Perseverance of the saints

Can a Christian loose their salvation? The Bible says no.

The last point of Calvinism is: The perseverance of the saints. Perhaps a better summary would be: God’s preservation of the saints or God’s persevering with the saints. (BTW “Saints” is the word the New Testament uses for regular Christians.)

The Westminster Confession of Faith has a great definition of this doctrine. It says, “They whom God has 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.”

Jesus put it this way:
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:27-30

The Apostle Paul, Jesus' follower and author of a large chunck of the New Testament said:
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

According to the Bible, a Christian can never loose their salvation, fall beyond God’s grace, be un-adopted from God’s family, be un-justified or be un-redeemed. Christians will perseverance to the end. 

This doctrine has been misunderstood by many. The doctrine does not say that Christians will not face any spiritual dangers or never fall into sin. Indeed they will face trials and fall into sin, just like all the “great” believers in the Bible. The doctrine simply says that if they are Christians they will persevere through all these trials and temptations and never loose their right standing before God.

Of course, this doctrine applies only to Christians. It does not apply to those who simply profess Christ, think they can live like they want and have a free ticket to heaven.

Why saving grace must be irresistible

The fourth point of Calvinism is Irresistible Grace.  This doctrine says that when God calls us to faith in Jesus he calls effectively, always succeeding in his purpose to save us.

The Bible distinguished between the general call of God to all sinners to come to Jesus (e.g. Jesus saying “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”) and the specific call or summons God gives to his elect (e.g. Romans 1:6…you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ…)

John Piper writes: Irresistible grace refers to the sovereign work of God to overcome the rebellion of our heart and bring us to faith in Christ so that we can be saved. If our doctrine of total depravity is true, there can be no salvation without the reality of irresistible grace. If we are dead in our sins, totally unable to submit to God, then we will never believe in Christ unless God overcomes our rebellion.

God the Father elects us before the creation of the world. God the Son dies to accomplish our salvation and God the Holy Spirit calls us to himself; we simply respond in repentance and faith, and enjoy all benefits of that salvation.

A great link to C J Mahaney's testimony of God's irresistible grace in his conversion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYVO2-2ndg4

Why I believe in Limited Atonement

Who did Jesus die for? What did Jesus’ death actually achieve?

These two questions point to the heart of the third point of Calvinism, Limited Atonement. Most Christians would say that Jesus died for all the sins of every person in the entire world. Jesus paid the price for each sin of every person and we apply that forgiveness to us personally when we put our faith in Jesus.
Limited Atonement, however, says that Jesus died to actually save those God elected. When Jesus was crucified on the Roman cross he did not simply make salvation a possibility, but rather he actually redeemed God’s elect (“many”, Mark 10:45), propitiated God’s wrath (Romans 3:25), made atonement for God’s people (Hebrews 2:17) and reconciled them to God (2 Corinthians 5:18). The New Testament does not speak of potential possibilities that Jesus’ death may achieve, but rather the definite salvation Jesus did achieve for those God had chosen. Jesus’ death saved and redeemed (past tense) God’s people.

Jesus himself said he would lay down his life for his sheep, not the goats.

Double jeopardy
The opposite of Limited Atonement in the theory of General Ransom (i.e. Jesus paid the price for every person’s sins). But this can logically also not be true. How could a just God punish an unbeliever for his or her sins if Jesus has already received their punishment? You cannot be prosecuted for the same crime (or parking ticket!) twice.

When God the Son died on that Roman cross in the first century AD, he accomplished the eternal salvation of those whom God the Father had unconditionally elected.