Perseverance of the saints
Historic orthodoxy
The teaching that all whom God has truly saved will be kept by his power and will continue in faith and holiness to the end.
Also called: final perseverance, preservation of the saints
What it means
Perseverance of the saints teaches that a true believer can never totally or finally fall away from grace. This rests not on the believer's strength but on God's unchanging choice, Christ's finished work and continuing intercession, the indwelling Spirit, and the covenant of grace.
Perseverance is more than security. It means the saints persevere: they keep believing and keep following Christ. They may fall into serious sin for a time, grieve the Spirit, and lose the sense of God's favor, but they are restored through repentance. A profession that is finally abandoned shows that it was never true faith.
This doctrine is taught in the Westminster and 1689 confessions and forms the final point of the Reformed summary often called TULIP. It gives believers deep comfort, and it also calls them to use the means God appoints for keeping them, and to make their calling and election sure.
In Scripture
Christ's sheep will never perish, and no one can snatch them out of his hand.
God will complete the good work he began in believers.
Those God foreknew, predestined, called, and justified, he also glorified.
Believers are shielded by God's power through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed.
Those who left showed they were never truly part of the church.
We share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first.
Where it comes up
Confessions: WCF 17.1-3; LBCF 1689 17.1-3; WCF 18.1
On this site: Holiness & assurance
Related terms
CalvinismA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that salvation is wholly God's work, from His choosing of sinners before creation to His keeping them to the end.
Eternal security without perseveranceSerious error
The teaching that anyone who has once believed is saved forever, even if they later stop believing or live with no evidence of new life.
Loss of salvationA view held among orthodox Christians
The Arminian and Wesleyan teaching that a true believer can, by persistent unbelief or apostasy, fall away and be finally lost.
Lordship salvationHistoric orthodoxy
The teaching that the faith which saves receives Jesus as both Savior and Lord, and necessarily brings repentance and a changed life.
SanctificationHistoric orthodoxy
The lifelong work of God's grace by which believers are made more holy, dying to sin and living to righteousness.