When our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, was impending over us…
and when the time had come which God had before appointed for manifesting His own kindness and power, how the one love of God, through exceeding regard for men, did not regard us with hatred, nor thrust us away, nor remember our iniquity against us, but showed great long-suffering, and bore with us…
He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities! He gave His own Son as a ransom for us,
the holy One for transgressors,
the blameless One for the wicked,
the righteous One for the unrighteous,
the incorruptible One for the corruptible,
the immortal One for them that are mortal.
For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God?
O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!
The quote is from The Epistle to Diognetus 9, translated by Roberts-Donaldson. This text dates from early to mid 2nd century AD. It is an early indication that the doctrines of substitutionary atonement and double imputation were not first the product of the Protestant Reformation, but were held dear by the earliest generations of Christians. The author is unknown – he refers to himself simply as a mathetes “disciple”.
Michael Milton is currently the chancellor and CEO-elect of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS). He resides in Charlotte, N.C. Earlier, a singer-songwriter with three musical CDs, and has a Bible study called Faith for Living that can be heard nationally on select radio stations. In an article found here, he writes:
Perseverance of the Saints cannot be reduced to “once saved, always saved.” That phrase does not tell the whole Story of the biblical doctrine.
What is the doctrine of “perseverance of the saints”? Can a believer be given the gift of faith and then lose it? Can one be saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and then fall into atheism or agnosticism? What about the “hard passages” of Scripture that seem to indicate this is possible? Of what importance is doctrine to the average believer anyway?
In fact, this doctrine is given in His Word in order to cultivate greater love for God and deeper gratitude to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice on the cross.
Let us take a journey through the “preservation of the saints” by (1) defining the doctrine; (2) exploring its practical importance for believers; (3) examining so-called “difficult passages”; and finally, (4) making practical applications for believers.
Perseverance Defined
Perseverance of the saints is not an obscure doctrine reserved for monks or modern-day seminary students. It is for us. Consider John 10:27-29: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”
Jesus’ metaphor of a shepherd holding lambs provides a warm and pastoral image of the truth that Christ, who saves His own, will take responsibility to guard them from eternal harm. This doctrine, like all true theology, must be—and is—grounded completely in God’s Word. This article cannot explore all the passages affirming God’s preserving of His own, but the collective force of all Scripture can be summed up in one biblical word: grace. The perseverance of the saints is thoroughly and wondrously grounded in God’s grace. Simply stated, grace is God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves; that is, deal with our sin and bring a holiness in which we can be fully restored to God as His children. He did this through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth who was and is God in the flesh. God’s grace will never let us go. Continue reading