1

R edeem er Bible Church

Unreserved Accountability to Christ. Undeserved Acceptance from Christ.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part Five:

Perseverance of the Saints
Selected Scriptures

Introduction
The last point of contention between the Arminian Remonstrants and the church
of the Netherlands in the early 17th century focused on whether or not it was possible for
a genuine believer irrecoverably to fall away from the faith. Listen to their fifth point of
grievance:

But whether [those who are incorporated into Christ by true faith] are
capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginning of their life in
Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy
doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming
devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy
Scripture, before we ourselves can teach it with the full persuasion of our mind.

As you can tell, this final grievance is less dogmatic than the others. In fact, their
claim was that they were no longer convinced that people with “true faith” could not lose
it, and ultimately not be saved.

Prior to the five points of Arminianism being set forth, the church had taught with
full persuasion that those with true faith were incapable of forsaking the narrow road to
life. Once placed on the path to glory, the genuine believer could never finally stray.

Oh, they would have conceded with the hymn writer’s assessment about our
hearts:

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love.

But what Scripture teaches, and what the European church of the 17th century affirmed
in their rebuttal to the final point of Arminianism is that even though we may from time to
time find ourselves straying from the path toward home, true believers will ultimately
make it safely to their final destination.

The Promise of Final Salvation

To see that this is, in fact, what the Scriptures teach turn with me first to the
gospel of John 6:37-40.
37
"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to
Me I will certainly not cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 2

My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39This is the will of Him who sent
Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
40
For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and
believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last
day."

No one would, I think, argue that Jesus kept his Father’s will. In fact, earlier in the
gospel, Jesus says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his
work” (John 4:34). Here in verse 38 he says, I have come down from heaven, not to
do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. Jesus was passionately committed
to doing his Father’s will. And his Father’s will he performed with sinless perfection.

And what is the Father’s will for the Son? Verse 39: This is the will of Him who
sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last
day. The will of the Father for the Son is that of all that the Father has given the Son
he loses nothing, but raises it up on the last day. And just a moment ago he has said
that he came down from heaven to accomplish this very thing—that he would lose
nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Now then, let me ask you this: Is it possible for the Son to have abandoned his
mission? Absolutely not! For if Jesus did not perfectly obey the Father, then we have a
sinful Son, and if we have a sinful Son, we have no salvation. This being the case, is it
possible for Jesus to lose any of those whom the Father gave him? No way! The
Father’s will for the Son is that the Son would lose nothing.

Another question: Is it possible for Jesus not to raise up on the last day what the
Father gave him? Unequivocally, no! So do you see what the Bible is saying here? It
is saying…

All that the Father gives to the Son will come to the Son in faith.
All the faithful will never be lost; to the contrary, all the faithful will be resurrected
to life on the last day.

Jesus’ summary is in verse 40: For this is the will of My Father, that everyone
who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will
raise him up on the last day. The faithful will be raised to life by Jesus himself
(emphatic use of the personal pronoun) on the last day.

You cannot deny this and consistently be a Christian. The only way it is possible
for the truly faithful to be lost, for them not to be resurrected to life on the last day is that
Jesus failed to complete his mission. As certain as Jesus is sinless, all those who
belong to him will never be lost.

The same idea is present in John 10:27-29.

27
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28and I
give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them
out of My hand. 29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and
no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 3

Earlier in John 6 we read that it was the Father’s will that the Son lose nothing of
those he had given him, now we read essentially the same thing, except with greater
emphasis. In verse 28, Jesus says that his sheep will never perish. In biblical Greek,
this is what’s called the subjunctive of emphatic negation and is the strongest way to
negative something in the language. I like to paraphrase like this: “I give eternal life to
them and there is no way that they could ever perish.” This grammatical construction
rules out even the remotest possibility that a true sheep could perish eternally.

And as if that were not strong enough, Jesus speaks to the impossibility of others
ultimately threatening his sheep. The end of verse 28 says, no one will snatch them
out of my hand. The sheep that truly belong to Jesus can never be attacked and
dragged away because they rest securely in Jesus’ hand.

And as if that were still not strong enough, Jesus tells us that he is not the only
member of the Godhead involved in the preservation of his people. Look again at verse
29: My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to
snatch them out of the Father’s hand. This language is reminiscent of Isaiah 43:13 in
which the Lord says, “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out
of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

No one can remove a believer from the saving grip of the omnipotent Father and
Son—no one at all. Not the devil, not a demon, not a false teacher—no one. You can’t
even extract yourself from this permanent and eternally binding relationship with the
Triune God.

What an enormous encouragement! Our safe arrival at the last day does not
ultimately depend on our feeble hold on the Savior, but on his fierce hold on us.

Now turn with me to Romans 8:35-39.

35
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36Just as it is written,
"FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE
WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37But in all these
things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38For I am
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other
created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.

No created thing (including human beings) will be able to separate the believer
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord—absolutely nothing can
separate us from the love of God in Christ.

And this is because the saving work of Christ for us is a comprehensive one. It
ensures not simply that we would be saved (past tense), but it also ensures that we are
being saved, and that we will be saved on the last day. This comprehensiveness is
apparent right here in Romans 8. Just back up a few verses and read verses 29-34.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 4

29
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become
conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among
many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these
whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against
32
us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how
will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33Who will bring a charge
against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34who is the one who
condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at
the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

The work of the Son on behalf of his people secured and therefore ensured more
than their past salvation. Verse 30 preserves the text that has become known as the
golden chain of salvation, a golden chain with links that are inseparable.

The predestined are called and the called are justified and the justified are
glorified. What this means is that there is no such thing as a justified but not glorified
person. Those who have been justified will be glorified because our union with Christ’s
work on our behalf guarantees it. Our future salvation is as sure as our justification.

Turn back to Romans 5:9-10 to see this connection even more explicitly.
9
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be
saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10For if while we were enemies we
were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Here we read that our justification guarantees our final salvation and that our
reconciliation guarantees it as well. This is because those whom he predestines, he
also justifies and glorifies. Any separation of these aspects of salvation results in a
biblical monstrosity. If you have been justified, you will be glorified. “God is the one
who justifies; who is the one who condemns?” (Romans 8:33b-34a).

The Promise of Preservation to Final Salvation

But from Paul’s perspective, it is not only our justification and our glorification that
are guaranteed—it is everything else in between, including our sanctification. Turn
ahead to Philippians 1:6.
6
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in
you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Here the Apostle Paul is telling the Philippians the content of his thanksgiving for
them. In verse 5 he says that he thanks God for their participation in the gospel from
the first day until now. Thus he has in view their gospel faith and action both in terms
of the past (the first day) and the present (until now). Then in verse 6, he adds that
he thanks the Lord for their future salvation as well.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 5

Note first of all, that he refers to their participation in the gospel as a good work
that God began in them. This is perfectly consistent with Paul’s understanding of
salvation later in chapter 1, when he says that it had been granted to the Philippians to
believe in Jesus’ name (verse 29). And in chapter 2, after calling them to work out their
salvation with fear and trembling, he reinforces this idea of salvation as God’s work by
saying, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good
pleasure” (Phil 2:13).

For Paul, salvation from beginning to end is the work of God, which is why not
only does his thanksgiving for the Philippians’ participation in the gospel embrace their
past and present, but as I’ve said, their future as well. He who began this good work
in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Notice carefully that it doesn’t say that the Lord will perfect his saving work on
the day of Christ Jesus, or at the day of Christ Jesus. Instead he says that he is
confident that God will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. This means that God
will be perfecting it and perfecting it and perfecting it, day after day after day, until the
day of Christ Jesus so that we may stand before the Lord holy and blameless on that
fateful day.

This, of course, preserves the grace of God in our salvation. If sanctification

were not ultimately the product of God’s work for us, then we might have grounds of
boasting. But God will have none of that—he will have none of boasting that it might be
all of him. First Corinthians 1:30-31 says, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus,
who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and
redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE
LORD.’” We can never and must never take any credit for the progress and joy that we
attain in the Christian life.

Moreover, the fact that our sanctification is secure means that we don’t need to
become insecure in our relationship with God when we fall into various sins; for our
sinning will never result in the Lord loving us any less. He will love us no matter what!
He chose us in Christ for salvation before time began, he sent his Son to die to secure
our salvation, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope, and he will not drop
the ball. He didn’t do all that for nothing. He will love us to the end of time and for all
eternity.

So for those of you who think you’ve made progress, remember that God has
been at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure; he has been the one
perfecting you. Your sanctification is all of God and none of you.

And for those of you who think you’ve made none, remember that God has been
at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure; he has been the one
perfecting you. Your sanctification is none of you and all of God.

Philippians 1:6 reminds us that since God is the one who started it, he is the one
who will finish it. And for Paul it is so certain that he actually thanks God for it in the
lives of the Philippians ahead of time. No genuine Christian can lose what he never

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 6

gained on his own. To borrow the language of the Apostle Peter, we are those “who are
protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time” (1 Peter 1:5).

Preserved through Perseverance

Now then, although there are many other passages in the New Testament that
make it abundantly clear that we will persevere to the end and be saved on the day of
Christ Jesus, I’d like to move on to address something vitally important, critical for
understanding that we can never and will never ultimately forfeit our salvation; namely,
this: while it is true that the saints will finally be saved, they will not finally be saved if
they do not persevere. In other words, if you do not press on toward the goal, if you do
not work out your salvation, if you do not hold fast the confession firm till the end, you
will not be saved. How can I say this?

Well, let me ask you this: If a person does not believe in the Lord Jesus, will he
or she be saved? Of course, not.

At the same time, we have seen that faith itself is a gift of God, correct? Yes, we
have. Philippians 1:29: For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to
believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

Think of our perseverance in the same way. Faith is absolutely necessary for
your salvation: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Well,
perseverance is absolutely necessary for our salvation as well—“Pursue…the
sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

And though faith is a gift, it is a gift that we exercise. Philippians 1:29 is

instructive in this regard. Let’s reread the text: For to you it has been granted for
Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

Suffering, like faith is God’s gift. We suffer according to the sovereign purposes
of God and we believe according to the sovereign purposes of God. And like suffering,
faith is not something that God does; it is something that we do. God gives us faith,
yes, but that faith is exercised by us, not by him. We are the ones who believe, not
God.

Perseverance is the same. Although God sanctifies us, sanctification is

something that we pursue. Turn ahead in Philippians to 2:12-13.
12
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with
fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work
for His good pleasure.

Allow me to unpack this text with a reminder that the command is a corporate
one. He says, Work out your (you-plural) salvation with fear and trembling; for it is
God who is at work in you (plural). It is an imperative for the community as a whole.
As a result, the command has a social dimension, a social implication. We are

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 7

commanded to work out our salvation, but we are not commanded to work it out on
our own in isolation from one another. Sanctification is a community project. Together
we must run hard toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 3:14).

However, lest any of us think that on the basis of verse 12 that once we have a
right relationship with God we can somehow merit our that salvation by our efforts,
verse 13 swoops down to rescue us from the dregs of works-righteousness. Read it
again with me: For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His
good pleasure.

This is the ground of all our efforts—God granting us the ability to exert it. He is
at work in all of us, both to will and to work. The tense indicates that his activity is
continuous. In other words, he is always working in us at the level of our desires and
our behaviors.

Moreover, God’s work has a causal relationship to our willing and working. That
is, our activity is only possible because of divine grace. And Paul is emphasizing this
causal relationship to our willing and working. He says literally, “God is the one who is
working the working and the willing.” Thus the ultimate worker behind all our working is
God.

Keep in mind, however, that sanctification is like faith. In other words, this
passage does not teach that God is willing or working instead of us. He works the
working and the willing so that we may do the willing and the working. The verb that is
used here means something like, “to effectively empower.” So we do it, but our doing—
our willing and working—is totally the work of God.

All this is to say that since perseverance is like faith, you need not feel
uncomfortable with the Scripture’s regular admonishments and warnings about
perseverance to the effect that if we do not persevere, we will not be saved. When you
read them, just think of them like passages that teach that if we do not believe, we will
not be saved.

But it’s not only because faith and perseverance are similar to one another that I
say that if you do not persevere, you will not be saved; it is because the Bible explicitly
says that if you do not persevere you will not be saved. Here are only two examples:

1 Corinthians 15:1-2: Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I
preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also
you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you
believed in vain.

Col 1:21-23: And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind,
engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through
death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond
reproach—if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast,
and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 8

proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a
minister.

So when we are thinking about God’s promise to keep us by his power until the
day of Jesus Christ, his promise to preserve us in the faith, keep in mind that God is
accomplishing our preservation through our efforts to persevere. The teaching of
Scripture regarding the fate of the believer runs like this:

We will not make it to final salvation unless we persevere.

God has promised that we will persevere.
Therefore our eternity is secure.

“Once Saved Always Saved”?

This then should completely overthrow the notion that is often couched in terms
of “once-saved-always-saved.” The once-saved-always-saved crowd insists on the
basis of passages like John 10 that believers cannot lose their salvation—and they are
absolutely right.

Their problem, however, is that they also limit salvation to a weakened form of
justification and virtually omit sanctification altogether. The result is that they suggest
that as long as a person has intellectually assented to the truth of the gospel that they
will be saved even if they never produce fruit from that point forward. At this point, I
must say that this is utter nonsense and more than that, it is extremely dangerous for
the Christian community to believe. Let me explain.

By definition a Christian is a person with a new heart. This is the promise of the
new covenant: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will
put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to
observe My ordinances” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

When a person comes to saving faith it demonstrates that they have been
transformed from within. They have new hearts, hearts that God made to love and obey
him. Jeremiah 33:33-34 says,

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after
those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart
I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not
teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the
LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,"
declares the LORD.

And Deuteronomy 30:6 says, “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart
and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul, so that you may live.”

A Christian is a person who by God’s power has been given a new heart—a
heart to love the Lord with all his heart and soul, a heart that is soft and supple, no

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 9

longer hardened and petrified. If this is definitive of a Christian, how is it possible to be

a genuine believer and not know and love the Lord?

In addition, the promise of the new covenant includes every aspect of our
salvation, including our perseverance. Jeremiah 32:40 says, “I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put
the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.” Being participants
in the new covenant in Christ’s blood means that we belong to this people—a people
with hearts that will not ultimately turn away from the Lord.

The Bible certainly teaches that once we are saved we are always saved, but it
teaches this in the most comprehensive sense. The once-saved-always-saved mantra
cheapens the cross-work of Christ and lessens its radical transformative power by
reducing salvation to justification by intellectual assent.

But the all too common once-saved-always-saved doctrine is not only patently
false, it’s also profoundly dangerous; for it neglects to realize that there is such thing as
a false profession of faith. A person can be a false professor of the faith rather than a
true possessor of the faith. At this point we could adduce many texts from Scripture to
demonstrate this idea, but perhaps the most sobering is Matthew 7:21-27.
21
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22
Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name,
and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23
And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU
WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
24
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them,
may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain
fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house;
and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26Everyone who hears
these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who
built his house on the sand. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds
blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

There will be many on the Day of Judgment thinking that they are right with God,
professing the faith, saying “Lord, Lord,” but not being among those known of God.

What could be more dangerous for people’s souls than to assure them that they
are right with God when they are careening toward the fiery, gaping mouth of hell?
There is such a thing as a false profession, there is such a thing as a false believer—
someone who by all appearances belongs to Christ but in point of fact does not.

Ironically, even the 17th century Arminians believed this. When it came to
perseverance, their issue turned on whether or not someone with “true faith” could lose
his or her salvation.1 Many today who would embrace Arminian views of human nature,
election, the atonement, and the new birth would reject the fifth point about

1
Arminian Remonstrance 5.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 10

perseverance, because for them, there is virtually no such thing as a false profession.
The reality, however, is quite different. Many will profess the faith on the Day of
Judgment, but few will be saved.

What of Those Who Fall Away?

This notion of the reality of a false profession also helps to explain passages in
the New Testament that seem to suggest that genuine believers can become genuine
unbelievers all over again. In light of what we’ve seen, such a thing is impossible for the
true Christian.

And the way that the reality of a false profession helps to explain such passages
should be fairly straightforward: those who appear to have genuinely and truly
embraced the faith only to repudiate it without regret never had it to begin with. It was a
sham all along. First John 2:19 couldn’t be clearer: “They went out from us, but they
were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but
they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

The main point to remember here, however, is that you and I will not be saved if
we fail to persevere to the end. No one who genuinely possesses the faith can lose
their salvation and therefore no one who genuinely possesses the faith can fail to
persevere.

Security and Obedience

Now even with all we’ve said about God preserving us through our perseverance,
some might object to a doctrine that on the face of it still seems to secure a person’s
salvation no matter how they live. They reason that this kind of security will lead to
sloppy living and a lack of circumspection regarding one’s walk with Christ.

Yet this couldn’t be further from the truth. In addition to all we’ve said about the
necessity of Christians persevering in the faith, 1 John 3:2-3 says, “Beloved, now we
are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when
He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone
who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Rather than seeing
the unchanging, irrevocable love of God as a license to sin, the Bible writers see it as
the chief motivation for mortifying it and pursuing righteousness.

The framers of the Canons of Dordt understood this well. Listen:

This assurance of perseverance…so far from making true believers proud

and carnally self-assured, is rather the true root of humility, of childlike respect, of
genuine godliness, of endurance in every conflict, of fervent prayers, of
steadfastness in cross-bearing and in confessing the truth, and of well-founded
joy in God. Reflecting on this benefit provides an incentive to a serious and
continual practice of thanksgiving and good works.2
Neither does the renewed confidence of perseverance produce
immorality or lack of concern for godliness in those put back on their feet after a

2
Canons of Dordt, 5.12.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 11

fall, but it produces a much greater concern to observe carefully the ways of the
Lord which he prepared in advance.3

Does knowing how much your parents love you, how they have demonstrated
their love for you, how they assure you that they will always love you—does it move you
to disobey and dishonor them? Or does it have the opposite effect? Isn’t it true that the
greater the love you sin against, the guiltier you feel? Of course, you do. Knowing that
the Lord will love us no matter what, that he has secured our final salvation and the
perseverance it will take us to get there all by his amazing love—does this lead us to a
cavalier attitude regarding our sin? Absolutely not!

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints teaches us that we will not make it
to final salvation unless we persevere till the end, that God has promised in love that we
will persevere, and that therefore our eternity is secure. Rather than leading us into sin
and carelessness as its opponents would suggest, it has precisely the opposite effect.

Conclusion
Indeed, it seems to me that all five points of Calvinism properly understood have
precisely the opposite effect that their detractors claim they have. Listen to what one of
those writers says:

“Nothing will deaden a church or put a young man out of the ministry any
more than an adherence to Calvinism. Nothing will foster pride and indifference
as will an affection for Calvinism. Nothing will destroy holiness and spirituality as
an attachment to Calvinism….The doctrines of Calvinism will deaden and kill
anything: prayer, faith, zeal, holiness.”4

Based on what we have learned these past five weeks, do you think this is true?
I think not. On the contrary, the doctrines of Calvinism, being themselves the doctrines
of Scripture provide for us a vision of God’s grace consistent with the majesty and glory
of God. It is grace viewed from its proper perspective—with the Triune God at the very
center!

This is the grace of God…

Grace that loves totally depraved, impotent, hell-deserving sinners;
Grace that in undeserved and unwarranted love and mercy chooses to
rescue some of those sinners;
Grace that sends the only-begotten Son infallibly to secure those sinners’
redemption by his atoning death;
Grace that applies this work of Christ to them by the power of the Holy
Spirit through the gospel;
And grace that preserves them in the faith by his omnipotent hand. This is
the grace of God…

3
Ibid., 5.13.
4
Laurence M Vance, The Other Side of Calvinism (Vance Publications, 1991), viii, 15 quoted in Philip
Graham Ryken, What Is a True Calvinist? (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2003), 6.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn

 12

Grace that is greater than all our sin, more powerful than our unbelief,
stronger than all our resistance, able to give sight to the blind, tenderness to the
merciless, and life to the dead. This is the grace of God…

Grace that is active, miraculous, and transformative, grace that is as

powerful, as mighty, and as glorious as the God who bestows it. Grace that, in a
word, is sovereign. This is the grace of God…

And these are its doctrines.

To God alone be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Redeemer Bible Church

16205 Highway 7
Minnetonka, MN 55345
Office: 952.935.2425
Fax: 952.938.8299
info@redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.solidfoodmedia.com

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 5: Perseverance of the Saints © 2005 by R W Glenn