Perseverance

On this Reformation Sunday we turn to the fifth and last head of doctrine, the perseverance of the saints. This doctrine speaks volumes to us today. There are some Christians who have absolutely no assurance of the faith. They live their lives never being sure if they or their loved ones are truly saved and if they go to heaven when they die. There are others who live in deep fear that they could backslide right out of the faith and lose their salvation altogether.

This doctrine speaks to all Christians, those who are living without eternal assurance of faith, as well as those who are living in fear that they will sin so bad, or have sinned so bad that they can’t be saved, and it speaks to everyone in between. Who among us hasn’t doubted? Who among us hasn’t thought that we are so deserving of God’s eternal punishment, why would He save us? Who among us hasn’t worried about the future, not just tomorrow, but eternity?

Come, lean in and hear God’s heart for you, His people. He has chosen you from before the beginning of creation. Once He’s decided something, nothing can change it. Do not lean on your own understanding, but surrender to God’s understanding of you and of your eternal place.

Worship & Devotions Article 14

We begin by looking at article 14, regarding worship and devotions, particularly the preaching of the gospel. When we looked at the doctrine of election, we saw that God chose us, even before we were born. Now, in looking at article 14, we see how God works His grace in us. He works His grace through preaching.

The reason we come to worship is for the preaching. The songs are great, and the gospel is proclaimed in them. The prayers are important. The abundant reading of the scriptures reminds us of, and teaches us the truth. But God has preserved a special act that is in the preaching of the gospel (just a note, not all preachers preach the gospel). In the preaching of the gospel God graciously, through the Holy Spirit, on account of Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice, makes us alive at the moment the Word is preached, so that we hear and understand it.

God truly acts in and through the whole service. God works in our minds, and our hearts. Such that we can suddenly hear, know and understand the truth. It is like the experience of getting glasses for the first time. You put them on, and when you look around you, everything is in such sharp focus. I can still remember the day in grade 11 when I walked out of the optometrist with my first pair of glasses. I could see individual leaves on the trees! It was no longer a blob of green!

It’s like when your hearing comes back after an illness took it away, or when you get hearing aids. Suddenly you can hear the sound the fridge makes. You’d been so hard of hearing for so long, that the sounds startles you!

But these are poor examples, really. God’s work in our lives is much, much more dramatic. Suddenly, we know, we understand, we hear, we see. This is why John Newton wrote: “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch; like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

By the grace of God, through the Holy Spirit’s conviction, John knew and understood what a thoroughly wretched man he was. When he heard the gospel of Jesus Christ he was transformed. He saw the truth of who God is, the glorious grace of God, and the gift that God had given him, and he devoted his life to serving God, and freeing others.

God not only transforms us through the preaching of the Gospel and the work of grace, but He preserves, continues, and perfects in it, the work of grace, through the reading and hearing of His Word, by studying it in personal and group Bible Study, by the warnings, threatenings, and promises in it, and by the use of the sacraments.

The effect is remarkable. God awakens people not only to the true condition of their heart, but He brings them to stand before Him in true humility—not only because of their guilt, but because of His marvellous grace and love.

True Humility Article 12

Article 12 speaks of true humility. This is not to be confused with its counterfeits, such as humble pride, or false humility. Humble pride is when a person comes across as being quite humble, but they are secretly proud. You can tell that they are proud of their humility. This one is quite loathsome and it can be found often in ministry.

False humility is similar to humble pride. These are people who craftily put themselves into the centre of attention, thought they often protest that they are doing so. They reluctantly receive the accolades, and the promotion, and the position given to them, they make it sound like they didn’t want it, but they are sure happy to get it—for it is what they wanted all along. Again, people in ministry come to mind.

True humility cuts a person to their core. They know they have nothing, and they bring nothing. True humility, borne out of the doctrine of total depravity, sees God’s grace as incredible, indescribable, powerful and pervasive. They see that they bring nothing to the table. Nothing good within themselves. They know they are completely lost apart from God.

From this state of humility arises filial reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent in prayers, constancy in suffering and in confessing the truth, and of solid rejoicing in God. The state of true humility is one which grows over time. We have a small beginning of it, when we first come to faith, but then over the years it deepens. No one in this life really fully gets it. There are so many things that we take pride in of ourselves. We think we do so much for God and others. And yet, the reality is that even the very best attempts that we make in this life are tainted by sin. And that alone ought to make us humble and drive us to God and to the mercy and grace that He gives to those we are in relationship with.

The result of true humility is devotion to God and the striving to demonstrate our thanks, our gratitude by keeping His commandments. Having considered these things, we turn now to that most odious of errors, the teaching of the blessedness of doubt and the abhorrence of certainty.

Rejection of Errors Paragraph 6

We are living in a period of irrationality called the post-modern world. A major tenet of post-modern thinking is relativism, which posits that something can be true for you, whilst simultaneously false for me.

Now, let’s be clear, as to subjective things, like ice cream, something can certainly be true for you and false for me. I could say that ice cream is the best dessert, but not everyone would agree, it would be true for me and false for others.

But where we are in post-modern relativism is that everything is subjective, and nothing is certain. What can be true for you, isn’t true for me. And so, everything is true and nothing is true. This in turn has resulted in critical theory, critical race theory and intersectionality. Critical theory questions everything. Nothing is certain, except for those who are experiencing suffering, those who are victims. Critical race theory applies such thinking to race, and states that whatever race is most prejudiced, whichever race is most maligned and mistreated, that race has the most truth. Intersectionality finds out where degrees of victim-hood overlap, or intersect. For example a someone who is a victim of racism has more authenticity than someone who is not, and if that victim is also a woman, who historically have been systematically mistreated, and is also not cisgender, then they are even more authentic.

Such foolishness is in the world, but it is influencing Christians. Many are captivated by this thinking, and indeed will devour books like “White Fragility” which teaches all about intersectionality, critical theory, critical race theory, and was written by a white woman. I guess she only gets one intersection…

So, we find in many churches today, a disdain for certainty, as though this certainty is something Christians have come up with. As though we decided our position, our religion, our faith is something we made up. The reality isn’t that at all. We didn’t make up Christianity, it was revealed to us.

The plain fact of the matter is that there are absolute, factual truths. Insulin is an effective treatment for diabetes. Ice cream is not. That there is sin in the world is a fact. Jesus Christ is the only Saviour from sin is also a fact and an absolute truth.

Interestingly, those same people who question everything, and who find greater goodness in the journey, not the destination, have no idea what they’re talking about. They have not really seen God, or His amazing, loving grace. I’m sorry, there’s much to love about earth, there are many, many good things here. But this will not compare to the true Promised Land. Those who say the journey is better than the destination have never been overweight whilst travelling in economy seating in an old unreliable aircraft—the airplane is not better than an all inclusive resort.

Continuing in the Ways of the Lord Article 13

For the true Christian, the elect of God, for all who exercise their faith in believing the promises of God in Christ Jesus, we find great hope. We make our focus the continuing in the ways of the Lord. No, the certainty of salvation does not produce in Christians a licentiousness, a lack of discipline, a desire to sin some more, or all the more.

Rather, the teaching of the doctrine of God’s perseverance of the saints is that those who believe, though they may fall into sin, as David and Peter did, God restores them. He does so for His name sake, as well as for the surety of His promise. He elected, and therefore cannot turn His back on the elect. There isn’t anything they can do to disqualify them from what God has already planned. He prevents them from doing it. He moves them by His Spirit to obey and to walk in righteousness. God causes Christians to continue in the ways of the Lord. The Holy Spirit puts in them a desire to live for Him and for the good of others.

It is this work in a persons heart that causes them to call out sin in others, and to keep doing so, even at great personal cost to themselves. They keep at it, they keep calling the person to true humility, true confession, true repentance and true faithfulness.

And so, we find ourselves, here at the end of our study of the Canons of Dort reminded that our hope is secure in God’s promises to the elect. That those whom He elects know it, and must not doubt it, because He makes it so, and He never changes His mind.

But lest there be any doubt, we must listen and obey the word of God in Romans 8:31-39. God is for us. Who is stronger than God? No one is stronger than God is, so no one can actually go against us, because they’d have to get through God first, and that’s impossible.

How do we know that God is for us? He didn’t withhold His own Son from saving us. Jesus willingly gave up His life, to deliver us up. So, having already given us His Son, He gives us everything else. What is more precious than the Son? And since He freely gave Him up, so He freely gives all.

Who can bring a charge against us? Can the devil? No, he’s been defeated. It is God who justifies. Would Christ condemn us for not responding well enough? No, Christ died, is risen, is at God’s right hand. No, He doesn’t condemn, He intercedes for us. He experienced full life on this earth, in this sinful world. Though He Himself was without sin, He was a friend of sinners. He endured the fallenness, the brokenness, the sinfulness of life on earth, and He bore the wrath of God against sin. He is fully God and fully man, and so He intercedes, He pleads our case before the Father.

Okay, what about things in this life? Shall tribulation separate us, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? Even if we are considered as lambs for the slaughterhouse, even that cannot keep us from Christ. Christ is with us, to the end of the age, fully and completely.

Rather than passive victims of injury and hardship, and rejection, and harm, and persecution, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. He did not make us slaves to fear. He did not make us question our identity, or question our doubt His love. No, He makes us secure in Himself, such that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, trust the Lord. Trust His calling. Trust His work in you, as He already has worked and as He continues to work. Whatever you are going through right now, nothing will ever deny you, separate you, or destroy the love that God has for you in Christ Jesus. He died for you, He will not let you go, not for anything. Trust the work, and continue in the ways of the Lord—trust Him to direct your path. Amen.