Westminster Confession of Faith 17.1-3
1. They, whom God hath 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.
2. 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 ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
3. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalancy of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their perseverance, 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.
Summary
Can a Christian lose their salvation? That is one of the most debated questions in the history of theology. We certainly know that apostasy, falling away from the faith, is a reality in our world. We all know stories of people who profess faith in Jesus, or grow up in the church as apparently faithful covenant children, and then 20 years down the road, they are painting their hair purple, living in open rebellion against God, and treating the church as just another embarrassing step in the process of "progressing" on into true maturity and enlightened living.
The question before us is whether that person ever had a saving relationship with God, or not. Did they have something real and really lose it? Or did they never have the real thing and only lose the appearance of it, the sham covering?
The Confession echoes the Bible's teaching when it declares that, "They, whom God hath accepted in His beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally away from the state of grace." If God has set His hand on a human soul to save them, then they assuredly must be saved. The basis for that truth is that God is the one doing the saving; not the sinner. Two important words come up in relation to this truth: monergism and synergism. Monergism is the reality that salvation is all a work of God. Synergism is the mistaken belief that the sinner must work with God in order to reach salvation. If we were in any way required to contribute to our salvation, we would surely make a mess of it and our perseverance would be thrown into the ether. But because salvation is of the Lord, not of us, we can rest assured that the saints will persevere all the way to eternal life, no matter how much they may struggle on the way there.
The question before us is whether that person ever had a saving relationship with God, or not. Did they have something real and really lose it? Or did they never have the real thing and only lose the appearance of it, the sham covering?
The Confession echoes the Bible's teaching when it declares that, "They, whom God hath accepted in His beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally away from the state of grace." If God has set His hand on a human soul to save them, then they assuredly must be saved. The basis for that truth is that God is the one doing the saving; not the sinner. Two important words come up in relation to this truth: monergism and synergism. Monergism is the reality that salvation is all a work of God. Synergism is the mistaken belief that the sinner must work with God in order to reach salvation. If we were in any way required to contribute to our salvation, we would surely make a mess of it and our perseverance would be thrown into the ether. But because salvation is of the Lord, not of us, we can rest assured that the saints will persevere all the way to eternal life, no matter how much they may struggle on the way there.
+ Blessings in Christ +
