THE WILTED PETAL (PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS)   BY STEVE FINNELL

The fifth petal of John Calvin's TULIP is P-Perseverance of the Saints. Calvin believed that once a person becomes a Christian they can never lose their salvation regardless of how sinful a lifestyle they live. The following are twenty two reasons why the P of John Calvin's TULIP can end up in a wilted state. One wilted petal causes the whole flower to wilt.

1. Hebrews 6:4-8.......4...have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit....6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance....

No eternal security found here.

2. Matthew 24 :9-13.....10 At that time many will fall away....13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

No once in grace always in grace found here.

3. Galatians 6:7-9 ....8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.......

Does reap corruption mean Christians can never be lost? I do not think so.

4. 1 Corinthians 9:27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

The apostle Paul stated that it was possible that he could be lost. He did not believe in perseverance of the saints.

5. Hebrews 3:6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house---whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

There are conditions to remaining in Christ. 

6. John 15:1-6.....6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

Dried and burned is not exactly a ringing endorsement for John Calvin's perseverance of the saints.

7. 2 Timothy 2:16-18 .....18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.

Hymenaeus and Philetus knew the truth; but went astray. They obviously did not get the "once in grace always in grace" memo.

8. Galatians 4:1-4......You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified  by law; you have fallen from grace.

You cannot be severed from Christ if you were never a Christian.

9. Romans 12-13 So then, brethren, we are under obligation , not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh---13 for if you live according to to flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Why would the apostle Paul warn the Christians in Rome that they would die if they lived according to the flesh if it was impossible for them to be lost?

10. Galatians 5:19-21 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarned you , that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Why would the apostle Paul warn the Christians at Galatia that they had the possibility of not inheriting the kingdom of God if "once in grace always in grace" was a Scriptural concept? The deeds of the flesh that have not been, repented of, can keep Christians from inheriting the kingdom of God.

11. 1 Corinthians 10:8-13 .......Therefore let him who thinks he stand take heed that he does not fall........

God provides men a way to escape temptation, however, He does not force men to take advantage of that way.

12. Hebrews 3:12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

Christians can cease to believe and fall away.

13. 2 Peter 1:5-11 .....10 ....for as long as you practice these things you will never stumble; 11 For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

It is possible to stumble.

14. 2 Peter 3:14-17.....17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried way by error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,

Christians can fall from grace.

15. Revelation 2:5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you first did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place---unless you repent.

People can fall and they need to repent.

16. Hebrews 4:1-11......11 Therefore let us be diligent to inter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

Christians can fall because of disobedience. God does not force obedience.

17. Revelation 3:1-5 .....5 He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life....

The names of some Christians will be erased.

18. 2 Peter 3:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first........

How could the last state be worse for them if they have eternal security?

19. Mark 4:16:17 ....17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately fall away.

You cannot fall from a position you were never in. They were saved and then fell.

20. Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgement and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

Can Christians continue in an unrepentant  lifestyle of sin and still be saved?

21. Matthew 10:22 You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

Those who not not endure to the end will not be saved. No such thing as once saved always saved.

22. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith......

The Holy Spirit says some will fall from the faith. John Calvin says once men are saved they can never be lost. WHO DO YOU TRUST?

It takes a skilled professional and a willing student to believe in John Calvin's "PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS."