Eternal Preservation of the Saints
To preserve means to keep safe, to keep from perishing or spoiling. The doctrine of eternal preservation of the saints means that the elect of God are never in danger of eternal damnation and are preserved into eternal life by the covenant work of Jesus. Several verses of scripture speak to us specifically about the eternal preservation of the saints:
1. Ps. 37:28 “For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.”
2. Ps. 97:10 “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.”
3. Ps. 145:20 “The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.”
4. 1 Thes. 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
5. 2 Tim. 4:17 “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
6. Jude 1:1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:”
The elect of God are preserved in the covenant work of Jesus Christ and are never in any danger of losing their eternal life or of eternally perishing. This covenant work of Christ is set forth for us in detail in Romans 8:29, 30 and in the 1st Chapter of the book of Ephesians. In Rom. 8:29, 30 we read, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” This covenant begins with God foreknowing a people and ends with those same people being glorified. The same ones that God foreknew are predestinated, called, justified, and glorified.
It is Christ who executes this covenant. He calls the elect into spiritual life: John 5:25 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” He justifies the elect with his atoning blood: Rom. 8:33, 34 “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” It is also Christ who will glorify the elect in the resurrection: 1 Thes. 4:16, 17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
In Ephesians chapter 1 there is a phrase that appears several times: “in Christ” or “in him.” This phrase shows how that we are preserved from before the foundation of the world unto an eternal inheritance:
1. Eph. 1:4-7 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
2. Eph. 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
These verses positionally place us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Thus positioned in Christ we are predestinated in Christ unto the adoption of children; we are made accepted in Christ; we are redeemed in Christ; and we are given an inheritance in Christ. Thus, those chosen in Christ are never positionally out of Christ, but are preserved in Christ unto eternal glory.
Jesus told some unbelieving Jews in John chapter 10: John 10:25 “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one.” For one of God’s elect sheep to perish it would be necessary to pluck them out of the hand of Christ and out of the hand of the Father. This is impossible for anyone to do. Therefore, we (the elect saints of God) are eternally preserved unto eternal life.