Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology

Soteriology: The Doctrine of Salvation

What does the Bible teach about salvation?

Sanctification
Review

Sanctification: Review
Definitive Sanctification Progressive Sanctification Who will define each of these terms?

Sanctification: Review
Definitive Sanctification is the once-for-all act of God that cleanses and purifies us from sin, which act is the product of our union with Christ in his life, death, burial, and resurrection. What role does the believer play in his or her definitive sanctification?

Sanctification: Review
Progressive Sanctification is the process in which we responsibly participate with God in becoming more and more holy throughout our Christian lives until our glorification. What role does the believer play in his or her progressive sanctification?

Sanctification: Review

Definitive and progressive sanctification occupy different places in the ordo salutis:

Election Predestination (Effectual/Effective) Calling Regeneration Definitive Sanctification Repentance Faith Justification Adoption Progressive Sanctification Glorification

Sanctification: Review
Define the relationship between definitive sanctification and progressive sanctification. God transforms a fish (sinner) into a bird (saint). God gives birds (saints) the will to fly and commands them to do so, but they often succumb to a competing desire to swim (to sin).

Sanctification
Monergism and Synergism

Sanctification: Review
Is sanctification monergistic or synergistic? It depends on two things

First, what kind of sanctification is in view (definitive or progressive) and Second, what the terms monergistic and synergistic mean.

Lets begin with the second point; namely, the meanings of monergistic and synergistic.

Sanctification: Review

The term Synergism can be used in a theologicaltechnical way to refer to the belief that the human will cooperates with divine grace in our regeneration. The opposite of Synergism, Monergism refers to the belief that divine grace acts unilaterally in our regeneration. Thus Synergism (note the capital S) can have a very specific referenta belief regarding the nature of regeneration. Therefore there is a sense in which is inappropriate to ask the question Is sanctification Synergistic? since Synergism has to do with the doctrine of regeneration.

Sanctification: Review

The term synergism can be used in a less technical fashion to refer simply to cooperation. Therefore monergism in this less technical sense refers to an act which is undertaken alone. Thus in a discussion of Christian sanctification, it is appropriate to ask whether or not sanctification is synergistic (note the lowercase s); That is, whether it is God who acts unilaterally (monergistic) or we who act in cooperation with God (synergistic). It is this secondary and less technical sense in which I have been using the terms synergism and monergism with respect to the different aspects of the ordo salutis (the order of salvation) in our lectures on soteriology.

Sanctification: Review

Now then, let us ask whether or not sanctification is synergistic.

Is sanctification synergistic? Well, it depends what you mean by sanctification.

Sanctification: Review
As we have said, definitive sanctification is monergistic (not synergistic)God acts upon us with no cooperation from us at all. Progressive sanctification, however, is synergistic (not monergistic) in that the believer cooperates with the Lord in the process of his conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.

Sanctification: Review

This cooperation, however, is a mysterious cooperation. Phil 2:12-13: So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out (katerga,zomai, katergzomai) your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work (o` evnergw/n, ho energn) in you, both to will and to work (to. evnergei/n, t energen) for His good pleasure. Which leads us to the substance of this lecture

Perseverance of the Saints

The Perseverance of the Saints

Perseverance is related to progressive sanctification in the same way that a steam engine must continue to have coal fed into its stove and stay on the tracks headed toward its final destination.
Stay on the tracks headed toward your destination (perseverance). Feed coal into your stove (progressive sanctification).

The Mystery of Perseverance

The Mystery of Perseverance

The Bible teaches two compatible and mysterious truths:

Gods people must persevere in order to be saved (duty). God grants perseverance to his people as a gift of his grace (gift).

Lets start with the second, more commonly asserted teaching

The Gift of Perseverance

The Gift of Perseverance

To say that this is more commonly asserted than the duty of perseverance is only partially true. This idea is usually put like this: Believers can never lose their salvation. Or a bit more crassly, Once saved, always saved. As we get closer to our conclusion, youll see why these aphorisms are not as helpful in conveying the Bibles teaching with regard to the security of believers in Christ. We refer to it as the perseverance of the saintsGod promises that his people will persevere.

The Gift of Perseverance

John 6:37-40: All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

The Gift of Perseverance

John 10:27-29: My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. Rom 5:9-10: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The Gift of Perseverance

Rom 8:35, 37-39: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Gift of Perseverance

Rom 8:29: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. Phil 1:6: For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 1 Pet 1:5: who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The Gift of Perseverance

The texts that weve seen indicate the following:

Believers will be delivered safely to the Last Day Believers will grow in grace God keeps you on the tracks headed toward your final destination. God empowers you to feed coal into your stove.

Or to return to our steam engine metaphor:

The Duty of Perseverance

The Duty of Perseverance

When we call perseverance a duty we mean more than that we are commanded to persevere; We mean that a failure to fulfill the mandate to persevere will result in a failure to arrive safely at the Last Day.

The Duty of Perseverance

1 Cor 15:1-2: Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

The Duty of Perseverance

Col 1:21-23: And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproachif indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

The Duty of Perseverance

Heb 3:6: but Christ was faithful as a Son over His housewhose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Heb 3:12-14: Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.

The Duty of Perseverance

Heb 6:4-12: For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Duty of Perseverance

Heb 10:26-29: For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Heb 10:35-36: Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Heb 10:39: But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

The Duty of Perseverance

Heb 12:15-17: See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

The Duty of Perseverance

Its Pathology

The Duty of Perseverance: Pathology

Perseverance in the faith is a duty that if neglected will result in our failure to obtain salvation.

The Duty of Perseverance: Pathology

Does this make you nervous? Well, in one sense it should. You must make every effort to persevere in the faith.

It is your responsibility to keep your engine on the tracks headed toward your final destination. If you deviate from the tracks (the course laid out for you), you will not make it to your final destination.

The Duty of Perseverance: Pathology

In another sense, it shouldnt.

Perseverance is a duty that if neglected will result in our failure to obtain salvation. Believing in Jesus is a duty that if neglected will result in our failure to obtain salvation.

How about this?

The Duty of Perseverance: Pathology

Believing in Jesus is a duty that if neglected will result in our failure to obtain salvation. Think about this for a moment

The Duty of Perseverance: Pathology

The doctrine of election teaches us that God has chosen some for salvation (in all its fullness) from before time beganthe elect will come to saving faith. God has done it. Does this mean that the elect do not need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ since their election guarantees their salvation anyway? Absolutely not!

The Duty of Perseverance: Pathology

Rom 10:14-17: How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Dont forget Romans 9!

The Duty of Perseverance: Pathology

If we do not object to this:

Believing in Jesus is a duty that if neglected will result in our failure to obtain salvation. Persevering in the faith is a duty that if neglected will result in our failure to obtain salvation.

Then we should not object to this:

The Mystery of Perseverance

The Mystery of Perseverance

This is what makes perseverance a mystery. Both are true:

We will not make it to final salvation unless we persevere, and God has granted us perseverance by the power of his grace.

A biblical illustration

The Mystery of Perseverance

Acts 27:21-25: When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.' Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.

The Mystery of Perseverance

Acts 27:30-31: But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.

The Mystery of Perseverance

This is what makes perseverance a mystery. Both are true:

We will not make it to final salvation unless we persevere, and God has granted us perseverance by the power of his grace.

Thus neither teaching allows us to use one to trump the other

The Mystery of Perseverance

We must stay on the tracks headed toward our final destination; if we dont, we wont make it there. AND God has guaranteed that we will stay on the tracks headed toward our final destination.

Losing Our Salvation

Can Believers Lose Their Salvation?

Losing Our Salvation

In a very real sense this is a poor question when it comes to the issue of perseverance. Perseverance looks to salvation in terms of its future aspect (you must persevere to salvation [final salvation]). Therefore it is inappropriate to ask whether or not we can lose future salvation, since we havent arrived there yet. You cant lose what you dont yet possess.

Losing Our Salvation

On the other hand, I understand the question as one that asks: Is the believers eternity secure? To which I would respond: Yesif you persevere knowing full well that if you persevere it is the product and proof of the grace of God which guarantees your future.

Once Saved; Always Saved

Once Saved; Always Saved

Usually this dictum is invoked by those with a shallow view of salvation. If you intellectually assent to the truth of the gospel at some point in your life, you will be saved regardless of how you live afterward. This is absolutely and unequivocally false.

Once Saved; Always Saved

First, God has chosen us to be holy and blameless before him (Eph 1:3). Second, Christ predestined our works (Eph 2:10). Third, faith cannot be reduced to intellectual assent. Fourth, when a person is converted, he or she is changed by God from within and that change necessarily results in some degree of outward change (Jer 31:31-34 w/ Hebrews 8). Fifth, Christ saved us to be a people zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:11-14) Sixth, if you do not persevere, you will not be finally saved.

Once Saved; Always Saved

On the other hand, if you mean by Once Saved; Always Saved that no true Christian can ultimately be eternally lost, you are absolutely and unequivocally correct. You just need to be sure that in your definition of true Christian you include the absolute necessity of perseverance.

Conclusion
Two Implications

Conclusion

The doctrine of perseverance ought to give us a sense of sobriety when it comes to the pursuit of holiness. It is why we are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). The doctrine of perseverance ought to engender in us a sense of wonder for the power of Gods saving grace. Not only does he justify us but he places in our hearts a capacity to grow in grace and persevere to the end even in the light of afflictions and suffering and the continued presence of personal sin!