fall far short of what they are in duty bound to do. "In many things
we offend all." "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us." James 3:2; 1 John 1:8. Our
Savior has taught us to pray daily that our trespasses may be
forgiven; which necessarily implies that we offend every day.

SECTION 5. We cannot, by our best works, merit pardon of sin, or
eternal life, at the hand of God, by reason of the great
disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, and the
infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can
neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins; but when
we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are
unprofitable servants; and because, as they are good, they proceed
from the Spirit; and, as they are wrought by us, they are defiled
and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot
endure the severity of God's judgment.

Exposition of 16.5

This section is also directed against an error of the Church of
Rome, which teaches that the good works of the saints are
meritorious of eternal life. That we cannot, by our best works,
merit pardon of sin, or eternal life, at the hand of God, appears
from the following considerations—1. Our Savior declares (Luke
17:10), that when we have done all those things which are commanded
us, we are unprofitable servants, and have only done that which was
our duty. 2. Our best works cannot be profitable to God, and
therefore can merit nothing at his hand.—Psalm 16:2. 3. All our
works, as they are good, proceed from the almighty agency of the
Spirit of grace (Philippians 2:13); and as they are not performed in
our own strength, they can merit no reward. 4. Our best works, as
they are wrought by us, have such a mixture of sin in them, that,
instead of meriting anything at the hand of God, they cannot endure
the severity of God's judgment.—Psalm 143:2. 5. Our best works bear
no proportion to the inestimable blessing of eternal life (2
Corinthians 4:17); accordingly, the reward is represented "as of
grace, not of debt;" and we are directed to "look for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Jude 21.

SECTION 6. Yet notwithstanding, the persons of believers being
accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him;
not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and
unreprovable in God's sight; but that he, looking upon them in his
Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although
accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections.

Exposition of 16.6

This section teaches us that the good works of believers, although
not meritorious, are yet accepted of God, through Christ. Here it is
only necessary to offer two remarks—1st, That our persons must be
accepted, before our works of obedience can be accepted with God.
"The Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering." Genesis 4:4.
In accepting of his offering, God testified that he had respect unto
his person; that is, that he esteemed and accounted him
righteous.—Hebrews 11:4. 2nd, That the best of our works are not
accepted as they are ours, but only upon account of the merit and
mediation of Christ. As our persons are "accepted in the Beloved,"
so our works are only "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 1 Peter
2:5.

SECTION 7. Works done by unregenerate men, although, for the matter
of them, they may be things which God commands, and of good use both
to themselves and others; yet, because they proceed not from an
heart purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner, according
to the Word; nor to a right end, the glory of God; they are
therefore sinful, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to
receive grace from God. And yet their neglect of them is more
sinful, and displeasing unto God.

Exposition of 16.7

This section is again leveled against the errors of the Church of
Rome. The writers of that Church hold that the actions of men in an
unregenerate state can be so pure as to be free from all sin, and to
merit at God's hand by what they call the merit of congruity. We
have formerly made a distinction respecting good works, which claims
attention here. An action may be materially, and yet not formally,
good. Prayer, reading and hearing the Word of God, distributing to
the poor, are actions materially good; but unless these actions are
done by persons who are "accepted in the Beloved," and "created anew
in Christ Jesus"—unless they flow from a right principle, are
performed in a right manner, and directed to a right end, they are
not formally good. Now, unregenerate men may do many things that are
good, for the matter of them, because they are things which God
commands, and of good use to themselves and others; but, as
performed by them, they are destitute of everything that can render
an action "good and acceptable in the sight of God." Explicit is the
declaration of the Apostle Paul: "They that are in the flesh cannot
please God." Romans 8:8. To be in the flesh is to be in a natural,
corrupt, depraved state; and, as a polluted fountain cannot send
forth pure streams, nor a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit, so
they that are in the flesh cannot perform any work that is
spiritually good and acceptable to God. Instead of pleasing God, and
making them meet to receive grace from him, all the works of
unregenerate men are sinful, and therefore deserve the wrath and
curse of God. "All unconverted persons are said in Scripture to be
sinners, or workers of iniquity (Psalm 53:4); and their works, how
advantageous soever many of them may be to themselves or others, are
all, notwithstanding, represented as sins, in the account of an
infinitely holy God (Proverbs 21:4); for although many of them may
be materially good, yet all of them are formally evil, and therefore
they are an abomination to him." Proverbs 15:8. It must not,
however, be inferred, that unregenerate men may live in the neglect
of any duty which God has commended. Though their prayers, for
example, cannot be acceptable to God, yet their neglect of prayer
would be more sinful and displeasing to him. This neglect is always
represented in Scripture as highly criminal: "The wicked, through
the pride of his, countenance, will not seek after God." Psalm 10:4.
And as this, is their sin, so the wrath of God is denounced against
them: "Pour out your fury upon the heathen, that know you not, and
upon the families that call not upon your name." Jeremiah 10:25.

In concluding this chapter, we would impress upon the reader, that
the gospel is "a doctrine according to godliness." "The grace of
God, that brings salvation, has appeared to all men; teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world." Nothing but the most
deplorable ignorance, or the most determined enmity against the
truth, could ever have led men to set the gospel and morality in
opposition to each other, or to allege that the doctrine of grace
tends to licentiousness. Such men know not what they say, nor
whereof they affirm. It is by inculcating morality upon gospel
principles that we establish it upon the firmest basis. "Do we make
void the law through faith? God forbid: yes, we establish the law."
Though good works are excluded from baring any meritorious influence
in the matter of salvation, yet, as we have seen, they are of
indispensable necessity, and serve many valuable purposes. Let it,
therefore, be the study of all who "name the name of Christ" to be
"fruitful in good works," that so they may silence the adversaries
of the truth, recommend religion to all within the sphere of their
influence, glorify their Father who is in Heaven, and promote their
own comfort and happiness.



17. Of the Perseverance of the Saints

SECTION 1. They whom God has 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.

SECTION 2. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their
own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election,
flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon
the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the
abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them; and the
nature of the covenant of grace: from all which arises also the
certainty and infallibility thereof.

SECTION 3. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan
and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them,
and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into
grievous sins; and for a time continue therein; whereby they incur
God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit: come to be deprived
of some measure of their graces and comforts; have their hearts
hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others,
and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.

Exposition of 17.1–17.3

The perseverance of the saints is one of the articles by which the
creed of the followers of Calvin is distinguished from that of the
followers of Arminius. The latter hold, that true believers may fall
into sins inconsistent with a state of grace, and may continue in
apostasy to the end of life, and consequently may finally fall into
perdition. The same doctrine is avowedly supported by the Church of
Rome; for the Council of Trent has decreed, that "If any person
shall say that a man who has been justified cannot lose grace, and
that, therefore, he who falls and sins was never truly justified, he
shall be accursed." In opposition to this tenet, our Confession
affirms, that true believers "can neither totally nor finally fall
away from a state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to
the end, and be eternally saved." There may seem to be a redundancy
of language in this statement; for, if believers cannot fall
totally, it follows that they cannot fall finally. Both terms,
however, are employed with the utmost propriety. "They are intended
to oppose the doctrine of Arminians, who affirm, that although a
saint may fall totally from grace, he may be restored by repentance;
but that since this is uncertain, and does not always take place, he
may also fall finally, and die in his sins. Now, we affirm, that the
total apostasy of believers is impossible, not in the nature of
things, but by the divine constitution; and, consequently, that no
man who has been once received into the divine favor can be
ultimately deprived of salvation."

For the purpose of explaining the doctrine of the perseverance of
the saints, and obviating objections against it, we offer the
following observations, which will be found embodied in the several
propositions of our Confession—

I. The privilege of final perseverance is peculiar to true
believers.

It is restricted in our Confession "to those whom God hatch accepted
in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit."
Many in the visible Church are merely nominal Christians. They are
joined to the Church by an external profession; but they are not
united to the Head of the Church by the Spirit of grace, and by a
living faith. They assume the form of godliness, but are strangers
to its power. They may have a name to live, but they are spiritually
dead. Now, it is readily granted, that such seeming Christians may
finally apostatize. They never knew the grace of God in truth, and
may, in a season of trial, discover their real character by open
apostasy. They might have splendid profession of religion, and be
possessed of eminent gifts, and might thus deceive themselves and
impose upon others; but they had not "the root of the matter" in
them. And we may assuredly conclude of all those who fall totally
and finally away, that they were never really "rooted and grounded
in Christ." An inspired apostle declares, concerning such persons:
"They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they
went out, that they might be made manifest, that they were not all
of us." 1 John 2:19.

This enables us to explain the several examples of apostasy
mentioned in Scripture, in perfect consistency with the final
perseverance of the saints. The stony-ground hearers, who received
the Word with joy, and afterwards fell away, are expressly said to
have had no root in themselves, and so endured only for a
while.—Matthew 13:21. In Hebrews 6:4–6, some are said to be
enlightened, and to have tasted of the heavenly gift, and to be made
partakers of the Holy Spirit, and to have tasted the good Word of
God, and the powers of the world to come, and yet it is supposed
they may fall away and never be restored again; but it is evident,
that notwithstanding the high things ascribed to them, they never
had the truth of grace, for there are better things, even things
that accompany salvation, expressly mentioned (verse 9) in
contradistinction to their attainments. Those mentioned by another
apostle (2 Peter 2:20), who had escaped the pollutions of the world,
and were again entangled therein, and overcome, had evidently never
experienced a real change of their impure nature, though they had an
outward reformation. Such examples, or the fall of such mere
professors of religion as Hymeneus, Philetus, and Demas, do not in
the least invalidate the doctrine of the final perseverance of true
saints.

It may here be remarked, that as the privilege of perseverance is
limited to true believers, so it must be extended to every one of
them. If one of them could be lost, this would sap the foundation of
the comfort of the whole; for the condition of all would be
insecure. Not only those who have a high degree of grace, but all
who have true grace, though but like a grain of mustard seed—not
only the strong and flourishing, but such as are like "the smoking
flax and bruised reed," shall be enabled to "hold on their way" and
shall grow stronger and stronger. The same reasons hold for the
perseverance of all, as of any who have "obtained like precious
faith;" and we must either erase this entirely from the catalogue of
the believer's privileges, or maintain that it extends to every one
of them.

II. The perseverance of the saints is not owing to their inherent
strength, or to any measure of grace they have already received, but
solely to divine grace. We readily acknowledge, that in themselves
they are utterly weak, and wholly insufficient to withstand the
numerous and formidable enemy that are combined against them; such
as Satan, the world, and the corruptions of their own hearts. If
left to contend with their spiritual adversaries in their own
strength, they would be easily overcome. If their perseverance
depended on their own resolution, their faith would soon fail. How
strikingly is this humbling truth exemplified in the case of Peter!
He said with confidence: "Though all men should be offended because
of you, yet will I never be offended."

"Though I should die with you, yet will I not deny thee." Matthew
26:33, 35. But how soon was his fortitude shake