Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

e an incentive for sin. It would seem that the certainty of success in the active striving
for sanctification would be the best possible stimulus to ever greater exertion.
3. IT IS CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE. The doctrine is frequently declared to be contrary to
Scripture. The passages adduced to prove this contention can be reduced to three
classes.
a. There are warnings against apostasy which would seem to be quite uncalled for, if
the believer could not fall away, Matt. 24:12; Col. 1:23; Heb. 2:1; 3:14; 6:11; I John 2:6. But
these warnings regard the whole matter from the side of man and are seriously meant.
They prompt self-examination, and are instrumental in keeping believers in the way of
perseverance. They do not prove that any of those addressed will apostatize, but simply
that the use of means is necessary to prevent them from committing this sin. Compare
Acts 27:22-25 with verse 31 for an illustration of this principle.
b. There are also exhortations, urging believers to continue in the way of
sanctification, which would appear to be unnecessary if there is no doubt about it that
they will continue to the end. But these are usually found in connection with such
warnings as those referred to under (a), and serve exactly the same purpose. They do
not prove that any of the believers exhorted will not persevere, but only that God uses
moral means for the accomplishment of moral ends.
c. Again, it is said that Scripture records several cases of actual apostasy, I Tim.
1:19,20; II Tim. 2:17,18; 4:10; II Peter 2:1,2; cf. also Heb. 6:4-6. But these instances do not
prove the contention that real believers, in possession of true saving faith, can fall from
grace, unless it be shown first that the persons indicated in these passages had true faith
in Christ, and not a mere temporal faith, which is not rooted in regeneration. The Bible
teaches us that there are persons who profess the true faith, and yet are not of the faith,
Rom. 9-6; I John 2:19; Rev. 3:1. John says of some of them, “They went out from us,” and
adds by way of explanation, “but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they
would have remained with us,” I John 2:19.
E. THE DENIAL OF THIS DOCTRINE MAKES SALVATION
DEPENDENT ON MAN’S WILL.
The denial of the doctrine of perseverance virtually makes the salvation of man
dependent on the human will rather than on the grace of God. This consideration will,
of course, have no effect on those who share the Pelagian conception of salvation as
autosoteric — and their numbers are great — but certainly ought to cause those to
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