Before we can entrust the preservation of our faith to God's grace, we must first acknowledge our need for that grace. Just as a person cannot look to God for forgiveness until he first acknowledges his need for forgiveness, cannot trust in God for salvation if he does not think he needs to be saved, and cannot embrace God's promise of eternal life unless he believes that he is going to die; so he cannot entrust the preservation of his faith to God's care unless he knows that he needs God's help. Therefore, Divine preservation is not a matter of never being able to lose salvation, but a matter of God keeping us from losing it (Jude 24). We trust in God's grace, not works, to keep us saved. Those who trust in works to keep them saved are trusting in works for salvation, and works cannot save anyone (Ephesians 2:8-9, Jeremiah 17:5).
Of course, the carnal mind goes in the opposite direction that
it ought to go. When people believe that their salvation is in danger,
their first reaction is to look to works, not grace, to keep them saved.
What they fail to realize is that there is not a dime's worth of difference
between trusting in works to get salvation and trusting in works to keep
salvation. In both cases those who trust in works are trusting in themselves
and in what they do instead of trusting in Christ. Our faith should always
be in God, not in our own efforts. Just as the passages which warn us of
the danger of hell should move us to cling to God's promise of salvation,
the passages which warn us of the danger of losing our salvation should
move us to cling to God's promise of sustaining grace (Psalm 40:11, 1 Corinthians
9:27, Hebrews 10:26, Galatians 5:4, Luke 8:13, John 10:28-29, 1 Peter 1:5).
One precious promise of God's sustaining grace is found in
the words, "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation" (1 Peter
1:5). Those words assure us that having "purchased" us "with His own blood"
Christ will keep us by His "power." And the power by which He keeps us
is the power of the gospel, for the gospel is "power of God unto salvation,"
both the power that saves us and the power that keeps us saved (Acts 20:28,
1 Peter 1:5, Jude 24, Romans 1:16). Furthermore, just as access to saving
grace is ours through faith, so likewise access to sustaining grace is
ours through faith — faith in God's promises (1 Peter 1:4 and 2:5). We
are kept by the power of God "through faith" (Romans 5:2, Galatians 3:22).
Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:28-29). This passage is God's Word of comfort to all who endure persecution for the faith. It does not say that we cannot lose salvation, but that God will not let anyone take it from us. These words assure us that God will keep us by His power no matter what we might be called upon to endure. Without God's help none of us could endure cruel persecution. Just as we cannot give ourselves eternal life or even keep ourselves alive, so we cannot by our own strength or efforts keep ourselves from losing salvation. We are kept by the power of God alone, and without God's help we would surely fall.
When we depend on God to keep us from losing our salvation,
it is clear that willful sin would offend the very one whom we depend upon
for support. For that reason, those who depend on God's grace to keep them
from losing their salvation are not likely to think that they can live
in open rebellion against God and still be saved. In contrast, those who
think that they can never lose salvation all too often fall into that error.
To be "justified by the law" is to be made righteous by the law, and God's Word to all who seek righteousness by the law is, "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4). You will notice that the words "fallen from grace" clearly refute those who claim that works keep us saved. Far from keeping the Galatian believers saved, works were their downfall. They fell because they feared that faith in Christ might not be enough to justify them before God (Romans 3:28). As long as they thought of themselves as righteous they were just as unrepentant as anyone else who was not sorry for his sin. Of course, if they could never lose salvation (as some claim) it would not have mattered. Yet the Bible tells us otherwise. They fell from grace, and God kept them from being damned by restoring them to repentance through His Word, as given by the Apostle Paul (Galatians 4:19).
This passage is clearly not telling us that works are needed to keep us saved, yet those who have been blinded by the law sometimes assume the exact opposite. They fail to see that all who seek righteousness by the law are rebelling against the truth (Galatians 5:7).
Galatians 5:4 is a warning of the law, not a promise of the
gospel. As a warning of the law it was meant for the unrepentant, not for
those who are contrite (1 Timothy 1:9). God uses such warnings to bring
the wayward back to the fold. The Book of Galatians was written to rebuke
those who think that works will make them holy. When those who trust in
works read the Book of Galatians, they should be cut to the quick (assuming
that they do not harden their hearts) and with fear and trembling acknowledge
their sin before God while seeking His forgiveness. For God keeps us in
faith by keeping us repentant, not by allowing unrepentance.
"If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-27).
What I have said of Galatians 5:4 is also true of Hebrews 10:26.
This passage is a warning of God's law, not a promise of grace. Therefore,
it was intended to rebuke sin, not to tell us how to be saved. God intends
for all who sin willfully to be cut to the quick when they read this passage.
He intends for them to be convicted of their sin. He intends for them to
have no rest night or day until they are sorry that they ever transgressed
His law, and come crawling to Him for mercy. Therefore, Hebrews 10:26 was
written to keep those who sin willfully from losing their salvation by
keeping them repentant. God keeps us in faith by keeping us repentant,
not by letting us live in willful sin and unrepentance. Without repentance
there is no faith and without faith there is no forgiveness or salvation.
The unrepentant shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
The good news that we are, "kept by the power of God" is an important part of the gospel. It is a message of great comfort to believers, and one we must never allow to be perverted by those who claim that we can live in open rebellion against God and still be saved. Such teaching is blasphemous because it makes God a party to sin. God's Word clearly condemns those who strengthen "the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life" (Ezekiel 13:22). We must stress the fact that God keeps us in faith by keeping us repentant, not by letting us sin.
God's Word is our source of spiritual nourishment (Psalm 40:11, Matthew 4:40). Just as He brought us to faith by his Word, so He keeps us in faith by His Word (Romans 10:17). Just as He keeps us alive physically by providing us with food, so He keeps us alive spiritually by providing us with His Word (John 21:15-17, 1 Peter 2:2, Romans 1:16). Therefore, we should never neglect the Word of God for it is only as we stay close to the Word that we stay strong in faith.