Look, if you would, as I read. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers scattered abroad throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace be unto you,
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptation, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, who having not seen ye love, in whom though
now we see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls. of which salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you. Searching what or what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed that
not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into. Now what a great
passage for our study. Let me begin with this introduction,
working our way up a little bit of history, a little bit of foundation,
a little bit of past to bring us up to date. I begin by saying
everyone that we know that is acquainted with what is commonly
called the doctrines of grace, or the sovereignty of God, or
the doctrines of grace, or its long-standing historical nickname
of Calvinism. These know, do you not? that
there are five points that make up the entirety of that system
that is presented as the grace of God, and they're set forth
in their proper order as we study them and use them. And they're
set forth under the acronym TULIP, tulip, the flower, but yet under
the acronym. So let's look at them real quickly. The T, of course, stands for
total depravity. That all the race is fallen,
it fell in Adam. That all are totally fallen and
totally under the power of depravity. that it is universal, that there
are none that are righteous, no, not one. All are depraved
and that from their birth or that from their womb, from their
mother's womb, as we read in Psalm 51 and verse 5, And all
the way down the line, from that generation to the next, to the
next, to the next, and under our, we see depravity all the
way down the line. And if you cannot see depravity,
You are like the two men on the Emmaus road. Your eyes are beholden
or they are closed. They are prevented from seeing
a truth that is evident before the eyes of all that have eyes
to see. So the T is the total depravity
of man and of the race. And then the U is unconditional
election. And that is that some were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1, 3,
4, 5, and 6, along in there, that they were chosen in Christ
that they might be conformed to the image of His Son. You have that 1 Thessalonians
2, 12 and 13. From the beginning chosen you
unto salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. And then the L of course is limited
or particular atonement. and that is that the death of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was particularly and specially
offered in behalf of a people, and that it cannot miscarry. We come to the eye, and it is
irresistible grace, whereby, by an inward work of the Spirit
and the grace of God, the elect and regenerate are called into
the fellowship of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. They are
converted. They are made willing in the
day of His power, Psalm 110 and 1 through 3, made willing by
the supernatural work of the grace of God in the heart. And then the P, of course, stands
for the perseverance of the saints or the preservation of the saints. That those that Christ has been
given, that are chosen in Him, that are redeemed by Him, that
are regenerate by Him, and that are called by Him, are kept by
the power of God. That the grace of God keeps up
in them. that faith that we read about,
when they shall receive the end of their faith, even the salvation
of their soul. So, these are basically the five
tenets of the doctrine of grace, and contrary to them, There are
five tenets of Arminianism that we will look at in the course
of our study. So before we move along, we can
make the point that these five aspects of the saving grace of
God, they stand or they fall together. It's kind of impossible
to separate them and take one or two or three and not take
the entire herd of them. The last, we hear people say,
well, I'm a three-pointer. I'm a four-pointer. And sometimes
the last one that they espouse is the atonement because it,
to a lot of people, is the most harsh, the cruelest on the flesh,
the hardest on our belief, and such like. And some hold out
at the doctrine of irresistible great. If we delete one, the
effect is felt throughout the entire system. If we pull out
one block, it would seem that the entire house would fall down. And we notice in those five doctrines
of grace that we talk about that the atonement occupies the middle
station. It stands in the middle, two
upon each side. And therefore, this, I believe,
is proper because the atonement is suited to overcome depravity
and the fall. The atonement provides a remedy
for the depravity of man. And therefore, because some are
chosen, they are redeemed, and so the atonement stands in the
middle. After the atonement, because
Christ has died a specific and a particular death, their father's
irresistible grace, they are called into the fellowship of
the Lord, and they are kept preserved by God, and they persevere in
the faith. These are the sweet fruits after
the atonement of our blessed Lord, and keeps them for that
inheritance that has been reserved for them in heaven, uncorruptible,
and that fadeth not away. Now, having cleared all of this,
Let's turn our focus upon the last one that we mentioned, and
that is the perseverance of the saints of God. Now, this answers
to some nicknames as well in history. and down through the
ages. Some call it eternal security. It is known well by that name
throughout much of Christendom. Others identify it as once saved,
always saved. Others would say once in grace,
always in grace. And no less an authority than
Jimmy Swaggart has said that this doctrine is a doctrine of
devil and has deceived many down into the pits of hell. But it
is best referred to under the double moniker, preservation
and perseverance. That we are preserved in Christ
and because of that, therefore, they persevere. God preserves. And God works perseverance in
those that are here. Now, if your mind is running
ahead to some objection, we'll take that up in a later study
all by itself. Now, I don't need to tell you
that the disagreement about this truth or about this doctrine
or about this matter is widespread and of long standing. There is a great disagreement
about the doctrine of the perseverance of the saint. Great disagreement
between those called Calvinists and those called Arminians. They're
much like Joseph's brethren. They cannot speak peaceably one
to the other. Genesis 37. and verse 4. So let's compare, if we might,
the disputed view or doctrine generally held by one side and
the other concerning the doctrine of grace and perseverance. Generally
speaking, perseverance is denied by those who fall under the category
of being Arminian. Generally, it is they who stand
out and contend for the possibility, the reality of one being a true
Christian and then falling out of grace altogether and completely. Because it is free will, they
say, that puts one in Christ, free will, therefore, may take
one again out of Christ. They are wrong about that, I
believe. At least they are consistent
on both ends. If free will brings one in, free
will may take one out. Unlike the Baptist. who believe
in both free will and in eternal security. That a man begins this
journey by an act of free will, then it morphs over into an act
of grace and security. What is this but to say that
the sinner or the will acts as one's very own savior, if that
be the case? Now, John Owen, an old Puritan,
and a wise man, a prolific writer, and well-trained in the scripture,
called Arminians, quote, blinded patrons of human self-sufficiency,
unquote, and then accused them of erecting this Babel at which
they all worship. He called Arminianism a stout
idol. A proud Luciferian endeavor. Because, you see, with them free
will has become their cherished and their favorite idol. And they'll fight for it unto
the death. At its feet they bow. They carry
the bow upon their shoulder as an idol to be revered. and to be preserved. So, we dive
off this morning into this very deep subject, this vital subject
that is set forth in the scripture. And it is so intimately connected
to the saving work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is intricately woven in. to the wholeness of salvation. So let's consider its rise and
its place in history past. For it is not by any means a
new controversy. This is not something Johnny
come lately. This for a century has been in
existence. It has long had those on two
sides of the issue. It was an issue way back in the
time of Augustine in the 4th and in the 5th century. It was
an issue in and after the time of the Reformation. in the time
of Calvin, when the remonstrant battle between that traitor Arminius
and his supporters, and Calvin and his supporters, in the heated
debate between the two systems that finally came to a head in
the 1600s in the country of Holland. Now, historically, you have the
Roman Catholic Church making perseverance dependent upon the
imperfect, yes imperfect, obedience of men. They are semi-Pelagian
in their view of doctrine and the scripture. Again, you have
Lutherans who believe that one may lose true faith and be lost
again and completely fall out of the saving grace of God. Then came the Wesleyan system
with the Wesley brothers and Finney and that era, and they
espoused also the teaching that true faith and that genuine grace
and that one who at one time was a real and true Christian
may yet by sin forfeit that and be lost again. Closer to our
time, you will find many of the Pentecostal and the assembly
churches, the Church of Christ, free will, Baptist, deeper life
people, that kind of people in our day also holding to the possibility
and even the reality of falling out of the doctrine of grace
and losing salvation once it has been embedded in the soul. That for a time it might endure
and then by their sluggishness or diligence or backsliding or
whatever, it might be lost. Reading this week Louis Burkhoff,
he wrote, it is for the most part the grace people that uphold
the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and give it its
right place in theology. It is they who have restored
it to its rightful place in the scripture and in theology. Now I think that the cause of
their error is easy to identify. I think they go astray as soon
as they enter into the house of theology. They make a wrong
turn as soon as they are in the front door. For the doctrine
of perseverance does neither stand nor fall alone. It does not stand and it does
not fall alone. They're wrong on perseverance
because they are wrong on the doctrine of total depravity. And if you are wrong at the doctrine
of human depravity, you will be wrong all the way down the
line, no matter where you go or what you do. You see, they
deny, they vehemently deny that God eternally decrees and purposes
what He will. They deny that there is an eternal
purpose in God that is immutable and that is irresistible. They
deny divine sovereignty. They deny that God has power
to do as he will with the hearts and lives of men and of women. They deny irresistible grace,
that there is no such thing. They deny the promises of God,
and they are not true on the intercession of Christ. And so
they deny, or they pervert all things that have a bearing and
are flowing toward the perseverance of the same. For example, in
rejecting the doctrine of human depravity as set forth in the
scripture, they have watered down other truths that follow
after it as well as the doctrine of election. They have universalized
the atonement of our Lord And they have put man's free will
ahead of the sovereign will of God in salvation and in his governance. Now, what is it that drives them
than the Armenian? Why do they so oppose the holy
doctrine of the scripture? Why do they do that? Why is perseverance
repulsive unto them, and they despise it and hate it and fight
against it? And why would they call it a
doctrine of devils? Now, I can understand that each
has their proof text. We'll deal with that later as
well. John Owen wrote a very large
volume. And I do mean a large volume. And the title of it was, quote,
a display of Arminianism, unquote. And I don't think he missed a
point or an objection or a scripture in writing that great book. Now,
in that book, A Display of Arminianism, John Owen, charged the Armenian
with two ulterior motives in the formation of their theology. He said there's two things that
they want to evade and avoid and throw aside and throw down. And here they are. They want
to overthrow the sovereignty of God. Here's how Owen expressed
it, quote, to exempt themselves from the dominion of God's all-ruling
providence, unquote. They want to view themselves
as free agents, quote, unquote, to be allowed free in all of
their actions, in all of their will, in all of their acting,
and more especially in salvation than any other. It is their will. God, you cannot save me until
I let you or give you permission. So they want to exempt themselves
from the sovereignty of God. God has a partial sovereignty,
yes. God has some sovereignty, but
not complete and not absolute. Secondly, they want to exempt
human nature from the strong charge of original sin and depravity. They possess, they say, an innate
goodness. Why, man has not lost all of
his goodness. He's not lost his ability to
be spiritual and to turn to God and do spiritual matters that
might result in the saving of his soul. And so they contend
that if man will, He can make himself to differ from others,
and that is their contention. Owen put it like this, so that
the first and cheapest part in the work of their salvation may
be ascribed unto them, unquote. You hear them brag all the time,
oh, I turned to the Lord, I accepted Jesus, I let him in, I opened
my heart, and on and on we might go. We're not hesitant to say
that from the house tops Arminianism, religiously as it is proclaimed
in the world, is religious humanism. When you examine Arminianism
today, you find that it is religious humanism. How come? Well, it
is a way of life with man at the center. It is man at the
center. It is man deciding. It is man
doing this and doing that and the other. It rises or it falls
under his own power, they say. And they say they make changes
in their life which brings them closer to God and to salvation. So they imagine that they are
at the center of this little universe. Rejecting the need,
therefore, for a supernatural inward renewing of the grace
of God in regeneration and being ignorant of the work and the
effect of regeneration. Now, one of the Armenian objections
to perseverance is that if it be a work of God which cannot
miscarry, if it be a work of God which He is sure to bring
to fruition and carry it all the way through, if it is all
a work of God, they say, then it slights personal sanctification
and obedience and diligence and the personal life of the individual. Here's one of the arguments I
met with. If that be the case, if this is all of God, then it's
slight sanctification, perseverance, diligence, obedience, and such
like. But then I want to show you their
two-facedness and their hypocrisy, whether they see it or not. They
say, we can't have this because it's slight sanctification. It
doesn't give it its proper place. It doesn't put man seeking and
striving, living, and so forth. Countless, and I mean countless,
are the people that they are ready, reckoned ready, to go
to heaven without sanctification, without perseverance, and without
diligence and obedience. Many they are, who they are saying
these are gone to their rest. They had no sanctification, they
did not persevere in the things of God, and yet They declare
them heaven ready. And some of the worst about this,
I think, are our own Armenian Baptist friends. They believe
somebody accepted Jesus when he was nine years old in Bible
school. And for 40 years, he was a drunk,
died in a wreck, gone to heaven. He accepted Jesus when he was
nine years old in Bible school. Didn't lose his salvation, but
he backslid. Now there are all sorts of evil
tenants that have sprung up around the doctrine of perseverance
of the saints. Some of them we will see later. But let's go back in history
now to an earlier time in the time frame of about 1610 to 1619
and the country of Holland. and the brewing battle between
the system of theology that came to be known as Calvinism and
the other as Arminianism. Now these were the names of two
of the main defenders on either side of the issue. If I'm not
mistaken, Both of them were dead, though, before it was ever finally
settled and the name was settled upon. At the time of the controversy,
what we call sovereign grace or the doctrines of the sovereignty
of God was the common accepted preached doctrine of the churches
of Holland. Those doctrines were set forth
in the Belgic and in the Heidelberg catechism. They were enshrined
in those catechism and were believed and were preached. And the Armenian
in 1610, after the death of James Arminius,
drew up a remonstrance, a protest, against the doctrine contained
in the Confession, wanted them overthrown, and the five doctrines
of Arminianism enshrined in their place and to become the official
doctrine and creed of the confessional and of the churches of that day. But their views were rejected
by what was called the Synod of Dort. Rejected those views,
and that remands strong. Now, a synod is a religious council
or meeting or committee of some kind. Now here are the five points
of what we call Arminianism, standing in contrast to the doctrines
of grace. Number one, though Adam's fall
had an effect of some extent and kind upon the human family,
yet man retains a free will and the ability to turn to God through
Christ by himself and settle their eternal destiny. Though
man fell, though sin came, yet man retains this in himself. Secondly, the Armenian view of
election is conditional and based upon what God foresaw some would
do. not what he decreed, but what
he looked ahead and foresaw that some would do, and that there
is an election, but it is based upon foreseen faith or works. Number three, the Armenians teach
that the atonement is universal. It is equally shed and made for
all, but it is only efficient when it is accepted and appropriated
by the sinner himself. And though it is for all, yet
it does not infallibly save any without man appropriating it. And then fourthly, they deny
irresistible grace. They say the sinner can resist,
the sinner can thwart, the sinner can foil the desire and the will
of God and overthrow God's attempt at grace and mercy and salvation. And fifthly, generally, Armenians,
but not all of them, truly believe that one once saved may then,
in the final years or later years, be lost and fall again out of
grace. Historically, I mentioned Augustine,
4th, 5th century. Augustine fought with that unclean
beast Pelagius, a British monk in his day. His contention was
with Pelagia, those who are called Pelagians after that, who followed
that doctrine. And what did Pelagians believe?
They denied original sin, and they taught that man is capable
of good, of spiritual good, without special grace. He does not need
special grace. in order to come to God. Then
again, there came semi-Pelagianism in history. This was sort of
a halfway house between the two previously mentioned, between
the view of Pelagius and that of Augustine. You'll find such
names historically connected with this movement as the Jesuit
Luis Molina. Cassian is another name. that
might come up, and their motto could be summed up in the words. In these words here is their
view. It is mine to be willing to believe,
and it is God's part to assist by grace," unquote. My part to
be willing, God's part to assist by his grace. And I hate to tell
you that that perfectly satisfied almost everyone who sits in a
supposed Christian church this morning. For even in this somewhat
new format, they insisted that the first actings of faith in
salvation were to be ascribed to the natural abilities and
powers of the person themselves. Now, semi-pelagism now admitted
that the sin of Adam did have an effect upon the race, but
they still held a universal system of grace and free will having
the leading role in it. Steele and Thomas, who wrote
a book on Romans, an interpretive outline of Romans, I believe
the book is called, declare this, that semi-Pelagianism is the
forerunner of Arminianism, which came to strength about the time
of the Reformation. And then, as one wrote, that
doctrine diffused itself through all the different churches and
denominations at that time. Until now, it has leavened almost
every major denomination, large and small. Even under this present
day, the majority of present day Christendom leans Arminian
in their doctrine, in their belief, and in their teaching. Very weak
on the sovereignty of God, and in some cases trying to reconcile
the two views so that man is spared those two things. that
Owen mentioned earlier. Now, we must return again and
again under the point that there is no way to mesh these two together
and make them into one. There's no way to mix them. They
are so contrary, like black and white and day and night. There's
no way that free will and free grace can walk together in friendship. Why? Because they preach a different
gospel. They preach a different Jesus,
as Paul said, a different atonement, a different calling. One preaches
effectual grace, the other only a conditional grace. One preaches
a finished work of Christ in grace, together. And the other,
that man and God must work together in order to bring about salvation,
to hold out then their own strength then until the end and not let
sin overcome them. Now because as we soon see in
examining the two ideology, that is their body of ideas, their
body of belief and their teaching, they have totally opposite view
on every aspect of salvation, on the work of God, on the ability
of man, and especially on the end results and how they are
attained. Now, in coming studies, we're
just laying the foundation today, but in coming study, we will
be considering various aspects of the doctrine of perseverance
and how the work is carried on, how it is brought then unto its
final consummation. And looking at the foundation,
upon which it stands and why it is so. Then considering some
of the objections and looking at the scripture and the proof
text to support the doctrine of falling out of grace, for
we have not been fair, if we do not meet them on those terms
and territory. For the preachers of apostasy
have their proof text as well and we must need look at them. We will consider it from the
standpoint of the eternal decree of God, the standard, or rather
from the standpoint that God has a purpose and that before
the world God formed a purpose of grace. He said, I purposed
it, I'll do it. I have spoken it. I will bring
it to pass in the prophet Isaiah. So, let's close out our first
study by looking at the actual beginning of the work that is
to persevere unto the end. Let's look at the beginning of
the work. Here's where we must begin. At
the beginning of the work and upon which it moved. With Arminian,
it stands or starts. Now, you need to get these two
points. The Armenian, it starts with, quote, making a decision
for Christ, unquote. A favorite expression is accepting
Christ. You'll see that. So-and-so accepted
Christ. They did this. They accepted
Christ. They decided for Christ. You'll hear them say, so-and-so
let Jesus come into their heart here recently, and that's a good
thing. So-and-so made a life-changing decision, so and so found a wonderful
plan for their life. All of this has to do with something
concerning man. Now, scripturally, the actual
work begins with regeneration. The application of redemption
begins with regeneration, divine quickening, putting in and bringing
forth a brand new life in that individual. R.L. Dabney called
it, and I like it, quote, a never-dying principle, unquote. Think about
that. God put in a never-dying principle. This is something man can't do.
This is the work of God that he put in a never-dying principle. Now, looking here in our text,
in 1 Peter 1, look at the third verse. has begotten us again
unto a lively hope, that's a living hope, by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Look at that. Having begotten
us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Christ. We
keep on reading in verse 5 and following. Who are kept by the
power of God through faith. Notice, something is reserved
in heaven for you, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your soul, faith that endures the fire, the fiery
trial, and is enduring at the appearing or the coming of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now all of these are expressions
of perseverance. They're rooted in election. according to the foreknowledge
of God, the sanctification of the Spirit, the sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus, and appointed to an unfading, incorruptible
inheritance. All of those things are here
in this passage. And notice, None of these are
said to be conditional as the part of the recipient. In every
regenerate, the eternal and spiritual life is begun by a supernatural
work of God. Now I want to ask you a question.
Will God lay that foundation? put life in a person with the
intention of bringing it to a full culmination in time to come? Will he lay a foundation and
then forsake the work and let it come to nothing and fall like
the old temple did? into ruin and disrepair. During the course of these studies,
it will be necessary again for us to consider what we call the
ordo salutis, or the order of salvation, that God works our
salvation out from beginning to end. that all of these things
are the consequent work of God. Does Philippians 1.6 describe
it? I am persuaded, I am confident
of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it, that is, as the margin said, will finish
it until the day of Jesus Christ. And the answer there is whether
that some special thing going on in Paul today or the final
salvation of the soul, that God quickens, that He calls, that
He converts, that He justifies, that He sanctifies, that He preserves,
and that He glorifies. And this is that wonderful change
mentioned in Romans 8, 28-30. Whom He did foreknow, He carried
all the way to glorification. Spoken of in the past tense,
every one of them. I think many precious things
await us as we pursue the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints,
which God will work in you until the day of redemption. And so
our text again will be here next week, if God be willing, as we
continue our study and look at the grounds of the eternal perseverance
and preservation of the saints of God.