Perseverance of the Saints (Part 2 of 2)

How can we have absolute confidence that our relationship with God is secured forever? What keeps us from deserting him before we reach the finish line? Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg explains the biblical teaching about the perseverance of the saints. And as we'll see, it's God who secures our future. We begin today in Romans chapter 8. Who or what, he says, shall separate us from the love of Christ? Verse 35. What will separate us from the love of Christ?

Is it possible that once, having been laid hold of by the Good Shepherd, that we will then be separated from his love? That is what some people teach—that you become a Christian as a result of some decision that you make and something that you do, and since you started it, you can finish it. And so, if you determine to finish it, you just finish it. And then if you want to start it again, you just start it again. There'd be no relationship at all.

It would be absolutely dreadful. And here the Bible is saying, when the Lord Jesus comes and he wins and he woos those who are his beloved and he draws them to himself, he saves us for all of eternity. And once we are saved, we are always saved.

You can never be lost. If you're in Christ, you can never go to hell. He will always be your Savior.

He will never, ever, ever quit on you. Now, the New Testament also makes it very, very plain that no man or woman may suppose that the love of the Lord Jesus has embraced him or her unless that man or woman has come as a sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this love which God has displayed toward sinners was displayed toward sinners.

If you go back a few chapters to chapter 5 and verse 8, you come to this amazing verse. God demonstrates his own love for us in this, While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It is as a result of this amazing love demonstrated by God that we are elected and justified and glorified. And on account of this, Paul further asks the question in Romans 8 and verse 33, Who then will bring any charge against God's elect or against those whom God has chosen? After all, he says, it is God who justifies. It is God who looked at us in all of our sin and declared us righteous on account of the sacrifice of his Son. On what basis did God, in looking at us in our sin, pass his justifying sentence? Was it because we were so righteous?

No. Because we were unrighteous. Was it because we were so interested in the things of faith?

No. Because we were disinterested in the things of faith. Was it because we were so lovable just by dint of our very personalities and nature? Was it because we were so obviously religious, and God was looking for religious people, and he looked around and he found a few sort of religious, susceptible folks who were sort of into that kind of thing, and he said, Now, this is the kind of person that I need. Was that it?

No. If we were to stand up and give our testimony, we'd go all the way across the board. God looks down, and while we were ungodly and when we were liable to death on account of our sins, he declared us righteous on the basis of the sacrifice of his Son. It is for this reason that I quote so often the phrase from the hymn, Because the sinless Savior died, My guilty soul is counted free, For God the just is satisfied, To look on him and pardon me. On what basis did God pass his justifying sentence? Not on the basis of righteous deeds that we had done for all of our righteousnesses, where ultimately, as the prophet says, like filthy rags, even our best stuff stinks, even our religious endeavors are futile and worthless. So unless it was on the basis of what another had done, there was absolutely no possibility of sinful men and women ever being declared in a right standing with a holy God.

And it is exactly on that basis. He knew the worst about us, and he accepted us for Jesus' sake. And the verdict which he passed on us is final. And no one can produce new evidence of my sinfulness that will make him change his mind. And if you're running around in your days constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering and worrying if somebody is going to come up with something in your past or some experience in your immediate past, and this will be enough, and they'll share it with God and say, Do you know what happened last Tuesday to Freddie Boy here or to Jane or whoever it is? Did you know that?

And God says, Oh, that takes me by surprise. Cancel that justification business. Now, rule him out. Rule him out.

He can come back and try again, but for now he's out of the race. That is what some people teach. What a dreadful tyranny! Never knowing where you stand, because always looking to myself to see if I'm doing well, always looking to my good deeds, or always looking to whether I'm having a wonderful day or a not-so-good day, and all of that looking to yourself will cripple you. There is only one place to look, and that is to look away to Christ. And in looking there to him, we say, If he would go to that extent for a sinner such as I and save me on the strength of that, I am surely not saved one day and unsaved the next. No, I am preserved, kept by God's power. That's why some of the old hymn writers do us such a great service—for example, Augustus Toplady. If your name was Augustus Toplady, you'd better be able to do something special.

And fortunately, he could write hymns. Now, listen to these great words. He's talking to himself. He says, From whence…?

Where does this…? From whence this fear and unbelief? He says, Here I am. It's a Tuesday morning, and I'm fearful, and I'm unbelieving. Now, I like that honesty. It's better than the smug superficiality of a lot of contemporary expressions of Christian faith. It just isn't true that everybody is so happy, so rejoicing, so wonderful, never had such a good day.

Cut it out. We know what it is to be fearful, and we know what it is to be unbelieving. And we don't have to tell people we don't to try and keep a good face on what it means to be a genuine Christian. From whence this fear and unbelief? Has not the Father put to grief His spotless Son for me? And will the righteous judge of men condemn me for that debt of sin which Lord was charged on thee? Complete atonement thou hast made, and to the utmost farthing paid, what e'er thy people owed, nor can his wrath on me take place, if sheltered in thy righteousness and sprinkled with thy blood. If thou hast my discharge procured, and freely in my room endured the whole of wrath divine, payment God cannot twice demand, first at my bleeding Savior's hand, and then again at mine. You see, you cannot sing, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.

Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow, and then turn around and say, Maybe. Now, what is the application that is then made of this truth? What should it produce within the life of the child of God?

Well, look at what he says in Romans 8. I am convinced. I am convinced.

What is this? This is faith. What is faith? Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. It is faith which allows a man to say, I am convinced. What is faith? It's the very gift of God.

I am convinced. Which stands, of course, in striking contrast to the fears which can so often grip the heart of a believer. So let me wrap this up by reminding us that we need to set our sights correctly if we are to persevere to the end. To what should we look? Well, first of all, not to ourselves. Because when we look at ourselves, we only give ourselves a basis for discouragement. Even on a good day you give yourself enough basis for discouragement, don't you?

I do. All the things that people say to me, well, how did it go when they ask you when I do two things? They say, well, what happened in the first one? I say, well, I made a set of mistakes, and what happened in the second one? Well, I tried to correct the mistakes I made in the first one.

The trouble is, I made a whole new set of mistakes in the second one. And that's exactly the way our Christian life so often go. And it is less than truthful to say other than that. So if I look at myself, I only have cause for discouragement. If I look around at my brothers and sisters, it will ebb and flow, depending on who they are and where they are.

But by and large, it's not a great help. So I can only look one place, and that is, I look to the Lord Jesus himself. I turn my eyes upon Jesus. I remind myself in Hebrews 4.14, Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. It is in looking at Jesus, it is in fixing my thoughts on Jesus, that I am enabled to run the race set out for me. For I remind myself that he is the author, and he is the perfecter of my faith. He is the one, on account of the joy that was before him, endured the cross.

He scorned at shame. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, and he did it in order that I might be forgiven and continue through my days. To what, then, are we to look? Well, it is to whom, and it is to his Son. To what are we to listen? We are to listen to his Word. We are to listen to his Word. This is why it is so important to be in a Bible-teaching church, where the pastors and the elders will labor, along with those who instruct the youngsters, to bring forth the truth of God's Word for God's people. Because it is by the very Word of God that we are strengthened and we are equipped. It is God's Word which warns us.

It's his Word that guides us, teaches us, and encourages us. If you think about it in relationship to the denial of Peter—you remember, during the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was under strong, strong attack. He had made these very brave statements, Peter had—the kind of things with which we had become familiar in relationship to him. And it were recorded in Luke chapter 22 that after he had made all these affirmations about how everybody else might fall away and how everybody else might leave the Lord Jesus, that he never would. And in verse 60 of Luke 22, Peter now, having been asked a couple of times about whether he knew Christ, said, Man, I don't know what you're talking about! I don't know Jesus Christ! Now, this is the guy that Jesus said, You are Peter.

And upon your profession of faith and your conviction regarding the fact that I am Christ, the Son of the living God, I am going to build my church. This is the same guy, okay? He's at a fireplace, and a lady asks him, Hey, weren't you with that Galilean? You sound an awful lot like him. What does he say?

I don't know him. And just as he was speaking, the cock crowed. And the LORD turned and looked straight at Peter.

Then you have this interesting phrase. Then Peter remembered the word the LORD had spoken to him. What was the word that he had spoken to him? Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.

But that wasn't all. What was the word that he had spoken to him? Satan has desired to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. And when you're turned around, strengthen the brethren. And Peter went outside and wept bitterly. I'm not so sure that he wept on account of the recollection of the word of warning. I have a sneaking suspicion that what made the tears smart in his eyes was the awareness that in his moment of most abject, total failure, the word that had been spoken for him was, And Peter, I have prayed for you that your faith won't fail, and you're still my man. Tell you what, that's a wonderful Savior to have—a Savior who keeps us in the hour of our deepest darkness, in the moments of our abject failure, at the points of our greatest weakness.

And how does he do it? According to his Word. See, we don't read our Bibles simply to find blessed thoughts. We don't read our Bibles simply to get a good start to the day. We must read our Bibles, because it is by the very Word of truth that God's people are kept, transformed by the renewing of our minds. The word that Peter had heard brings joy out of his tears, and God's Word is the means of our great preservation. Well, then, if we're going to persevere, we need to look to his Son, we need to listen to his Word, and we need, finally, to keep close to his people.

To keep close to his people. Because God has determined that it is in our relationships with one another that we are strengthened and equipped. Hebrews 3.13 Encourage one another as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. The vital importance of belonging to a worshiping, praying, learning, evangelizing—company of God's people. Believers not living in isolation but like sheep gathering together in a flock.

Why? Because God has not only ordained that we will continue to the end, but he has ordained the means whereby we will continue to the end. And one of the means that he brings into our lives for this very purpose is the fellowship of his people.

That's why it is a great concern to me to watch the church in America in the last twenty-five or thirty years move from the essential nature of the Lord's Day, the priority and definite emphasis of the teaching of the Word of God on two occasions on the Lord's Day—not because there are evening services in the Bible, but simply because it would seem only right that, seizing the opportunity of the hours and the day, we would gather to look to the Son, to listen to his Word, and to learn from one another. Our faith will not fail because God sustains it. As Packer says, you're not strong enough to fall away while God is resolved to hold you. I love that statement.

I wish I'd been smart enough to think it up for myself. You are not strong enough to fall away as long as God is resolved to hold you. Let me finish with top lady again. The work which his goodness began, that is, the work of redemption, the arm of his strength will complete. His promise is yes and amen, and never was forfeited yet. Things future, nor things that are now, not all things below nor above, can make him his purpose forego, or sever my soul from his love. My name from the palms of his hands, eternity will not erase.

Impressed on his heart, it remains in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure, as sure as the earnest is given. More happy, but not more secure, the glorified spirits in heaven. The people who have already run the race, breasted the tape, and entered into the joy of the Lord are happier tonight, but no more secure than the stumbling, bumbling, wandering, struggling, trusting, growing, continuing, persevering believer. How good to know that our salvation is grounded in the eternal counsels of God, is brought to our experience in a moment in time, and will be brought to completion absolutely dead set on account of his amazing grace. These are the biblical truths that seal our relationship with God forever. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. We're concluding our study, called Fix Our Eyes on Jesus, with a message titled Perseverance of the Saints.

Stay with us. In just a minute, Alistair will challenge us to apply what we've learned today. As we hear about the thread of God's amazing grace woven through the Bible, we see that God longs to be in relationship with us. We are, as author Ed Welch puts it, created to draw near. That's the title of his book that clearly describes the foundational themes in our study in the book of Hebrews. Created to draw near begins in the Old Testament and looks at the biblical role of the priesthood. Ed Welch explains how Jesus, our great high priest, has opened the door for us to have a personal relationship with God. When we understand this essential biblical truth, we can better understand how we're created for communion with God.

It's our spiritual heritage. We'd love to send you the book Created to Draw Near. Today is the final day we're mentioning this offer. A copy of the book is yours when you give a donation to support Truth for Life. You can make your request by going to truthforlife.org slash donate or by clicking on the book image on our mobile app or by calling 888-588-7884. Your gift goes directly to accomplishing our mission, which is to teach the Bible with clarity and relevance so that unbelievers are converted, believers are established, and local churches are strengthened. Again, call 888-588-7884 or send your donation to Truth for Life, P.O. Box 398000, Cleveland, Ohio.

The zip code is 44139. Here again is Alistair Begg. Some of us are here tonight, and we've spent the last period of our lives in Doubting Castle. Some of us have been in Bypath Meadow. Some of us have been spending far too much time with Pliable and Mr.

Worldly Wiseman. And we've needed a word of encouragement and direction, such as we have received, and we thank God for it, and we bless his name. And the tears smart in our eyes—not because he knew about our rebellion and our disinterest, but the tears smart in our eyes because he has promised to bring to completion the work that he has begun—how amazing that he would continue with the likes of such as me! It's grace that brought me safe this far, and it's grace that will bring me home. We've been ransomed, healed, and restored, and forgiven.

So we're the ones that ought to sing. We ought to declare the joy that is ours in the Lord Jesus. We ought to bow before the wonder of his beauty and his majesty. We ought to declare unreservedly that the whole of heaven redounds with his praise and glory, that he, the Lamb upon the throne, is the one who bore our sin, and who pleads our cause, and who awaits our arrival. O God, we worship you. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Tomorrow our attention turns to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In this passage Paul gives instruction to pastors about their role and to church families about respecting their leaders. I'm Bob Lapeen, hoping you can join us Thursday for the first message in our newest collection of messages in the series called The Pastor's Study. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.