READING TIME: 3-6 MINUTES
Sept 24, 2019
David, is it possible for believers to shipwreck their faith in 1 Timothy 1:18-20?
Before I discuss 1 Timothy 1:18-20, I want to discuss the problems with the Calvinist doctrine “Perseverance of the Saints” (the “P” in TULIP). This doctrine is that the saints will persevere in the faith. Those who do not persevere in the faith are lost and real Christians will return to the faith before their demise. Those who do not return to the faith were never saved in the first place.
The Reformed view of the perseverance of the saints is certainly not the same thing as the biblical view of eternal security.
The dangerous confusion of God’s preservation of the believer with the believer’s perseverance in the faith makes salvation possible only with a holy life and without the slightest blemish.
It is very misleading that quite often Calvinists will not come right out and say what they believe about “perseverance of the saints.” It is in effect “backloading” the gospel. They oftentimes mask their requirements for perseverance by remarks about the believer being saved by a faith that results in works. Although they claim that salvation is entirely by grace, their “backloading” of the Gospel, by attaching negative injunctions and positive directives, actually change the Gospel (Galatians 1:6).
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT PROGRESSIVE / PRACTICAL / PRESENT SANCTIFICATION
• Once a person believes in Jesus, he/she is eternally in God’s family and is eternally secure without any strings attached. Key passages are: John 10:27-30; Romans 8:28-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 2:12; and 5:13.
• We should have tremendous gratitude to the Lord knowing that once we believe, we are forever God’s child.
• The NT is clear that legalism and works salvation lead to fleshly indulgence (Galatians 5:15-16). Our only hope for holiness is grace, abiding in Christ, and walking in the Spirit.
• Present progressive sanctification is certainly desired, but it is not guaranteed or automatic. Backsliding is possible. There is no time requirement for faith, or else Jesus lied when He told Martha in John 11:25-26 that she would never die. He gave her no requirement that her faith in Him must remain steadfast.
• There are three tenses of sanctification: in the past when we believed, we were positionally sanctified, in the present, we are being sanctified (being set apart) as we rely on God’s grace and abide and walk in His Spirit, and in the future, we will receive a new body (“The Ultimate Extreme Makeover”) and will be ultimately glorified.
• Not everybody who professes Christ is necessarily a believer. The issue in professions of faith is what the person believes (root) not how they live (the fruit). How a believer lives though can give evidence to others that he/she is progressively being sanctified (i.e., give evidence of the person’s second tense salvation/sanctification).
• The NT does not teach that we must work to stay saved or prove we’re saved (i.e., past/first tense salvation) by how we live.
• A believer should never look at his/her works for assurance of salvation, but he/she should focus on Christ’s ability to preserve the believer and he/she should focus on God’s promises to give eternal security to those who believe.
• We are saved not because we are necessarily faithful, but because God is always faithful to keep His promise of giving eternal life. If you could lose eternal life, then it would cease to be “eternal.”
ENCOURAGEMENT TO PERSEVERE
• Christians may not persevere, but the NT does encourage us to strive to persevere by God’s grace and we are encouraged to practice good works.
• See 1 Corinthians 15:58; Ephesian 2:10; Philippians 2:12; Colossians 1:10; Titus 3:8; Hebrews 10:24; and Jude 1:21. These passages do not make any sense if all Christians automatically persevere.
PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS VS. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
The difference between these two is that perseverance focuses on the believer (his endurance, performance, relative holiness, or the measure of just thoughts or actions as opposed to unjust thoughts or actions). It looks upon the saintly or holy actions of those who are Christ’s (thus, the use of the term saints). The doctrine of preservation, on the other hand, looks to the promises of God, not the compliance of man, as a basis for eternal security. It takes God at His Word and rests upon His promise. It also allows for the fact that believers are often weak in their faith and sinful in their actions.
SECURITY FOCUSES ON GOD
All who have believed in Christ alone are eternally secure. Security is real for the believer regardless of his success or failure. Assurance is what follows as a result of realizing this fact. Eternal security is different from the assurance of eternal salvation because eternal security is not subject to vacillation or change whereas a believer may (but need not) develop a lack of assurance and doubt his security. One need not feel eternally secure in Christ to be secure. A believer has eternal life and is, therefore, secure in that eternal life forever. Assurance is the internal confidence in that knowledge and is based on God’s veracity. In other words, assurance is based on feelings, and eternal security is based on objective fact.
1 TIMOTHY 1:18-20
Now let us look at 1 Timothy 1:18-20. There is one important item in this passage that is not consistent with the doctrine of genuine faith always persevering.
First, the fact that Paul commands Timothy to hold on to his faith implies that Timothy’s faith would not automatically persevere. Why command someone to do something that you are certain he is going to do anyway? According to Paul in 2 Timothy 1:5, Timothy had genuine faith.
Moreover, the fact that the faith of Hymenaeus and Alexander was shipwrecked indicates that it once genuinely existed. You cannot shipwreck a ship that never even existed.
In 1 Timothy 1:20, Paul says that these two men he delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (cf. 1 Cor 5:5). Paul never delivered unbelievers to Satan. Note that the purpose here is constructive: that they may learn not to blaspheme. God often allows false teachers to repent rather than simply taking their lives immediately.
Sources Used
Badger, Anthony B. “TULIP: A Free Grace Perspective.” 5 parts. Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society (2003-2005).
Costella, Matt. “God’s Perfect Work: A Study of the Doctrine of the Eternal Security of the Believer.” Foundation Magazine, May-June 1998. http://www.truthfulwords.org/articles/security2.html.
Gardoski, Kenneth M. “The Case for Eternity Security from Five Key NT Passages.” Journal of Ministry and Theology Vol 9:1 (Spring 2005): 51-71.
Keathley, J. Hampton, III. “Assurance of Eternal Security.” http://bible.org/seriespage/assurance-eternal-security.
Stegall, Tom. Must Faith Endure for Salvation to Be Sure?: A Biblical Study of the Perseverance versus Preservation of the Saints. Grace Gospel Press, chapter 11.
Vance, Laurence M. The Other Side of Calvinism, 556-561, 563, 567.
Wilkin, Bob. “Bob’s Second Ordination Exam.” < https://faithalone.org/grace-in-focus-articles/bobs-second-ordination-exam/>.
________. “The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy.” The Grace New Testament Commentary. Ed. Robert N. Wilkin. Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2010. 966.