XLV.    THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS  

A       The different kinds of certainty. 
     Everything must be certain with some degree of certainty.  There is a way in which all things and events have been, are, or will be certain to some degree.  All events that ever did occur or ever will occur were and are as certain before as after they occur.  God, who knows everything, must have known everything with just a much certainty before they occur as after they occur.  All future events will occur, and God certainly knows about them.  Every event is just as certain before they happen as they will ever be, and God truly and perfectly knows as much about these events right now as He will ever know.  They are just as real in God’s foreknowledge as they ever will be.  Even though we aren’t sure about future events, all events are certain in the mind of God, and nothing is uncertain about any event that ever did or ever will occur.  All future events will take place whether God or any other being knows how these events will happen or not.  The foreknowledge of God does not make anything that is going to take place certain.  He knows what is going to happen simply because it is going to happen.  Omniscience is the knowledge of everything that exists and happens, past, present, and future.  However, omniscience does not create those things.  Omniscience does not make anything certain; omniscience only knows how they will unfold, because it is certain, not only that the events will take place, but how and when they will take place.  Everything that we freely choose to do is just as certain before they occur, as they ever will be.  And God must truly know how they will turn out before they happen, as He knows after they have occurred.  

1   The first kind of certainty that I will mention is something that is an absolute necessity.  An absolute necessity is a certainty that does not depend on any conditions.  This is the highest kind of certainty.  It belongs to the absolute and the infinite, to the existence of space, the existence of time, and to the existence of God.  In fact, it belongs to everything that is self‑existing, infinite, and unchanging in a natural sense; that is, to everything infinite that does not imply free will.  The natural attributes of God are certain by this kind of certainty, but His moral attributes, because they consist in a willful state of mind, are not absolute necessities.

2   A second kind of certainty is a physical, but a conditional necessity.  To these events that are physically necessary, although conditional, belong all those events that happen under the operation of physical law.  These events belong to the law of cause and effect.  If the cause exists, the effect must exist.  The event becomes certain and necessary because of its cause.  Its certainty is conditioned by its cause.  Because the cause exists, the event must follow, and the events would not occur if the cause did not exist.  Because the causes are what they are, the events must be what they are.  These events are as certain as absolute necessities.  I don’t intend to treat one of them as being any more certain than the other is.  Those events that are absolutely necessary are no more certain than those events that are conditionally necessary, but it is a different kind of certainty.  For example, absolutely necessary events are certain by a kind of certainty that does not, and never did depend on the will of anyone or anything.  There never was any chance that these things could be any different than they are.  This must be true about space and duration, and of the existence and the natural attributes of God.
  But every event, except self‑existing events, and events that are naturally unchanging and eternal, is certain only as it is conditioned, directly or indirectly, by the will of some being.  This includes God.  For example, all the events of the physical universe became certain by creation, and it is the establishing and upholding of those physical laws and the law of cause and effect that causes these events.  These are certain by a conditioned, although a physical necessity.  There is no freedom or liberty in the events themselves; they must occur because their causes or conditions exist. 

3   The third kind of certainty is a moral certainty.  I call it a moral certainty, not because the events that belong to this group are less certain than the above, but because the free actions of moral agents conditions these events.  Moral certainties do not occur under the operation of a law of cause and effect, although it occurs with certainty.  Physical certainties depend on their causes.  On the condition that the causes are certain, the events that depend on those causes are certain.  Moral certainties, although they are no less certain than absolute or conditional necessities, occur under the operation of free will, and as a result, none of them will fail or turn out differently than what it is or will be.  I call this kind of certainty a moral certainty as opposed to a physical certainty.  It is not a necessary certainty, but a voluntary certainty, a free certainty, a certainty that, from our viewpoint, could possibly be no certainty at all.  In fact, the situation may turn out to be the complete opposite of what we might expect.  However, God, in every situation, knows how these events will turn out, as certainly as if they occurred by necessity; but His foreknowledge does not affect how these events happen one way or the other.  From our viewpoint, they don’t appear to be certain at all.  Sometimes, they may appear to be the opposite of what they are or will be in spite of God’s foreknowledge.  God knows that they are certain, not because His knowledge has any influence by itself to make these events happen, but because they are certain all by themselves.  Because it is certain all by itself that these events will take place, God knows exactly what will happen.  To this group of events belong all the free actions of moral agents.  We can eventually trace every event back to the action of God’s free will.  In other words, God’s free actions gave existence to the universe, with all its physical agencies and laws, so that all physical events are in some sense owing to, and result from the actions of God’s free will.  But physical events occur under the immediate operation of a law of cause and effect.  The events we are examining now don’t depend on the operation of physical laws for their cause.  Free moral agents cause them. 
     I would also like to say that these events are not only contingent in such a sense that there is a natural possibility that they could be different than they are, but there is also a good chance that that an event will be different than what it turns out to be.  Since events are certain, there is really no risk that any event will happen differently from what happens, even though we don’t know how it will turn out.  But, since all acts of free will and all events that depend on those acts of free will could turn out differently than they do, we say that there is a possibility that these events may or may not occur.
  Concerning moral certainties, let me say that God may foresee that the labyrinth is so intricate, and the chances of failure are so complicated, that nothing but the highest diligence and the most careful use of means on God’s part as well as on our part can insure that the event will occur.  Everything that the Bible reveals concerning the perseverance and final salvation of the saints, and everything that is true, and everything that God knows about the free actions and destinies of the saints, belong to this group.  These events are nevertheless certain, and God knows them as certainties.  Not one of these events will, in fact, turn out differently from what He foresees that they will; and yet from our viewpoint, every event could turn out differently; and there may be a good chance that some or all of them will turn out differently from what they will eventually turn out to be. 
     These events are liable to occur, but not with certainty, in such a sense, that should we fail to use the means, or should any event in the whole chain of influences connected with their occurrence, be different than it is, the end might be different than what it will be.  These events are certain.  Every act, together with all the influences that each free act depends on, is certain.  Nothing is uncertain concerning whether it will occur or not; and yet no free act or event that depends on free will, is certain in the sense that it cannot turn out differently.  In fact, from our viewpoint, there may be an overwhelming possibility that it will turn out differently.  When I say that it may be naturally possible for an event to be different from what it will be, I mean that, in every situation, we have the natural power to choose differently from what we do choose.  To illustrate both the uncertainty and the certainty of these events, suppose you decide to go over Niagara Falls in a bark canoe.  The result of this attempt is certain.  God must know how it turns out.  But this result, although it is certain, is conditioned on many things, and with each one of these things, you have the natural power to make choices that will affect the outcome differently.  To secure your safe crossing, each choice you make must be exactly what it will be; but there is not one choice among all your choices that could not possibly be the opposite of what you really choose. 
     This situation may be so critical, and your risk of failure my be so great, that nothing can guarantee your safe crossing but a revelation from God that would inspire the kind of confidence in you that will enable you to venture down the falls safely.  Let me say that this revelation from God might be necessary for you to cross safely.  Suppose God revealed to you, under these circumstances, that you will actually go over Niagara Falls safely.  However, He accompanied His revelation with the emphatic assurance, that the success of your journey depended on the most diligent, cautious, and persevering use of means on your part, and that any failure in these means would put a permanent end to your trip very quickly.  Both the revelation that success will be certain and the emphatic warning that you must follow specific instructions are indispensable to accomplishing your goal.  Now, if you have confidence in the promise of success, you would also have confidence in the warning not to neglect the necessary means, and your confidence in both is what you need to secure the desired result. 
     Lets take an example from scripture:   “But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, ‘Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.  And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.  For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’  Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.  However, we must run aground on a certain island.’  But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land.  And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms.  Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.  And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.’”  (Acts 27:21‑31)  
  Here the end was foreknown and clearly foretold at the very beginning without any condition mentioned, though they clearly understood that they could only achieve the end by using the appropriate means.  Paul later told them, that if they neglected the means, the end would fail.  Both the means and the end were certain.  Therefore, God clearly revealed the certainty of the result, and afterwards, by a later revelation, God secured the use of the necessary means.  There was uncertainty, in the sense that the thing might turn out differently than it did, and yet it was uncertain in the sense that it was naturally possible that both the means and the end might fail. 
     Concerning morally certain events, if you really desire them, the more you are confident that they will occur the less chance there will be that it will fail, provided you understand that they are certain only by a moral certainty; that is, provided you understand that the event is conditioned by your free will. 
     Most people believe that hope is a condition for success in any enterprise; and if this is true, assurance of success under the proper conditions cannot tend to defeat the end.  There is a difference between real risk, and a knowledge or sense of risk.  The risk may be just as great and just as real when we have no sense or knowledge of it as when we have.  And when we have the highest and the keenest sense of risk, there may be, in fact, no real risk.  However, there is never any risk in the sense that anything will turn out differently from what God foresees will happen. 
     Just because God reveals something as certain does not make it certain; that is, the revelation does not make it certain.  An event may be truly certain, and may be revealed as certain, and yet, from a human point of view, there may be a million chances to one that it will not turn out as it is revealed; that is, as far as we can see, the odds are against it.

B       What doesn’t the perseverance of the saints mean?  

1   The perseverance of the saints does not mean that any sinner will be saved without complying with the conditions of salvation; that is, without regeneration and persevering in obedience to the end of his life.  I will discuss this in more detail later. 

2   The perseverance of the saints does not mean that saints, or the truly regenerate, cannot fall from grace and be eternally lost.  Falling from grace is a natural possibility.  It must be naturally possible for all moral agents to sin at any time.  It is naturally possible that saints in heaven and on earth can apostatize and fall, and be lost.  If this were not naturally possible, there would be no virtue in perseverance.  

3   The perseverance of the saints does not mean that true saints are in no danger of apostasy and ultimate damnation.  For, from a human viewpoint, there is the greatest danger concerning many, if not of all the saints, that they will apostatize, and be ultimately lost. 

4   The perseverance of the saints does not mean that there may not be 10,000 chances to one, that some, or that many of the saints will fall and be lost.  This may be highly probable in the only sense in which it is probable, that any event whatever may be different from what it will turn out to be.

5   The perseverance of the saints does not mean that the salvation of the saints is possible without watchfulness, effort, and perseverance on their part, and grace on the part of God.  

6   The perseverance of the saints does not mean that their salvation is certain in any higher sense than all their future actions are free.  Their free actions condition their ultimate salvation, and the goal can be no more certain than its means or its conditions.  If the ultimate salvation of the saints is certain, it is certain only on the condition that their perseverance in obedience to the end of their life is certain.  Every obedient act is free and it will probably occur, but there is no guarantee that it will occur.  Every obedient act is also uncertain by the highest kind of uncertainty that accompanies any event.  Therefore there is and must be, as much real risk of the saints falling short of ultimate salvation, as there is that any event whatever will be different from what it turns out to be.
  Please remember, that there is a difference between a certainty and the knowledge of a certainty.  It is one thing for an event to be really certain, and another thing for us to know that it is certain.  Everything is really certain, but many things are not revealed to us as certain.  The events that are revealed to us as certain, are no more certain than other events, but concerning future events which have not been revealed to us, we do not know how they will turn out.  The fact is, something God reveals to us as certain does not make it certain, nor is it any less uncertain because it is revealed to us as certain unless the revelation secures the certainty.  Suppose the ultimate salvation of all the saints is certain, and that God reveals this certainty to us; unless this revelation is the means of securing our salvation, we are in just as much real danger of ultimately failing to receive eternal life, as if no such revelation had been made.  In spite of the certainty of our salvation, and the fact that God reveals this certainty to us, there is just as much real, though unknown certainty concerning any future event whatever as there is concerning this.  All events are certain with some kind of certainty whether we knew the certainty or not.  So all events consisting in or depending on our free acts, are really as uncertain as any event can be, and this is true whether the certainty is revealed or not.  The salvation of the saints then, is not certain with any higher certainty than any future event that is conditioned by acts of free will, although this certainty may be revealed to us in one event, and not in another.  

7   Of course, the salvation of the saints is not certain by any degree of certainty that gives us the least ground to hope that we can be exempt from punishment while we continue in sin.  For if we are to be saved, we are to be saved on condition of continuing in faith and obedience to the end of our life. 
     Moreover, our salvation is no more certain than our future free obedience is.  The certainty that our future obedience is based on our free will, and knowing this certainty cannot a.)  be a reason for not obeying, or b.)  provide encouragement to live in sin.  Therefore, the knowledge of the conditional and moral certainty of our salvation cannot provide a ground for us to hope to receive immunity while we live a life of sin.   

8   The salvation of the saints is not so certain that it makes their salvation or their damnation any more impossible than it makes any future acts of sin or obedience impossible!  As a result, events are not certain in such a sense that it should encourage any hope of salvation while we live in sin.  This is no different than the certainty that a farmer will raise a crop on the condition that he is diligent, and timely, and persevering using the appropriate means, would encourage him to neglect those means.  If the farmer knew that he would certainly raise a crop if he met the appropriate conditions, there would be no temptation for him to neglect to do those things he needed to do to raise his crop.  In fact, he would use this knowledge as a powerful incentive to do what he needed to do.  Therefore, knowing that the salvation of the saints is certain cannot be a temptation for anyone to live in sin; but instead, this knowledge must act as a powerful incentive to exercise confi­dence in God, and persevere in holiness to the end of their lives.  Neither can the certainty that the necessary means will be used, encourage anyone to neglect to use those means in the case of one’s salvation, any more than the revealed certainty that a farmer will sow his field and have a crop, would encourage him to neglect to sow.  The known certainty of both the means and the end, with an understanding of the fact that our certainty is a moral certainty, has no natural tendency to produces presumption and neglect.  Instead, it naturally produces a diligent, cheerful, and confident use of the necessary means.

C       What is the doctrine of perseverance? 
     The doctrine of perseverance means that God’s grace and Spirit preserve all who are true saints of God through faith, in the sense that, after regeneration, obedience is their rule, and disobedience is only the exception; and that if they do this they will certainly be saved with an everlasting salvation. 
     Before I proceed to prove this doctrine, let me make a few remarks.

1   I am more hesitant in forming and expressing my views concerning perseverance, than on almost any other question in theology.  I have read whatever I could find on both sides of this question, and have not been satisfied with the arguments on either side.  After many lengthy and repeated discussions, I feel that I am better prepared to express opinions on this subject than ever before.  There have been times during my ministry, when I was almost at the point of coming to the conclusion that this doctrine is not true. 
     But I was never able to give a satisfac­tory reason for rejecting this doctrine.  Apparent facts came to my attention that sometimes led me to seriously doubt the soundness of this doctrine; but I cannot see how denying this doctrine can be reconciled with the scriptures. 
     I will give the substance of what I believe is the scriptural proof of this doctrine, and ask you to make up your own mind.  Perhaps what has satisfied my mind may not satisfy your mind.  Please don’t believe this, or any other doctrine on my authority, but “test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21)

2   I have noticed that we cannot come to this conclusion from the nature of regeneration.  Perseverance is an attribute or characteristic of Christian character; but this does not necessarily result from the nature of regeneration.  It comes from the indwelling Spirit of Christ.  It has been common for those writers and theologians who support what they called the Taste Scheme of regeneration, to conclude the truth of perseverance from the nature of the change that constitutes the new birth.  They have been totally consistent in their theory.  They believe that regeneration consists in a change in the constitution of the mind, in the infusion of a new constitutional taste, relish, or appetite.  That’s why they call it the taste theory.  They believe that regeneration consists in a change that lies behind all voluntary action, and this change is powerful enough to secure and force a change of voluntary action.  It is easy to conclude, from such a change, that the saints will persevere, unless one can show that either God, or Satan, or voluntary sin, can change the nature back again.  If, in regeneration, our physical nature has really changed, if God has implanted some new appetite or taste in us, if some holy principle is implanted or infused into our constitution, then it must follow that we will persevere by a physical law of our new nature or constitution.  I do not see how, in this situation, we could ever backslide, even for a little while, unless our new appetite temporarily fails, perhaps like our appetite for food sometimes fails.  But, even if this is true, if regeneration consists in or implies a new creation within us of something that is not voluntary, then this is a creation of a new nature, instead of a new character.  Based on their theory of regeneration, I admit that it is reasonable to conclude that perseverance would naturally result from such a change.  But since I completely reject their theory of regeneration, and maintain that regeneration is a voluntary change, I cannot believe that the final salvation of the saints comes from some permanent change in our nature.

Nor can we justly conclude that the saints will persevere, simply because God brought them into a state of justification when they were converted. 
     By perseverance, some seem to mean that the saints will be saved whether they persevere in obedience or not.  It was against this idea that such men as the Wesleys, and Fletcher, and others fought so valiantly.  They justly and successfully resisted the doctrine that one act of faith perpetually justifies a soul, and they maintained that saints, as well as sinners, are condemned whenever they sin.  They also contended that there is no absolute certainty that all true saints will be saved.  Since I have already spent time disagreeing with the doctrine of a perpetual justification that is conditioned on one’s first act of faith, I cannot conclude that the saints will be eternally saved simply from the nature of justification. 
     These people contend that the first act of faith introduces the soul into a new relationship of such a nature that, from that time forward, no matter what they do, the law no longer condemns the soul.  From this these people conclude that from the nature of such a justifica­tion, everyone who exercises faith will escape the penalty of God’s Divine law.  But we have seen, that this is not the nature of gospel justification, and therefore we must not conclude that all saints will be saved simply because they have once believed and been justified.