Kept and Keeping On: Persevering in the Power of the Saviour 2 (Preservation) - GBC Bulletin Column #60

The question though must be asked - having so sovereignly drawn people to himself “according to the counsel of his will”, will God then let man’s will triumph over his own, resulting in an absolute falling away and loss of salvation? In light of what has already been said about God’s plan and his power, such a notion is nothing less than bizarre. It presents a “God started it, but we will finish it” philosophy that is not unrelated to that which Paul had in mind when he asked, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3).

God’s plan of salvation doesn’t end with initial repentance and faith, but continues through life until his people share in the eternal kingdom. Those who are genuinely saved are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance” that is, until we make a proper mess of things and God says, “Right then, out you go!” Actually…no. The power of God continues in the promised Holy Spirit who guarantees our inheritance “until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph.1:14). We are, to use the terminology of Jude, “kept” by the Holy Spirit, “for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1).

The Scriptures leave us in no doubt that God preserves his people. Paul wrote “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). Why so certain? Because “those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). With God, there is no such thing as unfinished business.

As the all-powerful God of the universe who sovereignly saves and sanctifies his people, the Lord will not let those whom he has chosen to be adopted into his family (Eph. 1:4-5) slip through the cracks. Jesus has the definitive word:

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:37-40).

To suggest that people can lose their salvation is to put limitations on the limitless eternality of redeemed life in Christ. In turning eternal life into temporal life, such an idea would seem to suggest that the will of the Father is ultimately subject to the will of man, and that Jesus will fail in completely fulfilling the Father’s will. If we believe, though, that God has a plan and the power to see it done we may rest in joyful assurance that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

To be continued. This is from the unedited version of an article published in the August 2014 edition of Grace Magazine. This was printed in the worship bulletin of Grace Baptist Church (Wood Green) on 05 October 2014.