Conversion xiii / Perseverance
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
(Is.54:10)
I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
(Jer.32:40)
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy … being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
(Phil.1:4-6)
There is a question that has lingered under the surface of a number of our recent Bible Studies, particularly as we have considered the more future-oriented aspects of our salvation. It has often been spoken of in the history of the Church as the question of our perseverance, and it underpins our assurance, confidence, security and joy in salvation. It is imperative that we cultivate a great confidence in the faithfulness of God if we are not to be assailed by crippling doubt, anxiety, fear, even despair in our pilgrimage. Failure to grasp the loving commitment of our God to carry on the work of our salvation to completion risks our being lost in a kind of legalism, as we keep trying to prove to ourselves and to God that we are, in fact, saved … for now at least!
But how can we be sure? Often the evidence appears stacked against us. Our faith seems so weak, our love for Christ so fickle. Our pursuit of holiness often ambiguous. We seem to make so little progress. At times we’re not even sure we are Christians at all. So how can we imitate the confidence that bubbles to the surface of the lives of Biblical saints again and again. ‘I am convinced…’ (Rom.8:38); ‘I know… and am convinced’ (II Tim.1:12); ‘We know…’ (I Jn.2:3). John’s epistle is written precisely so that we may have this assurance (5:13). Whilst spiritual security is not necessarily an aspect of faith, (so that we can have faith without assurance), nevertheless, healthy faith will – all else being equal - normally bring a growing confidence about our standing before God and our future with Him.
In part this is rooted in our experience of Christ. We have considered previously in this series, the ‘tests’ that John lays out in his Epistle. Other passages point to how the Spirit’s witness (Rom.8:15-16; Eph.1:13-14); or how our commitment to the teaching of Jesus (Jn.8:31-32); or how our growth in holiness (I Jn.2:3), or how self-examination (II Cor.13:5) can all contribute to a growing confidence in the purposes of God. But in isolation these can lead to an unhealthy introspection and can actually heighten anxiety. And even if I can say with confidence I am a Christian now, how can I know I will be in the future?
Looking away from ourselves to God and to a deepening appreciation of the nature His gracious gospel is the key here (II Pet.1:2-10 & 3:18). In the final analysis our confidence, not just in our salvation now but also in the future, is rooted in Him, not in us. He has begun a good work and is faithful to finish it. ‘None of those called by God and redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ will be lost. As God stands at the beginning and middle of His plan of salvation, so does he stand at the end’ (Boice, 519). We are already raised and ascended with Christ. We are already justified. We have seen that there is a deep, inner logic between what God has already done in us, to us, and for us, and what He will do in the future. This does not mean we will never fall into sin, even serious and debilitating sin. We are not naive about the reality of Christian discipleship. But it does mean that His purpose for us in Christ has infinitely greater power to define our future than our sin. Our eyes remain fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith (Heb.12:2). Our hope is in God’s covenant faithfulness and the perfect work of Christ, applied infallibly to us by the Spirit.
All that we have already experienced of His saving work gives us hope for and confidence in His future work. It is secured not by the quality of my faith, or the depth of my response, my morality or religiosity. It is secured by the covenant made within the life of the Trinity before we were even created; it is secured by the unchangeable love of the Father to us in Christ; it is secured by the redeeming work and intercession of Christ (e.g. Rom.5:8-10; Jn.17:11; Rom.8:34); it is secured by the presence of the Spirit within us (e.g. I Jn.4:13). Because of this, we can know and rely on the love God has for us (I Jn.4:16).
Questions
Do you think our danger lies more towards doubting God’s ongoing grace to us, or in presuming upon that grace? Why? How can we guard against either / both of these spiritual dangers?
Does teaching about God’s preserving us run the risk of our becoming apathetic? How can we enjoy this doctrine such that it inspires holiness and worship?
How can we cultivate our sense of assurance (II Pet.1:10)? How might you recognise someone who was struggling to enjoy a sense of security in their relationship with God? How would you support them?
Read Jude 17-25
Do you think there are people who fall into the category of those described in vv.18-19 in the Church today? How would you recognise them? How should we relate to them?
What does it mean to follow Jude’s injunction in vv.20-21? How can we build ourselves up in our ‘most holy faith’? …pray in the Holy Spirit? …Keep ourselves in God’s love? How can we support one another in these things?
How can we show mercy to those who doubt? What if they don’t seem to ever resolve their uncertainties?
Does v.23 describe anything you have ever experienced as a Christian? What would it look like to be involved in a situation like this?
If God is able to keep us from stumbling (v.24), why does He not do so more often!? Why is sin such an ongoing feature of Christian life? Is ‘sinning’ what Jude has in mind?
Does God’s preserving commitment to His people inspire worship? How does the prospect of being ‘without fault’ and being the source of the Father’s joy shape your discipleship?
Memory Passage:
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 6:37-40
For further reflection:
It is a simple matter of observation – both in the Scriptures and in our own experience of Church – that people fall away. Jesus taught this would be the case (Matt.7:21-23; 13:19-22), and saw it happen both in ‘the crowds’ and amongst His disciples (Jn.6:66; Matt.26:14-16). As did the Apostles (II Tim.4:10; Heb.6:4-6; I Jn.2:19). But the realisation that people can get caught up into what the Spirit is doing in the Church without actually becoming Christians is not something that should surprise us, or cause us to fear, or to doubt that those who do become Christians cannot fall away. This is in part why it is so important that we understand what genuine conversion looks like.
Occasionally people argue that the presence of various exhortations to continue in the faith, or warnings against falling away, implies that even genuine Christians might not (e.g. Col.1:23; Gal.5:4; II Pet.3:17). You may wish to discuss such passages in your Group, and it is always worth examining ourselves (II Cor.13:5). But it is also worth taking care that we don’t separate God’s means from His appointed end. In Acts 27, Paul knows the lives of his shipmates will be saved, but he knows too how that will happen, and warns and exhorts accordingly. It is precisely by heeding such warnings that we enjoy God’s preserving grace. Our faith is a dynamic and ongoing thing, not a one-off decision. We believe, and keep on believing throughout life. It is an ongoing and deepening commitment to Christ. We might stumble and take wrong turns, make decisions we will regret, and at times fight against the God we love. Many of us have. But when all is said and done, we can celebrate His faithfulness, and sing with the Church throughout the ages: ‘My beloved is mine and I am his…’ (Song 2:16).
