The correct way to describe this doctrine is the perseverance of the saints rather than eternal security. It is not just that we are eternally secure, it is that we are eternally secure because our faith perseveres. Welcome to Grace To You with John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Now, you've probably heard the phrase, once saved, always saved. What do you think? Is that a true statement, or could you do something? Could you commit some horrible sin that would cause you to forfeit your salvation? Well, today John MacArthur is going to help you see what the Bible says about the permanence of salvation.
He's beginning a study titled, God Won't Let You Go. Now, John, this issue of whether salvation is something you can lose, I know that throughout your ministry this is something people are deeply concerned about and have often asked you about. So why do you think this topic keeps coming up?
Yeah, I think there are two reasons for it. There has been, for ages, the theology that you can lose your salvation. It's been out there, it's been taught, it's been advocated, it's been fought for. Even people who believe in the security or perseverance of the saints have been vilified by the people who reject that. So it is a very aggressive and old idea that you can lose your salvation.
That's one of the reasons it's still an issue. The second reason why people struggle with their salvation is because of a lack of personal assurance. It doesn't have so much to do with theology. It has to do with the fear that they're not genuinely converted. And you ask, well, why do people fear that they're not genuinely converted?
One reason is because Satan tempts them to fear, tempts them to doubt. Another reason is that there are issues in their life that steal their assurance. Now look, security is one thing. Security is a fact. Assurance is a feeling. You are secure in Christ if you're a true believer. Even if my assurance comes and goes.
Yeah, my security doesn't come and go, I'm secure. My assurance comes and goes dependent upon my behavior and my devotion to Christ and my time in the Word of God and my walking in the Holy Spirit. So I think that the assurance that believers desire comes first of all from the theology, the sound doctrine of security, but secondly and more pragmatically, more practically, believers only enjoy assurance when they walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. It isn't so much perfect behavior, but it is that love for Christ, that longing for righteousness, that love of holiness, that love of worship, that love of the Word of God. It's not perfect, but it defines our desires.
And so that's going to be a struggle. Those desires are there, but even Paul said, the things I want to do, I don't do. The things I don't want to do, I do. So there's a battle going on, and when you're walking in the flesh, you're going to forfeit the joy and peace that comes with assurance. PHILIP M. WILKINSON Thanks, John. And, friend, you might already believe that you can't lose your salvation, but do you know why that's the case? Consider that now as John begins the encouraging study that he calls, God won't let you go. JOHN K. RABBI SCHNEIDER True believers will persevere in faith to the end. Often that doctrine is called the doctrine of eternal security. Sometimes it's sort of cryptically said, once saved, always saved.
And, of course, all of those things are true. I want you to understand that this is an important component of salvation because if salvation were not permanent, then the doctrine of election would be called into question, the doctrine of justification would be called into question, the doctrine of sanctification would be called into question, and the doctrine of glorification would be called into question. The calling of God would be called into question and therefore the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit would all be called into question as well. And so what makes the whole of the doctrines of salvation come together and stay together is the eternality of salvation, the perseverance of the saints. This has been the historic doctrine of the true church. Now there are so many texts to study in regard to this, but let me take you to one text that I think will be very helpful for us. Come to 1 Peter chapter 1...1 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 through 9, and I want to read them to you.
This comes as a kind of doxology. It is a pronunciation of glorious blessing on God for our eternal salvation. Listen to what Peter writes, verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. Here's the key phrase, who are protected?
You can underline that. That's the heart of the passage. Peter is blessing God for divine protection, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Now notice those two things are tied together. We are protected to the receiving of this eternal inheritance and that protection comes to us through faith. Chapter 6, in this you greatly rejoice.
Of course, who wouldn't? You greatly rejoice that you're protected, even though now for a little while if necessary you've been distressed by various trials. And they come that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. Now I just want to get you the heart of the passage. Verse 5, you are protected and you are protected through faith, verse 5. Verse 8, you don't see Him now, but you believe in Him. There again is the emphasis on faith. Verse 9, and obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls, and He means there the final salvation, glorification.
You see, this matter of security, of being protected is tied to an enduring faith. That was written by Peter. Now let me just stop and talk about Peter. We all know about Peter, right? If anybody...if anybody was to write a treatise on the perseverance of the saints, it should be Peter...it really should. He is the right person to give testimony to perseverance because if there was any New Testament person who was constantly prone to failure, who was it? It was Peter. It was the very man who wrote these words because he was the man who most frequently experienced the protection of a persevering faith.
I guess in his case it was kind of a bounce back faith. Based on the record of the gospels, none of our Lord's disciples, except Judas, of course, failed more miserably than Peter...impetuous, erratic, ambitious, selfish, vacillating, weak, cowardly, hot-headed. On several occasions he invited strong rebukes from the Lord. I think none more severe than Matthew 16 23 where Jesus looked him in the face and said, "'Get thee behind Me,' whom? Satan."
Now that's the limit. When the Lord identifies you as the tool of Satan, you have seriously stumbled. And you remember, that low point occurred almost immediately after the high point of his life recorded in the same chapter in verse 16 when he said, "'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" And Jesus said, "'Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you but My Father who is in heaven.'" The Peter is this great example of the high and the low, the extreme high and the extreme low. Peter is proof that a true believer can stumble and stumble seriously and fail and fail seriously and be weak and cowardly and make temporary denials. But because he has been given protection by an enduring faith produced in his heart by the sovereign work of God, he never fails completely and he never fails finally. It wasn't long after that denial that he went out and did what?
Wept bitterly, desperately wanting to be restored. Jesus even told him in Luke 22 this was going to happen. He said to him in Luke 22, verse 31, "'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.'" You understand that Satan can't do anything to anybody unless he has permission? Satan is the servant of God.
He can do nothing other than what God allows him to do. He wanted to tear into Peter because he knew how important Peter was to the gospel mission. But look at verse 32.
This is something to underline, folks, something to never forget. Luke 22, 32, listen, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, to shake you, to find out if you're real. I love this, verse 32, "'But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.'"
Wow! "'I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.'" And I'll tell you something, if that's how Jesus prayed, that's what will happen.
His faith won't fail. Peter, you know, thought the Lord didn't understand how strong he really was. Peter thought he'd be fine and he gives testimony to that in verse 33. He said to him, "'Lord, with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death.'" And he said, "'I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you've denied three times that you know me.'"
Jesus let it happen. Satan could not tempt Peter if the Lord hadn't allowed it. And he allowed it, knowing that Peter's faith could not fail because he prayed that his faith fail not. And his prayer is always heard and answered by the Father because Jesus always prays according to the Father's will, just as the Spirit intercedes according to the will of the Father.
Well he said, why in the world did he let it happen? So that the trial would prove to Peter the enduring character of his faith. The Lord didn't need to know his faith was real, but Peter did, and I'll tell you why later in the text.
You say, well yeah, the Lord prayed for Peter that his faith fail not, what about us? He prays like that today and every day and all the time. Hebrews 7.25, listen to this great verse, Hebrews 7.25, he is able to save forever.
That's what that phrase should be. He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him. He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him, here's why, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Our great High Priest at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, able to save us forever because He always lives to make intercession for us.
We are kept by an enduring faith that is sustained and maintained to the end by the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Holy Spirit weighs in on this same great keeping ministry, Romans 8. The Holy Spirit helps our weaknesses.
We don't know how to pray as we should. The Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. That's not speaking in tongues or something like that, it's not what you say, it's what the Holy Spirit says and it's not in something uttered, it's something not uttered.
It's a silent, private, intertrinitarian communion where the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. There are no words, it's the Spirit interceding on our behalf and He who searches the hearts, asks God, knows the mind of the Spirit because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So Christ prays according to the will of God that our faith not fail, that the Father keep us. The Spirit prays according to the will of God and as a result, all things...next verse...work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose and whom He foreknew, He justified and whom He justified, He glorified. Christ intercession guarantees our future glory, the Holy Spirit's intercession guarantees our future glory and the Father's purpose guarantees our future glory that He foreknew us, He predestined us, He called us, He justified us and He will glorify us because His purpose at the beginning was to conform us to the image of His Son. He didn't save you for a temporary enterprise, He saved you to conform you to the image of His Son in eternal glory, to give you the very holiness of Christ.
When you think about heaven, it's not that we will look like Jesus physically, it's that we will be like Jesus in terms of perfect holiness. We have been chosen, called, justified, sanctified and will be glorified. We are kept until that hour and we are kept by an enduring faith sustained by the intercessory work of Jesus Christ who prays that we will be protected from anything that would assault that faith, whether it be the flesh, or the world, or Satan himself. And added to the intercession at the right hand of the Father in heaven is the intercession from the heart of the Holy Spirit who is praying in ways we don't even know how to pray in a silent, inner Trinitarian communion for the will of God. And God hearing and answering that prayer causes everything to work out for good...everything. And so we are sustained by our supernatural faith given to us by God. When Jesus said to Peter, I pray that your faith fail not, He was saying to him what is true of all of us, the Lord intercedes for us that our faith may endure.
And He always prays according to the will of the Father who always answers prayers according to His will. Well, our dear Peter, he understood the keeping power of God. I'll tell you what, if Peter could have lost his salvation, he would have. How close can you get to Satan so that the Lord looks at you and says, get thee behind me Satan?
You can't get any closer than to be espousing Satan's desires. But did Peter ever rebound from that? Look at John 21.
After all those denials, and they were on three occasions, if you multiply all of them, he did it six times on three occasions. But when you come to John 21, Jesus finally confronts Peter. Just to give you a quick background, Jesus after His resurrection met with the Apostles. Jesus said to the disciples, go to Galilee and wait for Me there. Well they went. When He finally comes, chapter 21 verse 1, the disciples are at the Sea of Tiberias. And there they were, Simon Peter, always named first every time because he's the leader, and Thomas and Nathanael and James and John, the sons of Zebedee and two others. And Simon said to them, I'm going fishing, and the Greek language here has a certain finality about it, he says, I'm going to go back to fishing. And what he was going to do was go back to his old career. And of course they went out, got in the boat and couldn't catch anything.
Why? Because the Lord rerouted all the fish. They knew that lake like the back of their hands, they grew up fishing there.
They knew exactly what time of day and what season of the year to find fish in what spot. And Jesus showed up and asked the question that you never want to ask somebody who's fished all night and caught nothing. You don't have any fish, do you? They said, no. And then He said this ridiculous thing, cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you'll find a catch.
That's very insulting. What do you think, we fished one side? Or maybe you think the boat stays in one spot. Or maybe you think the fish know the right from the left.
What kind of a statement is that? But always Jesus spoke with authority so they did what He said and they got so many fish they couldn't handle them. And then that disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, that's John, said to Peter, huh, it's the Lord. And Peter, bless his heart, did he have enduring faith?
Sure. Was it weak? Did he fail?
Yes. But oh my, did he rebound. Verse 7, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on for he was stripped down to his inner garment for work. He dove into the sea.
The other disciples came in a boat. He was in such a big hurry to be restored. He hated so much the sin that he saw in himself.
He hated his own disobedience. And just impetuously dove in and they were a hundred yards away. And, of course, the rest of them were saying, yes, that's Peter, he leaves us to drag this huge amount of fish into shore. They came in and the Lord had prepared breakfast. You know how the Lord prepares breakfast, don't you? And they brought in some of their fish, 153 fish, verse 11 says. Jesus said, come and have breakfast. And nobody said, who are you?
They knew. And after breakfast, in verse 15, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, do you love Me more than these? What a provocative, penetrating question. Do you love Me more than these fish, these nets, this way of life? Do you love Me more than these other disciples? You said that if everybody forsook you, you never would. You said you were willing to go to death with Me. You didn't.
You denied Me. And I guess the right question is, Simon, son of John, or Jonas, do you love Me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said, then teach My lambs, then do what I tell you.
I called you to preach and to teach, not to fish. And remember, Peter had denied Him three times, so the Lord is going to restore Him three times. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? And he said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you, you know that.
And he said, then shepherd my sheep, do what I told you to do. And he said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved this time, this hurt. He was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love Me? And he said to him this, Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.
Why? Because God Himself had given to Peter an enduring faith, an enduring love for Christ, weak yes, vacillating yes, stumbling yes, but never completely and never finally and always the first to be eager to be restored. And Jesus said, that's all I ask, tend My sheep, you're the shepherd I'm looking for. When you were young, verse 18, you used to gird yourself, walk where you wanted.
Now you're old, you'll stretch your hands out. He was speaking of Peter's crucifixion, which is how he finally died. Someone else is going to tie you up, bring you where you don't want to go. And this he said, signifying by what death he would glorify God. Peter, you're going to be a martyr. And Peter was faithful to the end and when it came time to be crucified, he wouldn't let them crucify him the normal way because he wasn't worthy, he said, to be crucified like his Lord.
So they flipped him over and crucified him upside down, a more excruciating way to die. He endured to the end. There isn't anybody better really to write about the perseverance of the saints, about an enduring faith, about an enduring love, about remaining faithful to the end. There's nobody better to write that than Peter, the man who repented with tears, the man who was so pained by his own failure that he dove into the water to swim as fast as he could to Jesus, the one who was so confident of his own genuine love and faith that he asked the Lord to read his heart knowing that what he saw there he would know is the real thing. And so it's appropriate that Peter tell us about persevering faith. Go back now to 1 Peter, one final comment, when Peter then in verse 5 says, we are protected through faith. When he says in verse 8, we believe in him. When he says in verse 9, the outcome of our faith is the final salvation.
Peter is speaking from personal experience. He knew what it was, in spite of his weakness, to have an undying, enduring faith. That is the faith that belongs to every person who is truly saved. And as I said, in the end, Peter was faithful to proclaim Jesus Christ in the face of death.
That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. His study today on Grace To You is titled, God Won't Let You Go, focusing on the encouraging doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Now all this week, John will continue unpacking the glories of this doctrine. As he does, keep in mind that you can download this entire series, including parts that we don't have time to air.
The title again, God Won't Let You Go. To take in this foundational truth at your own pace, download this study when you get in touch today. You'll find the MP3s and transcripts for God Won't Let You Go at gty.org. In fact, all of John's sermons, 3600 total, are free at our website. You can search by topic, scripture passage, or the date they were preached, and again, it's all free at gty.org. And while you're at the website, take advantage of the many free Bible study tools there. Check out the Grace To You blog and look for the series of articles titled, Once Saved, Always Saved. It's a helpful supplement to the lesson you heard today, and keep in mind that the blog is updated regularly, so you should come back often. The website is also a great place to go for resources that will help you cultivate spiritual disciplines like prayer and meditation and Bible study.
Our web address one more time, gty.org. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace To You staff, I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week with us, and be back tomorrow as John looks at a fear that prevents many Christians from obeying the Lord. See what it is and what to do about it when John continues his study, God Won't Let You Go. Find another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You.
