Hebrews 10:26-39 You Need Perseverance

Because if we don’t persevere, if we commit apostasy and turn back from following Christ, then there will be no forgiveness and we will stand condemned in our sins.

So how do we persevere? How do we hold fast to Christ?

Is it our own doing or is it God’s work of grace in us?

Since Perseverance is the necessary fruit of genuine salvation, every Christian needs to know what it means to persevere in Christ and how they can go about doing that.

Every Christian needs to be discipled to persevere, and Hebrews 10:26-39 gives us that discipleship.

We will start digging in with point number 1...

I. God Will Judge Those Who Reject Christ

Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a fearful expectation of judgment...

This is one of the most commonly misinterpreted passages of the entire Bible.

On its face, it looks like the author of Hebrews is saying that you can lose your salvation.

That you can sin so much after receiving the knowledge of the truth that Jesus’ sacrifice will not be enough to pay for your sins, and you will face God’s judgement.

Is that true? Can you lose your salvation? Can you become a Christian and sin so much that God gets so frustrated with you that he blocks you out of heaven?

Some people use this verse to say, “Yes, you can lose your salvation.”

But when we come to difficult passages like this we need to remember one of the first rules for interpreting Scripture.

Scripture interprets Scripture. That means we need to interpret more obscure passages of the Bible with the less obscure passages of the Bible.

And there are several passages in the Bible that clearly teach us once saved always saved because our salvation from beginning to end, from new birth to glorification, is not a result of our works, but a gift of God’s grace.

Even the author of Hebrews himself, has already said this and he’s not contradicting himself here in verses 26-27.

One of the main arguments of the book is that Christ’s sacrifice is the perfect once for all sacrifice. It is fully sufficient to pay for all our sins, past, present, and future.

Just 12 verses earlier in Hebrews 10:14 he said, For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

So no, the author is not saying here in verses 26-27, that you can lose your salvation.

So, how then do we understand this passage? What is the author trying to say?

The key is to remember the context. The Author is writing to Jewish Christians who are being persecuted for their faith, and this persecution is tempting them to renounce their faith in Christ and go back to Judaism.

To give up on following Jesus and trusting in him for salvation.

So this is a warning against apostasy. Against abandoning the faith and no longer walking with Christ.

That’s what he means by saying if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth.

Well hold on. That sure sounds like you can lose your salvation. I mean what else could receiving the knowledge of the truth mean other that being born again?

Well that word knowledge means a certain knowledge. A sure understanding. A clear perception of the truth.

But it says nothing about believing that truth with saving faith.

These are people who hear the gospel, understand the gospel, and even agree that it is true, but still refuse to submit all of their life to it.

They refuse to bend the knee to Christ and place all of their faith in him, and him alone.

Now this seems crazy to us. Who in the world would understand the gospel, agree that it is true, and yet refuse to place their faith in Christ.

Well Jesus himself said there would be people like this. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus talked about a farmer who sowed some seed. The seed is the gospel.

And some of these seeds fell on shallow and rocky soil, and so they immediately sprung up from the ground.

From the outside, it looked like the gospel had taken root. That someone had gotten saved.

But the new plant dies because there are not enough roots in the rocky soil to support its life.

When asked to explain this parable clearly, here’s what Jesus said.

Matthew 13:20-21 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root (meaning he has no perseverance) in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

The initial sign of life, receiving the gospel with joy, doesn’t describe the new birth. It isn’t regeneration. It is only spiritual interest. Spiritual intrigue.

The falling away does not mean that someone lost their salvation. It means that they never had salvation to begin with because they did not believe in the gospel with saving faith.

That is exactly what John meant when he said 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

So Apostasy happens, not because someone is able to lose their salvation, but because someone was deceived about their salvation in the first place.

That’s what the Author means by saying if we go on sinning deliberately.

The word deliberately means willfully or intentionally. It means going into sin with eyes wide open knowing exactly what you are doing.

The kind of sin the Author has in mind here is willful, unrepentant sin.

Its something more falling into sin, or as Pauls says Gal. 6:1 being caught in a transgression.

Its even something more than giving into temptation on something that we know God’s Word says is sin.

Sinning deliberately is a persistent, unwavering, I will have my sin if nothing else kind of sin.

To go on sinning deliberately does not mean that you can never struggle with sin as a Christian.

All of us will struggle with the flesh this side of glory, and even Paul himself said the evil I don’t want to do is what I keep on doing.

And Hebrews even reminded us that Jesus is our sympathetic high priest who sympathizes with us and deals with us gently in our temptations.

Sinning deliberately, on the other hand, means there is no care or concern, no anguish or remorse for sinning against God who sent his own Son to die for our sins.

In fact that’s exactly how the Author himself defines sinning deliberately.

Look at verse 29.

Hebrews 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

This is why repentance must be the pattern and practice of every Christian.

Martin Luther even said that all of the Christian life is one of repentance.

A willful and deliberate refusal to repent of sin as the Spirit convicts us is equivalent to rejecting the very gospel that saves us.

We trample the Son of God. We profane his blood shed on the cross for us.

And we outrage the Spirit of grace who desires all people to glorify Jesus for his atoning work.

This is why Apostasy usually starts with unrepentant sin in someone’s life.

A hard hearted refusal to repent of any sin that we might struggle with, is a denial of the gospel that saves us and says emphatically Christ is not my Lord.

Apostasy is just the fullest expression of rejecting Christ as Lord.

Its the ultimate decision that says I want my sin more than Christ.

That’s why the Author says if we go on sinning deliberately there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

The one who commits Apostasy, who turns their back on Christ, has rejected the only sacrifice that can pay for their sins.

There is no other sacrifice that can save you. Only Jesus and his blood forgives sinners.

Anyone that leaves the faith and turns their back on Jesus has rejected the only One that can reconcile them to God.

Without faith in his sinless life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection, there is no hope for salvation.But Only a fearful expectation of judgement.

And then the Author goes on to describe that judgement.

And he tells us two things about the judgment of God.

First, God’s judgment is Terrible and second his judgment is Sure and Just.

Let’s start with the first one.

1. God's Judgment is Terrible

Hebrews 10:26-29 There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

The Author describes God’s judgment that will fall upon every person that rejects Christ as fearful. It is something to be feared because it is a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

This is a reference to Isaiah 26:11 where God promises to consume his enemies in the fire of his wrath.

This of course points to hell. Hell is the fury of fire, the zealous wrath against sinners that God has for his glory.

Now saying that, I know Hell is one of the most offensive doctrines of our faith. But hell is a real place.

It was created by God for Satan and demons. But because humanity followed Satan and sinned against God, Hell became the final destination for anyone that refuses to repent of their sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ.

Hell is a place of eternal conscious torment. It is fearfully terrible. Hear how the Apostle John described it.

Revelation 14:10-11 He also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night...

John compares hell to drinking God’s wrath poured out in full strength into the cup of his anger.

He says Hell is a place of torment like the torment of being burned alive.

And he also says it is a place with no rest, day or night. It is a constant torment under God’s holy wrath with no relief or no hope of escape forever, and ever, and ever, and ever.

And this fate, the fury of fire, is what that awaits every person that rejects Christ, especially those who walk away from the faith and commit apostasy.

And so to prove to these Jewish believers that their apostasy from Christ will result in God judging them, the Author again appeals to their highest authority, the Old Testament.

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses is a reference to Deuteronomy 17:2-6.

That passage talks about breaking the first commandment of the Old Covenant which would be committing idolatry. Worshiping someone or something other than God.

And in that passage God said that on the evidence of two or three witnesses the idolater, man or woman, would be stoned to death.

A punishment where you would be surrounded in a circle of your neighbors who would pick up large stones to throw at you as hard as they possibly could until you died.

And then he says, 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

Just like the old covenant death penalty, the Author gives three witnesses that will condemn anyone who forsakes the Lord and commits apostasy.

The first is the Son of God because to reject Christ and his gospel is to trample Christ himself and treat him with contempt.

The second is the blood of the covenant. The apostate profanes the blood of Christ. To profane something is to treat something that is holy as nothing more than common.

So the Apostate profanes the blood of Christ by treating Jesus death as the most common death. It is nothing special. His death doesn’t save anyone because he’s just another man.

And finally there’s the Spirit of grace who was sent to magnify the glory of Christ in the life of believers and becomes outraged when people reject the gospel and fail to give Christ the glory due to his name.

These are the three witnesses that will condemn apostates as idolaters, as people who loved their sin more than Christ, and these witness will condemn everyone who rejects Christ to a punishment worse than death.

Because those that reject Christ will face the terrible judgment of Hell, which Revelation says is the second death or the eternal death.

The place of outer darkness where there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth.

But that’s not all. Not only is God’s judgment terrible but It is also Sure and Just.

2. God's Judgment is Sure and Just

Hebrews 10:30-31 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

When the Author says For at the beginning of verse 30, that means that the reason we know those that reject Christ will face God’s terrible judgment is because we know God.

The sovereign ruler of all the universe who said Vengeance is mine, I will repay. and The Lord will judge his people.

Again this is the Author quoting Deuteronomy 32, to say to these Jewish believers, You know what kind of Judge God is.

You know that God promises to repay the wicked with his wrath and if God is going to judge even his own people which he has already in Christ, how much more will he judge his enemies?

This reminds us that God’s judgment is sure and just. All people will stand before the Lord on the Day of judgment and give an account for their life.

Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed once for man to die and after that comes judgment.

Someone is going to pay for your sins. It will either be you by suffering under God’s wrath for all eternity in hell.

Or, by God’s gracious gift, it could be Christ who suffered the wrath of God poured out in full strength on your behalf when he died on the cross.

No one will escape the coming judgment. The question is, will you be prepared to face that judgement? Will you stand before God condemned in your sin only to hear Jesus say Matthew 25:41 Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Or will you stand covered in the blood of Christ? Forgiven by God’s grace for every sin you’ve ever done so that instead of receiving God’s wrath, you will receive his love mercy and grace.

Trust in Jesus. Believe in him. Don’t trample the Son of God, profane his blood, and reject the Spirit of grace calling you to repentance.

Confess Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that he died for your sins and rose again three days later to forgive you because Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

And fall you will if you do not put your faith in Christ.

This is the fate for everyone who rejects the gospel to go on sinning deliberately. To continue living a life of sin.

But here’s the thing, the Author of Hebrews is writing all of this to a church!

Why is he talking about God’s terrible judgment and the fury of fire to believers?

If once saved always saved is true, why even write this stuff? True believers won’t face God’s judgement.

But remember the context. Hebrews was written to persecuted Christians who were being tempted to commit apostasy.

And so by speaking so harshly about the judgment that is coming for everyone who abandons their faith in Christ, the Author isn’t trying to make the Hebrews doubt God’s once and for all salvation.

Instead, He is trying to get them to examine themselves. To test themselves against his words to see if they really are saved or if they are deceived about their salvation.

His hope is twofold. First, he hopes those that are deceived about their salvation would see this terrible judgment and repent for the first time and be saved.

But for the Christians who are genuinely struggling in their faith, he wants them to see this warning, and to double down on their faith in Christ.

To say, I don’t want to fall into the hands of the living God! I don’t want to abandon the Lord. I want to follow Christ because I know he is the only one that can save me from God’s terrible and just wrath.

So you see the warnings against apostasy in Hebrews are not just for false Christians who are deceived about their salvation.

They are also for true believers. For those that have grown lax in their faith and need encouragement to persevere and double down on their commitment to follow Christ.

These warnings are meant to be so unthinkable to true believers that they spur God’s people on towards greater faithfulness.

The goal of the warning is the same for both the unbeliever and the Christian. Believe in Christ, and persevere in following him.

Make your faith the number one priority of your life.

Like the seed that sprung up with no root, the unbeliever will fall away and receive judgment.

But the believer will hear this warning and persevere because those that are truly saved will not and cannot abandon Christ.

Perseverance is necessary for salvation

Because not only will God judge those who reject Christ but point number 2, he will also reward those who persevere in Christ.

II. God Will Reward Those Who Persevere in Christ

In verse 35 the author encourages us to persevere in our faith saying Hebrews 10:35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

The reward is salvation. It is eternal life in heaven with God.

And the author says do not throw away your confidence, your faith in Jesus Christ.

In other words, persevere and keep on following Jesus.

This is God’s will for every Christian. Persevere in Christ.

This has been the message time and again in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 3:13 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Hebrews 3:14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Hebrews 4:14 let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

And the whole reason why perseverance is so important to the Author is because he believed Jesus who said Matthew 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The question then is how? How do we persevere in Christ? How do we endure to the end, and by doing so give evidence that we are not apostate, but have genuine saving faith.

The Author of Hebrews gives us two answers.

First we must persevere by loving Christ more than the world.

And second, we must persevere by faith.

1. We Must Persevere by Loving Christ More than the World

Hebrews 10:32-35 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

So after warning the Hebrews of the dangers of walking away from Christ, the Author moves to encourage the true believers to persevere by reminding them of how they persevered the last time they suffered.

He says recall the former days, after you were enlightened, meaning after you first placed your faith in Christ and were born again when you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.

And he goes on to describe what this hard struggle looked like. Sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, meaning they were being hated and ridiculed for following Jesus, sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison.

The Hebrews were believers who took Jesus’ words to heart when he said, “When I was in prison you came to me” (Mt. 25:36).

Back in those days, if you were in prison you would barely have enough to survive. You relied on family and friends to bring you food and clothing. And that’s what these Christians did for their brothers and sisters when they were put in prison for Christ.

The Author continues. And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.

Now what does that mean? Well its hard to say for sure because we don’t exactly know where the Hebrews lived. They aren’t like the Galatians, or the Philippians, or the Ephesians.

But if they lived in Rome, like I think they did, then this is probably referring to the persecution from the Roman Emperor Claudius in AD 49.

History tells us Claudius kicked all the Jews out of Rome for “riots over Chrestus” which most certainly refers to Christ.

Basically, much like the Jews did with Paul on his missionary journeys, the Jews in Rome harassed and persecuted these Christians for their faith.

And this created so much civil unrest, that Rome decided to kick all of the Jews, including the Jewish believers out of the city.

So when they left their homes, the Hebrews had their homes ransacked by their neighbors.

The same thing happened in Alexandria 11 years earlier in AD 38, and describing that event Philo said, Their enemies overran the houses now left empty and began to loot them, dividing up the contents like spoils of war.

And yet, the Hebrews, when they endured this suffering in the former days, did so joyfully.

What changed? What had happened to make the Hebrews start looking at persecution as a reason to leave their faith when years earlier they were happy to suffer for Christ’s name?

The Author tells us in verse 34. He says they were able to persevere joyfully, even in the face of intense persecution, since, or because, you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

In the former days, the Hebrews weren’t focused on this life. They were focused on Christ and the life to come. They weren’t living for here and now, they were living for heaven.

But something had changed. Being accepted and loved by the world had become far more important than Christ.

The Hebrews had forgotten that they had a better possession and an abiding one.

This of course is salvation.

In the former days, the Hebrews endured persecution and suffering for Christ because their eternal inheritance was so real, so sure that they could joyfully say farewell to any comfort or any possession of the world.

The principle this teaches us is that if we want to persevere, we must love Christ more than the world.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

So often Christians think that loving the world just means materialism. As in, just loving stuff. But that is such a truncated and simplistic view.

Loving the world means loving all the comforts of the world. All the opportunities of the world. All the approval and acceptance of the world.

In other words, loving the world means wanting to be just like the world. To be embraced and accepted by the world by having the same priorities, the same loves, the same joys, that the world does.

This is why the Hebrews were facing their persecutions so differently than they did in the former days. They had lost sight of Christ and his salvation.

They had started living for here and now. And any suffering or trial that came their way felt wasted and insurmountable because they had lost sight of Christ.

In the former days, they lived by Jesus’ words.

Matthew 5:10-11 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Loving the world is the first step on the path to Apostasy.

Why suffer, why be hated? Unless of course we have a better possession and an abiding one.

Do you want to persevere in Christ? Then you can’t love the world.

The acceptance, and comforts, and pleasures of the world can’t be what you live for. Your eyes need to be fixed on Christ and the hope of his salvation if you are going to endure to the end.

Why do I tell you all this? Because I want you to be ready to endure when suffering and persecution come and make no mistake, its already here.

I think we have lived such a privileged American life that we think persecution only happens when it is organized by the government or it is a systematic attempt to imprison and murder Christians like what they do to many of our brothers and sisters across the world.

And in no way am I saying that they way we suffer anywhere near what they endure. But in his sovereignty God has given that responsibility to them.

We forget that persecution isn’t just murder and imprisonment. It also looks like hateful words and public ostracism.

Look how Jesus said it. Other revile you. Utter all kinds of evil against you falsely.

You need to know this because when you feel ostracized by the culture that is persecution so that instead of wondering if its all worth it, you remember Jesus’ promise that your reward is great in heaven and keep going.

The World. Our World. Says Christianity is foolishness.

Have you ever been made to feel small or dumb for believing what the Bible says?

Do you hear how the culture calls us repressed, backwards and hateful because we believe marriage should be between one man and one woman and that God made only 2 genders and called them both good?

Have you ever been called a sexist or misogynist because you don’t believe women should have the right to murder their babies on demand or that the husband is the head of his wife?

And now we are even called racists and white supremacists because we believe the answer to racial reconciliation is the gospel which Paul says has torn down the wall of hostility separating us from each other.

No we aren’t being thrown in prison. But make no mistake, the world hates us just like it hated Jesus.

And if we love the world, even this level of persecution which is so small in comparison to what our brothers and sisters face all across the world, can tempt us to fall away. To be quite about our faith. To go along to get along if we forget that Jesus promised that our reward is great in heaven.

You already see this in churches that deny the Bible and follow the whims of the the culture. They commit apostasy because they love the world’s approval more than Christ.

Seeing everything going on in the world and how far our culture and professing churches have walked away from God’s Word, I’ve never felt less at home in our culture than I do right now. Maybe you feel the same way.

But I wonder if we should have ever felt at home in the first place, or if that just meant we were loving the world more than Christ.

If you want to persevere you must love Christ more than the world.

2. We Must Persevere by Faith

Hebrews 10:36-39 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

The Author says you have need of endurance which can also be translated as steadfastness or patience.

In other words, he wants the Hebrews to have patience trusting that God will fulfill his promise to save them, even if its taking a while, and even if they are suffering for it.

But in the mean time, they are to continue doing God’s will, to follow Christ with patience, so that they will receive what is promised.

Perseverance is necessary for salvation.

And then to encourage the Hebrews to patiently endure and persevere in Christ, the author quotes the Old Testament yet again.

This time, he quotes Habakkuk 2:3-4 and reinterprets this prophecy to refer to Christ and his second coming.

Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; or as Paul would say salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11).

Every day that passes brings us closer to Christ’s return and his heavenly kingdom.

Then the Author says how we are to live while waiting for Christ to return.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

To shrink back is to draw back, withdraw, or retreat. This is the basic idea of what apostasy is.

So saying the righteous one shall live by faith carries with it the idea, in this context, of actively living, continually living, or in other words persevering, by faith.

That’s why he closes this section saying But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

To shrink back and be destroyed obviously refers to the judgment that falls on apostates who turn their back on Christ.

Therefore, those that have faith and preserve their souls are those that persevere and receive the reward of Christ’s salvation.

This is why I say Perseverance is necessary for salvation.

And that might sound a little odd because it sounds like I’m saying without the work of perseverance you won’t be saved.

So how does perseverance fit with salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone?

Maybe it will help if I say it this way. We are saved by faith and perseverance is how we live out that faith day by day.

We don’t earn our salvation by persevering.

We are given salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

But what did James say? Faith without works is dead.

James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

What James is saying is faith that does not produce works in the life of the believer is not faith at all.

This is why James can say James 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone and not contradict what Paul says in Romans.

Our works contribute nothing to our salvation, but they are the evidence of our salvation.

So no. You aren’t saved by perseverance. If that was true we would all be a nervous wreck all the time wondering if we are doing enough to keep ourselves from the coming judgment.

We are saved by faith. But that faith always expresses itself in lifelong perseverance in Christ.

So here is the amazing thing about God’s grace. Even our work of perseverance is a work of God’s grace persevering us.

What else could persevering by faith mean?

Faith is an absolute, utter dependence on God. A full, whole-hearted trust in who he is, and what he has said.

And our perseverance does not rest in our ability to stay faithful to God. It is not a result of our will or our work.

It is a result of God’s will and God’s work of grace.

If any of us make it to heaven, it will be because God was gracious to us.

Look what Jesus said.

John 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 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.

When Jesus says they will never perish that is the strongest negative language available in Greek. That means it is not even remotely possible for someone who has placed their faith in Christ to face judgement.

Once saved, always saved, the perseverance of the saints is true because God himself holds us in his hand and promises to give us eternal life.

Paul says it this way. Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And that anything else includes you.

You see, perseverance is more about God being faithful to us than it is about us being faithful to God because God is faithful to himself and to his promises.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him (meaning apostasy), he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

So we persevere through faith that God will keep us. We persevere through an utter dependence on God and his promise to save.

So yes. Perseverance is necessary for salvation, but that perseverance is a gift of God’s grace at work in us to keep us in Christ.

Perseverance is an act of faith and dependence on God that says I know his promises are not in vain.

We hold fast to Christ because we have faith that God is holding fast to us.

Therefore, don’t shrink back in your faith. Surge forward! There is no room for complacency the Christian life.

Make every effort to hold fast to Christ and persevere.

Knowing that when you do, God is keeping you by his power through faith.

This doctrine really should overwhelm us with thankfulness and praise to God. Thank God that my staying saved does not rely on me.

Praise him that he will hold us fast and bring us all home.

As Peter said 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Conclusion

Perseverance is necessary for salvation.

False believers commit apostasy, not because they lose their salvation, but because they never had salvation in the first place.

And anyone that does not walk with Christ no matter what kind of profession of faith they might have made, will not receive salvation and the forgiveness of sins, but will enter into judgment under God’s terrible wrath.

So to escape the coming judgment, God calls us to persevere in Christ.

And true believers will surely persevere by loving Christ more than the comforts and acceptance of the world and by faith in God’s promise to keep his children by his grace.

How do you know which one you are? The only way to tell is the fruit of lifelong perseverance.

So make every effort, every day to hold fast to Christ and live out your faith in him.

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

Matthew 25:1-13

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