When I was in seminary between 1978 and 1985, I was taught that Calvinists believed perseverance in faith and good works until death was guaranteed for “the true believer.” If a professing believer failed to persevere, Calvinists would say this proved he was never saved in the first place. Calvinists did not say that if you fail to persevere, you will go to hell.
That has changed a lot over the last forty years. Many Calvinists now say that you must persevere in order to win what they call “final salvation.”
I recently came across some interesting quotes from leading Calvinists John Piper and John MacArthur.
Dr. John Piper, when speaking to high school and college-age young people back in 2007, said, “How you deal with lust has to do with where you spend eternity…” He went on: “If you don’t fight lust, you will go to hell.”
In his 2003 book, Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus, John MacArthur wrote:
Don’t believe anyone who says it’s easy to become a Christian. Salvation for sinners cost God His own Son; it cost God’s Son His life, and it’ll cost you the same thing. Salvation isn’t the result of an intellectual exercise. It comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ as revealed in the Scripture; it’s the fruit of actions, not intentions. There’s no room for passive spectators: words without actions are empty and futile. Remember that what John saw was a Book of Life, not a Book of Intellectual Musings. The life we live, not the words we speak, determines our eternal destiny (p. 93, emphasis added).
In 2008, Dr. Piper and Justin Taylor coauthored the book Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints (Crossway Books, 2008). This statement about perseverance explains well the Lordship Salvation position:
So, when the fear of not persevering raises its head, don’t try to overcome it by saying, ‘Oh, there is no danger; we don’t need to persevere.’ You do. There will be no salvation in the end for people who do not fight the good fight and finish the race and keep the faith and treasure Christ’s appearing. And don’t try to overcome the fear of not persevering by trying to win God’s favor by your exertions in godliness (p. 42, emphasis added).
There isn’t much difference between an Arminian who says that you will lose your salvation if you fail to persevere and a Calvinist who says, “There will be no salvation for people who do not fight the good fight and finish the race.”
Of course, any Calvinist or Arminian who has ever believed in the gift of everlasting life by faith in Christ remains eternally secure even though they no longer believe that they are.
Keep grace in focus, and you will continue to know that perseverance is an eternal rewards issue, not an eternal life issue.
