THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
JOHN 10:4, 27; MATTHEW 16:24
Memory Verse: JOHN 10:28
The doctrine of eternal security has been much disputed; but it is a true doctrine because it is based upon the Word of God. The “perseverance of the saints” is altogether due to the “perseverance of the Saviour.” We believe in both the “perseverance of the saints” and the “preservation of the saints.” They are indeed inseparable doctrines. We do not believe that the doctrine of eternal security was ever meant to comfort those who have professed salvation, but who want to live in sin. We fear that much loose teaching has done just that!
I. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.
A. Only Real Believers Will Endure.
1. Continuance is not a condition of discipleship, but rather it is the manifestation of it, John 8:31, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
a. We do not continue in the faith, in order to be saved, but we continue in the faith because we are saved, Colossians 1:21-23, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22- In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23- If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”
b. Jesus said that His sheep follow Him, John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
2. Abiding in Christ is a reality to the real believer, 1 John 2:27,28, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 28- And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
3. The true believer is in the world, not of it, 1 John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16- For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17- And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” See further, John 5:1-5
B. Real Believers Have A Persevering Attachment to Christ.
1. Unsaved professors have no such mark, 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” See Matthew 13:19-21
2. Saved people have this mark, John 6:66-69; Job 17:9; “The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” Matthew 13:23, “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
II. THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS.
A. A Special Providence Watches Over Their Welfare.
1. God is able to control all things for our good. (c)-1 Rom. 8:28
2. God supplies all our needs. Matt. 6:30-33
3. God’s work is continual. (c)-3 Psa. 121:3
4. The angels are instruments of God for the saints. (c)-4 Heb. 1:14; Psa. 91:11,12
B. The Saints Are Kept By The Power Of God.
1. We are kept by God’s power. (d)-1 I Pet. 1:5; 11 Tim. 1:12
2. God will finish what He starts. (d)-2 Phil. 1:6
3. Eternal life is the only kind God gives. (d)-3 John 10:28;
4. The saved cannot be removed from the Lord’s hand. (d)-3-4 John 10:28,29
5. Nothing can separate the saints from the love of God. (d)-6 Rom. 8:35-39
6. He has promised never to leave us. Heb. 13.5
7. He is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless. Jude 24,25
8. The Spirit dwells within us. I John 4:4
9. Saints are the Sons of God. I John 3:2
10. We can know we have eternal life. I John 5:9-13
11. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Eph. 4:30