The Perseverance Of The Holy Spirit, Not The Saints

Ephesians 1:12-14, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

I love this passage of Scripture. The moment that a person receives Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, by faith alone, God seals them with His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God with us. This is the best eternal security you can get. Once saved, always saved is Biblical. 

One of my favorite Bible teachers is Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1950). Dr. Ironside was only a man, fully capable of doctrinal error. I love his book on 'The Eternal Security Of The Believer.' Moody Bible Institute today is hardcore Calvinist in their teachings. I was upset when I read on their college's website that Dr. Harry Ironside changed his views, moving toward “a mild Calvinist position” during his latter ministry. I totally disagree. Moody bases their errant conclusion on the following words from Pastor Ironside:

The Spirit's Perseverance

In the second place, we base the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer upon the perseverance and omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit of God. Look at Philippians 1:6. Writing to these saints, the apostle says, when he thanked them for their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Do you see that? Who began the good work in you if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus? The Holy Spirit of God did. It was He who convicted you of sin; it was He who led you to put your trust in Christ; it was He who through the Word gave you the witness that you were saved; it is He who has been conforming you to Christ since you first trusted the Lord Jesus. Having thus taken you up in grace, the Holy Spirit has a definite purpose in view. He is eventually going to conform you fully to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He never begins a work that He does not intend to finish. "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." If when you were a poor sinner the Holy Spirit had power sufficient to break down your opposition to God and to bring to an end your unbelief and rebellion, do you think for one moment that He does not have power enough to subdue your will as a believer and to carry on to completion the work that He began? 

People say, "I see you believe in that old Baptist doctrine of 'once in grace, always in grace.'" Or another says, "I understand you hold that old Presbyterian idea of 'the final perseverance of the saints.'" I do not know why this should be called either Baptist or Presbyterian, only to the extent that Baptists and Presbyterians agree with the Book, and the Word of God clearly shows that once God takes us up in grace nothing can separate us from the love of Christ so that evidently the expression, "once in grace, always in grace," is a perfectly correct one. But, on the other hand, I am not so enthusiastic about the other expression, "the perseverance of the saints." I believe in it; I believe that all saints—all really belonging to God—will persevere to the end, for the Book tells me, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13), and if a man starts out and makes a profession but gives it all up, he will never be saved, because he was never born again to begin with, he was never truly changed by grace divine. On the other hand, the reason he endures to the end is not because of any particular perseverance of his own. What I believe in, and what the Word of God clearly teaches, is the perseverance of the Holy Spirit. When He begins a work, He never gives up until it is completed. That is our confidence.

SOURCE: The Eternal Security Of The Believer 

Taken at a glance, one could cherry-pick Dr. Ironside's statement that he “believes” in the Calvinist doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which would be a misrepresentation of what he actually believed and taught. He clearly said that he was “not so enthusiastic” about this teaching. But if you read that statement within the full context, Dr. Ironside makes it very clear that He believes it is the indwelling Holy Spirit Who perseveres inside the saint of God. This is Biblical. Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” That “good work” is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in every believer, through the Word of God. John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Jesus commanded us to “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES” (John 5:39b).

This does not mean a believer will persevere in holiness, but that the indwelling Holy Spirit will scourge and chastise every child of God (Hebrews 12:6-8). Put another way, our eternal security is based upon God's faithfulness, not our faithfulness. Carefully notice that the Bible says it is “a good work in you,” not a good work that you perform. I love the clarity of the King James Bible, unlike the corrupt modern Bible revisions that change and render the Scriptures ineffective. When you get saved, God gives you His Holy Spirit, Who seals you. It is the Word of God that sanctifies a man, as we yield to the Spirit's leading (John 17:17).

The Holy Spirit ALWAYS works in coordination with the Word of God. That is an absolute rule to remember. Anytime someone speaks about spirituality (as new agers often do), without mentioning the inspired Word of God, you know they have been inspired by demons!!! Any spirit that is not the Holy Spirit is a familiar spirit. We hear much nowadays from the heathen world about spiritual things, but there is no mention of the Word of God, except perhaps some vague references to the life and teachings of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will ALWAYS lead you through the knowledge of the Scriptures.

Notice carefully that Pastor Ironside is talking about one's “profession” of faith, and not a changed life (as Calvinists do). Pastor Ironside said: “if a man starts out and makes a profession but gives it all up, he will never be saved, because he was never born again to begin with, he was never truly changed by grace divine.” Dr. Ironside is not saying that salvation can be lost; but rather, you never had it to begin with if you deny Christ at some future point. Many religious people join a Christian organization, or partake of a Christian business, or ascribe top some basic Christian principles, without ever actually being born-again. 

There are literally preachers who teach the Gospel, but don't believe a word of what they are preaching. Benny Hinn is one of them. I know because I have heard him change his message when he speaks to different religious groups, exploiting the audience. Anybody can recite the Gospel to make money off naive people. Christ died, that's history; Christ died for me, that's salvation! You must personally embrace the Gospel yourself, making it your only hope for Heaven. We are not saved by having knowledge of the Gospel, but by BELIEVING the Gospel. 

Please let me clarify. I am NOT talking about believing with your heart instead of your head. Pastor J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) teaches that junk and I hate it. Pastor McGee was saved and went to Heaven in 1988. But he was wrong that a person can believe in their head, but not in their heart. In fact, your “heart” is your subconsciousness, part of your mind. Dr. McGee's tract is called: “Missing Heaven By 18 Inches.” That's the measurement between your brain and your heart muscle that pumps blood. Such teachings are confusing at best, and spiritually deadly at worst. It is possible to have knowledge of the Gospel without believing, but if you believe it in your mind, that automatically includes your heart. There is no such thing as believing with the mind but not the heart. If you believe you believe!!! 

Also, faith is not optimism, hoping for the best. Faith is trusting (relying) upon the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in spite of our doubts. Doubt does not negate faith. Even if you have 99% doubt, 1% trust it is no less than 100% faith if you wholly trust the Savior. John 3:16 teaches that we are saved by childlike faith. I agree fully with Dr. Ironside that the Holy Spirit will persevere in each believer. God promises in Hebrews 13:5 to never leave nor forsake His own, those who are redeemed by faith in Jesus Christ.

One note that I have to mention is that Pastor Ironside is 100% wrong in his interpretation of Matthew 24:13, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” This Bible passage is commonly misused to teach the heresy of Lordship Salvation. However, if the Bible student would simply read the entire passage, they would notice the true meaning of verse 13 in Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” The subject at hand is the saving of the flesh during the 7-year Tribulation period, and not the saving of the soul. Those saints who are fortunate enough to survive the Tribulation, will go into the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ in their human body. Matthew 24:13 has nothing to do with going to Heaven. Respectfully, Pastor Ironside got this passage wrong. 

I have never met a preacher who was 100% correct on everything, including myself. I have had to hone my beliefs over the years, to bring them fully in line with the Scriptures. One example is that I used to say that “a changed life is not a part of saving faith, but is a fruit of genuine repentance.” I was wrong! A changed life is the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:22-25). True repentance does not change one's life, it simply facilitates believing the Gospel to be saved. Repentance unto salvation has nothing to do with changing one's life. Here is a helpful video that I found, with which I fully agree doctrinally.

So we have learned that the perseverance of the saints is unbiblical. Rather, the Bible teaches the perseverance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are saved and kept saved by God's faithfulness, and not our faithfulness to the least degree. That is the ultimate promise of eternal life, which is our eternal security. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”