Perseverance - God Keeps His People Safe
By J.I. Packer
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. ROMANS 8:30Let it first be said that in declaring the eternal security of God’s people it is clearer to speak of their preservation than, as is commonly done, of their perseverance. Perseverance means persistence under discouragement and contrary pressure. The assertion that believers persevere in faith and obedience despite everything is true, but the reason is that Jesus Christ through the Spirit persists in preserving them.
Scripture emphasizes this. John tells us that Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is under promise to his Father (John 6:37-40) and to his sheep directly (John 10:28-29) to keep them so that they never perish. In his high-priestly prayer before his passion Jesus asked that those whom the Father had given him (John 17:2, 6, 9, 24) would be preserved to glory, and it is inconceivable that his prayer, which still continues (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25), will go unanswered.
Paul sees the sovereign plan of God for the salvation of his elect as a unitary whole, of which the glorifying of the justified is part (Rom. 8:29-30). On this basis he builds the triumphant peroration of Romans 8:31-39, in which he celebrates the present and future security of the saints in the almighty love of God. Elsewhere he rejoices in the certainty that God will complete the “good work” that he began in the lives of those Paul addresses (Phil. 1:6; cf. 1 Cor. 1:8-9; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 1:12; 4:18).
Reformed theology echoes this emphasis. The Westminster Confession declares, They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. (XVII.1)
The doctrine declares that the regenerate are saved through persevering in faith and Christian living to the end (Heb. 3:6; 6:11; 10:35-39), and that it is God who keeps them persevering. That does not mean that all who ever professed conversion will be saved. False professions are made; short-term enthusiasts fall away (Matt. 13:20-22); many who say to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” will not be acknowledged (Matt. 7:21-23). Only those who show themselves to be regenerate by pursuing heart-holiness and true neighbor-love as they pass through this world are entitled to believe themselves secure in Christ. Persevering in faith and penitence, not just in Christian formalism, is the path to glory. To suppose that believing in perseverance leads to careless living and arrogant presumption is a total misconception.
Sometimes the regenerate backslide and fall into gross sin. But in this they act out of character, do violence to their own new nature, and make themselves deeply miserable, so that eventually they seek and find restoration to righteousness. In retrospect, their lapse seems to them to have been madness. When regenerate believers act in character, they manifest a humble, grateful desire to please the God who saved them; and the knowledge that he is pledged to keep them safe forever simply increases this desire.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Concise Theology: A Guide To Historic Christian Beliefs

J.I. Packer
More Essays
- Theological FAQs
- Doctrines of Grace – Scripture List
- Dispensationalism - Scripture List
- Our Ongoing Need of Redemption as Christians
- Man's Utter Inability to Rescue Himself
- A Divine and Supernatural Light...
- What Happens in the New Birth, Part 1
- What Happens in the New Birth, Part 2
- Introduction to The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
- God's Part & Man's Part in Salvation
- Human Inability
- To Cut off the Sinner from All Hope in Himself
- Effectual Calling
- Man's Will - Free Yet Bound
- Canons 4-8
- The Necessity of Divine Influences Part I
- The Necessity of Divine Influences Part II
- The Unregenerate Will: Self-Determined But Not Free
- Is the Will Free by Nature or by Grace?
- The Wind Blows Where It Wishes
- The Cambridge Declaration
- A Reminder to the Covenant God
- Reversing the Curse
- A Simple Explanation of Monergism
- The Work of the Trinity in Monergism
- Human Nature in Its Fourfold State
- The Pelagian Captivity of the Church
- Excerpt from Spurgeon's Sermon: Free Will - A Slave
- Regeneration
- Regeneration Precedes Faith
- Regeneration Necessary to Perceive the Beauty and Excellency of Divine Things
- Should Predestination Be Publicly Taught & Preached?
- The Plan of Salvation
- Grace Alone: An Evangelical Problem?
- The New Genesis
- Evangelicalism, False and True
- Salvation: Synergism or Sola Gratia?
- The Leaven of Synergism
- Two Views of Regeneration
- A Practical Discourse on God's Sovereignty
- Simul Iustus et Peccator
- The Law Honored In The Sinners Salvation
- The Will of God
- Are There Two Wills in God?
- Two Wills in God
- Of Justification by Faith
- Of Christian Liberty
- Justification: Contrasting Biblical Teaching and Roman Catholicism
- The Pharisee & The Publican
- Commentary on Galatians
- The Necessity of the Atonement
- Imputed Righteousness: The Evangelical Doctrine
- Justification by Faith Examination of the Doctrine of Salvation
- What God Requires, Christ Provides
- Justification: Redemption Applied
- Justification and Sanctification: How Do They Differ?
- Holiness
- Can a Christian Lose His or Her Salvation?
- Perseverance - God Keeps His People Safe
- The Covenant of Grace: A Key to Understanding the Bible
- Classical Covenant Theology On Justification
- Classical Covenant Theology On Law and Gospel
- Classical Covenant Theology On the Covenant of Redemption
- Classical Covenant Theology Covenant of Works
- Classical Covenant Theology On the Covenant of Grace
- Administration of the Covenant of Grace
- What is Covenant Theology?
- Series on Covenant Theology
- The Difference Between The Law & The Gospel
- Adam's Fall and Mine
- Calvin's Institutes
- The Nature of the Atonement Why and for Whom Did Christ Die?
- The Divine Intention of the Cross
- There May be More Than One Way to God
- The Way of Faith
- The Gospel of Jesus Christ
- Puritan Prayers Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions
- The Lord's Prayer, Its Spirit and Its Teaching
- More on Prayer and Devotion
- 21 Questions on The Doctrine of Scripture
- Surprised by What? A Defense of Sola Scriptura