
every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
Sanctification of heart and life is part of preservation. Indeed, it is the
guarantee in our own lives, the subjective and temporal guarantee that
God has begun His work and will not forsake it, just as election is the objective
and eternal guarantee.
(q.) II Timothy 4:18. “And the Lord shall deliver
me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
No one would dare to say this if his future glory
depended in any way on himself, and no one would be able to say it if he did
not know that God in His faithfulness does preserve His people.
(r.) Hebrews 7:25. “Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to
make intercession for them.”
This Word of God connects our preservation and
Christ’s intercession. Remember, though, that it is not only Christ’s prayers
that fail if any of those who are saved fall away, but also His blood that
fails and is rendered of no value, for it is on the basis of His blood that He
makes intercession for His people.
(s.) Hebrews 10:14. “For by one offering he hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
The point of this verse is simply that Christ’s
sacrifice assures every child of God, when saved, of reaching perfection. So
valuable is His sacrifice, and so sure our salvation, that the Word speaks as
though we are already perfected.
(t.) I Peter 1:5. “Who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
This verse not only speaks plainly of preservation (“Who
are kept by the power of God”), but it shows again that preservation and the
assurance of preservation in no way detract from or take away the calling to
believe and to do the works of a living faith. Those who are kept are kept
through a living faith, and that is the only way they can or will be kept.
(u.) I Peter 1:23. “Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth forever.”
Peter speaks in this important verse of regeneration
and tells us that the incorruptible seed by which we are born again, whatever
that may be, is incorruptible and abides forever. In fact, that
living seed planted in us and by which we are born again is Christ Himself,
Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).
* *
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Saved By Grace is a fine work explaining, proving and defending the sovereignty of God
and the Five Points of Calvinism with ample Scripture, sound exegesis and
theological acumen. It is very clearly laid out, answering objections to
and denials of the truth, and demonstrating the practical importance of
salvation by grace alone.
If you are interested in this publication, it can be found on the
following websites:
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