“God Preserves His Own” -- Article Three, The Fifth Point of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 3: God’s Preservation of the Converted

Because of these remnants of sin dwelling in them and also because of the temptations of the world and Satan, those who have been converted could not remain standing in this grace if left to their own resources. But God is faithful, mercifully strengthening them in the grace once conferred on them and powerfully preserving them in it to the end.

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Here, the Canons summarize the teaching of Jesus and the apostles to the effect that those whom God calls to faith in Christ are preserved in that faith until they enter glory. If, as taught in the prior two articles, that indwelling sin remains in Christians after they come to faith in Christ, is it possible that Christians can commit a “mortal sin” and be severed from Christ as taught by Rome? Or, are the Arminians correct to assume that if people become Christians through an act of the will, can they cease to be Christians by choosing to renounce Christ and fall away (apostasy)?

The Reformed teach the perseverance of the saints (that the elect will not fall away from Christ) unto final salvation precisely for the reasons spelled out in Article Three. Jesus, who is at the right hand of the Father, is presently interceding for all his people (1 John 2:1). He is our advocate–praying for us, that our faith does not fail (cf. Luke 22:32), and that those sins we continue to commit after we come to faith in Christ will not severe us from the Father. Jesus himself was clear to his disciples in John 6:37-40 that none of those who are his will be lost on the day of judgment.

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

The reason why believers can have confidence that they will persevere to the end and be saved is because Christ’s intercession for us cannot fail. Yes, as discussed in article four, through carelessness believers can and do fall into serious sin, but Christ preserves his people (the elect) preventing them from perishing in those sins. And yes, there are serious consequences when this occurs. But the elect are indeed kept in faith by the very Savior who died to redeem them.

Paul speaks of the “golden chain” of salvation in Romans 8:28-30– a passage to which we have made frequent reference under the previous heads of doctrine.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

This chain cannot be broken. Those called to faith in Jesus through the gospel believe in Christ because they are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son–final glorification. This is echoed in Ephesians 1:13-14, when Paul writes, “In him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Those who come to faith are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and will acquire the possession of all that God promises to his people. The presence of the indwelling Spirit is the guarantee that we will persevere.

Therefore, the so-called “perseverance of the saints” must be seen in light of the ongoing priestly, kingly, and prophetic work of Jesus, who makes intercession for all of those who were given to him by the Father, and for whom he has died. Can anyone for whom Jesus intercedes fall away and be lost? Do Jesus’s prayers to the Father on our behalf go unanswered? No, of course not. The reason believers persevere until the end of their lives in faith is because Jesus ensures that they do.