Charles Hadden Spurgeon, known as the Prince of Preachers spoke of this doctrine saying , “I think few doctrines more vital than that of the perseverance of the saints, for if ever one child of God did perish, or if I knew it were possible that one could, I should conclude at once that I must, and I suppose each of you would do the same.” Spurgeon saw the preserving grace of God as a primary component of the gospel. “The doctrine of the final perseverance of believers seems to me to be written as with a beam of sunlight throughout the whole of Scripture. If that is not true, there is nothing at all in the Bible that is true. It is impossible to understand the Bible at all if it is not so.” He added: “If there is anything taught in Scripture for certain, it is the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints. I am as sure that doctrine is as plainly taught as the doctrine of the deity of Christ.”
When Charles Hadden Spurgeon was young, he understood the gospel, and he understood total depravity. He hesitated from trusting in Christ because He knew that in and of himself he did not have what it took to hold on to Christ until the end. He said: “Whatever good resolutions I might make, the possibilities were that they would be good for nothing when temptation assailed me. I might be like those of whom it has been said, ‘They see the devil’s hook and yet cannot help nibbling at his bait.’ But, that I should morally disgrace myself, as some had done whom I had known and heard of, was a hazard from the very thought of which I shrunk with horror.” The thought that he might start the journey to heaven but fail to complete it terrified Spurgeon. As a result, he remained paralyzed in unbelief. Upon grasping this truth He said:"When I heard and read with wondering eyes that whosoever believed in Christ Jesus should be saved, the truth came to my heart with a welcome I cannot describe to you. The doctrine that He would keep the feet of His saints had a charm indeed for me.” He testified elsewhere: "I must confess that the doctrine of the final preservation of the saints was a bait that my soul could not resist. I thought it was a sort of life insurance—an insurance of my character, an insurance of my soul, an insurance of my eternal destiny. I knew that I could not keep myself, but if Christ promised to keep me, then I should be safe for ever; and I longed and prayed to find Christ, because I knew that, if I found Him, He would not give me a temporary and trumpery salvation, such as some preach, but eternal life which could never be lost."
This important doctrine became a key component of Spurgeon’s gospel focus. Without it, he claimed, he would not be able to preach: “If anybody could possibly convince me that final perseverance is not a truth of the Bible, I should never preach again, for I feel I should have nothing worth preaching.” Spurgeon saw this doctrine as inseparably bound with justification by faith: “That doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints is, I believe, as thoroughly bound up with the standing or falling of the gospel as is the article of justification by faith. Give that up, and I see no gospel left.”
One last notable implication of this doctrine of election is the notion of the "perseverance of the saints". Calvin writes that it is impossible for those "who truly believe" to completely "fall away"(Inst. III, 24, 7). R.C. Sproul suitably prefers to call this the "preservation of the saints"-attributing the completion of our salvation to God's preservation as opposed to some effort of our own. Calvin agrees when he states that salvation is "founded upon the election of God, and could never fail unless his eternal providence were dispelled"(Inst. IV, 1, 3). The elect can no doubt sway and fluctuate, and even fall; but they will not eternally perish because the Lord will always stretch out His arm to save them.
If you have true faith you can never loose it, and if you loose it, you never had it. There are many who make professions of faith and then turn away from Christ. Hebrews 3:14 says "For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." John Piper says "Notice, he does not say, "if we hold our confidence to the end.” Which means that enduring to the end doesn't get you a share in Christ. It proves you already had a share in Christ. Perseverance is the evidence of being born again in Christ, not the means to it. Or to put the same point negatively: If you don’t hold your confidence in Christ to the end, what would it show? It would show that you “had not come to share in Christ.” So the negative of verse 14 would read, “We have not come to share in Christ, if indeed we do not hold our original confidence firm to the end.” The Logic is the same when John writes in 1 John 2:19 of those who left the company of the disciples saying "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us." Jesus says that this is possible saying in Matthew 15:8 ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." He warns at the end of the sermon on the mount, that on the day of judgement many will come to Him having claimed to have done many things in His name, to which He will say "“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." (Matthew 7:21-23) Notice He doesn't say, I knew you for a season and then you betrayed me, but rather, I never knew you.You were never part of my invisible church.
We see this most clearly in Jesus High Priestly prayer in John 17:12 where He states "While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Judas, one of Jesus inner circle of disciples, whom witnessed Jesus miracles and teachings first hand, and who himself cast out demons, healed the sick and preached the gospel, was destined to destruction, never having been elected unto life. Jesus thanks the father because all whom the Father chose He gave to Christ and not one of those whom were elected unto life in Christ was lost. This is why Jesus is the good shepherd, because He takes eternal care of His sheep- "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30) It is to those who trust in Christ Paul give this assurance saying “may the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (1 Thess. 5:23)
From the moment we truly believe, God promises we shall never perish but have eternal life (John 3:16), we shall never undergo condemnation (Rom. 8:1), we shall never be lost (John 6:39), we will never thirst (John 4:14, 6:35) and never experience eternal judgement (John 5:24). We have this certainty because salvation is God's work, something He promised to do, and it cannot be undone, just as Paul remarks in Philippians 1:6 "And 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." Thus theologians call Romans 8:30 the unbreakable chain: “ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” If God's sovereignty is dependent on man's freedom, then God is not sovereign; man is sovereign (Sproul). Calvin was thoroughly convinced that any faith that does not rely wholly upon God lives in anxiety about their spiritual condition, and there can be no certainty that they will not totally and finally fall away. Rather, the Christian can have full assurance, because God's spirit makes His grace effectual because "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). It is by God's unlimited sovereign power that our faith is preserved and therefore we can have the confidence that Peter reminds us of in 1 peter 1:5 "By God's power we are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." It is because of this that we should overflow with doxology and praise saying "Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 24-25)
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