God Is King, and he will keep his people.
The following is an edited transcript of the lesson audio:
Introduction: God Is King
I'm not concerned about converting you to Calvinism. My goal is to teach it and allow you to wrestle with it. I'm also not necessarily attempting to present a balanced view. I will argue in favor of Calvinism because I believe it is the most biblical, God-glorifying, and best understanding of Scripture.
The overarching theme I've been emphasizing is this: God is King. Another way to express this is that God is sovereign and in control. His sovereignty entails power, control, and authority. We also have the Bible. As Christians, we have God's Word, and we should submit to it. We should seek to do what it says.
A Brief Review of the Five Points of Calvinism
Before getting into our final point, perseverance of the saints, let's briefly review what we've learned.
1. Total Depravity
Total depravity asserts that human nature is totally corrupted because of original sin. Sin affects every aspect of an individual's being.
All mankind are sinners by nature, with a propensity to sin. By propensity, I mean that we are inclined toward sin. It is our default condition as human beings.
Other terms used to describe this doctrine include radical corruption, moral inability, and human brokenness.
This doesn't mean that we are as wicked as we possibly could be. There are plenty of sins I could be committing right now that I'm not committing. But that doesn't necessarily make me better than anyone else. I am still a sinner by nature.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) None is righteous, no, not one; No one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)
2. Unconditional Election
Unconditional election means that God does not foresee some action or condition on our part that causes Him to save us.
In other words, we cannot do something that forces God to save us. We believe that God chooses whom He will save even before we are created. The determining factor in our salvation is God's election. It rests entirely on His sovereign decision.
If God is King, and He has total control and authority, then He exercises that control and authority to save whomever He is pleased to save. He does this because He wants to.
However, God's choice isn't random or arbitrary. We looked at many verses showing that God saves because He loves.
I want you to consider this question: Do you believe that God is loving? How far do you think His love extends?
I want to challenge you to consider that God is so loving that He chooses those whom He will save and ensures that their salvation happens. He loves His elect that much.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 1:4–5:
Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.
Notice the language. God chose us before the foundation of the world, before we were even born and before we could do anything to merit salvation.
He chose us so that we would be holy and blameless before Him. He did this in love and predestined us for adoption according to the purpose of His will. In other words, He did it because He wanted to. It pleased Him to do so.
We also saw that this concept isn't limited to the New Testament. It's present in the Old Testament as well. God chose Israel because He wanted to. They were His chosen people, not because they were particularly impressive or powerful compared with other nations, such as Egypt, but because He loved them.
3. Limited Atonement
If you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, the doctrine of limited atonement teaches that Jesus' blood does not cover every individual in the world in the same saving sense.
The reasoning is that if Christ's death secured salvation for every person without exception, then everyone would ultimately be saved and go to heaven.
However, historic orthodox Christianity teaches that people die and go to hell rather than being reconciled to God.
Limited atonement, also called definite atonement or particular redemption, teaches that Jesus' death was specifically intended to save the elect: those whom God chose to save.
We also discussed reconciliation, an important concept for Christians. Reconciliation means that our relationship with God is restored.
4. Irresistible Grace
Here's the problem I presented: If Jesus died for everyone, and everyone has the ability to decide whether or not they want to be saved, then who ultimately gets the credit for salvation?
Imagine someone saying: "God, I'm going to choose You. That's entirely my decision. You can offer salvation, but I can choose to accept or reject it. Ultimately, I'm the deciding factor."
If that's the case, then the individual's decision becomes the determining factor in salvation. That creates a problem because God says He will not share His glory with anyone.
We looked at several passages showing that God draws people to Himself. We discussed language such as being appointed to eternal life and the teaching that no one can come to Jesus unless it is granted by the Father.
All of this language emphasizes that God is the one who brings people to Himself.
One particularly important passage says:
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
God is the deciding factor.
We also discussed how the Lord opens our hearts. If we had the ability to change our own hearts and independently decide to make ourselves love God, that would make us sovereign over our own hearts.
I don't believe we can do that. We've already established from Scripture that, because of our sinful nature, we naturally choose sin rather than God.
I wanted to leave you with a question to consider: Has your heart been overcome by God, or is your heart still resisting Him?
This is what being a Christian means. It means wanting to give your life to God and wanting Jesus to be part of your life.
If you want that, you can be saved. If you don't, I can continue praying for you and leave it to God to work in your heart.
5. Perseverance of the Saints
I want to begin this final doctrine with a question: How much can you sin before you are no longer a Christian?
We all sin. Nobody is perfect. Being a Christian doesn't mean that sin suddenly disappears from your life. We still acknowledge that we are sinners.
In fact, if someone refuses to acknowledge that they are a sinner, I would question whether they truly understand what it means to be a Christian.
But here's the question: How much can you sin before you are no longer a Christian?
Imagine someone going off to college and asking: "How much can I sin? How much can I get away with before I'm no longer a Christian? I still want to be a Christian, but I also want to experience everything life has to offer. How much can I do before I cross the line?"
The Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints is the doctrine that those who are truly part of God's elect will remain faithful to Christ and will not ultimately fall away from the faith.
Notice that we're continuing the same theme we've been discussing: the elect will persevere. They will remain faithful to Christ.
When we talk about falling away, we're talking about losing that relationship with God. It would mean no longer having that close relationship with Him, or perhaps that the relationship was never truly there in the first place.
There are several important passages that help us understand this doctrine.
Romans 8:29–30: The Unbreakable Chain
One of the key passages is Romans 8:29–30:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Notice the progression.
Predestination
Calling
Justification
Glorification
Glorification means that we make it all the way to heaven. We will be with Jesus and God when we die.
For that to happen, we have what I like to call an unbreakable chain. It begins with predestination, meaning God's election. Before the foundation of the world, God determined whom He would save.
He calls that person to Himself. He justifies them, meaning He saves them through the blood of Jesus. They live their lives, and ultimately, they are glorified. Paul is teaching that those whom God has chosen will make it to the end.
As a Christian, you can read this passage as a promise. If you are predestined, if you are elect, and if you have been justified through the blood of Jesus, you will make it to glorification.
John 10:28–29: No One Can Snatch Them Away
Here's another passage I've shared with you before:
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.
Previously, I used this passage to explain irresistible grace. The Father gives people to Jesus and draws them to love and follow Him. Now I want to broaden that understanding.
Not only does God draw you to Jesus, but He also keeps you with Jesus.
Jesus says that His sheep will never perish and that no one will snatch them out of His hand.
If God has a grip on you, if Jesus has a hold on your life, and if the Holy Spirit is working in you, nobody can wrestle you away from God.
Who's going to approach God and say, "Give me this person"? Nobody. God will not let you go if He has a hold on you. He is too powerful.
You cannot even remove yourself from His grasp. You cannot simply say, "God, let go of me," and expect Him to abandon you. He will keep you.
Philippians 1:6: God Will Finish What He Started
Paul writes in Philippians 1:6:
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
When I say I'm sure of something, you might believe me, but you can't necessarily know that I'm right.
But when Paul says this, we're talking about God's Word. We can read it as a promise from God Himself. We can trust that it will happen.
If God begins the work of salvation in you, He will bring it to completion. He will finish what He started, all the way to the day of Jesus Christ, when Jesus returns or we are glorified in heaven.
Jude 24: God Is Able to Keep You
Jude gives us another important passage:
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.
The word I want you to notice is keep.
Again, we see the same idea throughout Scripture:
No one will snatch you away.
God will keep you.
You will persevere until the end.
God is the one who sustains His people.
1 John 3:9: Christians Do Not Make a Practice of Sinning
Now let's return to our original question: How much can you sin before you are no longer a Christian?
Here's an important passage that helps answer it. First John 3:9 says:
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
No one who is truly born again makes a practice of sinning. In other words, a Christian will not be characterized by habitual, unrepentant sin. A Christian will desire holiness.
That's part of what happens when Jesus saves you. You begin to want to be like Him. You want to be conformed to His image. You want to please God with your life.
That's what it means not to make a practice of sinning. You won't want to live in sin.
This doesn't mean Christians never sin. Rather, it means that sin is no longer something we embrace as our way of life. Our desires begin to change because we have been born of God. That's the answer to our original question.
The Practical Application of Perseverance of the Saints
That's the doctrine. If you believe in election, or even if you simply believe in God's sovereignty, I think you should also believe that God will keep His people until the end.
He will cause you to persevere. You will make it all the way to the end as a Christian. Nobody will be able to prevent that from happening, not even yourself.
But what does this doctrine actually mean for our everyday lives? I've tried to relate every lesson we've covered to real life because I want you to understand its practical application.
Here are four ways perseverance of the saints affects my life.
1. Perseverance of the Saints Makes Me Confident in My Salvation
If I am a Christian, I believe and trust that God will keep me.
I don't have to live in constant fear that I'll wake up tomorrow and suddenly decide that I no longer believe.
Think about that for a moment. What causes me to believe the things I believe today? What guarantees that I'll continue believing those things tomorrow?
If my favorite color is red today, what guarantees that I won't wake up tomorrow and decide that my favorite color is blue? Our preferences and opinions can change.
But salvation is different. God has already secured it for me. Ultimately, it isn't dependent on my ability to maintain my own salvation. It's dependent on God. Yes, that puts the burden on God. I like that. I think God can handle it. And I believe He is glorified when I trust Him this way. It's as if God is saying: "I am God. I am King. I am in control of your life. Trust Me." I believe He is pleased when we depend on Him.
2. Perseverance of the Saints Makes Me Confident in Evangelism
Let me give you an example of something that happened this week. I found out that one of my coworkers is a Jehovah's Witness. We were having a conversation, and he mentioned that they don't celebrate Christmas. I responded, "What? What do you mean you don't celebrate Christmas?"
Apparently, Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Christmas because of their beliefs about Jesus. I asked him about Jesus, and he explained that he was a Jehovah's Witness.
For a moment, I wondered: "Are we going to get into this? Is he going to persuade me that he's correct?" I had that thought for a second.
But then I remembered the doctrine of perseverance of the saints. I thought, "No matter what he says, I'm not going to be persuaded away from Christianity because I'm confident in God's ability to keep me."
Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to be careless or dismissive. I'm not going to approach the conversation aggressively or try to tear him down.
I still want to engage with him respectfully and hopefully have a meaningful conversation.
But this doctrine gives me confidence. I don't have to be afraid that engaging with someone who holds different beliefs will put my faith at risk.
My confidence isn't in myself. It's in God and His ability to keep me.
3. Perseverance of the Saints Makes Me Not Want to Sin
Remember the question we discussed earlier: How much can I sin before I'm no longer a Christian? The doctrine of perseverance of the saints changes the way I approach that question.
If I'm a Christian, I shouldn't be looking for the boundary of how much sin I can get away with. In fact, I shouldn't even want to get close to that line. If I am truly a Christian, I will desire holiness. I will want to live in a way that pleases God.
This doesn't mean I'm trying to prove my salvation as though I could earn or merit it through good behavior.
Rather, my desire to pursue holiness reflects the reality that I belong to God.
I can say: "I am born again. I am God's adopted child. I belong to Him. I don't want to live in sin."
The doctrine of perseverance of the saints reinforces that desire. It makes me want to turn away from sin, not figure out how much of it I can get away with.
4. Perseverance of the Saints Makes Me Confident in My Preaching and Teaching Ministry
This final application is especially important to me as a Sunday school teacher.
Here I am, teaching you guys. I might have one, two, or perhaps three years with you.
If you're in tenth grade, Sunday school might give us only one or two hours together each week. That's a very small portion of an already busy week.
I've talked with Tiff, Chris, and Jamie about this. We have such a limited amount of time to teach you.
I have no confidence that my teaching ability, by itself, will be enough to keep you a Christian when you go off to college.
My confidence and hope for you is that God and His Word will keep you.
If I can teach you the truths of Scripture and point you toward God, then I trust that He will sustain your faith.
That gives me incredible confidence as a Sunday school teacher because the responsibility ultimately isn't mine. The burden belongs to God. And He can handle it. I think God wants to be the deciding factor.
I will take no credit for you becoming or remaining a Christian. I'm happy to play a part. I'm happy to serve as a means that God uses to accomplish His purposes.
But I'm never going to stand before God and say, "I did that." No way. It is God who keeps you and me as Christians until the end.
And seriously, as an aside, I really do want you to remain a Christian. I want that very much. I'm going to do my best to help you along the way.
But at the end of the day, I cannot carry that burden myself. If I felt that the responsibility for keeping you faithful rested entirely on my shoulders, I would be crushed as a teacher. That burden belongs to God.
Final Challenge: How Much Can You Sin Before You Are No Longer a Christian?
I want to return one last time to our original question: How much can you sin before you are no longer a Christian?
I really want you to think about this, especially as you prepare for college and the next stages of your life.
I believe that if you're a Christian, you shouldn't even be asking that question. You shouldn't be thinking: "How much can I sin and still get away with calling myself a Christian?"
Instead, you should desire to step away from sin.
That doesn't mean you have to become boring, rigid, or disconnected from the world. It means that your desires have changed. You want to pursue holiness because you belong to Christ.
If you believe that God will keep you until the end, and you believe that He is working in you to persevere, then your mindset should reflect that.
You won't be looking for opportunities to sin. You'll want to turn away from sin and live faithfully before God.
That's the practical significance of perseverance of the saints.
God is King. He is sovereign. He saves His people, sustains them, and keeps them until the end.
Our confidence isn't ultimately in ourselves, our abilities, or our strength. Our confidence is in God, our King, who begins the work of salvation and faithfully brings it to completion.