Perseverance of the Saints: Assurance of Salvation

And of course the position that I would teach Young Life at that time and which I would teach today is that those who are genuinely converted will not tube it, will not lose their salvation, because we believe that if you have it you never lose it. And if you lose it, you never had it. [00:01:25]

Now again, this does not preclude the possibility of people making an exciting profession of faith, become deeply immersed and involved in the life of the church or in some Christian organization only later to leave the church and disavow their Christian faith and stay that way until their life's end, because it's very easy for people to become converted to institutions and miss a genuine conversion to Christ. [00:01:59]

And that can be true of any vital church; that it can be so sensitive to people's needs, so inviting and so appealing that people will come for a season to that. Jesus told the parable of the sower. He told about the seed that fell among thorns or that fell upon the shallow ground that sprang up quickly but as soon as the sun came out, it withered and died or was choked out by the thorns. [00:03:12]

And the point of that parable, I believe, is that the only seed that lasts is the seed that is sown in the good earth. And that good earth is the transfigured or transformed soul that has been regenerated by God the Holy Spirit. Now, again, we understand the doctrine of what's called the perseverance of the saints speaks directly to this question, "Can we lose our salvation?" [00:03:41]

The Reformed faith believed not only in the perseverance of the saints as a logical deduction from the doctrine of election, which indeed it is. If God elects people from all eternity, then certainly the elect will remain elect forever. But of course that raises the question, "Can a non-elect person come to a state of faith?" Reformers would say, "No, and that only the elect come to faith in the first place." [00:05:52]

Here Paul expresses his apostolic confidence that what Christ has started, Christ will finish. And He is called the Author and the Finisher. We are the craftsmanship of Christ and to put it bluntly if not crassly, Christ doesn't make any junk. When Christ crafts a person for conformity to His image, he doesn't have to throw away the product at the end of the crafting labor. [00:07:33]

Now, here we have a very serious, solemn warning saying that it is impossible to restore a second time to salvation those people who have crucified Christ afresh. Now, this text surely seems to suggest that there were in fact people in the Hebrew Christian community to which the author writes here who have fallen away, and who had crucified Christ. [00:09:52]

Remember that Jesus speaks of His church as being a place where there is an abundance of both wheat and tares. That it's a mixed body. And we do know that in the past that people can join the church and repudiate the church and never come back just as we mentioned earlier with Young Life, and in that sense they become apostate. They fall away from their original profession of faith. [00:11:18]

Now, there is a false repentance like the repentance of Esau, we understand that. But genuine repentance that brings genuine renewal is a fruit of regeneration. And so if the apostle is saying here that it's impossible to renew these people again to repentance, that clearly indicates that there was a time when they had been renewed by repentance, and so I think -- there's no doubt in my mind -- that he's speaking here about believers. [00:13:35]

Judas was a member of the apostolic community. He was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He was with our Lord for His earthly ministry and Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver, and went out and hanged himself. And the Scripture says of Judas that he was a devil from the beginning. Now, Jesus predicted that Judas would do this. And He said, "Whatever you have to do, do quickly." [00:19:59]

And He didn’t say, "Simon, if you turn, if you repent," but when you repent, feed the brothers and strengthen the brothers. Because Simon belonged to Christ and he fell dramatically and radically but the intercessory work of Christ was in effect so that Simon was not lost. Now, again in that same upper room when we read the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus where Jesus prays for his disciples, He not only prays for them but for all of those who believe as a result of their witness -- which includes us -- that they may not be lost. [00:21:19]

But the only reason we persevere, the only reason we can persevere is because God preserves us. If it were left to ourselves, we could fall at any moment. Satan could sift us like wheat. But our confidence in the final chapter of our salvation rests in the promises of God to finish what He has started and rests upon the efficacy of the great High Priest that we have who intercedes for us every day. He will preserve us. [00:22:29]