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the bunker mentality...
The Doctrine of Perseverance
Posted by Michael Bunker “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. (1 Th. 5:23-24). I can understand why the carnal heart scoffs at all of God’s wondrous and mysterious works. God plainly declares that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). How can the carnal, religious mind receive that which must be accepted spiritually? The gift of Eternal Life can only mean one thing. The attributes of the gift are evident: a) The “life” that is given is spiritual. It quickens one who was dead and unites him with God. b) The “life” that is given is eternal. It never ends. It has no temporal limits. c) The “life” is GIVEN, in that it is a gift. If it is merited, then it is not a gift. Let us hear the position of the Roman Catholic Church on the matter, so that all who desire to adhere to their foul position will know from whence their doctrine arises. In commenting on the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, it is said, “Final salvation is an inheritance. We could not earn the inheritance, nor need we do it, but we could earn to lose it. We are adopted children. But children do not earn their inheritance, though they could earn to lose it.” (RC Priest, William Most) Now you will see the great gulf that exists between true and false Christianity. The former relies on Christ alone for all merit and reward, while the other refuses to offer God the glory for all his mighty works. Let us emphasize this difference by stating an accepted position of those churches through time who have rejected the Catholic view of conditional security: "They, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which arises also the certainty and infallibility thereof. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.” These two worldviews are so starkly opposed to one another that they cannot, in the end, both be called “Christian”. The Catholic position exists and benefits totally from a carnal point of view, recognizing the fallibility of humans and their likelihood to abuse gifts of grace. But they deny the spiritual nature of the new creature, and they deny the efficacy of Christ’s Cross, by relegating it to a mere figure. Calling and election are far more than temporal gifts. The Bible is clear on this fact. We are not to measure the ruler by the cloth. We do not build our theology on “what ifs” based on our carnal view of the world. The modern papist (of every stripe) will say, “But if a man is infallibly and irrevocably saved, then he can go and commit whatever sins he likes and live like the devil, while he is assured of his salvation”. But reason, logic, the Bible and the truth all join forces against this stupid human argument. 1) If I am a new creature, and I have been given the mind of Christ, my desires are changed. The papist claims that I can “do whatever I want”. I wish that this were true. If I could do whatever I want, I would live a sinless life. I desire to live a sinless life! I desire to never sin! I do sin, but it is not because I desire to. As Paul said, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I” (Rom. 2) It is the Arminian position that “allows” for the commission of willful sin. According to them, ANY man may sin freely so long as he makes use of the means of repentance, forgiveness and grace. If a man may sin freely, so long as the means of grace are utilized afterwards, what sin will be kept from him? Think of the Old Testament economy. If I sin in the Old Testament, an animal will die in my stead. If I have a whole flock of sheep, what is to stop me from sacrificing just one of them for a night of sin? Do you not think that Grace was abused under the law? Of course it was. The abuse of Grace was the topic of most of Christ’s sermons on earth! The new creature does not even consider abusing Grace. It is the lost man, the religionist, the Pharisee among you who satiates his conscience while slandering God’s grace. Once our calling and election are SURE, only then can we be assured of perseverance: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Peter The assurance of perseverance is never even questioned by Christ: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand” (John So the Papist/Arminian will now say, “Sure no one can TAKE them from the Father, but they can LEAVE ON THEIR OWN”! But can they leave the flock? Speaking of these same sheep, Jesus said, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?” (Luke 15:4) And what did the shepherd do when he found the lost sheep? He chastened it. A sheep that constantly ran away was a danger to himself and to the other sheep, because generally other sheep would try to follow the wayward leader. Although it sounds strange to our western, Gentile ears, the shepherd would break the legs of the offending sheep. The shepherd would then carry the lost sheep around until his legs healed. The sheep would not remember the pain and chastisement he had received, but he would never again leave the shepherd because of the strong bond developed through the chastening. “Well,” the Arminian/Papist will now say, “if the sheep commits heinous or unforgivable sins, then he will be cast out as a goat!” There is a strong delineation made between sheep and goats in the Bible. Sheep never become goats, and goats never become sheep. Lost sheep are found and brought back into the fold. Sheep are often ravaged by wolves and wild beasts, but they never become goats! Always remember that everyone who calls themselves a “Christian” is not one. In fact, MOST of the people who claim the name of Christ do it in vain. Arminians desire to convince people that goats are really sheep, that way they can point at the goats for proof that salvation can be lost. So does the sheep ever commit a sin that causes him to be cast out of the sheepfold? “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). The Bible says that those who are “born of God”, which are also called GOD’S SHEEP, do not commit sins! Now this can be very confusing, because it is evident that ALL men commit sins, even regenerated Saints of God. So what is John saying here? We fall back to the plain truth of the atonement, which says that all my sins were placed upon Christ (past, present and future), and that Christ’s righteousness was imputed to me! So, although I do sin, and I do pay temporal and carnal penalties for that sin – those sins are NOT imputed to my heavenly account. Just as the scripture says, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:8). So, as part of the new nature (a nature that abhors sin and desires mortification and Christlikeness), the sins of God’s sheep are not imputed to their accounts. This does not give them “license”, it gives them freedom to worship God out of a heart burning with love and desire for Him. They can be focused on Him and His work in them, rather than on the flesh and the works thereof. God wants to make sure we know that there is nothing that can separate us from Him: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. “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” (1 Peter 1:3-5) These verses say that we are kept by the power of God “through faith” unto salvation. Faith is evidently and obviously the gift of God, who is its rightful author and finisher. Faith is given by God (Gal. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye 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” (1Pe 1:6-9) The Bible teaches that God’s sheep are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit. I was handed a tract the other day and in it a man had said that God’s sheep can “break the seal” on their salvation by certain sins. But in the scriptures, God lays the responsibility for the preservation of the sheep at His own feet. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. We are still warned of temporal punishments and of chastisements, as the scripture says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. The Bible says that the seal identifies who belongs to God: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Tim. 2:19a) The Old Testament types and shadows prophesied of this love God has for His elect: “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3) Jesus made His will known concerning the eternal destiny of those whom the Father had chosen and whom the Spirit had sealed for Him. While Jesus was in the world He kept His own sheep: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept…” (John 17:12) But now that Jesus was leaving the world, He prayed the Father to keep them: “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:11) Jesus plainly states His will in verse 24 of this chapter: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John So, let’s run through this. While Christ was in the world, He kept the sheep that the Father gave Him. When He left the world, He asked the Father to keep the sheep. Then the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to seal and keep those same sheep unto the end: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17) We have already shown where the Holy Spirit is the very SEAL of God, and that God Himself causes the truly elect to abide: “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27) God Himself claims that in the New Covenant, He Himself will seal His sheep so that they will not ever depart from Him: “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jer. 32:40) God tells us the exact same thing in the New Testament: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John It is God’s faithfulness and promises that are put in question by the Arminian/Papists, but the Bible says that “…the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil” (2 Th. 3:3). It is the Lord who holds His own sheep. When the Arminian/Papist points at “ex-Christians” and tries to prove that they have lost their salvation, we reply that those people could never have been saved! “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John Make no mistake. God’s children are sorely chastised when they sin. They grieve over their sins, just as the Holy Spirit is grieved BY their sin. But the sealing of God is never questioned, as the scripture says, “…grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”. Our legs are often broken by a loving God who will not let us stray far: “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:8-10). We must not forget that it is those that are the uncircumcised in heart and ears who cannot hear God’s voice. They do not have God’s laws written on their hearts, so they cannot know why a person who is assured of his eternal salvation would hate and eschew sin. The hardening of the heart is another element of God’s sovereign works: “O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance” (Isa. 63:17). The scriptures are clear that God chastises His children for their good, AND so that they will not be condemned and destroyed with the world: “If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes” (Psalm 89:31-32) “But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. It is GOD that is being glorified in this creation. It is His sovereign hand that controls the destinies of men and angels. God’s Word is sure and His promises are assured. As the Apostle says, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Th. 2:13-14). God has sealed the salvation of His elect by giving them the Holy spirit of truth. These verses claim that it is the glory of Jesus Christ that the enemies of perseverance shoot at. Jesus Christ is glorified in the preservation of His elect and chosen saints. What folly to fire volleys at Christ’s glory! May our enemies be scattered, and may God continue to bless the Remnant! Your servant in Christ Jesus Michael Bunker
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