Must Faith Endure for Salvation to be Secure

At a local county fair, our church recently had an evangelistic booth and display for the purpose of sharing the good news about Jesus Christ so that people might be saved by believing in Him. We discovered that the majority of fairgoers whom we spoke with affirmed the truth that sinners are saved "by faith in Christ." Most of these individuals had some sort of Christian religious affiliation, with a vast percentage being Protestant, with many of these even considering themselves to be "evangelicals." Did this necessarily mean, however, that these fairgoers were already saved and on their way to heaven?

At this fair, if people affirmed the biblical truth that one is saved by faith in Christ, we would then usually ask follow-up questions, such as, "Is there anything else you must do to be saved?" or "What about baptism and the commandments; can these improve your odds of getting into heaven?" or "What about staying faithful to Christ; will you still be saved if you stop believing in Christ?" Almost invariably, the response to these follow-up questions revealed that most of these "Christians" practically denied the biblical truth of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. According to these people, though faith in Christ was necessary for salvation, it was not enough; good works and an enduring faith were also necessary to be eternally saved.

Unfortunately, confusion about the gospel abounds today even in so-called "evangelical" church circles. Today, the emphasis is placed on many unscriptural human requirements to be saved, like praying the sinner's prayer, giving your life to Christ, making a commitment to Christ, making Christ Lord of your life, or asking Jesus into your heart. Aside from the fact that none of these statements are even found in Scripture, none of these emphasize the work of Jesus Christ, nor are they even synonymous with faith in Christ. Unfortunately, most contemporary "gospel" presentations give little emphasis to Christ and what He has done to secure the salvation of sinners through His all-sufficient work.

The sacrificial death of Christ on Calvary's cross was the only work that has ever effectively dealt with man's sin problem. Therefore, it should be the focus of every gospel presentation. This was true in the ministry of the apostle Paul, as he wrote to the Corinthians, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). That is why the Corinthians (and all Christians) were later commissioned with the same message of Christ's substitutionary death for man's sin on the cross (2 Cor. 5:19-21). No human works can ever be added to Christ's work on the cross as the basis of eternal salvation without nullifying God's grace and Christ's work (Gal. 2:21). When the true "evangel" or gospel is proclaimed, there will be no room left for boasting in human works; all boasting will be directed only toward Jesus Christ because of His wonderful work at Calvary. Every Christian who holds to the true "evangel" should therefore be able to affirm, for time and all eternity, "…God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…" (Gal. 6:14).

According to the Bible, salvation is all the work of God for man, never the work of man for God. As the Scriptures proclaim, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). Notice, it is not of us, and it is not of works. Similarly, salvation is NOT given to the one who believes and works for salvation, but to the one who does not work but simply believes in Christ. As Romans 4:4-6 declares, "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works." So for a lost sinner to be justified in God's sight, he must actually stop relying on his works and believe only in Jesus Christ to justify him in God's sight. When a person recognizes this, only then can he appreciate the gospel for what it truly is — good news from God to man.[1]

The gospel is not a message of obligation announcing what man must do for God; it is the good news of what God has done for man through His Son in providing salvation as a free gift of His grace to undeserving sinners. When the gospel is turned into a message of human obligation, it ceases to be good news, and actually becomes "bad news" to those who recognize that they are helpless "sinners" who are "without strength" to save themselves (Rom. 5:6, 8). According to the Bible, lost, weak, sinful man cannot save himself. That is why we are saved strictly by God, not by ourselves, after we place our faith in Christ (Eph. 1:13-14). Though we must respond to the gospel with faith in Christ out of our own volition, God then does all the work of eternally saving and securing us in Christ.

However, many today misunderstand this marvelous truth and say in effect, "Yes, Christ can save you, but your faith must keep holding on to Christ in order for you to reach heaven." According to this approach, Christ really doesn't save a person; they save themselves. With this approach, a person is not really saved by faith in Christ, but ultimately by faith in their faith, as they think it is their "faithfulness" to Christ which will ultimately bring them eternal life. The great Bible teacher of the past, Harry Ironside, addressed this very problem as he answered the objection: "But must I not hold on to the end if I would be saved at last?" He replied as follows:

"May I, without irreverence, venture to recast a Bible story? If the account of Noah and the flood went something like this, what would you think of it? Suppose that after the ark was completed God said to Noah, "Now, get eight great spikes of iron and drive them into the side of the ark." And Noah procured the spikes and did as he was bidden. Then the word came unto him, "Come thou and all thy house and hang on to these spikes." And Noah and his wife, and the three sons and their wives, each held onto a spike. And the rains descended and the flood came, and as the ark was borne up on the waters their muscles were strained to the utmost as they clung to the spikes. Imagine God saying to them, "If you hang on till the deluge is over you will be saved!" Can you even think of such a thing as anyone of them going safely through?

But oh, how different the simple Bible story. "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Ah, that is a very different thing than holding on! Inside the ark they were safe as long as the ark endured the storm. And every believer is in Christ and is as safe as God can make him. Look away then from all self-effort and trust Him alone. Rest in the ark and rejoice in God's great salvation.

And be sure to remember that it is Christ who holds you, not you who hold Him. He has said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Rom. 5:10). He who died for you, now lives at God's right hand to keep you, and the Father sees you in Him. "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." Could anything be more sure?"[2]

If our eternal salvation were dependent, even in the smallest measure, upon our faithfulness or ability to persevere in holding on to Christ, surely we would all perish! That is why the Bible never states that "faithfulness" is required for eternal salvation, only "faith" in Jesus Christ. The word translated "faithful" in the New Testament is the Greek word "pistos." Of the sixty-seven occurrences of this adjective in the Greek New Testament, never once is it used as a requirement for salvation or any synonymous salvation-related concept, such as eternal life, justification, redemption, regeneration, etc. Clearly, according to God's Word, faithfulness is not a condition for eternal salvation, though it is stated to be a condition for receiving a future crown or reward (Rev. 2:10), which is distinct from the free gift of salvation. Though "pistos" is never used as a condition for eternal salvation, it is sometimes used as a description of believers or those who are already saved (Acts 10:45, 16:1); though even the saved can be unfaithful or unbelieving ("apistos") as the example of Thomas reveals in John 20:27.

"Pistos" should be properly distinguished from the noun "pistis" (faith) and the verb "pisteuo" (believe) which are used repeatedly in the N.T. as the sole condition for salvation. It must be emphatically noted that when "pistis" or "pisteuo" are used in Scripture, they always have as their object either Jesus Christ or propositional truth related to Christ, such as the promises of Christ or the gospel (see for example Mk. 1:15; John 3:15-16, 18, 36, 6:40, 8:30, 11:27, 20:31; Acts 10:43, 11:17, 16:31; Rom. 3:22, 26; Gal. 2:16, 3:22, 26; Phil. 3:9; 1 Jn. 5:1, 5). Never once does the faith or belief required for eternal salvation have as its object anything related to human works or self. This simply means that a person's trust must be in Christ alone. It is not sufficient, therefore, to say that we are saved through "faith alone," but through "faith alone in Christ alone." The saving value of one's faith, therefore, does not lie in the quality, amount, or duration of faith itself, but solely in the quality, character, or "faithfulness" of its object. It is technically not our faith which saves us; it is the object of our faith which saves us, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith in Christ is simply the non-meritorious (Rom. 3:27, 4:5, 16) response to the gospel which God requires before He will do the actual work of eternally saving and securing us in Christ.

This series of articles is being written with the objective of clarifying what the Bible actually teaches about the saint's eternal security in Christ, in contrast to the doctrines of men. One doctrine of man that has become prevalent is the teaching that eternal salvation can be lost after it has been initially received by faith in Christ. This is the doctrine of Arminianism. In contrast to Arminianism is the doctrine of Calvinism, which says that salvation cannot actually be lost, but if you were truly saved to begin with, you will necessarily persevere in faith and good works to the very end of your Christian life. If you do not persevere, they say it simply proves you were never saved in the first place. Calvinism thus teaches that genuine believers are incapable of apostasy or losing their faith completely and finally. This is known as the doctrine of the "perseverance of the saints."

But is this really what the Bible teaches? Or is this a doctrine of man that has been superimposed upon the Scriptures? The only way to satisfactorily answer this question is to go right to the source. The last few articles in this series have examined several key biblical passages containing the terms "faith" and "believe." This present article will examine yet another biblical passage which shows that genuine faith in Christ for eternal salvation may not endure to the end of one's earthly life, though God in His grace, based on the enduring sufficiency of Christ's work, will safely preserve His own unto His heavenly kingdom (1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Tim. 4:18; Jude 1:1).

The Bible actually teaches that it is possible for one who is eternally saved by God's grace to …

1) …commit idolatry and apostasy. (1 Kings 11:1-10)

2) …believe only for a while. (Luke 8:13)

3) …not continue in the Word of Christ. (John. 8:31)

4) …not abide in Christ. (John 15:1-8)

5) …become disqualified in the race of the Christian life. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

6) …resist God's chastening & correction unto the point of physical death. (1 Corinthians 11:30-32)

7) …stray from the faith. (1 Timothy 1:5-6)

8) …shipwreck faith. (1 Timothy 1:18-20)

9) …fall away from the faith. (1 Timothy 4:1-3)

10) …deny the faith. (1 Timothy 5:8)

11) …cast off initial faith and follow Satan. (1 Tim. 5:12-15)

12) …stray from the faith by loving money. (1 Tim. 6:9-10)

13) …stray from the faith by professing false doctrine. (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

14) …deny Christ and be faithless. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13, NKJV)

Two initial observations must be noted to correctly interpret this passage and apply it to the issue of the "perseverance of the saints." First, Paul consistently uses the first person plural pronoun "we" in all four parallel sentences. He does not say "he, she, they, them," etc., referring to someone else. He includes himself and Timothy consistently throughout the passage. This means that from Paul's perspective, it was possible for Timothy and even himself to deny Christ and become faithless (vv12-13). Secondly, in the preceding context of 2 Timothy, Paul had just addressed both salvation (2:10) and rewards (2:5-6), and therefore it is reasonable to see both subjects continuing to be addressed in 2:11-13.

2 Timothy 2:11

In v11, it says "If we died (aorist tense) with Him, we shall (future tense) also live with Him." Dying with Christ should not be interpreted as a reference to possible future martyrdom for Paul and Timothy, because the aorist tense in its culminative aspect is used here to indicate something which had already transpired in the past and resulted in something that was already true of both Paul and Timothy (and all believers!). What did Paul mean by our death "with Him"? This is a reference to our co-crucifixion with Christ. At the very moment we were saved, the Holy Spirit baptized us positionally into Christ so that we were identified forevermore with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-11; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Gal. 2:20, 5:24, 6:14; Col. 2:11-13, 3:1, 3; 1 Pt. 2:24). Paul refers to this supernatural work of God in Galatians 2:20 when he writes, "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me…". Just as Jesus Christ once died but lives forevermore, so the fact that all true believers have once died with Christ is coupled with the guarantee that all will live with Him as well. This passage in 2 Timothy 2:11 is a reference to one aspect of our guaranteed salvation; but the passage now shifts to the subject of rewards.

2 Timothy 2:12a

In v12, it says, "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him." Reigning here should not be understood as a reference to salvation, but as a future reward for faithful, enduring service on the part of those who have already been saved by God's grace (Matt. 19:28, 25:20-23; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Tim. 4:6-8; Rev. 2:10, 20:4-6). In Revelation 2:25-27, Christ promises His church, "But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations — 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels' — as I also received from My Father." Christ promises this co-regency to those who fulfill two conditions. First, one must be an overcomer, which 1 John 5:1-5 defines as simply one who has been born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the first condition for receiving a future reward is that one must be saved. Secondly, one must not only be saved, but he must also keep Christ's "works until the end." The believer must persevere in faithfulness and good works to receive the reward of ruling in Christ's future kingdom. This is what 2 Timothy 2:12 means when it says, "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him." This passage teaches that the perseverance of the saints does not result in eternal salvation but in reward.

2 Timothy 2:12b

2 Timothy 2:12b represents the opposite of v12a. What happens if we don't endure but actually deny Christ? Verse 12b says, "If we deny Him, He also will deny us." At first glance, this passage may appear to teach that salvation can be lost, which is the standard Arminian interpretation.[3] On the other hand, the Calvinistic interpretation of this verse says that if believers ever deny Christ, then the reality of one's faith is disproved, since genuine faith always endures to the end.

The Calvinistic doctrine of "perseverance" is reflected in the interpretation of this passage given by John MacArthur when he writes, "The Greek verb rendered deny is the future tense, and the clause is therefore more clearly rendered, "If we ever deny Him" or "If in the future we deny Him." It looks at some confrontation that makes the cost of confessing Christ very high and thereby tests one's true faith. A person who fails to endure and hold onto his confession of Christ will deny Him, because he never belonged to Christ at all."[4] However, the verb for "deny" in v12 is arneomai in Greek, and it is the same word used repeatedly in the Gospels to describe Peter's denial of Christ (Matt. 26:70, 72; Mk. 14:68, 70; Lk. 22:57; Jn. 13:38, 18:25, 27). Did the Apostle Peter "never belong to Christ at all?" Realizing this predicament, MacArthur goes on to explain, "So perhaps the answer to the issue of Peter's denial is that his was a momentary failure, followed by repentance . . . There is a settled, final kind of denial that does not repent and thereby evidences an unregenerate heart."[5] But is this really what Paul meant in 2 Timothy 2:12b?

It is better to interpret the term "deny" (arneomai) in 2 Timothy 2:12b as a failure to follow Christ as His disciple and consequently not receive a reward. The word “arneomai” is also used in Matthew 10:33, where Christ says, "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." Immediately following Matthew 10:33, Christ discusses the cost of following Him as His disciple, even taking up our cross if necessary (Mt. 10:38). It is evident that He is not referring to salvation in this context, since we are not saved by carrying our crosses, but by the work Christ accomplished on His cross! The discourse of Matthew 10:33 then concludes in Matthew 10:41-42 with three references to "reward," which are promised to those who do not deny Christ and who faithfully follow Christ as His disciple.

In another parallel passage to 2 Timothy 2:12, Matthew 16:24, Christ says to His disciples, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Just three verses later, Christ concludes His short lesson on the cost of discipleship by saying, ". . . the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works" (Mt. 16:27). Clearly, not denying Christ and openly following Him as His disciple is described as a "work" that Christ will one day "reward." In contrast, salvation is received by simple faith in Christ as a free gift, and it is not a reward (Rom. 4:4-5).

So 2 Timothy 2:12b is not addressing either the loss of salvation by denying Christ (Arminianism) or the disproving of our salvation (Calvinism). Instead it is teaching the flip-side of v12a, that if we deny Christ He also will deny us one day in the future at His Judgment Seat by not giving us a reward (1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Cor. 5:9-10). By so teaching in v12b, Paul has returned to the theme of rewards discussed in the immediately preceding context of 2 Timothy 2:4-6 and elsewhere throughout this epistle (cf. 1:18, 4:1, 4:7-8, 4:14).

2 Timothy 2:13

Following the strong warning about denial in v12b, this passage ends in v13 with a promise of reassurance and comfort, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." The terms "faithless" (apistoumen) and "faithful" (pistos) are set in contrast to one another. For His part, Christ remains faithful to His salvation promises (Jn. 3:16, 3:36, 5:24, 6:39, 10:28) because faithfulness is essential to His very nature (Heb. 2:17, 10:23; Rev. 1:5, 3:14, 19:11). However for our part as Christians, we may be "faithless." If indeed v13 is teaching that people who are saved can be "faithless," then this single verse refutes the entire Calvinistic doctrine of the "perseverance of the saints." This doctrine does not merely teach the eternal security of the saints (that God will eternally preserve everyone who has ever been truly born again), rather it teaches that genuine faith in Christ will necessarily persevere to the end of one's earthly life, otherwise one has never actually been born again.

Anthony Hoekema and John MacArthur, two leading Calvinists, explain that the "perseverance of the saints" means that "those who have true faith can lose that faith neither totally nor finally."[6] Consistent with this claim, Loraine Boettner also states, "This doctrine of Perseverance does not mean that Christians do not temporarily fall the victims of sin, for alas, this is all too common. Even the best of men backslide temporarily. But they are never completely defeated; for God, by the exercise of His grace on their hearts infallibly prevents even the weakest saint from final apostasy."[7] If apostasy is precluded by Calvinism's doctrine of perseverance, then there must be some explanation for those who at one time seemed to be genuine believers but who later appear "faithless" as 2 Timothy 2:13 says. Another leading Calvinist, Edwin Palmer provides the solution, "So, one answer to this problem of apparent defections from the Christian faith is that some of the backslidings that we see may be only temporary setbacks of a stumbling Christian, who by the grace of the Holy Spirit, will eventually come back fully to the faith he seems to have denied."[8] According to the Calvinist doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, a genuine child of God may temporarily stumble in sin, backslide, and even appear to deny the faith, but in reality he will never apostatize or cease believing.

Because 2 Timothy 2:13 clearly states the possibility that "we" as Christians may be "faithless," some Calvinists seek to harmonize this passage with their theology by interpreting this as a reference to mere "professors" of Christ who have a spurious faith which falls short of true "saving faith." For example, John MacArthur comments regarding v13, ". . . If we are faithless, Christ remains faithful. In this context, apisteo (are faithless) means lack of saving faith, not merely weak or unreliable faith. The unsaved ultimately deny Christ, because they never had faith in Him for salvation. But He remains faithful, not only to those who believe in Him but to those who do not, as here . . . Just as Christ will never renege on His promise to save those who trust in Him, He also will never renege on His promise to condemn those who do not."[9] Amazingly, because MacArthur believes that genuine Christians are incapable of being "faithless," he therefore interprets this passage as a promise of God's condemnation of unbelievers rather than a promise of comfort to "faithless" saints. However, it is doubtful that 2 Timothy 2:13 was ever intended by the Lord to convey the idea that He is "faithful" (pistos) to punish the unsaved. The Greek word "pistos" is used a total of fifteen times in the New Testament when applied to God, and in all fourteen occurrences outside of 2 Timothy 2:13, God's faithfulness is always the basis of something positive toward believers.[10]

There is a second interpretation of 2 Timothy 2:13 offered by Calvinists which seeks to reconcile their doctrine of perseverance with the fact of some saints being "faithless" (apistoumen). It views the term "apistoumen" as meaning "unfaithfulness" in the general sense of disobedience toward God, rather than faithlessness or the absence of faith. In this sense, genuine believers can be "unfaithful" to God without actually going apostate or being "faithless." Does the term "apistoumen" in v13 mean "faithless" or "unfaithful"? Should v13 be translated "If we are faithless…" or "If we are unfaithful…"?[11]

Since the theological implications of either interpretation are so significant, it is necessary to examine the meaning of "apistoumen" in 2 Timothy 2:13 more carefully. The word "apistoumen" is simply a form of the Greek word "apisteo."[12] While the standard Greek lexicons list both possible meanings for "apisteo," some seem to favor the meaning "faithless,"[13] while others seem to favor "unfaithful"[14] in the case of 2 Timothy 2:13. Similarly Greek scholars and commentators are ranged on both sides, with some interpreting "apistoumen" as "faithless"[15] and some favoring the reading "unfaithful."[16] Still others see the correct translation of "apistoumen" as "faithless," but say that this means something less than apostasy.[17] And yet another source says "apistoumen" may mean either "faithless" or "untrue" to God.[18] With such difference of opinion, the only way to resolve the matter is to carefully examine how this word is used in the rest of the New Testament, as well as in the primary context of 2 Timothy 2:13.

Advocates of the general "unfaithfulness" view argue that there is a direct, parallel contrast between people and God in v13, when it says, "If we are faithless (apistoumen), He remains faithful (pistos)." They reason that since God doesn't "believe" or "have faith" per se but can only be "faithful" (pistos) in terms of His character, then "apistoumen" should be translated as the opposite of "faithful," namely "unfaithful." In which case the verse would be translated, "If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful." This interpretation may initially appear to have strong support from the immediate context, since the parallel structures of all three preceding sentences involve directly opposing correspondences. For example in v11, the opposite of dying is living. In v12a, the opposite of enduring under (Gr. hupomeno) suffering and adversity is reigning as a king (Gr. sumbasileuo). In v12b, the opposite of us denying Christ is Christ denying us. Therefore, it certainly appears quite logical to conclude that the opposite of God's faithfulness in v13 is our unfaithfulness.

However, though this exegesis is true to a point, it doesn't go far enough. We still must understand what is involved in the Greek concept of "unfaithfulness" (apisteo/apistoumen). In English, the term "unfaithful" normally conveys the idea of "disloyal" without any reference necessarily to the presence or absence of individual belief. In Greek, however, a person was described as "unfaithful" primarily because the individual lacked "faith" or "belief."[19] In 2 Timothy 2:13, the Greek word "apistoumen" is simply a form of the root word "apisteo," just like our English word "running" is simply a form of the word "run." When the term "apisteo" is used elsewhere in the New Testament, it consistently means "faithless" in the absolute sense of "lack of belief" and not merely "unfaithful" in the general sense of "disloyalty."

"Apisteo" occurs a total of seven times in the Greek New Testament outside of 2 Timothy 2:13 (Mk. 16:11, 16; Lk. 24:11, 41; Acts 28:24; Rom. 3:3; and in 1 Pt. 2:7 in the Critical Text). In three of these instances "apisteo" is clearly used of the unsaved, who are "faithless" (Mk. 16:16; Acts 28:24; 1 Pt. 2:7). Romans 3:3 is also most likely describing the faithlessness of unsaved Jews, since the immediately preceding context (Rom. 2:28-29) deals with regenerate Jews who most certainly had faith versus unregenerate Jews who lacked faith. In the three remaining instances of "apisteo" in the New Testament, Christ's disciples were without faith or "faithless" regarding the fact of His resurrection. These saved men simply did not believe that Christ had risen (Mk. 16:11; Lk. 24:11, 41). In this respect, they had an absolute "lack of belief" regarding Christ's resurrection and were not merely "unfaithful" in the general sense of "disloyalty."[20]

What this reveals is that even those who have been genuinely and eternally saved by God's grace may become truly "faithless" in their Christian lives. It is entirely possible for a genuine Christian to lose his faith after he has once believed in Christ and been instantaneously and eternally saved by God. Though some advocates of the Calvinist doctrine of the perseverance of the saints have mocked the conclusion that there could exist such a thing as an "unbelieving believer," that is precisely what we see in the case of the disciples after Christ's resurrection. Similarly, the Galatians were truly saved (Gal. 4:6-7) and yet they had embraced a false gospel of works (Gal. 1:6-9, 3:1-3, 4:9-11, 5:1-4). In addition, the Exodus generation of Israelites, which certainly consisted of more regenerated souls than just "faithful" Joshua and Caleb, was described as having "an evil heart of unbelief" (Num. 14:11; Dt. 1:32, 9:23; Heb. 3:7-19).

Whether it’s the case of the eleven disciples, the Galatians, or the Israelites, these biblical examples simply cannot be reconciled with the Calvinist claim that "those who have true faith can lose that faith neither totally nor finally." It certainly appears that in each case, these biblical "saints" were, at least for a time, completely unbelieving with respect to some of the most fundamental and cardinal doctrines of the faith. The Calvinist may object here with respect to the totality of unbelief, claiming that the disciples and Galatians still retained a creedal faith in the deity of Christ, while the Israelites retained their belief in Yahweh as the one, true God. Yet whatever semblance of faith remained in these saints was actually considered "vain" by the Lord (1 Cor. 15:14, 17; Gal. 3:4, 4:11), as evidenced by the fact that each group was sternly rebuked by the Lord for their unbelief (Num. 14:26-35; Mk. 16:14; Gal. 3:1). The Lord did not reprove them for their unbelief while simultaneously commending them for some vestige of creedal faith that remained in them. He did not say, "Though I'm chastening you for your unbelief, I just want you to know that I'm keeping you saved on account of your creedal faith."

The same must be said in regards to the finality of unbelief. It makes no difference to an omniscient God, who knows the end from the beginning, whether a Christian is unbelieving in the middle of his Christian life or at the very end of his life while upon his deathbed. Ultimately, we are not kept saved by the amount, quality, or constancy of our faith, but by the grace and faithfulness of the One in whom we initially trusted. "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself." g

Part nine will examine three more N.T. passages (2 Tim. 2:18, James 2:14-26; 2 Pt. 3:17) which further reveal that a genuine child of God may not necessarily have a persevering or productive faith.

[1] The word "gospel" is the English translation of the Greek word "euaggelion," which is a compound word made up of the prefix "eu" (meaning "good") and the root "aggel" (meaning "message"). Literally, the "euaggelion" is the "good message" or good news. Our English term "evangelical" comes from the Greek word "euaggelion." Thus, only a person who holds to the good news is truly an "evangelical" in the biblical sense.

[2] H.A. Ironside, Full Assurance, Rev. ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1968), pp. 102-03.

[3] Stephen M. Ashby, Four Views on Eternal Security, J. Matthew Pinson, Gen. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), pp. 161-62. I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1969), pp. 132-33. Robert Shank, Life in the Son: A Study of the Doctrine of Perseverance (Springfield, MO: Westcott Publishers, 1961), p. 281.

[4] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 2 Timothy (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), p. 64 (bold original).

[5] ibid, p. 65 (ellipsis added).

[6] Anthony A. Hoekema, Saved by Grace (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989), p. 234. John F. MacArthur, Faith Works (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1993), p. 177.

[7] Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Pub., 1932), p. 187.

[8] Edwin H. Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1980), p. 77.

[9] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 2 Timothy (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), p. 66 (bold original, ellipsis added).

[10] See 1 Cor. 1:9, 10:13; 2 Cor. 1:18; 1 Th. 5:24; 2 Th. 3:3; Heb. 2:17, 3:2, 10:23, 11:11; 1 Pt. 4:19; 1 Jn. 1:9; Rev. 1:5, 3:14, 19:11.

[11] Most English Bibles translate "apistoumen" as "faithless" including: New King James Version, New American Standard Bible (both 1977 & 1995), American Standard Version, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible (Roman Catholic). English Bibles which translate "apistoumen" as "unfaithful" include: New American Bible (Roman Catholic), and the Darby Bible.

[12] "Apistoumen" is the 1st person, plural, present tense, active voice, indicative mood of "apisteo."

[13] H.G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, rev. and augmented by H.S. Jones and R. McKenzie, with a Revised Supplement by P.G.W. Glare and A.A. Thompson (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 189. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 1 (New York: United Bible Societies, 1988), p. 378.

[14] W. Bauer, A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, translated by W.F. Arndt and F.W. Gingrich; revised and augmented by F.W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), p. 85. J.H. Thayer, The New Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1981), p. 57.

[15] Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, Vol. III, with revision by Everett F. Harrison (Chicago: Moody Press, 1958), p. 382. Gordon D. Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, New International Biblical Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988), p. 251. D. Edmond Hiebert, Everyman's Bible Commentary, Second Timothy (Chicago: Moody Press, 1958), p. 64. A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, n.d.), p. 619. Eugene Stock, Practical Truths from the Pastoral Epistles (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1983), p. 61. W.E. Vine, The Collected Writings of W.E. Vine, Vol. 3 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1996), p. 214.

[16] George W. Knight III, New International Greek Testament Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), pp. 406-07. Newport J.D. White, The Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. IV, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990), p. 164. Kenneth Wuest, The Pastoral Epistles in the Greek New Testament, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, Vol. II (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1952), pp. 133-34.

[17] J.N.D. Kelly, Black's New Testament Commentary, Vol. XIV, The Pastoral Epistles (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1960), pp. 180-81. Homer A. Kent Jr., The Pastoral Epistles, rev. edit. (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1982), pp. 264-65.

[18] Marvin R. Vincent, Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. IV (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, n.d.), p. 300.

[19] In the vast preponderance of occurrences of "apisteo" in extra-biblical Greek literature, the term contains the idea of "unbelief" rather than "disloyalty without regard to belief." See references in W. Bauer, A Greek -English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, translated by W.F. Arndt and F.W. Gingrich; revised and augmented by F.W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), p. 85; H.G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, rev. and augmented by H.S. Jones and R. McKenzie, with a Revised Supplement by P.G.W. Glare and A.A. Thompson (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 189.

[20] Another technical matter is well worth considering at this point as to the true meaning of "apistoumen" in 2 Timothy 2:13. Morphologically speaking, the direct opposite of "pistos" in the second clause of 2 Timothy 2:13 would be "apistos," a word which derived from "apisteo" and which is nearly identical in meaning with "apisteo" [see Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 1 (New York: United Bible Societies, 1988), p. 378. J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997), p. 58. A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. II (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, n.d.), p. 291.] When "apistos" is used all 16 times by Paul in his epistles, in every instance, it refers to the unsaved who were "faithless," never merely an "unfaithful" Christian (1 Cor. 6:6, 7:12, 13, 14 (2x), 15, 10:27, 14:22 (2x), 23, 24; 2 Cor. 4:4, 6:14, 15; 1 Tim. 5:8; Ti. 1:15). Likewise, in the remaining seven non-Pauline occurrences of "apistos" in the New Testament, it always refers to unsaved unbelievers who were "faithless" (Mt. 17:17; Mk. 9:19; Lk. 9:41, 12:46; Acts 26:8; Rev. 21:8), with the singular exception of Thomas' unbelief following Christ's resurrection (Jn. 20:27). These facts serve as further confirmation of "apisteo" meaning "faithless" in 2 Timothy 2:13 rather than just "unfaithful."