Our reconciliation to God is permanent and eternal. Because Christ accomplished it for us, there is no possibility it can ever be undone. Though we continue, even as believers, to do those things that in themselves deserve God’s displeasure, we can never revert to a state of divine alienation. For the sake of Christ, God will always accept us. And even when God deems it necessary to discipline us for persistent disobedience, He always does so out of love to restore us to the way of obedience (see Hebrews 12:4-11).
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 96. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Christ is to be answerable for all those that are given to Him, at the last day, and therefore we need not doubt but that He will certainly employ all the power of His Godhead to secure and save all those that He must be accountable for. Christ’s charge and care of these that are given to Him, extends even to the very day of their resurrection, that He may not so much as lose their dust, but gather it together again, and raise it up in glory to be a proof of His fidelity; for, saith He, “I shall lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day.”
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 85
God…will not lightly or easily lose His people. He has provided well for us: blood to wash us in; a Priest to pray for us, that we may be made to persevere; and, in case we foully fall, an Advocate to plead our cause.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 282.
A soul kept alive in God, and for Him, amid sin’s, Satan’s, and the world’s heart-killing influence is a miracle of omnipotent grace
Letters on Spiritual Subjects.
Proper Christian living should never be the fundamental grounds for assurance of salvation. Rather, assurance of salvation which should rest in the merit and sufficiency of the Savior and the believer’s new life in Christ, must be the fundamental basis for proper Christian living (Col. 3:1-4).
Assurance of Salvation, www.bible.org, Copyright ©1996-2005, All rights reserved.
The elect person is a gift from God to Christ based on Christ’s satisfactory work, not on my satisfactory work. If a person could lose his salvation, it could only be on the basis of God’s dissatisfaction with the finished work of Christ. But He has declared once and for all, and it is written infallibly in the pages of Scripture, that He is satisfied. And if God is satisfied with what Christ has done, the issue is settled.
Redemption Planned, Tabletalk, Feb. 2004, p. 11, Used by Permission.
It stands to reason that God would abandon us because of our constant sin, but if that was a reason for Him to leave us, then there never was a reason for Him to have been drawn to us… If He was attracted to us as aliens and hostile in mind, how could He abandon those whom He now calls His children?
Contemplating the Almighty, Perth Publishing, 1984, p. 121.
If the elect could perish then Jesus Christ should be very unfaithful to His Father because God the Father hath given this charge to Christ, that whomsoever He elected, Christ should preserve them safe, to bring them to heaven. John 6:39.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 85
If, as some Christians maintain, salvation can be forfeited, it then would be obvious that God’s grace lacks everlasting power, that the life He bestows on believers is not eternal. A believer’s hope could only be temporary. He would be in continual danger of losing salvation, because it would be dependent on his own faithfulness and power to avoid sin that would cast him back into lostness. If that were true, one’s own power to sin would be greater than God’s power to save, and any testimony given to unbelievers to bring them to salvation would be undermined.
Titus, Moody, 1996, p. 108.
The doctrine of assurance looks into eternity past to the eternal purposes of God, looks into history to the accomplished work of Christ, and looks to the future toward the perfect fulfillment of God’s purpose to redeem a people through His Son.
Assured by God, ed. Burk Parsons, P&R, 2006, p. 56. Used by Permission. Get this book!
One must persevere in faith to be saved. True believers cannot lose their faith, since it’s God’s gift. Those dying without faith in Christ are condemned. Those who “lose” their faith never had it to begin with. God will preserve true believers and they will be saved (Greg Johnson).
The Word of God is clear, it is not that we have accepted God; rather He has accepted us… [Yet many Christians] actually think that they accepted God, and therefore it is only natural for them to think that they need to keep accepting God every hour of every day in order to make it as a Christian… In the cross of Christ, the bride of Christ has been made acceptable to God, and such acceptance is the foundation of our assurance.
Assured by God, ed. Burk Parsons, P&R, 2006, p. 27, 28, 29. Used by Permission. Get this book!
By redeeming us, the Lord secured us in His hand, from which we cannot be snatched and from which we ourselves cannot escape, even on days when we feel like running away.
Assured by God, ed. Burk Parsons, P&R, 2006, p. 32. Used by Permission. Get this book!
Consider your state. You are a pardoned sinner, not under the law but under grace, freely, fully saved from the guilt of all your sins. There is none to condemn, God having justified you. He sees you in His Son, washed you in His blood, clothed you in His righteousness, and He embraces Him and you, the head and the members, with the same affection.
Treatises on the Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith, 1830, p. 305.
I rejoice in the hope of that glory to be revealed, for it is no uncertain glory that we look for. Our hope is not hung upon such an untwisted thread as, “I imagine so,” or “It is likely,” but the cable, the strong tow of our fastened anchor, is the oath and promise of Him who is eternal verity. Our salvation is fastened with God’s own hand, and with Christ’s own strength, to the strong stake of God’s unchangeable nature.
Once enrolled in the lists of this Church, sinners are safe for eternity; they are never cast away. The election of God the Father, the continual intercession of God the Son, the daily renewing and sanctifying power of God the Holy Ghost, surround and fence them in like a garden enclosed. Not one bone of Christ’s mystical Body shall ever be broken; not one lamb of Christ’s flock shall ever be plucked out of His hand.
[Our Lord] is ready to receive all who [come] to Him, however unworthy they may feel themselves. None who repent and believe are too bad to be enrolled in the ranks of Christ’s army. All who come to Him by faith are admitted, clothed, armed, trained, and finally led on to complete victory. Fear not to begin this very day. There is yet room for you.
Taken from Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Moody Publishers, copyright 2010, p. 133.
It was God who chose you from the foundation of the world. He sent Christ to die for your sins. At the appointed time He regenerated your heart and called you to Himself through the preaching of the gospel. He justified you. He is in the process of sanctifying you. And one day you will be fully glorified. No true Christian can lose his or her salvation. It’s an immutable unbreakable chain (Romans 8:29-30; also see John 6:37, 39; 10:27-28; Rom. 8:38-39; Phil. 1:6).
Sermon, Content of a Godly Prayer, Philippians 1:3-6, August 28, 2022.
Does God want you to fret and squirm your way through life, bearing crushing burden, carrying enormous guilt and confusion, wondering if you were “good enough,” wondering if He’s your Father, wondering where you’ll spend eternity once you die? What does the Scripture say? “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:13).
Sermon, That I May Know Christ, Philippians 3:4-11, January 8, 2023.
If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be; and then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me forever.
Sermon, A Defense of Calvinism
There is nothing Satan can do to alter or undermine the fact that we are saved. Not “angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). But, what he can do is erode our assurance and confidence that we are saved. Our salvation, our standing with God, does not fluctuate or diminish with our success or failure in spiritual battles. But Satan is determined to convince us that it does.
Ephesians 6 – Part 2, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.org, Used by Permission.
The basis for our security in salvation is not ultimately our righteousness or obedience but God’s promise, God’s power, God’s purpose, and most of all God’s passionate love for us in Christ. God is committed to preserving us in faith, for if we were to stumble so as to fully and finally fall away, God stands more to lose than we do.
A Defense of the Perseverance of the Saints – Part II, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
“And they shall never perish” (Jn. 10:28). Literally [we can translate this] they shall not, by no means ever, perish. This is an absolute, unequivocal, unassailable negative. Would Jesus have said this if in fact many of his sheep shall perish? If so much as one true child of God can ever perish, Jesus has deceived us.
A Defense of the Perseverance of the Saints – Part I, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
If the Father was pleased to make a gift of certain sinners to His most blessed Son, you may rest assured that the Son will neither despise nor deny His Father’s gracious generosity. [There is] the certainty of ultimate and absolute salvation for those who come to the Son… Their life in Christ is eternal and irrevocable because that is the will of the Father; a will or a purpose that the whole of Christ’s person and work was designed to secure, a will or purpose that shall ultimately be (Psm. 115:3; 135:6; Dan. 4:34-35; Eph. 1:11; Ac. 4:28). What did Jesus come to do? He came to do the Father’s will (Jn. 6:38). What is the Father’s will? The Father’s will is that all those He has given to the Son be fully and finally saved (Jn. 6:39). Oh, what a glorious thought it is!
A Defense of the Perseverance of the Saints – Part I, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
If a true believer could fully and finally fall away, what it would mean for God the Holy Spirit?
1. The Holy Spirit will have failed in his work of sealing (2 Cor. 1:21-22; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30).
2. The Holy Spirit will have failed in his ministry as a pledge of the future consummation of our redemption (2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5).
3. The Spirit will have failed in his ministry as firstfruits (Rom. 8:23).
A Defense of the Perseverance of the Saints – Part II, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
One of the greatest mistakes made by those who deny the perseverance of the saints is in focusing on the strength of our will to rebel rather than the strength of God’s commitment to preserve us in faith. Do you actually believe that in His infinite wisdom and love and kindness and grace that He cannot figure out a way to overcome whatever rebellious tendencies you might have and keep you safe in His arms? Do you actually believe that you are able to outsmart Divine Omniscience?
The Persevering Power of a Father’s Love, November 7, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
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 lead to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit), and plunge themselves, entirely forsaken by Him, into eternal ruin.
The Canons of Dort, The Fifth Main Point of Doctrine: The Perseverance of the Saints. Article 6-God’s Saving Intervention.
We should find the assurance of our salvation in the objective truth of God’s Word. We should have confident trust that we are saved based on the promises God has declared, not because of our subjective experiences.
Got Questions, How can I have assurance of my salvation? Used by Permission.
When we take the history of a child of God, compressed within the short period of a single day — mark what flaws, what imperfections, what fickleness, what dereliction in principle, what flaws in practice, what errors in judgment and what wanderings of heart make up that brief history — how we are led to thank God for the stability of the covenant, that covenant which provides for the full redemption of all believers, which from eternity secures the effectual calling, the perfect keeping and certain salvation of every chosen vessel of mercy!
Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul.
