The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is, simply, that all those that God has saved will be saved. I know, that sounds really obvious, but you would be surprised at how many people disagree with that statement.
Final perseverance of the saints is a logical implication of unconditional election and irresistible grace
You cannot accept points two and four of Calvinism and not believe this one. It follows them as inevitably as “and many more” follows the singing of Happy Birthday. In Acts 13:48 John says that “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” I emphasize “eternal” because a believer’s life is just that, eternal. When Jesus was talking to the woman at the well He said, “but the water I shall give him shall become in him a well springing up to eternal 1life.” He did not say, “but the water I shall give him shall become in him a well springing up to eternal life unless he commits a big sin or falls away or something.” Everyone whom God has predestined to live eternally, will certainly do so.
It does not mean we don’t sin
Even though we are redeemed, we still suffer from the effects of the fall, retaining a sinful nature though God accepts us by the merits of Christ. Basically, you still sin, but those sins are forgiven. And while Sinlessness cannot be obtained until the moment of our glorification, we must press on toward it by the power of God which works in us mightily (Colossians 1:29).
It does not give us a license to sin
The assurance that we will never lose our salvation is very comforting, but it can also be very tranquillizing. It sometimes makes us excuse “little” sins by saying, “Oh, its all right. At least I’m saved”, or “This one small sin won’t matter eternally.” Be on your guard my friend, many who lived like that were never saved at all.
My try at the hard passages
The first is Colossians 1:22-23
“He has now reconciled you . . . 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 . . .”
On the surface, it looks like you can lose your salvation. But, upon further digging, we see that is not the case. The key is the beginning of verse 22, “He has now reconciled you.” Basically what Paul is saying is that this is a way you can know if you are saved: God has—if you remain firm. He has not—if you do not. Don’t get this confused, it is not dependant on what you do, it just shows what God has done.
Ok, that was easy. But check out Hebrews 6:4-6:
“For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put him to open shame.”
Again, on the surface it looks like you can lose your salvation. And, well, down here under the surface it looks kinda like you can lose you salvation. But we have to make this work. The many verses must interpret the few. And the plain verses must cast the strongest light on the confusing. So how do we do it? Well, there are a lot of legitimate views about this passage. Some think that Paul is talking about “almost” Christians that finally reject Christ. Others say that these are Christians who do not completely fall away. And still others believe that this is a hypothetical situation and does not actually happen. I, personally, lean toward the hypothetical view. It is impossible, because they would have to crucify Christ again, which will not happen. I don’t really know. And I don’t really want to waste my life trying to figure it out.
