The Perseverance of the Saints
Kept by the Power of God
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. –I Peter 1:2-4
There are several precious things that
regard the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.
Our salvation has its source in eternity, not on the earth.
Whatever takes place on the earth is secondary to what is
in the mind and purpose of God. Humanism in all its forms will not admit this.
Humanism had its beginning in the Garden of Eden. In partaking of the fruit of
the knowledge of good and evil, Adam fraudulently assumed ownership of the
earth, refusing to be under God’s authority and control. Atheistic humanism is
a continuation of the rebellion of Adam. It wants to maintain control over the
earth. It cannot bear the idea that things in the physical world might have
their cause in eternity. This world is all it knows. Christian humanism seeks
to clothe this rebellion in the stolen garments of Christianity, for the wolf
likes to go around in sheep’s clothing.
Such Control Is Impossible.
Adam didn’t actually take control, of course, because it
could not be that a creature, no matter how exalted and noble, could actually
assume authority and control over the things that God made—not even such an
insignificant thing as a piece of fruit.
He could not even eat nor digest, or ever reach forth his hand to take
the fruit off the tree—he could not see the fruit or even perceive that it was
good for fruit and pleasing to the eyes. All these things are gifts of God, for
in Him we live and move and have our being, and without Him we could not so
much as move. We have no independent existence.
The Means of Salvation.
The means of our salvation is the “sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus.” [see verses
quoted above] Through faith in the blood of Christ, we have peace with God, as
the Holy Spirit begins His blessed work of conforming us to the image of Jesus
Christ. This is the wonderful gift of God through faith. This work is
regeneration, a new birth.
Our First and Second Birth.
Our first birth implanted in us the spiritual image of our
first father, Adam, so that we are under the guilt of his transgression, and
under the curse and corruption of sin.
Our second birth is by the Holy Spirit, and implants the spiritual image
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Last Adam. This is the reason the Holy Spirit is
called the “Spirit of Adoption,” because we are made like Jesus Christ, the
eternal Son of God. We cannot, like Him, partake of the very essence of God,
but we can be made in His image, and bear the marks of the children of God.
These marks are the fruit of the Spirit, which are in part listed in Galatians:
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance. Because God loves His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, He
very much loves us, who are formed in the image of Jesus Christ. Our sins are
forgiven in Jesus Christ. We have peace with God, and the work of
sanctification is begun in us.
Our Inheritance.
Because we are sons of God we have an inheritance. This
inheritance is undefiled and never fades away, because it is not of the earth
and earthly, but it is in heaven. All things on the earth fade and pass away.
Moth and rust corrupt them, and thieves break through and steal. Not so, our
heavenly reward. The true eternal city is in Heaven, and it has solid foundation,
the promise and the covenant of the Triune God. Christ is in Heaven the
guarantor of the inheritance, and nothing can ever corrupt or defile Him. We
are commanded, as we saw in Colossians, to set our affections on things above,
where Christ sits at the right hand of God. We will forever be with the Lord in
heaven, and the things of this earth—even the most glorious and beautiful of
them—cannot compare with the glory that belongs to the children of God in
heaven. So this brings us to our text, quoted above.
The inheritance is reserved for a
kept people.
We are kept by the power of God. Note the following
passages: John 10:25-35. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me:
and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me,
is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. My
Father and I are one. For anyone of the
Lord’s sheep to be lost, someone would have to rise up into eternity, and pluck
them out of the hand of Divine Omnipotence. It would require a Being of
Infinite intelligence, power, and Eternity to do this. In other words, it would
take someone as mighty and infinite as God Himself. But this is impossible, for
there is only One God: and Jesus affirms the unity of the Godhead with the
words: “I and my Father are one.” There
is a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, equal in power, wisdom, glory, honor,
and might. But the diversity in the Godhead does not mean that God can be
divided against Himself, that there be contention in the Godhead over the
eternal souls of the Lord’s people. The Son did not have to persuade a
reluctant Father that the plan of redemption was a good one. It was the
Father’s plan, conceived in His love, and consented to by the Eternal Son. The
Father’s justice cannot be turned against the sheep, for Christ fully satisfied
for all the sins of the Sheep. The Father’s holiness cannot be turned against
the sheep, for the Holy Spirit is fully engaged in calling and the Sheep have
learned the voice of the Father, and have begun to follow Him.
All of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all
fully engaged in the salvation of the people of God, and their security could
not be stated any more emphatically than Christ did here.
Romans 8:28-39.
This is similar to John 10 27-30—it might even be
considered a commentary on the words of Jesus.
God’s General Providence and Government. “All things work together for good for those who love God,
to those who are called according to them who are the called according to his
purpose.” The security of the believer is
cast against the background of God’s general providence and rule of the
universe: verse 28. God works all things: this is clear in the entire content
of the Bible: He is the Creator, sustainer, ruler, and judge of all the earth.
Things do no just happen. God has a good and loving purpose for all that He has
done: and that loving and good purpose is described in the verses that follow:
it is for the good of those who love God and who are the called according to
his purpose. It is not necessary for Christianity to show that nothing but good
things happen to people throughout the earth—the Bible doesn’t claim that, for
the world lies in wickedness, under the judgment of God, and bad things happen
to the godless in this world and in the world to come. But God does intend the
salvation and the final eternal blessing of His elect, even though they must
endure earthly trials. We do not expect earthly and worldly rewards, for our
inheritance is in heaven, not on the earth. The good that the Holy Spirit
speaks of in verse 28 is that which is explained in verses 29-the end of the
chapter, which we will try to explain.
Worked out in
Foreknowledge.
This good that God intends for His people is worked out in
foreknowledge—for nothing is hidden from God; in predestination unto the image
of Christ; in calling to faith; in justification—the forgiveness of all their
sins; in future glorification in eternity, when we shall be forever with the
Lord.
God is For Us!
If God is for us! What can stand against infinite power?
What device can be conceived against infinite wisdom? What event in time can
overcome an eternal decree? What sin can prevail against the blood of Christ?
Christ is given for us when we were in rebellion and without God. What more is
there for God to give to us? Can His eternal decree miscarry, and the blood of
Christ prove to be impotent?
Let the Lawyers
for the Prosecution Make Their Case.
Shall they plead our sins against us, and call us condemned
before the law? That we freely admit. But it is God who justifies. It is God
who has freely pronounced forgiveness of all our sins. How can the holiness and
justice of God be the enemy of God’s people, when their salvation was planned
by the Father, purchased by the Son, and performed by the Holy Spirit?
What Of the Debt We Owe To God? “It is God that justifieth.” Vs. 33 Shall they call our
debts before our face? “Condemn” means to call up the accounts, to read the
bill against us. Shall all of the charges of guilt and pollution suffice to
make void the blood of Christ? Can such charges reach into heaven and pry us
loose from the hand of Christ, who sits at the place of power and glory,
precisely to answer such charges?
Shall We Be Separated from the Love of God? “Who
shall separate us from the Love of Christ?”
Vs. 35. Who can cause division
between us and our Savior? What will drive a wedge between us and the love of
Christ? What could possibly do it? Of all the things that we could imagine that
could separate us from the love of Christ, this prospect is the most alarming.
If we could be separated from the love of Christ, then we would be without hope
and without God in the world. Without His love we would have no atonement, no
mercy, no sacrifice, and no answers to our prayers. The Holy Spirit answers:
not tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death,
life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, or things to come; not
height, depth, nor any other creature can take us away from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But what of our sins?
Cannot our sins separate us from
Christ? But how can that be, when they are taken away by the blessed work of
all the Persons of the Holy Trinity? The Father takes them away by His eternal
foreknowledge and decree of predestination. The Son takes them away by fully
obeying the law on our behalf, and suffering the full weight of the law that we
deserve. The Holy Spirit takes them away by working faith in our hearts,
calling us to the Savior, sanctifying, preserving, and keeping us. So are
fulfilled the words of the Apostle Paul in Phil. 1:6: “Being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ.” What more could or ought to be said? The lawyers retire defeated, the jury is
dismissed, and the child of God goes free, rejoicing in the love of God in Jesus
Christ. “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” --Romans 8:38,39.
Amen and Amen.
Write:
Trinity Covenant Church
6050 Del Paz Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Phone: 719-590-1477
Email: email: Pastor Powell