Is it wrong to preach on perseverance? This seems like a logical question to ask if you come from a Calvinist perspective. For many Calvinists, it would not be wrong to preach on perseverance and they would even applaud such a teaching. For other Calvinist it would seem that to teach on perseverance would be, to them, as preaching that man must keep himself saved and thus they would deem such a teaching as not a grace message but from a works perspective.
The Scriptures, however, make it clear that the Apostles of our Lord deemed it necessary to teach that perseverance is necessary for eternal salvation. While there are many promises from God to keep us (John 10:27-30; Romans 8:37-39; Titus 1:1-2; Jude 24-25), there are also many exhortations for us to continue in our faith (Acts 11:23; 14:22; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; 2 Corinthians 1:24; 12:21-13:5; Galatians 5:1-4; 6:7-9; Philippians 2:12-15; Colossians 1:21-23; 3:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 3:5; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; Hebrews 3:6-19; 4:1-16; 5:8-9; 6:4-20; 10:19-39; 11:13-16; etc.). Jude exhorts us to “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21 NKJV). Jesus Himself said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24 NKJV).
We live an age when truth is being ignored and completely thrown out of many churches. The seeker sensitive, purpose-driven, emergent movements have all brought much harm to the Church by allowing sin and doctrinal errors to run rampant. Now more than ever we need to preach that we must persevere in the faith (Jude 3-4). We must not allow sin and false doctrines to rob us of the glory of Christ. One of Satan’s main attacks is by allowing false disciples to come into the Church and corrupt the Church with false teachings (Acts 15:1ff; 20:30). We must guard the truth of the gospel against errors (1 Timothy 6:19-20). Now is not the time to preach false assurances of salvation through eternal security but now is the time to proclaim that true believers must persevere in the faith (1 Timothy 6:11-16; Hebrews 2:1-4; Revelation 2:1-7). Now is the time to boldly proclaim that we continue to hold to the truths of Scripture even if it costs us everything (Luke 9:23-26; 2 Timothy 3:12). We must not embrace the spirit of this age but we must embrace the one true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). We must preach perseverance!
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