Does the Calvinistic doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints accurately summarize the New Testament teaching of salvation instituted by our Lord Christ? In the southern U.S. this doctrine is popularly known as "once saved always saved." This phrase tries to differentiate what Baptists know as the foreknowledge of God from how the Calvinists such as John Calvin, Martin Bucer, Oeculampadius, and others knew as predestination. "Once saved always saved" attempts to integrate humanity's natural free will with the contradictory notion of predestination. The doctrine further attempts to address the human anxiety of not knowing one's final end by stating that by faith in Christ a person's fate is essentially sealed. Whether or not this idea is true is the topic of this essay. This writer believes that the doctrine of "once saved always saved," known formally as perseverance of the saints, can be proven demonstrably false.
I. HOW BAPTISTS UNDERSTAND THE DOCTRINE
The Radical Reformation emphasis on either an extreme subjectivism or a Biblical literalism in this case focuses on a few verses of scripture for its rationale. The chief passage that every Baptist child learns very early is John 3:16-18, and indeed is the corner stone of the Baptist world. But even more explicit are passages such as John 10:27-28 and John 6:39. And if this is the will of God, the reasoning goes, then nothing visible or invisible can prevent that will from being realized. Thus, anyone who professes to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is among the elect, predestined from the moment of belief to enjoy everlasting life. This of course greatly distin- guishes the current understanding from the original Calvinistic belief of predestination, the way John Smyth and the early Baptists understood it.
Baptists originally were no different from other Calvinistic bodies except in two areas. Founded in 1609 by John Smyth, their first distinguishing characteristic was their insistence on religious liberty and freedom of conscience. This was a radical innovation in its day because it asserted the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit and an individual believer in prayerful communion over the Holy Bible. Creeds, priests, dogmas, and all hierarchies were not needed since the very author of the sacred writings could communicate truth as needed by the believer. Baptists truly considered the ancient creeds to have polluted the truth as proclaimed simply by a very simple Bible.
Secondly, they insisted upon strict adherence to the notion of baptism via immersion for believers only, which meant adult believers only. This is the characteristic for which they are chiefly known and for which they were named. They were given this name by the Puritans in England because it was the one feature that distinguished the Baptists from the Puritans. But at this early stage there was no difference between Baptists and either Presbyterians, Puritans, Dutch Reformed, Swiss Reformed, and the other churches of the "Reformed" tradition coming from Calvin. They all believed in predestination as articulated by Calvin, Bucer, and the Synod of Dort, a gathering of Calvinists in Holland which determined the essentials of Calvinism.
II. "ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED" contrasted with PREDESTINATION
Predestination is the belief that God in his foreknowledge knows perfectly all that ever will happen to such an extent that there is really no choosing on our parts. The choosing that we do itself has been known and predestined by the Almighty. Thus, individual choice or free will is actually an illusion. The only will that is free is God's own, and because of his omniscience our own wills are known, our simplest actions. These actions have thereby been predetermined from the foundation of creation. God knows this because he is omniscient by definition. However, virtually no Protestant group believes in this the cardinal belief of the reformers, including Martin Luther, except an extremely small segment of Presbyterians and Primitive Baptists.
At the time of the Protestant Reformation and for approximately 400 years afterward, the reformers and those who followed them did not flinch at believing that the foreknowledge of God would not only predestine many for everlasting life, but would also predestine many, actually the vast majority of humanity, for eternal damnation. In more recent times this belief is considered to be rather primitive and the cause of much historic hatred in our world despite the fact that this alleged Biblical doctrine formed part of the begin- ning rationale for the Protestant Reformation. "Perseverance of the Saints" as understood by Baptists and others like them, by contrast, is that from the moment of **belief** the believer is in Christ until death. Predestination survives in its 20th century form among the Reformed churches as universalism, the doctrine that ALL people will be saved, even in unbelief, because of the repugnance that developed among western nations to the historic belief of Calvin. This reversal of sentiment was caused by the belief in the fundamental equality of all humanity which became prevalent in Europe after the French Revolution.1
III. The Theological/Ontological Argument Against the Doctrine
In this is the subjectivistic and literalistic side of the Baptist tradition understood. In the Reformation era of the late 16th and early 17th centuries the reformers were comfortable with what they believed to be the proper understanding of the true Biblical nature of salvation. This was initially expressed in Martin Luther's **Bondage of the Will,** which he later renounced, but the theme was then taken up by John Calvin from whom the Baptists originally got the teaching via the Synod of Dort. In the modern era this concept is commonly deemed to be nothing short of outrageous and contrary to the mercy of God which is extended to all (John 3:17; Romans 5:17, 18).
__________________________________________________The doctrine of "priesthood of all believers" among all Protestants is apparently an unreliable guide as a way to determine what the actual truth is. Since God is immutable ("the same yesterday, today, and forever"), then truths about God are unchangeable also, especially the nature of salvation decreed in Christ!
The Reformation doctrine of predestination was hailed as the true Biblical teaching which the Popes had purposely suppressed for hundreds of years because predestination took away the angst many felt about their final end and the necessity to be engaged in good works. A person simply WAS a Christian, regardless of obedience by virtue of being predestined by the will of God. In the modern era Baptists themselves wish to suppress it, or at least reconcile it with the modern understanding of "equality" in a more palatable way. That was why "once saved always saved" was begun by immigrant Baptists to the U.S. in the late 18th century. Predestination in its original sense was a rather stern concept in a nation that acknowledged in its Declaration of Independence that all men were created equal. Once humanity's fundamental equality became the norm, predestination as a theological concept became outdated and regarded as crude. If all were *equal,* then some could not be predestined for eternal life while others were predestined for eternal damnation as the Protestant Reformers had said. But if a doctrine is true, then it is true for all ages and for all generations. {That is the definition of a doctrine because it adheres in the will and being of God.} The subjectivist notion given in the doctrine of "priesthood of all believers" as a way to determine the truth apparently cannot make up its mind. If it could then Baptists would not have changed their understanding about predestination and salvation from the original Calvinistic teaching. How can a person be sure that the current teaching is true, that the modern understanding of "Perseverance of the Saints" is in fact the New Testament teaching if Protestants have decided to change what it means over the years?! Perhaps the original teaching of Calvin was true and the modern understanding is false. But perhaps Calvin was mistaken also, and should not have changed from what the Roman Catholic Church taught. If there is One Spirit teaching the One truth to the many believers without any other need for authority then something very wrong has occurred since Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Chapel. The evidence given by modern Protestantism is that the many believers are listening to a great many different spirits for guidance because they believe teachings that are frequently contradictory in nature between the various denominations, especially between the many different types of Baptists. That itself should cause thinking Protestants to reconsider the very legitimacy of Protestantism.
IV. The Biblical Argument Against the Doctrine
There are, of course, many other Biblical passages that state that a believer's fate is not sealed, that becoming a believer obligates the person to obedience. If the believer decides to become an unbeliever then he or she is free to do so. But of course Baptists try not to think of them very much, and if they do then the passages must be rationalized according to the current understanding. Philippians 2:12: "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Matthew 24:13: "and ye shall be hated among all men for my sake, but he that shall endure to the end shall be saved." John 15:6: "If a man ABIDE NOT IN ME, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned." There are many others but you get the idea. The problem with the traditional Calvinist/Baptist understanding with the passages they cite in their favor are: (1) they interpret them in isolation without considering what the rest of the Holy Scriptures state on the topic, (2) they misunderstand the nature of the TIME referred to in the passage, and (3) they exhibit a disregard for what the Scripture says, preferring to interpret the Bible according to what people WANT to believe as opposed to what the Holy Scripture actually states, and (4) completely disregards the ancient teaching of Christianity prior to 1560. For instance, John 3:16 states that all who believe in Christ will be saved, which is a reference to a FUTURE event, not a current state of being that cannot be undone. Certainly the passage cited above rom Philippians 2:12 goes against the common notion that "being saved" is something about which a believer need never worry about by the command to "...work out your salvation in FEAR AND TREMBLING." Clearly a cocky, self-assured attitude about one's final destiny goes against the teaching proclaimed by Christ, as is the idea communcated by St. Paul here that salvation is something we must "work out." If the current understanding of "once saved always saved" asserts anything it is that after believing in Christ we certainly need not worry about whether we are going to heaven or not. If you do then perhaps you did not really believe when you said you did. But according to Christ, a person's obedience is the measure of belief, rather than the degree of certainty someone may have about eheir belief. This is demonstated by John 14:15: "If you love me you will keep my commandments." Also in John 15:10: "If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love." And of course there is the coup de grace, Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone that saith unto me Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven."
V. The Historical Argument Against the Doctrine
From Christianity's earliest times, the Church has asserted that human beings are created with free will. This is a natural state of the condition of being of being human and is that which distinguishes humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Becoming a Christian does not mean that this essential human faculty is obliterated by the state of being a part of Christ's body, the Church. True, Luther and Calvin obtained much of their thinking from St. Augustine, a Roman Catholic Bishop in the Dark Ages who grappled with the mystery of the divine will, but he was no Calvin. The idea in its fullness comes from Ulrich Zwingli's application to Christianity of the idea of God found in the ancient Greek and Latin classical writers, who were hardly informed of the mystery of God revealed in Christ! What the New Testament teaches is a doctrine of Redemption in which Christ Jesus redeemed the whole world by his crucifixion and resurrection and made his life available to all who will believe. Many do not believe, yet are redeemed, but if they persist in unbelief they will die in darkness, the darkness which brings everlasting death. But if they repent of their unbelief and obey our Lord's commandments then they will be redeemed if they endure unto the end. Among no one is free will ever taken away. Likewise, if a believer is ashamed and refuses to obey and follow Christ, especially if the believer is put to a public trial, then Christ promises to deny that believer before his Father in Heaven (Matt. 10:33) . This truth is attested in history from Christianity's earliest times, for there were those who committed apostasy, the public denial of Christ, when forced under persecution.
VI. Origin of the Problem
Among all the churches currently calling themselves Christian only one type has consistently taught one doctrine of salvation through the course of time. That type of church is that which calls itself Catholic, whether as a reference to those churches under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, or those not acknowledging his jurisdiction such as the Orthodox churches of the East. These churches, as a group, are the only ones consistently teaching the doctrine of salvation unchanged from the time of the Apostles. The Catholic Church, whether Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, is founded on the authority of the Apostles ordained by Christ, and in fact continues its rite of ordination in direct lineage from the Apostles as all reputable historians of the Church readily attest. The different beliefs of the Protestant churches, especially the different Baptist churches, have all been innovations of belief occurring recently in the course of time. This is clearly the case with Predestination. They claim these beliefs are based on the Bible, but in fact they are often reflections of the age in which people live rather than being based on the ancient body of Christian teaching which gave the martyrs of the first three centuries A.D. their faith. ***Changing doctrine to fit the wishes of the current age has been that which has polluted the teaching of the Holy Scripture, and not the ancient creeds or priests.***
Conclusion
Unity among Christian believers is achieved by adhering to that faith which characterized the ancient Church. The only Church faithfully handing down that teaching is the Catholic Church. Disunity has continued to occur among Protestant groups, especially in the United States, because Protestants separated themselves from the authority ordained by Christ. Only the Apostles had the authority to bind and loose; only Bishops ordained in the lineage of the Apostles have that authority now. Since the separation, Protestant churches have constantly struggled about what in fact to believe (vide the "search for the Historical Jesus," etc.). It is time for all those baptized in Christ to come home, either as individuals or as church communities. The time to end the schism created by the Protestant Reformation is now.
Respectfully submitted,
Ken (st37069@vm.cc.latech.edu)