Article 8: The Certainty of This Preservation

So it is not by their own merits or strength but by God’s undeserved mercy that they neither forfeit faith and grace totally nor remain in their downfalls to the end and are lost. With respect to themselves this not only easily could happen, but also undoubtedly would happen; but with respect to God it cannot possibly happen, since his plan cannot be changed, his promise cannot fail, the calling according to his purpose cannot be revoked, the merit of Christ as well as his interceding and preserving cannot be nullified, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be invalidated nor wiped out.

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Throughout the preceding articles under the fifth head of doctrine, the authors of the Canons are responding to what appears to be undeniable evidence that professing Christians can truly lose their current salvation. Arminians appeal to two lines of evidence. The first is the obvious fact that baptized and professing members of Christian churches can and do fall away. Such is the reality of church life. We all know people who make a profession of faith, are baptized, and appear to bear the genuine fruit of Christian conversion—attendance at worship and support of the church’s work through the giving of gifts and time (sweat equity).

But sometimes suddenly, and often more slowly, such people cease to do these things. They stop attending church or begin doing or believing things that contradict the Scriptures. These people refuse to heed the admonitions of church officers and attempt to justify their sinful actions, even when their thinking and conduct are openly contrary to the teaching of Scripture. There are as many reasons why this happens as there are people who turn their backs upon Christ and reject him and his church. Arminians, then and now, can point to such instances and argue that this is proof that current believers can fall into sin and be lost.

A second argument raised by the Arminians grows out of the preceding point. This is why, they say, the Scriptures so pointedly warn Christians to persevere to the end in order to be saved. Why else would the biblical authors repeatedly warn God’s people that such a thing is a real possibility?

As we have seen in articles one through seven under this fifth head of doctrine, the Canons do indeed acknowledge that professing Christians can fall into serious sins because of the weakness of the flesh, the temptations of the world, and the deception of Satan. Since the habits of sin and the corruption of human nature remain after regeneration, all Christians will feel the pull to act upon their sinful propensities (Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:14–25).

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Article 6: God’s Saving Intervention

For God, who is rich in mercy, according to his unchangeable purpose of election does not take his Holy Spirit from his own completely, even when they fall grievously. Neither does he let them fall down so far that they forfeit the grace of adoption and the state of justification, or commit the sin which leads to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit), and plunge themselves, entirely forsaken by him, into eternal ruin.

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Having expressed the reality and serious consequences of members of the elect–those chosen by God, saved by Christ, and called to faith by the Holy Spirit–falling into careless and deep sin, the Canons move on to address the reason why none of the elect will fall so far as to be lost. We persevere to the end and avoid eternal ruin because God preserves us in faith until the end of our lives.

Many of us are familiar with the Robinson hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and the haunting line which opens the third stanza: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.” That is the situation addressed in articles four and five under the Fifth Head of Doctrine. But the next line in that hymn, “Take my heart, oh, take and seal it with Thy Spirit from above,” is what is being addressed in Article Six.

Because we remain sinners with a sinful nature and the habitus (our established habits) of sin lives on even after conversion, there will be times (sometimes subconscious, or impulsive, and certainly not well thought-out) when we approach a cliff; a big decision, a change in our life’s direction, and so on, which, once made, will have catastrophic consequences for our souls and our Christian faith. But something stops us at the last minute from taking that “step too far.” The hymn writer speaks of this as “the sealing of the Spirit from above.” The Canons put it this way: nor does God “take his Holy Spirit from his own completely, even when they fall grievously. Neither does he let them fall down so far that they forfeit the grace of adoption and the state of justification.” The good shepherd will not allow even one of his sheep to be lost, no matter how far they wonder from the flock (John 6:39; 10:28).

The Arminian view that God’s grace enables sinners to choose if they will (or not) to come to Christ leads to the conclusion that if sinful people retain the freedom to decide to follow Jesus, then they can use the same freedom to walk away from the Savior and ultimately be lost. The Reformed view expressed throughout the Canons is (as we have seen), that God gives new life to those whom he has chosen from all eternity, sends Christ to save them, and the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit to call the elect to faith, indwell them, sealing them, and ensuring their final resurrection from the dead (Ephesians 1:13-14). God begins, continues, and completes his work in the life of his elect. Paul is unmistakably clear about this (Romans 8:28-30).

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