The perseverance to salvation.
(De perseverantia)
The question of perseverance to salvation is very important.431) When Christ addresses the temptations and tribulations that will come upon believers, he adds: "He that persevereth unto the end shall be saved," ό ύπομείνας εις τέλος, οντος σωΰήσεται,432) The tone is on the ό νπομείνας, as is also evident from the resumption of the subject by οντος — this and no other.433) What the Scriptures teach concerning perseverance may be summed up in two propositions: 1. He who perseveres perseveres by the operation of God's grace alone; perseverance is a work of divine grace and omnipotence. 2. he who falls falls through his own fault; the cause of apostasy is always contempt for the divine Word and reluctance to accept the Holy Spirit's action in the Word. The Christian church has to hold this doctrine against two hostile fronts: Calvinism and Synergism.