One problem that I have with the idea of perseverance of the saints is my own personal experience. I’ve seen committed Christians lose their faith.

The standard answer is that if they had really been Christians, they wouldn’t have lost their faith. And this does seem to have some biblical backing: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” (1 John 2:19) Isn’t that what John is saying here?

I’m not so sure. This really seems to be more of a reference to unity in the body than to salvation. 1 John presents continuance in the body as of vital importance; many think that’s what he’s referring to in these verses: “If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.” (1 John 5:16) Many commentators think that the sin John is referring to is leaving the fellowship (see 1 John 1:5-7)

I know that many people have been convinced that they were in Christ, yet then fell away. “How do you know they were in Christ?” Well, 1 John 5:13 says that someone can have confidence of eternal life. I just can’t see saying that everyone who ever fell was just fooling themselves about their faith.

“But you can think that you are in Christ and not really be in Christ!” Again, this seems to have some backing, reading Matthew 7:21 (a verse that has been strangely popular in some churches). Somehow, I don’t find this “assurance” very comforting. It tells me that I may believe that God has given me eternal life, but be very wrong about it. That’s blessed assurance?

I’ll stick with the confidence that as long as I continue to believe in Jesus and seek the salvation he offers, he will continue to give it to me. That’s the kind of assurance I can base my hope on. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13) That’s what I call blessed assurance

I rarely deal with serious matters on Friday, mainly because all of the websites that I maintain or track (about 10) show a sharp decline in readership on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Still, I don’t want to completely drop this discussion, so let me share some “assigned reading” for the weekend:

J.R. Sheets (is that how you write your name?) defends the concept of “perseverance of the saints” in at least a couple of posts:
Nothing Can Pluck Me From His Hand! (well, except me?)
Response-to-Comment Post

Royce Ogle posted, over two posts, an article by Edward Fudge:
Eternally Secure? Edward Fudge answers…
Are Believers Secure? more from Edward Fudge

Jay Guin did a series of posts concerning perseverance of the saints:
Election: The Problem with Perseverance of the Saints, Part 1
Election: The Problem with Perseverance of the Saints, Part 2
Election: The Problem with Perseverance of the Saints, Part 3
Election: Further Conclusions

Al Maxey has an interesting study on TULIP theology:
John Calvin
Introduction
Total Hereditary Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

Those are just a few people that I’ve interacted with. There are lots of studies out there. If you’ve found certain articles to be especially helpful, feel free to suggest them in the comments section.

I’ve been wanting to spend some time examining the subject of whether or not salvation can be lost.

It’s funny how hard it is to even describe that topic. I didn’t know until recently that people make a distinction between “perseverance of the saints” and “once saved, always saved.” “Eternal security” is a more formal expression of the latter viewpoint. But, theopedia.com says, “assurance of eternal life” is not the same as any of the above. Confused? I know I am.

Some people favor In-n-Out salvation, seeing salvation as something that is received and lost on a regular basis.

Others see a Safe Bet salvation, where you can be fairly sure of your salvation, except in a few extreme circumstances.

Others take the Wait and See approach, feeling that you can never really know until the very end.

I’ve seen the arguments that say that since salvation is a new birth you can’t be unborn and therefore can’t be “unsaved.” These often go with “if he fell away, he was never really saved anyway.”

I want to try and examine as many relevant texts as possible. I’ll try and be respectful towards views that don’t agree with mine, but I know I’m not always successful at that. And I want to be open to revising or rescinding my views as we go along.

As I get ready to launch into this, I’d like to know your thoughts. What are some passages to be considered? What concepts come into play? What ideas need to be included?