Perseverance of the Saints- Enduring by God's Power
According to our definition (you can find it here), "only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again." This is to view the doctrine from the human side of the equation. It is important to remember, however, that we have not left the first truth we've examined. It is ultimately God's grip on us that keeps us secure. But, we are also reminded that true believers do persevere in and by faith. "God does not guard us apart from our faith, but only by working through our faith so that he enables us to continue to believe in him" (Grudem, 792). We endure to the end, by God's power, through faith. There are several passages that support this.
In John 8:31-32, Jesus says, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." A true disciple is one who abides in (ie. continues in) Jesus' word. If a person does not remain in Jesus' word then he is not truly a disciple.
Paul makes a similar statement in Colossians 1:22-23 when he says,
he has now reconciled [you] in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard...
In other words, you are reconciled to God if you are one who continues in the faith. Those who shift from the hope of the gospel show that they are those who are not truly reconciled to God.
This same idea is elucidated further by 1 John 2:19.
This same idea is elucidated further by 1 John 2:19.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.Next time we will look at the reality that some people may claim to be Christian but prove that they are not when they fail to persevere until the end.
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