Presbyterion 17/1 (1991) 40-57

"THOUGH ALL HELL SHOULD ENDEAVOR TO SHAKE": GOD'S PRESERVATION OF HIS SAINTS
Robert A. Peterson*

We are not able to deny that perseverance in good, progressing even to the end, is also a great gift of God; and that it exists not save it come from Him of whom it is written, 'Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.'1

In a previous article I surveyed writings dealing with four doctrines: preservation, perseverance, assurance, and apostasy.2 The purpose of the present article is to lay an exegetical foundation for believing in God's preservation of his saints. Theological exegesis of four passages viz., John 10:26-30, Romans 8:28-39, Hebrews 7:23-25, and Ephesians 1:1314 will show that it is the will and the work of the trinity to keep the people of God saved to the end.3

JOHN 10:26-30
A. Theological Exegesis Near the end of Jesus' public ministry, the Jewish leaders surround him in the temple courts and ask him to admit if he is the Christ. Jesus says that he has told them, but they do not believe. Their unbelief is compounded by the fact that they have not only heard his words but witnessed his miracles as well. His words and works testify to his Messiahship. There is no lack of evidence concerning his identity; the problem lies in their unbelief (John 10:24-25).
* Robert Peterson holds a Ph.D. from Drew University and currently serves as Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Covenant Theological Seminary. Augustine, "On Rebuke and Grace," in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 5, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), p. 475. 2 "Perseverance and Apostasy: A Bibliographic Essay," Presbyterion 16/2 (1990), pp. 119-125. Two important works have recently come to my attention: Judith M. Gundry Volf, Paul and Perseverance (Louisville: Westminster/Fohn Knox Press, 1990) and John Jefferson Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," JETS 34 (1991), pp. 213-228. ^Unless otherwise indicated, translations of the respective passages are my own.

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V. 26 "But you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep." Jesus gives the reason for the persistance of the Jewish leaders' unbelief they do not belong to his sheep. Here is one of John's themes of election: the antecedent identity of the elect and reprobate. The former (the "sheep") do not become sheep because they believe; they believe because they are Jesus' sheep (v. 27). The latter (I'll call them "goats") are not goats because they do not believe; they don't believe because they are goats. The two groups, therefore, have their respective identities prior to their believing or not believing in Christ. Their contrasting responses to Jesus manifest their respective antecedent identities.6 Of course, "Neither Jesus nor John means to reduce the moral responsibility of the opponents in the slightest. That they are not Jesus' sheep does not excuse them; it indicts them."7 Both divine sovereignty and human responsibility exist side-by-side in the fourth Gospel.8 V. 27 "My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,..." By contrast to the behavior described in v. 26, Jesus' sheep believe9 in him and obey him. In fact, it is customary10 for them to do so. What does Jesus mean when he says that he knows his sheep? He is not speaking merely of cognitive knowledge, for he knows both the sheep and goats cognitively. He is speaking of personal knowledge, the knowledge of relationship. V. 28 "And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will seize themfrommy hand." Eternal life is a gift to the sheep from Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who dies and raises himself from the

I take pisteuete to be a gnomic present expressing their customary rejection of Jesus. *Ek is here used with einai to mean "to belong to someone or something" (so Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, Frederick W. Danker, A GreekEnglish Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature [2nd ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979], p. 236 [hereafter BAGD2]). 6 For more discussion, see D. A. Carson, Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility (Atlanta: John Knox, 1981), pp. 188-191. 7 D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), p. 393. 8 As D. A. Carson convincingly argues in his Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. 9 As sheep hearken only to the voice of their shepherd, so Jesus people "listen to his voice." This is one of John's ways of speaking of believing in Jesus (cf. the use of akouo in 6:60; 8:43, 47; 9:27; 10:8, 16; 18:37). Here it is the opposite of "not believing" (v. 26). 10 I interpret the verbs "hear" (akouousin) and "follow" {akolouthousin) as gnomic presents.

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dead for them (vv. 11, 15, 17-18). He is the Giver of eternal life 11 and his people are the recipients. Jesus emphatically asserts12 that his people will never experience eternal death.13 Our Lord next declares that no one will snatch14 the sheep from his power.15 He means that no enemy will steal his people away from him. This is an expansion of his last statement. The sheep will not experience eternal death, for Jesus holds them safe in his arms. V. 29 "My Father who has given [them] to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch [them] from the hand of the Father." There is a sticky textual problem in this verse. Although it is very difficult to account for the variants if the reading reflected in my translation above is original, I agree with Barrett that we should adopt it due to suitability to the context.16 It doesn't make sense to say "what (ho) the Father has given to me [the sheep?] is greater than all."17 It does make sense to say that God the Father, who has given the sheep to Jesus18 is greater than all. Even the incarnate Son of God is subordinate to the Father (cf. John 14:28). Jesus' argument builds in vv. 28-29. Not only does he keep the sheep, but the Father, who is greater than he, keeps them too. 19 The sheep "will never perish" because of the keeping power of the Father and the Son. V. 30 "I and the Father are one." This is not an abstract statement concerning the essence of divinity. In context, the unity spoken of "is a
^For summaries of this theme in John's Gospel, see my Getting to Know John's Gospel. A Fresh Look at Its Main Ideas (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1989), pp. 31-34,40-42, and 87-88. 12 Emphatic negation is here expressed by means of a double negative with the aorist subjunctive. See F. Blass and A. Debrunner, A Greek Grammar of the NT and Other Early Christian Literature (trans. R. W. Funk; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961), 365 (hereafter BDF). 13 This is the meaning of **perish" here, as BAGD2, p. 95 shows. 14 A predictive future tense of harpazo which according to BAGD2, p. 109, here means "snatch or take away someone forcefully." 15 Cheir ("hand") means Christ's power, according to BAGD2, p. 880 2a& 16 For Barrett's discussion of the issues, see The Gospel according to St. John (2nd ed.; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), pp. 381-382. 17 Barclay M. Newman and Eugene A. Nida (A Translator's Handbook on the Gospel of John [New York: UBS, 1980], pp. 340-41) demonstrate the difficulties of this translation. J. N. Birdsall, however, argues for it in his essay "John x. 29," Journal of Theological Studies 11 (1960), pp. 342-44. 18 This is another Johannine picture of election; see Carson, Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility, pp. 186-88 for a summary of it. 19 Cf. Rudolf Schnackenburg: "But the protecting power of Jesus is that of the Father, who is greater than all who threaten Jesus's flock" (The Gospel According to St. John [3 vols.; New York: Crossroad, 1987], 2:307).

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unity of power and operation." Jesus here asserts that he and the Father are one in their work of preserving the people of God. Since this verse ascribes the divine work of preservation to the Son, it does teach his deity.21 B. Conclusions This passage teaches God's preservation of his people in salvation. The sheep belong to the Father and the Son even before they believe. Since they are sheep, they believe in Jesus. He gives them eternal life and emphatically states that they will never suffer eternal death. The reason for the sheep's safety is the united keeping power of the Father and the Son. How have Arminian theologians handled this passage? I. H. Marshall and Grant Osborne reject the simplistic solutions of former interpreters who sought to read conditions into the present tenses "hear" and "follow" in v. 27, 22 In fact, speaking of 10:28-29 and other passages in John's Gospel, Marshall grants, "Nowhere else in the New Testament is the fact of divine preservation of the disciples of Jesus so clearly presented as here, and no theology of perseverance and apostasy must fail to give these verses their full value."23 And Osborne summarizes well the Calvinist arguments based on this passage.24 Am I suggesting that our Arminian brothers and sisters have waved the flag of surrender? Not at all. My quotation from Dr. Marshall in the preceding paragraph is incomplete. Here is the remainder: "Yet exegetical honesty compels us to ask whether the will of God can be frustrated by human sin, just as His will for the salvation of all men does not in fact lead to the salvation of all men."25 He later answers this indirect question affirmatively:
It is through this continual abiding that a person remains one of Christ's sheep. While he remains in this relationship he knows that he is preserved by the Father and the Son and looks forward to the life of heaven. He believes the word of Jesus, that no one shall snatch him out of His hand. But he also knows that this promise is true only for those who hear the voice of Jesus and follow Him, and that therefore he must continue to trust in Jesus .... He knows that he is safe in the

Raymond Brown, The Gospel According to John I-XII (Anchor Bible; Garden City: Doubleday, 1966), p. 407. 21 For elaboration, see D. A. Carson, John, pp. 394-395. 22 E.g., Robert Shank's Life in the Son (Springfield, MO: Westcott, 1960), pp. 56-60. 2 *Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1969), p. 181. ^'Exegetical Notes on Calvinist Texts," in Grace Unlimited (ed. Clark Pinnock; Minneapolis: Bethany, 1975), p. 172. ^Marshall, Kept by the Power of God, p. 181.

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COVENANT SEMINARY REVIEW care of Jesus, but at the same time he knows that the obligation is laid upon him to abide continually in Jesus lest he be cast away as a branch.26

Osborne agrees, for, after citing John 10:27-30 as "the major proof text for eternal security," he writes:
Nonetheless, there is a future aspect to the gift of salvation, and it must be secured by perseverance. This has been noted in 6:35,45 and is seen in the present tense verbs of verse 27, 'hearing,' 'knowing,' and 'following.' To be sure, these are not conditions for salvation in this context (contra Shank), but they are conditions in light of John's total theology .... So, we can conclude that while eternal life is a present possession, it is not a future certainty. One must add perseverance to the security before one can be certain of that future attainment.27

How have Marshall and Osborne harmonized the teaching of John 10:28-30 with their Arminian theology? They admit the strong emphasis on preservation in the passage. But they are forced, because of other considerations, to qualify preservation by making it contingent upon believers' perseverance. The other considerations, of course, include the conviction that believers can fall awayfromgrace. An evaluation of the views of Osborne and Marshall is in order. We cannot hastily dismiss their conclusions on methodological grounds. When they qualify their understanding of the preservation passages by appealing to perseverance and apostasy passages, they are using the systematic principle. All theologians at times bring their understanding of the patterns of Scripture to bear on texts difficult for them to assimilate to those patterns. Calvinists have traditionally done this for the apostasy passages. It is no less correct in principle for Arminian theologians to do this than for Reformed theologians.28 Nevertheless, I do not think my Arminian brothers have done justice to this passage. Our Lord speaks in categorical terms when he says, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will seize them from my hand ... and no one can snatch (them) from the hand of the Father." I agree with Anthony Hoekema when he says, "Surely the 'no one' to whom Jesus alludes must include believers themselves."29 Arminian theologians have not adequately dealt with the comprehensiveness of Jesus' teachings here. These verses cannot be easily reconciled with the view that Christians can fall from grace, for they
Marshall, Kept by the Power of God, pp. 185-86. Osborne, "Exegetical Notes," pp. 172-73. 28 I acknowledge "the near impossibility of simple rfutations." This is a chapter title from Vern Poythress's helpful book Understanding Dispensationalists (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987). Poythress shows that a few objections will not prove a system wrong, since systems have built-in answers to objections. I do not naively assume that my exegesis of one (or four) passages is going to bring Arminianism crashing down. 19 Saved by Grace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), p. 239.
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teach "that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on Hisfirmgrip on us."30 ROMANS 8:28-39 A. Theological Exegesis Paul assures his believing readers that they are adopted by God. The Spirit testifies within that they are God's children and heirs. As heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, they now share in his sufferings and someday shall share in his glory (8:15-17). "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (v. 18). This thought of present sufferings and future glory underlies vv. 19-27. Here we find much groaning in anticipation of coming deliverance: the creation groans awaiting future liberation (vv. 18-22); Christians groan looking eagerly for theirfinalredemption (w. 23-25); even the Spirit groans as he prays for believers in accordance with God's will. The Spirit as firstfruits points us to our future glory (v. 23); the Spirit as intercessor helps us in our present sufferings (vv. 26-27). Romans 8:28-39 guarantees the certainty of the future glory spoken of in vv. 18-27. The apostle anticipates the possible objection, "This future glory of which you speak is great, Paul, but in view of the present difficulties how do we know that we shall attain it? What is to keep us from falling away from grace and failing to obtain what was promised us?" Paul gives the ground of believers' certainty offinalsalvation in vv. 28-39.31 V. 28 "And we know that he works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who were called according to his purpose." Placedfirstfor emphasis is the phrase, "And we know that/<?r the ones who love God ...."32 Due to textual variants and ambiguity in Greek, there are three possible ways to take "all things work together" (panta synergei) with little difference in the resultant meaning.33 God
Leon Morris, The Gospel according to John (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), p. 521. 31 He uses seven questions as his structuring devices: three rhetorical questions (w. 31-32) and four questions-and-answers (vv. 33-39). See A. H. Snyman, "Style and Meaning in Romans 8:31-39," Neotestamentica 18 (1984), pp. 94-103, for further discussion. 32 Paul employs a substantival participle used as a dative of advantage. "Work together," sunergeo, takes a dative "of the person or thing that is helped" (B AGD2, p. 787). 33 1) "All things" could be the subject and the text would read, "all things work together for good for the ones who love God." Although God's name is not mentioned, it is implied. 2) The variant reading makes "God" the subject and the result would be,
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works all things even the present sufferings for the good of those who love him. "Those who love him" is qualified by the appositive, "to those who are called according to his plan." The lovers of God are those called according to his purpose. This calling, in light of v. 30, is God's effective summoning of his people to salvation. V 29 "Because whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be like the image of his Son, in order that he might be thefirst-bornamong many brothers." Paul states the cause of the preceding. We know God works all things for our good, because he has done the greatest good for us he has saved us from beginning to end. The apostle uses five aorist verbs in w . 29-30 to describe salvation past, present, and future.34 God is the subject and the people of God are the object of each of thefiveverbs. God's foreknowing his people means his setting his love upon them before creation.35 God's predestining his people means his "deciding upon them beforehand"36 for salvation (cf. Eph. 1:4). God's goal in predestining them was their eventual conformity to the image of the glorified Christ. Christ is first in rank and Inaugurator of a new race of humanity, the race of the redeemed.37 V. 30 "And whom he predestined, these he also called; and whom he called, these he also justified; and whom he justified, these he also glorified." Paul continues the verbs of salvation. "Whom he predestined,38 he also called." God not only plans his people's salvation before creation; he also effectively summons them to take hold of that salvation in time. "These he also justified." This means that he declared themrighteouson the basis of therighteousnessof Christ. "Whom he justified, these also he glorified." God made them beholders and partakers of the glory of Christ. Paul expresses the future

"God works all things together ...." It is easy to imagine a scribe's adding the word "God." 3) The subject "God" could be understood in the verb, "He works all things together for good ...." I favor this third possibility. 34 "Here Paul obviously means to embrace the whole sweep of time and history, from beginning to end, within the scope of these two verses" (James Dunn, Romans 78 [Word Biblical Commentary; Waco: Word, 1988], p. 482). 35 Remember, the people of God are the object of each of these verbs. Here God foreknew them, not their faith. Cf. Anthony Hoekema, Created in Gods Image (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 23. 36 BAGD2, p. 709. 37 For more information on Christ as "firstborn," see Herman Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), pp. 53-57. 38 Arminian theologians have criticized Calvinists for building a doctrine of eternal security by reasoning systematically (rather than biblically) from the doctrine of election to the doctrine of security. Since this biblical passage combines election and preservation, we are justified in doing so. The argument from election to preservation is not the whole biblical basis for preservation, but it is a part of it.

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aspect of salvation in the same aorist tense as the other four verbs. In God's plan his people are glorified. Now except for departed saints, we are not yet glorified! Yet God expresses our future glorification as an accomplished fact. Surely we are safe in his sovereign plan of salvation. 40 Vv. 31-32 "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things?" Paul asks a rhetorical question, "What then shall we say to these things?" A good answer might be, "Hallelujah!" There is no answer, however, for our words are insufficient to render God the thanks he is due. Paul then asks a second rhetorical question, "If God is on our behalf, who is against us?" A rhetorical question is only a question in form; in force, it is often an emphatic statement. So it is here. Paul means "if we are convinced that God is on our side, then no one will ever successfully oppose him." Paul gives the greatest proof (in the form of a third rhetorical question) that God is on our side. The Father gave his Son to die for us. "He who did not spare even his own Son, but gave him for us all...." Here is the supreme demonstration that God is God for us. "... how will he not 4 1 also with him freely give us all things." God did the harder thing he gave Christ for us when we were his enemies. Now he will do the easier give us all of his spiritual blessings along with his Son. Since God, the most powerful being, is on our side, no one will defeat us. We are safe in his mighty power. V. 33 "Who will bring charges against God's chosen ones? God is the one who justifies." Paul employs a judicial argument in this verse. 42 He asks, "Who shall bring charges against God's elect?" He answers 43 his question by saying, "God is the one who justifies." God, the ^ Augustine saw this. "He used verbs of past tense, even concerning things future, as if God has already arrangedfrometernity that they should come to pass" (On Rebuke and Grace, p. 481. 40 C . E. B. Cranfield's comments deserve quotation: "The use of the aorist here is significant and suggestive. In a real sense, of course, their glory is still in the future, still the object of hope (cf. 5:2), and this 'not yet' with regard to their glory is certainly not to be explained away or glossed over. But their glorification has already been foreordained by God; the divine decision has been taken, though its working out has not been consummated" (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans [ICC; Edinburgh: & Clark, 1975], p. 433). 41 This is a negative question with ou implying a positive answer. 42 For enkaleo, see BAGD2, p. 215: a "legal t.t. [technical term] 'accuse, bring charges against.'" Cf. its use in Acts 19:38; 23:28-29; 26:2,7. 43 There are alternative punctuation possibilities here. For details, see C. K. Barrett, The Epistle to the Romans (Harper's NT Commentaries; New York: Harper & Row, 1967), pp. 172-73.
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supreme judge of all the earth, has declared his people righteous; who will possibly bring a charge against them and make it stick? No one, for the highest judge has already given his verdict of acquittal. V. 34 "Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, even more who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who even pleads on our behalf." Paul asks who will condemn God's people. Scripture teaches that Jesus, the Son of God, will perform the role of judge on the last day. But will he condemn believers? The answer is an emphatic "no!" Christ is not the judge of believers; he is their Savior. 44 He died and rose to save them, and now he continues his salvific work by pleading with the Father on their behalf. Vv. 35-36 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or hunger or destitution or danger or sword? Just as it is written: 'For your sake we are in danger of death all day long. We are considered as sheep for the slaughter.'" Paul asks, "Who shall separate us from Christ's love 45 for us?" He considers seven 46 possibilities: "Shall trouble or distress" (terrible times) "or persecution" (for the faith) "or hunger or destitution" (deprivation of food or clothing) "or danger or sword" (metonymy for death)? Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 to show that God's people have always had to endure hardships. Therefore, if the Roman believers have to suffer, even unto death, they should not doubt God's love. V. 37 "But in all these things we are winning a most glorious victory47 through the one who loved us." Through Christ's love believers are victors over the terrible circumstances described in vv. 35-36. Vv. 38-39 "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor authorities, neither things present nor things to come, nor powers, neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul gives a comprehensive list of things which will not be able to separate us from God's love in Christ, that is, from salvation. "Death and life" are allinclusive terms for our whole existence. What is not included in a person's life and death? *\.Christians enter the judgment as those for whom judgment has essentially already taken place. In the cross of Jesus Christ God has already given the definitive word of acquittal for those who believe. The last judgment will bring this verdict to the light of day and expose the threats to undo it as impotent" (Volf, Paul and Perseverance, p. 69). 45 Taking agapes as a subjective genitive. Cf. "the one who loved us" (v. 37), a reference to Christ, and "the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (v. 39). 46 Perhaps Paul chose seven possibilities to underscore the completeness of his list. 47 Hypernikao, a heightened form of nikao, is one of Paul's hyper compounds; see BAGD2, p. 37.
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"Angels and rulers," "powers," "height and depth" refer to evil spiritual beings. More powerful than human beings, they are still under God's authority, and therefore cannot make his love toward us ineffectual. "Things present and things to come" also designate the entirety of human existence.48 "Any other created thing" rounds off the comprehensive language; the only uncreated "thing" is God. I do not know how Paul could have said more clearly that absolutely nothing will take us away from God's grace.49 B. Conclusions The purpose of this passage is to assure believers of God's preservation. They can handle present sufferings with the knowledge that God's promise of future glory is secure. Paul uses four arguments for preservation. 1) An argument from God's sovereignty in vv. 2830: God has sovereignly planned our salvation from beginning to end. As surely as God has foreknown, predestined, called, and justified us, so he will glorify us. 2) An argument from God's power in vv. 31-32: God, the most powerful being in the universe, is on our side we know this, since he gave his Son to die for us no one will defeat him or us. 3) An argument from God's justice in vv. 33-34: God the supreme judge of the universe has declared us righteous. No one will condemn. The Lord Jesus will condemn the wicked, but not us; he died, rose, ascended and intercedes for us. Jesus does not condemn us he saves us. 4) An argument from God's love in vv. 35-39: Nothing will ever separate us from God's love in Christ, nothing present nor future, not our life nor death, not evil angels, not any created thing. We are safe in his love.50 How do Arminian theologians handle this passage? The views of Howard Marshall and Grant Osborne may be summarized as follows. 1) Calvinists misunderstand some key ideas in the passage. Predestination here, Marshall tells us, is not unto salvation but unto conformity. And foreknowledge in v. 29 "refers to God's loving knowledge which God already has of His people. It does not refer to the separation of the elect and consequent rejection of the reprobate, a thought which is not present in the context." Osborne sees God as taking human response into account in his foreknowledge.51 2) We must qualify what the passage teaches

48 Paul's focus is on the present looking to the future. Past sins (and more!) have been49 away by justification (vv. 30,33). put Volf (Paul and Perseverance, p. 57) labels Paul's denial that anything can separate Christians from Christ's love as "utterly comprehensive." 50 Cf. Volf, Paul and Perseverance, pp. 56-65. 51 Marshall, Kept by the Power of God, p. 102; Osborne, "Exegetical Notes," p 178.

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about God's role with an equal emphasis on human freedom. Marshall sees v. 28 as making salvation dependent on "God's purpose and call and upon human response to that call." Further, looking at the five aorists in vv. 29-30, he writes, "But the continuation of this process requires a human response ... the completion of the whole chain of blessings is dependent upon faith." He approvingly quotes John Wesley who said that this passage does not teach "that precisely the same number of men are called, justified and glorified."52 Concerning Romans 8:35-39 Osborne says: "This passage does not relate to perseverance but simply speaks of the believer's encouragement in the faith."52* I will respond to these objections in turn. 1) Predestination is indeed unto conformity here. But that does not preclude its being unto salvation. Conformity to Christ is final salvation! Conformity is the ultimate goal of predestination unto salvation. Marshall wants to define foreknowledge here as not relating to salvation. This will not do. All five of the verbs in vv. 29-30 speak of salvation. Osborne errs when he tries to see God's taking into account human freedom in "whom he foreknew."54 It is whom and not what God foreknew. God sovereignly set his love upon his people before the creation of the world. He planned to enter into relationship with them before he made them. 2) Systematics must be faithful to the biblical text. And Arminianism comes up short in trying to explain this passage. Romans 8:28 does not make salvation dependent on man's response to God's call, as Marshall claims. On the contrary, as C. K. Barrett explains, "Paul cannot allow himself to leave the impression that men may exercise an initiative which properly belongs to God alone. Those who love God are more searchingly defined as 'those who are called in accordance with his purpose.'"55 Marshall understands the continuation of the process of salvation in vv. 29-30 as hinging on human response. But the text goes in another direction entirely; it speaks of God's working from beginning to end in foreknowing, choosing, calling, justifying, and glorifying his people. Paul does not make the completion of the chain of blessings depend upon believers' faith. Rather, he makes it depend upon God's faithfulness.
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Marshall, Kept by the Power ofGodt pp. 102-3. "Exegetical Notes," p. 179. Osborne, "Exegetical Notes," p. 178, misinterprets F. F. Bruce*s comment in his Tyndale Commentary on Romans, p. 179, "When God takes knowledge of people in this special way, He sets His choice upon them." Bruce is not speaking of God's and man's part in salvation as Osborne assumes; he is emphasizing God's sovereign grace, as the context bears out. ^Romans, p. 169.
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Marshall's appeal to Wesley to deny that in vv. 29-30 "precisely the same number of men are called, justified and glorified" is misguided. How could the apostle have more plainly shown that God saves the same people from beginning to end? "... whom he foreknew, he also predestined.... and whom he predestined, these he also called; and whom he called, these he also justified; and whom he justified, these he also glorified." As Volf shows, "Wesley's view suffers from an oversight of Paul's use of 'climax,' by which the apostle intends to show the continuity in the beneficiaries of God's saving acts."56 Osborne's claim that Romans 8:35-39 deals not with perseverance but with the believer's encouragement in the faith is simplistic. These verses deal with both, grounding the latter on the former. We are to endure distress, persecution, or even death, because we know that nothing will take us away from God's grace. Marshall and Osborne agree that Romans 8:28-39 must be studied doctrinally in the light of the total teaching of Scripture.57 This approach cannot be criticized in principle; systematic theology is legitimate. (My comments on John 10 apply here as well.) The teaching of this passage, however, cannot be easily integrated into an Arminian systematic theology. Paul bases believers' preservation on God's dynamic qualities of sovereignty, power, justice, and love. He does this so categorically that it is hard to add qualifications to his words, as the attempts of Marshall and Osborne, answered above, demonstrate. Paul's arguments are unassailable. God guarantees our final glorification by presenting it as a// accompli. Almighty God is for us and no one will overcome us. Since God has declared us righteous, no one will condemn us. Nothing in our life or death, in our present or future, nothing at all will remove us from God's grace. We feel uneasy raising objections to Paul's case for preservation and well we should. There are no successful objections to be raised.

56 Volf, Paul and Perseverance, p. 14. "Climax consists in taking up the key word of the preceding member in the following one" (BDF, 493,3). 5 'Marshall (Kept by the Power of God, p. 103) concludes: "For the person who will receive them all the resources of God are available. We may be permitted to ask whether a person may fail to make use of the resources, but nothing can disguise the fact that here Paul's tone is one of exalted optimism and assurance." Osborne ("Exegetical Notes," p. 179) ends his discussion thus, "Paul here states his confidence in God's part but elsewhere notes his own responsibility and danger (1 Cor 9:27). Outside pressures can't separate us from God's love, but inward apostasy can."

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HEBREWS 7:23-25 A. Theological Exegesis In Hebrews 7:11-22 the writer shows the superiority of Christ's priesthood to that of Levi. The Levitical priesthood was temporary; none of its priests could perform the ultimate priestly work. There was need for an eschatological high priest in the order of Melchizedek to come and make the final sacrifice for sin. His coming necessitated a change in the priestly regulations, a putting away of the old order. This messianic high priest did not descend from Levi; he was from the tribe of Judah (vv. 1114). The eschatological high priest is better qualified than Levitical priests were. They became priests because of their ancestry he "on the basis of the power of an indestructible life" (v. 16). They were made priests by Old Covenant regulation due to lineage from Aaron and without an oath from God he by the principles of the New Covenant according to the order of Melchizedek and with God's oath. Because he has better qualifications, he is a superior high priest and the Mediator and guarantor of a better covenant (vv. 15-22). V. 23 "And the many have become priests because they were prevented by death from continuing." Their very numbers testify to the inferiority of their priesthood. They were mere men who lived and died and were succeeded in their office by their descendants who in turn died and were succeeded by others. Death prohibited any one of them from performing the great work of the eschatological high priest; death disqualified themfromthe messianic priestly office. V. 24 "But because he remains forever, he has a permanent58 priesthood." The Son of God's priesthood is superior to that of the Old Dispensation. His priestly work is not interrupted by death; he does not need replacements. On the contrary, he continues forever. His perpetuity makes his priesthood permanent. The irresistible implication is that his priestly work is efficacious. This thought is developed in the following verses. V. 25 "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since59 he always lives to make intercession for them." Because Jesus (unlike the Levitical priests) remains forever, he has a permanent priesthood (vv. 23-24). His priesthood, therefore, has great efficacy; he is able to save his people. It is tempting to render eis to

^Aparabaton, "permanent, unchangeable" (B ADG2, p. 80). 59 Zon is a circumstantial participle of cause; so NIV, RSV, and NASB.

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panteles as "forever" in this context of Jesus' perpetuity and permanent priesthood. It may be better, however, to translate it "completely," meaning "fully, wholly."61 This expresses a broader idea than the translation "forever" does; nevertheless, it is important to realize that "completely" here includes the idea of "forever." It is because he always lives that he is able to save completely. The power of his indestructible life qualifies him to save fully. Since he ever lives to make intercession for his people, they are safe in his care. The holy Mediator of the New Covenant performs a priestly work on the cross (v. 27) and in heaven which perfectly meets the needs (v. 26) of his people. B. Conclusions The warning passages in Hebrews have received deserved attention. We should not allow this to obscure the fact that Hebrews contains preservation passages too. The famous warning passage in Hebrews 6:112, for example, must be studied in the light of the preservation passage that immediately follows (6:13- 20). Hebrews 7:23-25 likewise performs an important function in its context. Unfortunately, although Osborne and Marshall each devote more than twenty pages to a study of the doctrine of salvation in Hebrews, neither one explains this passage.62 Because of his identity, the Son of God surpasses the levitical priests. His priestly work, therefore, surpasses theirs as well. "Again and again" they offer "the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins .... By his one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Heb 10:11, 14). Hebrews 7:23-25 teaches the Son of God's preservation of his people. Since his life is indestructible, he is able to save them completely. His priesthood is permanent, his sacrifice perfect, his intercession never-

James Moffatt (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [ICC; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1924], p. 100) takes it as "simply a literary variant for pantote" 61 According to BAGD2, p. 608, both meanings are possible. Philip E. Hughes (A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977], p. 269 n. 35) thinks that the word "is enriched by its ambivalence, combining the notions of perpetuity... and of completeness ...." 62 Marshall, Kept by the Power of God, pp. 137-157, 247-250; Osborne, "Soteriology in the Epistle to the Hebrews," in Grace Unlimited, pp. 144-166.

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ending, "and therefore the salvation which He secures to them is absolute."64 EPHESIANS 1:13-14 A. Theological Exegesis Paul divides Eph 1:3-14 into sections (w. 3-6, 6-12, and 13-14) by writing three times "to the praise of the glory of his grace" (v. 6), or its near equivalent "to the praise of his glory" (vv. 12, 14). This passage was written for the purpose of glorifying God for salvation. Each person of the trinity is especially (not exclusively) singled out for praise for his saving work in the consecutive sections. In vv. 3-6 God the Father is praised for his work of choosing his people before creation. In v. 6-12 the Lord Jesus is praised for his work of redeeming the people of God. In vv. 13-14 the Holy Spirit is praised for his work of sealing believers. Vv. 13-14 "In whom65 you 66 also after you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in which67 also when you believed,68 you were sealed with the promised69 Holy Spirit, who is the downpayment70 of your inheritance, unto71the redemption of his
"How can we who draw near to God through Christ fail to be eternally secure in view of the fact not only that he always lives but also that as our ever living priest he never ceases to make intercession for us in the heavenly sanctuary?" (Hughes, Hebrews, p. 269). 64 F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), p. 155. 65 The relative pronoun (ho) refers back to Christ in v. 12. 66 The personal pronoun humis refers to the Gentile believers in contrast with the Jewish believers, "who were the first to hope in Christ" (v. 12). 67 "In which" (taking ho to refer to its closest antecedent, the Gospel) or "in whom" (taking ho to refer to "Christ" in v. 12, just as the first relative pronoun of v. 13 did; so Zerwick & Grosvenor, A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek NT [rev. ed.; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1981], p. 579). The outcome is the same in either case; believing in the Gospel is believing in Christ ^Pisteusantes is probably what James Moulton calls the "coincident" aorist participle in which "the participle and the main verb denote coincident or identical action" (A Grammar of NT Greek [4 vols.; 3rd ed.; Edinburgh; T&T Clark, 1908] 1:131; I learned this from F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), p. 265 n. 94). Another example of this use is found in Acts 19:2. *Epangelias is a qualitative genitive; see Zerwick's helpful discussion in Biblical Greek (Rome: Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici, 1963), pp. 14-15; he calls it the "Hebrew genitive." The Spirit had been promised by the prophets. 7Arrabon is a Semitic loanword, a legal and commercial technical term which means "first installment, deposit, down payment, pledge" (BAGD2, p. 109). 71 The preposition eis is used here with an accusative substantive in one of two ways: 1) in a temporal sense to mean "to," "until" (see BAGD2, p. 228; it is taken this
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possession to the praise of his glory." Paul's Gentile readers believed the Gospel when it was preached to them. After they believed, God the Father sealed them in Christ with the Holy Spirit. The Father performed the work of sealing believers. The Spirit was the Father's instrument, the seal. Christians were joined to the Son by virtue of this sealing. God has given his children a rich inheritance of future glory which they will later receive. In the meantime he has given a downpayment, a deposit guaranteeing that they will enter into what was promised. The downpayment is God the Holy Spirit himself! God will finally redeem his people, his purchased possession. This too will result in "the praise of his glory." B. Conclusions In the Old Testament, seals are used for at least two purposes. 1) They show ownership, authority, or authentication. When Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of Egypt, he takes his own ring and puts it on Joseph's finger (Gen 41:42). Joseph henceforth acts as Pharaoh's representative and wields his authority. When Jezebel writes letters in Ahab's name and places his seal on them, they carry the king's authority (1 Kings 21:813). 7 3 2) Seals are also used for security. The lion's den is sealed to make it secure (Dan 6:17). In Ezek 9:4, 6 the foreheads of the Jews are sealed to protect them from judgement The New Testament evinces the same two uses of seals. 1) They show ownership, authority, or authentication. The Corinthian believers are a seal (an authentication) of Paul's apostleship (1 Cor 9:2). The servants of God are marked out as belonging to him in Rev 7:2-8; 9:4. 2) Seals are used for security in the NT, too. Christ's tomb is sealed to prevent his disciples from stealing his body (Mt 27:66). Satan is sealed in the abyss according to Rev 20:3 to prevent him from doing harm during the thousand years. We find the same two purposes of sealing in Eph. 1:13-14. The lexicon agrees. 74 God has marked his people with his seal, his mark of

way also by Zerwick & Grosvenor and the NIV), or 2) to indicate a goal (see AGD2, p. 96: "for a redemption, through which you become God's property"). The sense is similar either way, because either one seems to imply the other. 12 Peripoieseos, according to BAGD2, p. 650, means: 1) "keeping safe, preserving, saving;" 2) "gaining, obtaining;" and 3) "possessing, possession, property." The lexicon correctly includes this passage under ie third meaning. "Redemption" seems to be an action noun here taking peripoieseos as its objective genitive (so Zerwick & Grosvenor); God sealed us until he redeems his possession. 73 For other examples, see Neh 9:38; 10:1; Esther 3:10; 8:8-10; Jer 32:10-14. 74 BAGD2, p. 796, puts "to seal" in Eph 1:13 under this heading: "mark (with a seal) as a means of identification ... so that the mark which denotes ownership also carries with it the protection of the owner."

COVENANT SEMINARY REVIEW 56 ownership, the person of God the Holy Spirit.75 The Spirit identifies us as belonging to God. The Spirit is also God's seal of protection upon his own. Those chosen by the Father (vv. 4-5), and redeemed by the Son (v. 7), God sealed with the Holy Spirit (vv. 13-14). God gave us the Spirit as his deposit guaranteeing that God will redeem his possession, namely Christians. God's personal seal is upon us "until" or "for" our final redemption. We are safe because the Father has sealed us with the Spirit of God until we are finally saved. 76 Ephesians 1:13-14, therefore, teaches God's preservation of believers. Marshall and Osborne deal with Eph 1:13-14 in the same manner. They admit it is a strong preservation text, but qualify it by comparing it to Eph 4:30. "There is a very real security in this passage. However, we must ask if this is an unconditional, final security. Personal responsibility parallels divine protection in 4:30, where the Christian is warned not to 'grieve' the Spirit"77 Marshall argues that preservation is not "automatic" or "magical." Indeed, "... it is possible for the believer to grieve the Spirit by whom he was sealed for the day of redemption (Eph 4:30; cf. 1 Thess 4:8) and so to incur God's displeasure (cf. Isa 63:IO)."78 The attempt by Arminian scholars to qualify the teaching of Eph 1:1314 by appealing to 4:30 is not convincing. The latter text teaches that Christians can grieve the Holy Spirit (in context especially by anger and sinful speech). It says nothing, however, about the loss of salvation. On the contrary, Paul here teaches preservation when he reminds his readers that they "were sealed for the day of redemption"1** Paul does not threaten his readers with the forfeiture of eternal life if they grieve the Spirit. Rather, he reminds them they "were sealed for the day of redemption" by the Spirit as "an incentive to right living and right speaking."80 Eph 4:30 doesn't teach the conditional security Arminians espouse. Instead, Paul here uses the fact of preservation to strengthen his appeal to godliness. "By giving believers the Spirit of God, God 'seals' or stamps them as his own possession" (Bruce, Ephesians, p. 265). 76 "The Spirit... is 'the guarantee of our inheritance/ the pledge given to believers by God to assure them that the glory of the life to come, promised in the gospel, is a well-founded hope, a reality and not an allusion .... On the day of resurrection God will 'redeem' his own possession, and the evidence of his commitment to do so is given in his 'sealing' that possession with the Spirit" (Bruce, Ephesians, p. 266). 77 Osborne, "Exegetical Notes," p. 181. 78 Marshall, Kept by the Power of God, p. 108. 79 Paul teaches preservation in all three of the New Testament's sealing passages. In the passage we have not examined, he says, "Now it is God who makes both us and you standfirmin Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Cor 1:21-22; NIV). 80 Bruce, Ephesians, p. 364.
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CONCLUSION In discussing the four passages above, I have attempted to lay an exegetical foundation for the doctrine of preservation.81 Theological exegesis of John 10:26-30, Romans 8:28-39, Hebrews 7:23-25, and Ephesians 1:13-14 has shown that the trinity keeps the people of God saved to the end. While trying to deal fairly with Arminian objections, I have found Arminian exegesis wanting. My study leads me to confess belief in God's preservation of his saints, and I call for my readers to do the same. With the hymn writer,82 I rejoice that God saves us and keeps us saved.
How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word! What more can he say than to you he has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? Fear not, I am with you, 0 be not dismayed; for I am your God, and will still give you aid; I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand. When through the deep waters I call you to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow; for I will be with you, your troubles to bless, and sanctify to you your deepest distress. When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient, shall be your supply; theflameshall not hurt you; I only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine. E'en down to old age all my people shall prove my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love; and when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn, like lambs, they shall still in my bosom be borne. The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes; that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no neverforsake.

Space prohibits mefromshowing that John 6:37-40,44; Rom 5:9-10 and other texts teach preservation too. 82 Richard Keen, c. 1787.

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