John Samson Hosts Today's Dividing Line with More From TULIP

It's a joy to be with you here on The Dividing Line. It's a beautiful day in Phoenix, as it often is, and I have the privilege of being here on the show as also the privilege of pastoring King's Church on the west side of the valley, a Reformed Baptist church, and we're excited of the new things the Lord is doing with us.

Introduction to the Preservation of the Saints

It's been a delight, I keep saying the word delight because it is a delight and privilege to be here on the show and talk about things central to the Christian message, the way of salvation, how God saves, and if you've been following along, when I've had the responsibility of filling in for James, I've been able to talk about law and gospel, the five solas, and then a series on the TULIP, the doctrines of grace, tulip as it's been made into an acrostic, at least in the English language, as a response to the remonstrance of an earlier century, and we're in the P today talking about the perseverance or the preservation of the saints.

The people of God are preserved by the God who saves them. There's a difference between this doctrine and what is the current feeling out there when people talk about something called eternal security.

I believe true Christians are eternally secure, but a lot of people, when they use that phrase eternal security, have a mistaken idea, and that is you can tip your hat to God, you can say the sinner's prayer so-called, although that's not really a prayer found in the scripture, but you say a prayer, you walk an aisle, you sign a card, you raise your hand, you do what is necessary, and you're in the kingdom no matter how you live the rest of your life.

What the biblical position is that if someone has truly come to Christ, they're coming to Christ out of a regenerated heart because God has taken out the heart of stone and he has given them a heart of flesh.

Before we talk more about that, in the last session we were talking about irresistible grace, and even though we have an hour to talk about that, and we did last time, there's all sorts of scriptures that I didn't mention.

I'd have loved to have gone to Acts chapter 16. You know, many preachers will tell us to open our hearts to God, open our hearts to Christ, yet when you see that phrase in the New Testament, it's God who opens the heart.

People can say what they like, but the scripture says it's God who opens the heart. Talking of the ministry of Paul, Luke writing in Acts chapter 16, verse 14, says this,. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. Again, irresistible grace, that when the Lord opens the heart, they listen, and they listen with intentionality to the things spoken in the gospel.

Ephesians 2 is another scripture we could have gone to regarding irresistible grace. Writing to the church at Ephesus, not to everybody in Ephesus, but to the church, he says in chapter 2, or he writes, verse 1,.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

Dead, Greek word there is nekros, means dead like a corpse. And just think, there's not degrees of deadness. You don't say this guy's just slightly dead, the other guy is more dead. Dead is dead. And towards God, men are dead spiritually.

We're born DOA, dead on arrival, spiritually dead, and in need of not merely help or a moral pep talk. We need a miracle. We need a resurrection. And notice, Paul includes himself in that category. He says, we all were like this.

We all conducted ourselves in this manner. We all were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But again, writing to the Christians, the next two words are essential. But God, Ephesians 2, 4.

But God, not but man having a little island of righteousness still unaffected by the fall, was able to reach out in provenient grace that was offered to him and extend his hand toward God. And then God, thankfully, with gratitude in his heart for man's cooperation, is now able.

To save.

Is that what your Bible says? No, it's the activity of God that is mentioned, and that only. And when it comes to talk about the faith that is necessary for justification, even that is the gift of God, as the passage goes on to say.

But God being rich, literally filthy rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead again, Necros, even when we were like a corpse dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

Who did that? God did that. God made this man, this woman, anyone who's in Christ, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus for by grace, you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast. Even the faith that we call upon the name of the Lord with is God's gift. The grace, the salvation, the faith, it's all the gift of God.

These are two passages we didn't go to. But moving on to talk about the P and the perseverance of the saints, one place that I think this comes out clearly is again John chapter 6. And we've been in this passage dealing with the other topics in the tulip because Jesus said so much.

I want to believe what Jesus said. I want to believe what the apostles said. I've got some interest now, having studied some of church history and some of the greats of the past, but each of them individually or all of them corporately never add up to the standard of the word of God itself.

Every thought, every thought of the greats in church history is subservient to the truth of God found in the scripture. And Jesus taught these doctrines of grace, which is why I believe them. Here's the setting in John chapter 6.

Jesus has fed the five thousand. He's walking on water. He's telling people he is the bread of life. A lot is going on in this chapter. And the crowd that has witnessed these events and is witnessing these events makes a profession of faith.

And I'm saying it's not enough to make a profession of faith. You actually have to have the possession of faith. You actually have to have the faith that you are professing. And Jesus was able to say this of Israel, you honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from me.

It's possible to make a profession and it be a false profession. And that's exactly what Jesus said about this profession later on in the chapter in verse 14. When the people saw the sign that he had done, this feeding of the five thousand, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.

Many would say, that's it. They're all Christians. They're all followers of Christ. They they believe he's the one. Jesus didn't buy into this profession as we pick up the story in John chapter 6. Jesus said to them, the same group, I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst. The coming to Christ, the believing in Christ are synonymous terms here. The coming to Christ, the believing on him is the same activity.

But I said to you that you've seen me and yet do not believe. Verse 14, they said, this is indeed the prophet who's to come into the world. And Jesus said, I don't believe you're true believers. In fact, I'm saying you're not.

You do not believe. There is such a thing as false faith. And we need that category in our mind if we're to rightly understand the scriptural teaching about how God keeps his own. He keeps his own, but he has no commitment to false believers.

You do not believe. Yet you do not believe. And then he says this to the same crowd, all that the father gives me will come to me. Not 88 percent, not 22 percent, but 100 percent of all that the father gives to me.

And it's speaking of something that happened before time. The father gave a group of people, his elect, to his son, who will then in time come to the son. It's the giving of the father of this group that comes before the coming of the people to Christ.

All that the father gives me will come to me. It speaks highly of divine election. And he's telling the crowd why it is they don't believe. You don't believe. What's the implication? All that the father gives me will come to me.

You're not coming to me. You're not. You're not believing in me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Right there we have the preservation of the saints. He'll never cast out the one who comes.

You could say who comes genuinely. But they come. They come to Christ. And Jesus says, I will never cast them out. Them being the entire group. There's not one who falls through the cracks here. For he says, I've come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

Let's stop for a moment. Could we even imagine Jesus, the son of God, failing to do his father's will? I cannot. I cannot even imagine that. I can't imagine him giving a progress report to his father at the end of the week saying, I did two thirds of the things that you assigned for me.

The remaining third was a little awkward. Couldn't get it done. People are obstinate. This thing called free will, I could never mess with that. You understand? But I got two thirds of it done. No, I would believe every Christian who honors Christ as the divine son of God would say anything that is the father's will, Jesus accomplishes.

And there are scriptures that speak of that explicitly in the New Testament. No time to go into those, but I'm sure you are aware of them. He said, I'm not here to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

So he's on a mission to do his father's will. I want to know what that is. How about you? Thankfully, he tells us what that mission is. And this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

We could even shut the program off right here and just say, there it is. Jesus keeps all his sheep, all that the father gives to him, come to him. And it's father's will that he lose none of all that has been given to him, but raise it the entire group up on the last day.

That is a phrase, raise it up on the last day. It's a phrase speaking of resurrection, eternal life, eternality with God, full salvation, glorification, raised to be with God and Christ forever. For this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the sun and believes in him.

And he's explained who it is who will believe in him. All that the father has given to him will come to him, will believe in him. But this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the sun and believes in him should have everlasting life.

And I'll raise him up on the last day. It's so explicit. We need help to misunderstand this. Jesus keeps all his sheep. That's why an attack on this doctrine is actually an attack on the savior hood of Jesus himself.

He keeps all his sheep. He does not lose any sheep. He does not report back and say, well, it's been tough in Arizona this month. We lost 54 sheep. But the good news is only 22 in Colorado and less in Nebraska.

And England, we don't want to talk about it. No, he's not able to give a report saying he lost any of the sheep because he's the good shepherd. He keeps his own. He knows his own. He says, my sheep hear my voice.

I know them and they follow me. It's interesting when you look at that word, no, and you look in Matthew 7, where those who made a profession of faith were entirely surprised. Shocked would be a more accurate word when Jesus says to some who have done miracles in his name, a lot of activity in his name.

And he says, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. What does he say? I never knew you. Not I knew you for eight years and then you blew it. I never knew you. We never had a redemptive relationship.

He knew of them. He knew their names. He just did not know them redemptively in a saving relationship. And again, the contrast is my sheep, John chapter 10, hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.

I know them. I don't know you. I know them. I know the sheep. I look after my sheep. No one can pluck them out of my hand. No one can pluck them out of the father's hand. I am the father. We're one in this.

We're one in mission. We will not lose any. Praise the Lord for that. There's a difference then between what some perceive to be the doctrine, and they call it eternal security with the biblical doctrine.

I like to call it the preservation of the saints, saints preserved. Authentic faith is necessary. Let me apply this to your and my life. What makes you think you will be saved if you're saved now? Are you trusting in your love for Christ, your ongoing love for Christ, or are you trusting in the fact that it's God who put the desire for him in your heart?

You see, if you think you started your Christian life, that God did a lot of things, almost everything, but you triggered your Christian life by your faith, and without your faith being part of the package, God couldn't have saved you.

You've got a misconception right there. The biblical doctrine of salvation includes the fact that God gives his elect sheep faith, and it's more than the ability to believe. It's faith. And the nature of true saving faith is it's enduring quality.

It will continue. It will endure. The saved one is one who endures. Many think that if you just say one prayer, you're a Christian, then you can live like the devil and still be saved. No, authentic faith is necessary.

There's such a thing as false faith. There is such a commodity as tares that look like wheat. Jesus taught that very clearly in a parable. True faith is the overflow of a truly regenerated heart. Those with a new heart have new affections.

What do I mean by that? One of the ways we test whether we're in the faith is to do exactly that. Test whether we're in the faith. The scripture says that. Rather than look back at when you signed your Bible, yes, March the 8th, 1972, I walked the aisle.

There it is. No, what God tells us to do in the scripture is examine ourselves to see if there's a spiritual.

Heartbeat.

It's a sign of life. If you meet someone physically and there's no heartbeat, there's no breath, you have to make arrangements for a funeral because all the evidence is they're not alive. They're dead.

And in our lives, there should be evidences that we are safe. We are not saved by the evidences. The evidences revealed the fact that we are regenerated. We're alive spiritually. For instance, 1 John 3, 14 tells us we know that we've passed out of death into life because we love the brethren.

He who does not love abides in death. One of the tests we know as to why and how we're Christians is the fact that we have a new relationship with fellow Christians. We like hanging around them. We want to be with them.

We want to look after them. We've got more in common with them than those who even support our favorite soccer team or football team or basketball team. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. And the truth of the perseverance of the saints is because God keeps you, you won't make shipwreck of your faith.

There are scriptures that say this so explicitly. I love the scripture in Jeremiah 32, verse 40, which is speaking of the new covenant. And he says this, I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me.

Do you believe God's capable of that? There are many Christians who say, oh no, he would never do that. Well, align your thinking with the word of God. God says he can not only can do this, he can do this, but he says, I will.

It's a promise. I will put the fear of me, a new commodity, something that wasn't there previously. I'll put my fear in them. This is the new covenant people of God. I'll put my fear in them for the purpose of so that they will not turn away from me.

In the golden chain of redemption, Romans chapter 8. We've talked of this many times in this brief series before. But do you remember the last phrase? It says, these whom he justified, he also glorified.

We've talked about the fact that if you were to march 100 theologians into a room and say, what is the implication going on in verses 28 through 30? Is it some or is it all? When it says, these whom he foreknew, he predestined.

These whom he predestined, he called. These whom he called, he justified. And these whom he justified, he also glorified. Is it some or is it all? Is it some of these he called, he justified? All of these he called, he justified.

And I believe every one of those theologians, though they may disagree on a number of other points, would have to agree. The implication is the word all. That's where Paul is going in the passage. The banner headline in verse 1 of chapter 8 is no condemnation.

The banner at the end of the chapter is no separation. Nothing can separate us, the elect, the people of God from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So it would make no sense to say some of those he justified would be glorified.

What kind of assurance would that bring when the whole passage is meant to tell you there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ? No, these whom he justified, he also glorified.

When building our spiritual doctrines, the Christian faith, what we believe the Bible to be teaching, one of the greatest pieces of advice I can give you is to build it on what is clear in Scripture, not on some obscure passage.

What I mean by that is there are some things, although every Scripture, every verse is breathed out by God. Theomneustos, 2 Timothy 3, 16. All the Scripture is God-breathed. Not all the Scripture is equally easy to understand.

Peter said as much. Some of the things that Paul wrote, he says, are hard to understand, and those who are untaught and unstable twist them as they do the rest of the Scripture. He acknowledged that although he found some of Paul's writings hard to understand, he acknowledged it was Scripture.

And there are some parts of our Bible that are easier to understand than others. Build your doctrine on what is clear, what is explicit, and John 6 is explicit. John 10 is explicit. John 17 is explicit.

Romans 8, 28 through 30, explicit. These whom he justified, he also glorified. No one falls through the cracks. And God is so powerful, he can put his fear into the heart so that the one given that fear of him does not depart from the Christian faith.

When we talk about the perseverance of the saints, I think it's probably better to talk about the preservation of the saints. God preserves all his true children. Nobody falls through the cracks. All the justified will be glorified, just as in all the five links of the chain, God forges the links.

He does it by his will and power alone. Nothing is mentioned in that passage about what man does. These are God's activities. He foreknows, he predestines, he calls, he justifies, and he glorifies. So sure is God that the truly justified will be glorified.

He speaks of glorification in the past tense.

Why?

It's as good as done. Though it starts in eternity past and goes on into eternity future, and we're walking through this golden chain in time, God is so sure that the truly justified will be glorified.

He says, these whom he justified, he glorified. You and I are not yet glorified as good as you look right today. We're not yet glorified, but God is so sure he speaks of it as good as done. It's a wonderful truth, and it's meant to be something of an anchor in our souls no matter what we go through.

Nothing can separate us. Death, life, principalities, powers, height, depth, nothing. Not anything conceivable can separate the true child of God from the love of God. Let me ask you this. Why are you a Christian when you woke up today?

Well, I kind of anticipate some of the answers I might get if I could actually interact with you and you can interact with me. Well, I just feel love for Christ. Well, why do you think you'll still feel that way eight days from now, 28 days from now, a year from now?

Could you conceive that one day you might wake up thinking, you know, I don't feel this anymore. Why was I believing that? Why was I staking my life on this itinerant prophet who wandered Nazareth and Galilee and Jerusalem 2 ,000 years ago, thousands of miles away?

The reason I believe I can say from my own heart and life is I didn't start this. I had no desire for the true Jesus until Jesus knocked me off my horse like he did the apostle Paul. Not literally, but he intervened and he put a love for me, love for him in me that wasn't there before.

I remember seeing my father reading a Bible. I was aged eight and I thought you'll never catch me doing that. It just looked boring. When I had opened the book and looked at the words, it was archaic language and I just thought there's nothing of any interest here, but God.

And the true child of God utters those two words, but God. God intervened. Do you attribute salvation fully to God? If you understand these other doctrines, the T, the U, the L, the I, P is a necessary condition or else all of it will fall to the ground.

John 3, 16 is a verse that simply states the one who believes will have, the believing one will have eternal life and will in no way perish. That's it in a nutshell. John 3, 16 speaks of this doctrine so, so clearly.

God loved the world in this way, in this manner that he gave his one and only son so that anyone who believes, all the believing ones will in no way perish, but will instead in contrast have everlasting life.

I would submit to you that if you've got everlasting life, you have it for more than three minutes and three years and 33 years and 52 years, it's eternal. But it needs to be authentic, true, saving faith.

The book of Jude starts and ends with the God who keeps. You look at verse two, you look at verse 24, you're kept by him.

You're kept.

Yeah, but I know some other scriptures that trouble me. Let's look at some of the scriptures that do seem to trouble fellow Christians. And some of them start off with wonderful thoughts, but then there's this little word like if, and we think, well, that just takes away all the assurance.

Let's look at it. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul announces what the gospel is. And he says, now I remind you brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received in which you stand and by which you are being saved.

The word salvation is spoken in every different tense imaginable in the Greek language. You will be saved. You are saved. You're being saved. And in this case, he says, this gospel by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

Well, there it is.

How can I have assurance, Pastor John? Because I haven't yet endured all the way to the end. And I can only have assurance if I hold fast all the way to the end. If I hold fast to the word I preached to you, if, if, if, that's a screaming, shouting word like if.

We understand this, the nature of true faith is that it endures. And so the one who does not endure shows forth the fact that his faith wasn't genuine. Can some stray into sin? Oh, yes. Can the elect fall into gross sin?

I think the record of both the Old and New Testament is exactly that. Yes. But will they stay away? Will they stay away from the God who saves them? No, because God puts his fear in our hearts so that we will stay on track.

We'll come back like Peter. The difference between him and Judas was Peter was elect. Do you remember in Luke chapter 22, Jesus talks to Peter and says, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith would remain, that you would stay true to the faith.

And when you have turned, not if, but when you have turned and returned, strengthen your brothers. There's no record that Jesus prayed a similar prayer for Judas. Judas betrayed Christ. Peter denied him.

Peter came back. Judas never did. Jesus said of Judas, he's a demon. He was never on board with the fact that Judas was a true disciple, even though he was around the things of God like no one else. He was one of the twelve.

He was sent out by Jesus and even did miracles in the name of Jesus. He did. He looked like the real thing. He looked like wheat, even though he was a tear. But he never came back. And Peter did. And Peter did because of the mediatorship, the mediation, the intercession of Christ.

Christ preserved Peter in a way he did not with Judas. And that was as it was because God preserves his own. How do we look at this verse then? By looking at other verses and seeing what they say, because I believe our doctrine should hold on to the fact that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

We don't say I prefer this verse to that verse. We should have a theology that allows us to embrace everything Scripture says. And one of the things it says is 1 John 5, 13. I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life.

So the whole purpose of 1 John, according to John, was that we might know that we have eternal life. And if anything else we read in Scripture negates that or seems to, we've got to take another look at it because God wants us to be assured of eternal life.

It's one of the starting things he wants of us to be assured. He says make your calling and election sure, 2 Peter chapter 1. So God wants us to grasp hold of the fact that we must persevere in faith if we are to be saved ultimately, finally.

And couple that truth with the saved one perseveres. The saved one endures to the end. How do I know that? 1 John says that. John had been around people in ministry for quite some time and had witnessed people that were part of his apostolic team who were now what he would refer to as antichrists.

They were not preaching the true gospel but in fact were preaching something completely different. And what did he say? They were saved for a while but we lost them. It's sad that true sheep can be lost.

No, that's not his attitude at all. Let's be informed by scripture. 1 John 2, 19 talking about antichrist. He says they went out from us. In other words, they were part of our group. They sang our songs.

They preached the message. They looked the real deal but they're no longer with us. They went out from us. They didn't just leave the local church. They left any kind of Christian church. They're no longer in the professing church.

They're not with us. They went out from us but they were not of us. That's his assessment. That's biblical assessment right there. They were not of us. Well, surely they were of us. They were doing everything we were doing.

They love the Lord like we did. No, no, no, no. They were not of us. Not of us. Here's why he can say this. For if they had been of us, if they'd been genuine, if they'd 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. I don't know how the Apostle John could have been any clearer on this issue. True faith endures. The fact that they didn't endure and now are actually opposing the Christian message shows they were never of us.

They were never truly saved. They were never truly children of God. Or else they'd have stayed with us. That's it. Preservation of the saints. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Yes, yes, that's true.

That's descriptive. That's speaking of the saved one enduring. The saved one will endure. If anyone stops believing, their belief was a false faith. If anyone stops believing, their belief was in vain.

Authentic faith is enduring faith. Look at John chapter 10 with me. I've referred to it. But again, hear the words of Jesus. An attack on this doctrine is an attack on the saviourhood and the shepherd ministry of Jesus.

That's strong language, but it's true. Many who make the claim that you can lose salvation, true salvation, don't realise they're attacking Christ. Think of it this way. Think of any person in both Old and New Testament who was truly regenerated, truly saved and lost salvation.

I went through that in my mind and I could not think of any. Not one. And then I looked at the explicit statements of both Jesus and Paul. We've looked at John 6. We've looked at Romans 8. John 10 is another one.

He says this. I told you and you do not believe. Looking at a crowd again. The works I do in my father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you're not part of my flock. Strong language, politically, religiously incorrect.

He's looking at a group of people in the face and he says, you don't believe. And here's why. You're not part of my flock. I have no business reversing the words of Jesus, but in my former understanding, before I came to Reformed theology, I didn't realise I was spiritually dyslexic.

I was looking at the scripture, not seeing what it said. I thought that if you could change things, you could. I can believe and then I can become part of the flock, right? If I believe, I'll be part of the flock.

That's the exact opposite of what Jesus is saying here. He's looking a group of people in the eye and he says, you don't believe because you're not part of my flock. Then he contrasts it with the true sheep.

My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who's 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. You could equally say, I and the Father, we are one. We're one in this. We're one in this ministry. Your life is hid with Christ in God. He keeps you. Jesus keeps you. The Father keeps you.

You're kept by the power of God. It's not glory that's going to go to your faith when in the final day you are saved in the sense of the salvation is now fully revealed. You're glorified in heaven. Oh, I give praise to God for my faith.

You realize you can do it by saying, I give God glory for the faith that saves because it's all his, but don't take credit for your salvation. It's not you that got you in the kingdom. It's God. It's by his doing.

You're in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1 .30. And Jesus is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. The reason for your salvation is to eliminate boasting of any sort. Divine election does that.

Divine preservation does that. There is no room for boasting. You'll not be able to say, I know I got the same measure of grace as anyone else, but my faith turned it. It was my faith that got me in. What can I say?

I just was a little bit more humble than my neighbor. I was just a little more spiritually sensitive, maybe a little bit more intelligent. I wouldn't kind of admit that, but, you know, they got the same measure of grace as I did.

And they're in hell. I'm in heaven because of my faith. Oh, I hope you don't say that. I hope you realize that God's grace has become irresistible to you because God made Christ irresistible to you. And the one who started the work, he will perform it.

He will accomplish it until the day of redemption. Philippians 1 .6. He who started the work will finish it. He does not have unfinished projects. And if you're his project, you're going all the way to glory.

Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. But what about warning passages? Aren't there severe warning passages in the scripture? Yes, there are. And God has both ends and means. One of the reasons we know that is that God has his ends spoken of in Romans 9, where he elects certain people.

He sets his love on certain people, and he brings them all the way home to him. And then Romans 9 is followed by Romans 10. I know that's deep, but chapter 10 follows Romans 9. And there it says, speaking of the elect, how shall they hear without a preacher?