CALVINISM: “PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS”

We come now to the final flower of Calvinism’s celebrated TULIP — that doctrine known as The Perseverance of the Saints—or, as it is commonly known, “Once Saved, Always Saved.”

I do not take up this matter to win an argument or to triumph over brethren, but to plead for the simplicity that is in Christ. Many precious souls have been led astray by a teaching that cloaks itself in the robe of grace, yet quietly removes from the believer the very responsibility that grace empowers. My heart yearns not to conquer my Calvinist brothers and sisters but to call them back to the tender voice of the Shepherd who said, “Abide in Me.”

I love my Calvinist brethren. Their zeal for the glory of God and their reverence for divine sovereignty are not to be despised. But oh, how I wish they would cease teaching this system that so often hides the living Christ behind the walls of a theory. The Bible says that the truth makes men free, not fatalistic (John 8:32).

They tell us that if God chooses and regenerates a soul, then that soul can never finally fall away. They quote the words of the apostle, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Phil. 1:6), as if that one verse settled all questions. But my beloved friend, the Word of God never permits us to rest one promise upon the ruins of a thousand warnings.

Paul’s blessed assurance in Philippians was not a guarantee to the careless. It was a promise to those who were laboring side by side in the gospel, striving together in the faith, and standing firm under persecution (Phil. 1:27–30). The same letter that tells us God will finish His work also tells us to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” because it is God who works in us to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12–13). The promise and the command are woven together like threads of gold and scarlet — grace and obedience in holy harmony. What would be the need for Paul to speak of “fear and trembling” to believers if Calvinism was true?

The Word of God says that He preserves the way of the righteous and upholds the soul that trusts and repents, yet it also warns that unbelief can harden the heart until it departs from the living God (Heb. 3:12–14). The same Lord who promises to keep us calls us to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation (Matt. 26:41). The keeping of God is not a mechanical lock upon the heart but the living touch of grace upon a heart that abides in Him.

If the promises of perseverance were unconditional in the way Calvinism teaches, then the Bible’s warnings would be little more than divine dramatics—stern words without substance. But the Holy Spirit does not play with human souls. When He warns, He means it. The Bible says, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us” (2 Tim 2:12). Choices matter. Faith matters. The keeping of God is real, but it never abolishes the call to abide.

How gracious and solemn these words become when we remember the tragedy of those who once walked with Christ and later turned back. Judas kissed the very face of grace and went into the night. Demas loved the present world and forsook his calling (2 Tim. 4:10). The Galatians began in the Spirit and were in danger of falling from grace (Gal. 5:4). These examples are written not to torment us but to keep us sober and watchful.

O beloved, the Bible never teaches that salvation is a cold decree that cannot be undone, but a living union that must be cherished. Christ is not a contract but a covenant. He is not a doctrine to be signed but a life to be lived. The believer’s safety is not in a theory of perseverance but in the Person of Jesus Christ Himself.

When Paul writes that God will complete the work He began, he is not describing a machinery of grace that runs without the heart of man. He is describing a Father who disciplines, a Shepherd who leads, and a Savior who intercedes. The same hand that began the good work holds the rod that corrects and the staff that guides. Those who walk humbly beneath His care will find His promise faithful and true. But those who turn from His voice will find that even divine calling does not overrule the freedom of a hardened heart.

The Word of God says, “We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” (Heb. 3:14). The little word “if” stands like a watchman at the gate of grace, reminding every believer that abiding faith is the pathway of perseverance. Grace does not excuse neglect. It empowers endurance.

There is a holy balance here that Calvinism has lost. God’s promise to keep us is certain, but His keeping is found in the pathway of faith and obedience. When the soul strays, the Shepherd calls. When the heart resists, the Spirit grieves. When the will repents, mercy restores. The Bible says His mercies are new every morning and His compassions fail not (Lam. 3:22–23). But it also says, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

Thus we see that perseverance is not a cold decree but a living relationship. The child of God is secure while he abides in the Father’s house, but if he wanders into the far country, famine awaits him. Yet even there the Father waits, watching the horizon for repentance.

The Calvinist tells us that if a man has been born again, his nature is changed so completely that it is impossible for him ever to fall away. “Once a child, always a child,” they say. “If regeneration is real, then falling from grace is unthinkable.” They often point to where the Bible says that those who believe have been born of God and made His children, not by the will of man but by the power of God (John 1:12–13).

We thank God for the reality of new birth. To be born again is no shallow change of behavior but the work of divine life within. It is the heart made new, the mind renewed, and the soul quickened from death unto life. The believer passes from darkness to light, from bondage to liberty, from self to Christ. This is a work so holy that only the Spirit of God can perform it.

Yet, my friend, the Bible never presents regeneration as a charm that removes human responsibility. The Word of God says that some who were enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift later turned away and fell into ruin (Heb. 6:4–6). Others, once full of joy at the word, fell away when persecution arose or when worldly cares choked the seed (Luke 8:13–14). These are not poetic fictions. They are solemn realities recorded to awaken fear and dependence upon grace.

We dare not build a theology that denies the plain witness of these warnings. The heart can be touched by grace, stirred by the Spirit, and yet later harden itself in pride. The rain may fall upon the soil, but if the soil is neglected it produces thorns instead of fruit. The Bible says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit is taken away” (John 15:2).

Some will say, “Those who fall away were never truly regenerated.” Yet the writer to the Hebrews describes them as having tasted of the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit. Such language cannot be dismissed lightly. Experience and history confirm it. There are men who once burned bright in zeal, who once testified with power, who now walk no more with Christ. Were these men deceived in every spiritual experience they ever had? Or did they neglect the flame of life until it was quenched?

John writes that some who walked among the believers later went out from them and by their departure revealed that they had not continued in the fellowship of truth (1 John 2:19). Yet notice the pastoral heart in his words. He does not use this fact to excuse coldness or to defend a theory. He writes to warn, to stir vigilance, and to remind the saints that the mark of true life is ongoing faith and love. The Word of God says, “Whoever abides in Him does not continue in sin” (1 John 3:6).

The lesson is clear. A new nature must be nourished. A fire must be tended. A branch must remain in the vine. To say that regeneration makes falling impossible is to contradict the very purpose of regeneration, which is to produce living communion. The new heart must be guarded with all diligence. The Spirit-filled life must be cultivated with prayer and obedience. The Bible says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21).

Healing can be neglected. A new life can be smothered. The seed of divine grace can be choked by worldly cares. These are not failures of God’s power but tragedies of human refusal. The Bible never teaches that grace is irresistible. It teaches that grace is precious and must be received and obeyed.

The Lord Jesus said that many are called but few are chosen (Matt. 22:14). His call is gracious, His drawing is powerful, but His invitation must be answered in faith. The Bible says, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples” (John 8:31). The call of God awakens the heart, but the response of faith keeps the heart alive. The Spirit’s drawing is real, but so too is the possibility of resisting Him. Stephen rebuked those who resisted the Holy Spirit, proving that grace can indeed be refused (Acts 7:51).

How blessed it is to know that God’s power is not mechanical but relational. He does not drag men into heaven against their will. He invites them by love and truth. The Word of God says that He works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). He enables us, not replaces us. Grace does not cancel obedience—it makes obedience possible.

The apostles speak not of passive preservation but of active perseverance. They urge believers to pursue holiness without which no one shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). They call us to lay aside every weight and run with endurance the race set before us (Heb. 12:1). They warn us to guard against drifting away (Heb. 2:1). Such language has no place in a system that turns perseverance into inevitability.

O how this truth humbles the soul. God’s keeping is certain, yet it is a keeping of the humble, the dependent, the watchful. The proud man who presumes upon grace invites chastisement. The believer who clings to Christ with daily repentance and prayer will find himself upheld by divine strength. The Bible says, “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isa. 40:31).

Regeneration is a beginning, not an ending. The new birth is the opening of the door, not the finishing of the journey. The Spirit gives life, but we must walk in the Spirit, sow to the Spirit, and bear the fruit of the Spirit. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:25).

If grace were truly irresistible and perseverance inevitable, then exhortations, tears, warnings, and prayers would all be vain. Why would Paul weep over the Galatians? Why would he fear that after preaching to others he himself might be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:27)? Why would the Lord warn His disciples to watch and pray? The presence of these warnings shows that perseverance, though promised, is also a holy duty.

God’s grace is mighty enough to keep the weakest believer, yet that grace calls for response. It is not the iron chain of a decree but the golden cord of love drawing the soul onward. As we abide, He abides with us. As we trust, He strengthens us. As we yield, He works within us both to will and to do.

Let us therefore rejoice that regeneration is real and powerful, yet let us tremble lest we neglect so great a salvation. “Work while it is day, for the night comes when no man can work” (John 9:4). True grace humbles, warns, restores, and keeps. False assurance makes proud, deafens the conscience, and silences repentance.

Dear Christian, do not rest in a doctrine when you may rest in a Savior. Do not cling to a theory when you may cling to the living Christ. Regeneration is not an argument to win but a life to live — a life hidden with Christ in God.

Bryan Dewayne Dunaway