The Preservation of the Saints

Soteriology, Part 5 - The Preservation of the Saints (Key Passages from Romans).

Why do we want to talk about this?
1. There may be genuine believers who struggle with a lack of assurance in their salvation. I know that there have been times in my life where I was terrified that I might not be saved or at the least unsure of my salvation. This happened most often when I was sinning, especially in the form of a repetitive sin.
2. There may be other believers who do not take it seriously enough.
3. I’ve faced years of struggle with lust, I’ve struggled with being easily angered for years, I’ve struggled with pride for years. While all of these have drastically improved as my sanctification has furthered, in the times where I was deepest in these sins I doubted my salvation the most.
  1. Have there been times in your life where you’ve doubted your salvation?

The simplest explanation of this doctrine is “once saved, always saved.”
1. However, is this doctrine biblical or can we lose our salvation?
2. Before we discuss assurance I want to make it clear that salvation is not special because it gets us out of hell, salvation is special because it means we will be restored to a perfect relationship with God and we will be in the fullness of His presence (Revelation 7:15-17).

What is assurance? (Here we are referring to assurance in our salvation).
1. Assurance, or hupostasis in Greek, refers to a state of certainty, standing under a guaranteed agreement, or having a title of possession.
  1. A lack of assurance can cause an obsession with it, taking away joy within us, distracting us from our true calling of glorifying God.

Discussion verses… What do these tell us about the certainty of our salvation?
1. John 10:27-30 and Romans 8:26-39
  1. We are given to Christ by the Father. Jesus tells us that no one will snatch us out of His and the Father’s hand. That includes Satan, that includes other people, and that even includes yourself. Reread the list in verses 38-39. There is nothing more powerful than God and His will will be done.
2. Ephesians 1:3-14 and Ephesians 2:8-9
  1. We have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, He is the guarantee of our inheritance (salvation). Our assurance is not from anything we have done, but what Christ has done for us. We can rest in assurance because of the perfect nature of our Lord. He has made Himself a ransom for His people and that sacrifice has not been made in vain, it truly does save us.
3. Philippians 1:6 and Psalm 37:23-40
  1. God does not forsake His people. He will accomplish His will within us.
Extra verses for your own research.
1. 1 John 5:11-13, Philippians 2:12-13, Colossians 2:13-14, Luke 6:46-49.

Why are these dangerous?

Emotionalism is when we base our salvation and what we know about God on how we feel about God and our relationship with Him. This is extremely dangerous because our emotions change, God doesn’t. We cannot base our security in our salvation on how we feel about our relationship with God.
1. “Do not let your emotions affect what you know, rather let your emotions be affected by what you know.” - Luke Marriner.
2. Examples of this include feeling guilt and shame for sinning or feeling pride for doing good (spiritual high from a short mission trip). Also, some may brush off conviction of their sin and therefore feel that living in their sin is not meaningful in their relationship with God (not judging others).
Works based salvation is what the Pharisees believed in. Roman Catholicism would also tell you that you need to do good works in order to have a right standing with God and if you aren’t good enough then you will lose your salvation. This is dangerous because it will either lead people to pride or despair. It will lead people to either think they are above others because they don’t sin in the same way as others or they serve in different ways. It will lead people to despair because they will begin to feel that if they cannot overcome sin then they do not deserve God’s grace.
1. This is true in that we don’t deserve God’s grace, however it is false in that we are not saved by our own works, but by what Christ has already done (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So, is this doctrine biblical, can we be in a state of certainty of our salvation?
1. Absolutely! It is abundantly clear that we can be certain of our salvation because it is not based on our works but on the works, promises, and character of God.
2. It is necessary and certain that those who are truly in Christ will persevere.
3. Our perseverance is the result of our salvation, now the cause of it. It’s not something that we choose to do, it will happen inevitably.
4. Those whom God has saved will persevere in faith because of God’s preservation through grace.

So, if once truly saved we cannot lose our salvation, are we free to sin? Why?
1. By no means! We are saved from sin not for sin! God’s grace is not to be abused.
2. We are not free to keep on sinning because we cannot live in sin once we’ve died to it. Paul is asking a rhetorical question, he’s making a statement.
  1. Romans 6 - Dead to Sin, Alive to God