Perseverance: The Doctrine Outlined Part 2

In the last post, I provided a definition of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.  Today, I will highlight the first key component of the definition and provide some biblical support for it.  This component is God's promise to preserve (ie. keep) those who belong to Him.

Preservation of the Saints- Kept by God's Power  
Those who are really born again (ie. given new life by the Spirit of God) will be kept securely by God.  This means that God preserves His children.  It is God who keeps us.  Jesus made this quite clear in John 6:38-40 when He said,

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.

Note three points from these verses.  First, Jesus will not lose any person the Father gave to Him.   Second, The person who believes in Jesus is given eternal life.  This is not a temporary thing that can be lost or taken away.  By definition, eternal life goes on into eternity.  Third, just to be sure there is no misunderstanding, Jesus says that He will raise those the Father gave to Him on the last day.  He says that this keeping and raising up is the will of His Father (it is mentioned twice- once in relation to Him not losing those who belong to Him and again in relation to eternal life).  Here we see the believer is firmly held by God.

Another helpful passage is John 10:27-29:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 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.

No one can snatch one of Jesus' sheep out of His (or the Father's) hand.  "The hand of the Son and the hand of the Father clasp the weak and feeble hand of the believer, clasp him or her so tightly that no one will ever be able to snatch that believer away from the double handclasp of God" (Hoekema, Saved by Grace, pg. 239).  No person (including the believer himself), thing, or power can separate the believer from the love of Christ (cf. Rom. 8:31-39).

This is the picture of the doctrine of perseverance from God's side of the equation.  He preserves or keeps those He saves (for more support see John 5:24, Rom. 8:29-39, 1 Cor. 1:8-9, Eph. 1:13-14, Phil 1:4-6, Heb. 7:23-25, 1Pet. 1:3-5).  Next time we will look at the second part of our definition that needs highlighting.