Perseverance of the saints, also known as preservation of the saints, is a
Calvinist doctrine asserting that the
elect will persevere in faith and ultimately achieve
salvation. This concept was initially developed by
Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century, who formulated the idea of
predestination by
predeterminism. In the 16th century,
John Calvin and other
reformers integrated this idea into their theological framework. The doctrine of perseverance of the saints is rooted in this understanding of predestination and continues to be a central tenet of
Reformed theology today.
Definition and terminology
Definition
The doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints asserts that the
elect will persevere in
faith until the end of their lives and ultimately achieve
salvation. Those who are truly
born again are the elect who will persevere to the end.[1][2]
Terminology
The alternative term "preservation of the saints" emphasizes
God's role in
determining the elect's perseverance. Conversely, "perseverance of the saints" highlights the human act of perseverance, which is a consequence of God's preservation.[3][4][5]
Because one practical interpretation of the Calvinist doctrine of "perseverance of the saints" leads to "
eternal security",[6] over time, the term became synonymous with the doctrine itself.[7] However, given the theological significance of the term "eternal security" in common usage, it's important to distinguish them.[8] Indeed, some Calvinist theologians reject the use of "eternal security" for their doctrine of perseverance,[9] as do proponents of non-Calvinist forms of eternal security.[10]
During his conflict with the
Pelagians, however Augustine seemed to reintroduce certain Manichean principles into his thought,[20][21][22][23][24][25] a shift notably influenced by the controversy over
infant baptism.[26] His early exposure to Stoicism, with its emphasis on meticulous divine
predeterminism, also shaped his views.[27] According to Manichean doctrine, unborn and unbaptized infants were condemned to
hell due to their physical bodies.[28] Augustine asserted that God predetermined parents to seek baptism for their newborns, linking
water baptism to
regeneration,[29] and ultimately predetermining which infants are
damned and which are
justified.[30]
Augustine had to explain why some baptized infants continued in the faith while others
fell away and lived
immoral lives. He taught that among those regenerated through baptism, some receive an additional
gift of perseverance (donum perseverantiae) enabling them to maintain their faith and preventing them from
falling away.[31][32][33] Without this second gift, a baptized
Christian with the
Holy Spirit would not persevere and ultimately would not be saved. Augustine developed this doctrine of perseverance in De correptione et gratia (
c. 426–427).[34] While this doctrine theoretically give security to the
elect who receive the gift of perseverance, individuals cannot ascertain whether they have received it.[35][13][36]
Proponents of Augustinian soteriology before the Reformation
A consequence of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination
Orthodox forms of Calvinism view God's
providence as expressed through
theological determinism.[50][51][52] This means that every event in the world is determined by God.[53] As the Westminster Confession of Faith put it: "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass."[54]
Concerning salvation, Calvin expressly taught that it is God's
sovereign decision to determine whether an individual is saved or damned.[55][56] He writes "By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death."[57] Indeed, human actions leading to this end are also
predetermined by God.[58] In accordance, Calvin held to the doctrine of perseverance of the saints, contending for the unconditional preservation of the elect.[59]
Practical interpretations of the doctrine of perseverance of the saints
Practical interpretation rejecting an absolute assurance of salvation
According to Calvinism,
apostasy is not possible for those who are true
Christians.[60] However, being a true Christian is only demonstrated by perseverance to the end.[61] This arises because there are instances where individuals appear to come to God but later display definitive apostasy. To address this phenomenon, Calvinist theologians have postulated that
common grace might include effects that cannot be distinguished from
effectual calling and subsequent
irresistible grace. About that issue,
Calvin formulated the concept of a temporary
grace (sometimes called "evanescent grace") that appears and works for only a while in the
reprobate but then to disappears.[62][63][64][65] According to this concept, the
Holy Spirit can create in some people effects which are indistinguishable from those of the irresistible grace of God, producing also a visible "fruit" in their life.[66][67] Temporary grace was also supported by later Calvinist theologians such as
Theodore Beza,
William Perkins,[68]John Owen,[69]A. W. Pink[70] and
Loraine Boettner.[71] This suggests that the knowledge of being a true Christian is theoretically not accessible during life.[72] Thus a first interpretation of the doctrine of perseverance of the saints acknowledges explanations of apparent apostasy like "evanescent grace," which avoids offering to the believer absolute assurance of salvation during life.[73][74][75][76]
Practical interpretation supporting an absolute assurance of salvation
Calvin is known to heavily drew upon
Augustine soteriology.[45][46] However, despite Calvin's inability to offer a clear rationale,[73] he was more optimistic than Luther regarding this possibility.[79] Indeed, Calvin suggested that it might be possible to have some assurance of being an elect.[80] This possibility of assurance, based on personal introspection, as expressed by Calvin was also expressed by later Calvinist theologians,[81] for instance in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646).[82] In the 18th century,[83] similarly,
Hyper-Calvinism encouraged introspection as a means for adherents to determine whether or not one was elect.[84] This assurance forms the foundation of unconditional eternal security within Calvinist circles.
The process leading to
eternal security unfolds as follows: Initially, the believer must embrace the Calvinist system, emphasizing
unconditional election and
irresistible grace. Subsequently, through self-examination, they must discern the spiritual influence of the
Holy Spirit. This
introspection may lead to a faith in their own
predetermined election. In this context, the concept of the perseverance of the saints may prompt the believer to believe in their irresistible perseverance.[85][86]
Because this practical interpretation of the doctrine of "perseverance of the saints" leads to "eternal security", within Reformed Christianity, the term has become synonymous with the doctrine itself over time.[7] Besides, in broader Protestantism, "
eternal security" often carries a distinct meaning.[7] It's then important to differentiate the two due to their theological significance.[8]
Summary of the interpretations
In Calvinist circles, thus, two practical interpretations emerge regarding "perseverance of the saints": One interpretation accept explanations of apparent apostasy such as "evanescent grace," which does not offer believers absolute assurance of salvation during life. The other interpretation rejects these explanations, asserting that believers, through introspection, can know with absolute certainty that they are elect, thus allowing belief in eternal security. These two perspectives were already observed in the 16th century.
Jacobus Arminius, (1560-1609), a pastor of the
Reformed Church, encountered both perspectives stemming from the doctrine of perseverance of the saints. He labeled the first perspective "despair" (
Latin: desperatio) and the second "security" (
Latin: securitas).[85]
Objections
Perseverance of the saints hinders assurance of salvation
The doctrine of perseverance of the saints can suggest that a believer has some
assurance of salvation. However, this interpretation faces criticism for perceived inconsistency. In orthodox Calvinism, while the elect will persevere to the end, believers cannot know they are elect until they persevere to the end.[61] This reality, regardless of explanations for definitive
apostasy, undermines the practical utility of "perseverance of the saints," hindering assurance of salvation. This critique has been advanced by various Non-Calvinist sources, including proponents of
free grace theology,[87] and advocates of
conditional preservation of the saints, such as
Arminians.[88]
Inconsistencies in explaining definitive apostasy
Within the perseverance of the saints framework, the phenomenon of definitive apostasy is generally explained by Calvinist theologians by the "temporary grace" concept.[72] Non-Calvinist Christians find this explanation contrary to the revealed character of God and inconsistent with the overall revelation.[89]
Exegetical defense
Warning passages of the book of Hebrews
Some challenge the Calvinist doctrine based on their interpretation of the admonishments in the book of Hebrews, including several passages but especially
Hebrews 6:4–12 and
Heb 10:26–39. The debate over these passages centers around the identity of the persons in question. Calvinists suggest several other options:[90]
These passages are not clear enough to describe a regenerate person (or "true Christian"), and thus they do not describe the situation of a true believer. Instead, the persons in question may well have been part of the church
community and had the advantages concomitant with that membership without being truly "saved".
These passages can refer to a regenerate person, but what is described is not a loss of salvation, but instead a loss of eternal (or
millennial) rewards.
The author is employing
hyperbole to effect positive change in his audience's behavior, possibly referring to Christians leaving fellowship in
Hebrews 10:25.
The passages refer to Jewish Christians who were reverting to
Judaism.
The passages refer to the rejection of the covenant community as a whole, not individual believers.
The primary objection to this Calvinist approach is that it might equally be said that these passages are intended to be divine warnings to believers who do not persevere.
Interpretations of Hebrews 6:4–6
Bible scholars have differing interpretations of this passage:
One interpretation holds that this passage is written not about Christians but about unbelievers who are convinced of the basic truths of the gospel but who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. They are intellectually persuaded but spiritually uncommitted. The phrase "once enlightened" may refer to some level of instruction in biblical truth. "…have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away…" could be a reference to those who have tasted the truth about Jesus but, not having come all the way to faith, fall away from even the revelation they have been given. The tasting of truth is not enough to keep them from falling away from it. They must come all the way to Christ in complete repentance and faith.[91]
A second interpretation holds that this passage is written about Christians, and that the phrases "partakers of the Holy Ghost", "enlightened", and "tasted of the heavenly gift" are all descriptions of true believers. Some passages, including
Hebrews 6:4–6 and
10:23–31, are taken by some to suggest that a 'saved' person can lose their salvation. Others see them as severe warnings which do not include the loss of salvation, but in many cases fiery judgment for those who were never saved and only playing at Christianity.[92]
A third interpretation maintains that Hebrews 6:4-8 describes only those who temporarily backslide in their faith, and does not address the issue of the loss of salvation. This interpretation is well presented in an exegetical outline of the book of Hebrews found on the website of Ariel Ministries, a Messianic-Jewish organization founded by Arnold Fruchtenbaum in 1971. Some advocates of this position claim that the passage says that those who experience the five spiritual privileges mentioned in verses 4 and 5 cannot lose their salvation and then be saved again later (i.e. be "restore[d]... again to repentance") because that would require a recrucifixion of Christ (v. 6), thus rendering ineffectual his initial propitiatory death, putting Him to open shame. This position maintains that the Greek word used for "repentance" in verse 6 refers to "salvation repentance" rather than "repentance to restore fellowship." Supporters of this interpretation also cite the overall context of chapters 5 and 6 as evidence for their position: chapter 5 concludes with a rebuke to the recipients of the epistle for wasting time, dawdling in spiritual infancy, while chapter 6 begins with an exhortation not to continue wasting time as spiritual infants, but to "press on to maturity."
Biblical theologian David DeSilva writes that "Many interpreters are driven to treat this passage as either a 'problem passage' or crux for a specific theological or ideological conviction."[93] DeSilva agrees that the passage cannot refer to "saved" individuals since the author of
Hebrews views salvation as the deliverance and reward that awaits the faithful at the return of Christ. Those who have trusted God's promise and Jesus' mediation are "those who are about to inherit salvation' which comes at Christ's second coming. He argues that the passage refers to unbelievers who have received God's gifts and have benefited from God's
grace, yet still remained
skeptics.
Biblical theologian
B. J. Oropeza suggests that those who read and listened to this letter had experienced persecutions in the past, and the author of Hebrews acknowledges that some church members had become apostates. The several terms in Hebrews 6:1–6 are to stress that these former apostates had experienced conversion-initiation; there is no place in the New Testament, for example, where unbelievers or fake Christians explicitly share in the Holy Spirit as did these former members. The author of Hebrews thus rhetorically stresses that despite all these benefits and experiences that confirmed their conversion, they fell away; and now he warns the hearers of this message that in their present state of malaise and neglecting church gatherings, the same thing could happen to them. The consequences of apostasy without restoration are portrayed as dire (
Hebrews 6:7–8;
Hebrews 10:26–29;
Hebrews 12:15–17).[94]
Free grace advocates believe that believers are promised
eternal security, but not guaranteed perseverance. Those who do not persevere will face temporal discipline and loss of rewards.[99]
Calvinists argue that Free Grace theology weakens the
gospel message by avoiding a call for unbelievers to repent of their
sins,[100] offering a false promise of
eternal life.[101]
^Grudem 1994, p. 970. "The Perseverance of the Saints means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God's power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again."
^Westminster Assembly 1946, ch. 17, art. 2. "They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved."
^Purkiser 1972, p. 74. "In the majority of cases, however, the doctrine of eternal security is not grounded on the Calvinistic dogma of unconditional predestination. While all who teach eternal security are frequently called "Calvinists," actually the greater portion of them are no more than 20 percent Calvinistic."
^
abcJohnson 2008, pp. 21–22. "It is common to hear the term “eternal security” used basically as a synonym for “the perseverance of the saints”. [...] However, the term “eternal security” is often used in a very different and unbiblical way [...] Hence, in common usage, the term “eternal security” can sometimes refer to a doctrine diametrically opposed to the Reformed doctrine of perseverance."
^
abGrudem 1994, p. 860. "[W]e see why the phrase eternal security can be quite misleading. In some evangelical churches, instead of teaching the full and balanced presentation of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, pastors have sometimes taught a watered-down version, which in effect tells people that all who have once made a profession of faith and been baptized are “eternally secure.”"
^Horton 2002, p. 24. "In fact, eternal security itself is not a Calvinistic doctrine but, at least in the expressions with which I am familiar, rests on Arminian presuppositions concerning grace and free will."
^Hunt & White 2009, p. 392. "[As Laurence M.] Vance says: It is the Calvinists who reject the biblical teaching of eternal security. The fifth point of the TULIP, as it was originally formulated and commonly interpreted, is at enmity with eternal security. Perseverance of the Saints...is not the same thing as eternal security."
^Latourette 1945, p. 332. "The young Augustine for a time had fellowship with it [Manichaeanism). It seems to have left a permanent impression upon him."
^Mozley 1855, p. 149. "When St. Augustine is charged by Pelagius with fatalism, he does not disown the certainty and necessity, but only the popular superstitions and impieties of that system."
^Haight 1974, p. 30. "Infant baptism tended to be regarded as an initiation into the kingdom of God and the effects of Original Sin as mediated by society. Only adult baptism included the remission of sin. Augustine denied this traditional view: Man's nature is fundamentally disordered because of inherited sin and this involved personal guilt so that an unbaptized infant could not be save."
^
abMcMahon 2012, pp. 7–9. "This is why one finds that every four pages written in the Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin quoted Augustine. Calvin, for this reason, would deem himself not a Calvinist, but an Augustinian. [...] Christian Calvinist, should they be more likely deemed an Augustinian-Calvinist?"
^Helm 2010, p. 230. "[I]t is reasonable to conclude that although Calvin does not avow determinism in so many words, he nevertheless adopts a broadly deterministic outlook."
^Clark 1961, pp. 237–238. "God is the sole ultimate cause of everything. There is absolutely nothing independent of him. He alone is the eternal being. He alone is omnipotent. He alone is sovereign."
^Alexander & Johnson 2016, p. 204. "It should be conceded at the outset, and without any embarrassment, that Calvinism is indeed committed to divine determinism: the view that everything is ultimately determined by God."
^Calvin 1845, 3.23.1. "Those therefore whom God passes by [does not elect] He reprobates, and that for no other cause than He is pleased to exclude them."
^Sproul 2011, p. 37. "If God has decided our destinies from all eternity, that strongly suggests that our free choices are but charades, empty exercises in predetermined playacting. It is as though God wrote the script for us in concrete and we are merely carrying out his scenario."
^
abGrudem 1994, p. 860, "[T]his doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, if rightly understood, should cause genuine worry, and even fear, in the hearts of any who are “backsliding” or straying away from Christ. Such persons must clearly be warned that only those who persevere to the end have been truly born again."
^Calvin 1961, p. 66. "[T]hose who appear to live piously may be called sons of God; but since they will eventually live impiously and die in that impiety, God does not call them sons in His foreknowledge. There are sons of God who do not yet appear so to us, but now do so to God; and there are those who, on account of some arrogated or temporal grace, are called so by us, but are not so to God."
^Calvin 1845, 3:24:8. "Sometimes, however, he communicates it also to those whom he enlightens only for a time, and whom afterwards, in just punishment for their ingratitude, he abandons and smites with greater blindness."
^Calvin 1963, p. 76. "[...] I do not see that this is any reason why He should not touch the reprobate with a taste of His grace, or illumine their minds with some glimmerings of His light, or affect them with some sense of His goodness, or to some extent engrave His Word in their hearts. Otherwise where would be that passing faith which Marks mentions (4.17)? Therefore there is some knowledge in the reprobate, which later vanishes away either because it drives its roots less deep than it ought to, or because it is choked and withers away."
^Calvin 1845, 3:2:11. "Experience shows that the reprobate are sometimes affected in a way so similar to the elect that even in their own judgment there is no difference between them. [...] [T]he Lord, the better to convict them, and leave them without excuse, instills into their minds such a sense of goodness as can be felt without the Spirit of adoption [...] Therefore, as God regenerates the elect only for ever by incorruptible seed, [...] there is nothing to prevent an inferior operation of the Spirit from taking its course in the reprobate. [...] Thus we dispose of the objection, that if God truly displays his grace, it must endure for ever. There is nothing inconsistent in this with the fact of his enlightening some with a present sense of grace, which afterwards proves evanescent."
^Calvin 1845, pp. 478–479, 3:2:11-12. "[Some reprobates are] just as a tree not planted deep enough may take root, but in the process of time wither away, though it may for several years not only put forth leaves and flowers, but produce fruit."
^Keathley 2010, p. 170. "The doctrine of temporary faith, a notion first formulated by Calvin but later developed by Beza and William Perkins, further intensified the problem of assurance in Calvinist and Puritan theology. According to them, God gives to the reprobate, whom He never intended to save in the first place, a “taste” of his grace. Based on passages such as Matt 7:21–23; Heb 6:4–6, and the parable of the Sower, Beza and Perkins attribute this false, temporary faith to an ineffectual work of the Holy Spirit."
^Gribben & Tweeddale 2022, p. 402. "[...] Owen readily admits that the Spirit occasionally induces a partial illumination of the gospel truth, which might produce some conviction of sin and reformation of behavior. [...] For whatever its superficial resemblance to genuine conversion, it nevertheless falls short of that reality and explains the phenomenon of an apparently temporary illumination famously described in Heb. 6.4."
^Pink 2009, pp. 18–19. "Scripture also teaches that people may possess a faith which is one of the Holy Spirit, and yet which is a non-saving one. This faith which we now allude to has two ingredients which neither education nor self-effort can produce: spiritual light and a Divine power moving the mind to assent. Now a man may have both illumination and inclination from heaven, and yet not be regenerated. We have a solemn proof of this in Hebrews 6:4-6."
^Boettner 1932, ch. 14. "In addition to what has been said it is to be admitted that often times the common operations of the Spirit on the enlightened conscience lead to reformation and to an externally religious life. Those so influenced are often very strict in their conduct and diligent in their religious duties. To the awakened sinner the promises of the Gospel and the exhibition of the plan of salvation contained in the Scriptures appear not only as true but as suited to his condition. [...] This faith continues as long as the state of mind by which it is produced continues. When that changes, he relapses into his usual state of insensibility, and his faith disappears."
^
abWalls & Dongell 2004, pp. 201–202. "What is truly remarkable here is that persons who receive this partial and temporary illumination appear for a time to be truly elect but in fact aren't. They are deluded by a false hope. This dreadful possibility is what haunts Calvinists who struggle with the assurance and certainty of salvation."
^
abCalvin 1961, p. 126. "Men preposterously ask how they can be certain of a salvation which lies in the hidden counsel of God. I have replied with the truth. Since the certainty of salvation is set forth to us in Christ, it is wrong and injurious to Christ to pass over this proffered fountain of life from which supplies are available, and to toil to draw life out of the hidden recesses of God." (Emphasis added)
^Paton 2013b. "You ask me: Michael, do you know you are saved? My answer: yes. You ask me: Michael, do you have assurance? My answer: yes. You ask me: Michael, why do you believe you are saved? My answer: because today I am still believing. But I have to test this all the time, as I am not infallible. I could have a false faith, but I don’t believe I do. This ninety percent assurance will have to do."
^Keathley 2010, p. 164. "Michael Eaton [quotes the Calvinist preacher Asahel] Nettleton: “The most that I have ventured to say respecting myself is, that I think it possible I may get to heaven.”"
^Keathley 2010, p. 171. "John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress has blessed multitudes of Christians, but his spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, is disturbing. He recounts how, in his seemingly endless search for assurance of salvation, he was haunted by the question, “How can I tell if I am elected?”"
^Davis 1991, p. 213, "Unlike Calvin and those in the later Reformed tradition, however, Augustine does not believe that the Christian can in this life know with infallible certitude that he is in fact among the elect and that he will finally persevere."
^Davis 1991, p. 213, "Whether the believer, now in a state of grace, would remain in grace to the end was for Luther an open question."
^Davis 1991, p. 217, . "Calvin, however, has greater confidence than Luther and the Catholic tradition before him that the believer can also have great assurance of his election and final perseverance."
^Davis 1991, p. 217, "[For Calvin, when the Church father Gregory the Great] “teaches that we are aware only of our call but unsure of our election, he is badly and dangerously in error.”"
^Keathley 2010, p. 167. "The post-Reformation Calvinists and Puritans held to a [...] view which saw assurance as a grace given subsequent to conversion and discerned by careful self-examination."
^Westminster Assembly 1946, ch. 18, art. 2. "This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces [...]."
^Toon 2011, p. 144. "Hyper-Calvinism led its adherents to hold that evangelism was not necessary and to place much emphasis on introspection in order to discover whether or not one was elect."
^Keathley 2010, p. 172. "The later Calvinists and Puritans employed two syllogisms, the
practical syllogism and the mystical syllogism, in their attempt to ascertain assurance by way of logical deduction. [...] The practical syllogism is as follows: Major premise: If effectual grace is manifested in me by good works, then I am elect. Minor premise (practical): I manifest good works. Conclusion: Therefore, I am one of the elect. But how does one know the minor premise of the practical syllogism is true for him? The Puritans attempted to answer this question by an introspective self-examination using the mystical syllogism. The mystical syllogism is as follows: Major premise: If I experience the inward confirmation of the Spirit, then I am elect. Minor premise (mystical): I experience the confirmation of the Spirit. Conclusion: Therefore, I am one of the elect."
^Geisler 2002, p. 68, n. 7. "Most strong Calvinists claim that full assurance in this life is possible. However, this is inconsistent with their other beliefs that one must maintain a life of faithful works to the end to be sure one is saved and did not really have "false assurance" during one's life and was, therefore, one of the nonelect."
^Purkiser 1972, p. 74, "This turns out to be a curious sort of security. In effect one says, "If I am elected to eternal life, I am eternally secure. But I cannot, in the nature of the case, be sure that I am so elected."."
^Robinson 2022, pp. 352–253. "For God to act in this manner strikes the non-Calvinist as not only ludicrous, but more importantly, as God being deceptive in lulling the temporary believer into thinking that he (and his fellow believers) are true believers and part of God's elect at one time. [...] [I]t is contrary to the character of the God who reveals himself as the God of truth and faithfulness [...] ."
^Oropeza, B. J. Churches under Siege of Persecution and Assimilation: The General Epistles and Revelation. Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, Volume 3 (Eugene, OR: Cascade/Wipf & Stock, 2012), pp. 30–70.
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Free Grace view
Charles C. Ryrie (1989, 1997). So Great Salvation: What it Means to Believe in Jesus Christ. Moody Publishers.
ISBN0-8024-7818-2
Charles Stanley (1990). Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure?. Oliver-Nelson Books.
ISBN0-8407-9095-3
Charles C. Bing (1991). Lordship Salvation: A Biblical Evaluation and Response. GraceLife.
ISBN0-9701365-0-1
Joseph C. Dillow (1992). The Reign of the Servant Kings: A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man. Schoettle Publishing Company.
ISBN1-56453-095-7
Michael Eaton (1995). No Condemnation: A New Theology of Assurance. InterVarsity Press.
ISBN0-8308-1888-X
Chuck Smith (1996). Living Water: The Power of the Holy Spirit In Your Life. Harvest House Publishers.
ISBN963-218-647-8
Norman L. Geisler (1999, 2001). Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of Divine Election, 2nd ed. Bethany House Publishers.
ISBN0-7642-2521-9
Robert N. Wilkin (2005). Secure and Sure: Grasping the Promises of God. Grace Evangelical Society.
ISBN0-9641392-7-8
Arminian view
W. T. Purkiser (1956, 1974 2nd ed.). Security: The False and the True. Beacon Hill Press.
ISBN0-8341-0048-7
Robert Shank (1960). Life in the Son: A Study of the Doctrine of Perseverance. Bethany House Publishers.
ISBN1-55661-091-2
I. Howard Marshall (1969, 1995 Rev. ed.). Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away. Paternoster Press.
ISBN0-85364-642-2
David Pawson (1996). Once Saved, Always Saved? A Study in Perseverance and Inheritance. Hodder & Stoughton.
ISBN0-340-61066-2
Robert E. Picirilli (2002). Grace, Faith, Free Will. Contrasting Views of Salvation: Calvinism and Arminianism. Randall House Publications.
ISBN0-89265-648-4
Frederick W. Claybrook, Jr. (2003) Once Saved, Always Saved? A New Testament Study of Apostasy. University Press of America.
ISBN0-7618-2642-4
French L. Arrington (2005). Unconditional Eternal Security: Myth or Truth? Pathway Press.
ISBN1-59684-070-6
New Perspective view
Don Garlington (1994, 2009). Faith, Obedience, and Perseverance: Aspects of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Wipf & Stock Publishers.
ISBN978-1606088258
B. J. Oropeza (2000, 2007). Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance, and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation. Wipf & Stock Publishers.
ISBN978-1-55635-333-8
B. J. Oropeza (2011). In the Footsteps of Judas and Other Defectors: Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, Volume 1: The Gospels, Acts, and Johannine Letters. Wipf & Stock Publishers.
ISBN978-1610972895
B. J. Oropeza (2012). Jews, Gentiles, and the Opponents of Paul: Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, Volume 2: The Pauline Letters. Wipf & Stock Publishers.
ISBN978-1610972901
B. J. Oropeza (2012). Churches under Siege of Persecution and Assimilation: Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, Volume 3: The General Epistles and Revelation. Wipf & Stock Publishers.
ISBN978-1610972918
Scot McKnight (2013). A Long Faithfulness: The Case for Christian Perseverance, Patheos Press.
ISBN978-1-62921-469-6.
Confessional Lutheran view
Theodore G. Tappert (editor). The Book of Concord.
ISBN0-8006-0825-9