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XI. Perseverance of the Saints
A. THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS IN HISTORY.
The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is to the effect that they whom God has
regenerated and effectually called to a state of grace, can neither totally nor finally fall away
from that state, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved. This
doctrine was first explicitly taught by Augustine, though he was not as consistent on this point
as might have been expected of him as a strict predestinarian. With him the doctrine did not
assume the form just stated. He held that the elect could not so fall away as to be finally lost,
but at the same time considered it possible that some who were endowed with new life and
true faith could fall from grace completely and at last suffer eternal damnation. The Church of
Rome with its Semi-Pelagianism, including the doctrine of free will, denied the doctrine of the
perseverance of the saints and made their perseverance dependent on the uncertain obedience
of man. The Reformers restored this doctrine to its rightful place. The Lutheran Church,
however, makes it uncertain again by making it contingent on man’s continued activity of faith,
and by assuming that true believers can fall completely from grace. It is only in the Calvinistic
Churches that the doctrine is maintained in a form in which it affords absolute assurance. The
Canons of Dort, after calling attention to the many weaknesses and failures of the children of
God, declare: “But God, who is rich in mercy, according to His unchangeable purpose of
election, does not wholly withdraw the Holy Spirit from His own people even in their grievous
falls; nor suffers them to proceed so far as to lose the grace of adoption and forfeit the state of
justification, or to commit the sin unto death or against the Holy Spirit; nor does He permit
them to be totally deserted, and to plunge themselves into everlasting destruction.”[V, Art.
6.] The Arminians rejected this view and made the perseverance of believers dependent on
their will to believe and on their good works. Arminius himself avoided that extreme, but his
followers did did not hesitate to maintain their synergistic position with all its consequences.
The Wesleyan Arminians followed suit as did several of the sects. The Reformed or Calvinistic
Churches stand practically alone in giving a negative answer to the question, whether a
Christian can completely fall from the state of grace and be finally lost.
B. STATEMENT OF THE DOCTRINE OF PERSEVERANCE.
The doctrine of perseverance requires careful statement, especially in view of the fact that the
term “perseverance of the saints” is liable to misunderstanding. It should be noted first of all
that the doctrine is not merely to the effect that the elect will certainly be saved in the end,
though Augustine has given it that form, but teaches very specifically that they who have once
been regenerated and effectually called by God to a state of grace, can never completely fall
from that state and thus fail to attain to eternal salvation, though they may sometimes be