Again, I feel strongly that the confidence Paul had regarding his own election and that of the believers in the churches he planted can be had by all the faithful. I quote:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
Moreover, the language in John 15 cannot abrogate other passages, such as:
John 6:37-39, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”
Phil. 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
1 Thess. 5:23-24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
2 Tim. 4:18, “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
So the real issue here is not whether or not the “saints will persevere” but rather how can we know whether we’re a “saint”?
At Acts 13:48 it states:
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
At Romans 10:9 it states:
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
The Parable of the Sower (relevant part) explains:
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart (Matt. 13:19).
I think when He uses the words “sown in his heart” he is saying the same thing as Paul in Rom. 10:9 (“believe in your heart”) and that He said in John 15:1-6. In other words these are people who had a sincere faith for a short time but it withered.
So I agree with your line of reasoning to a degree – but what gave Paul such confidence in not only his own election (which was merited because he was appointed by Jesus after all) but also in the election of the faithful in the churches he planted?
Why does Luke feel this confidence regarding those who believed (Acts 13:48)?
Either I’m being overly literal, which is possible. Or we need to reconcile these passages.
But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown" (Matt. 13:23).
Jesus draws a distinction between those who receive the word and understand it and those who heard the word, didn’t understand it, but yet something of Jesus was still sown in their hearts.
Obviously those who hear the word & understand it are given this understanding by God. They are the elect. However, what of those others? Jesus said because of their lack of understanding they will lose “what was sown in their heart.”
What did He mean by sown in their heart? Is this a deposit of the Holy Spirit? Is it psychological delusion? Or is it something entirely different? In other words how can we know we are one of the elect? This is why on a practical level Calvinists do not claim to know who are predestined and who is not.
The following passages also reflect the confidence of Paul:
Ephesians 4:30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:5: “[The elect] by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Paul describes the Holy Spirit of God as a “seal” and expressed certainty that the good work began in us will bring us to completion. Peter said the elect are guarded by God’s power – for salvation.
These ideas have clear tension with other revelations, such as: names can be blotted out of the book of life, make our calling and election sure, etc. How can we make our calling and election sure if we’re saved by grace apart from works – or if the elect are predestined by eternal decree? The caveat seems to be that only the elect will understand these things. In other words only the elect will understand their affirmative duties. Only the elect are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit, even though the Spirit is omnipotent in the sense that He resides everywhere as a universal force for good (i.e. common grace). People can actually believe they’re saved without actually being saved. This much is confirmed by our common experiences.
It seems like God has always had a sort of secret providence. Giving commands He knew would not be obeyed (see Deuteronomy 31:16), choosing a people yet putting up a stone of offense they would stumble over, etc. However, the common thread has always been faith-based salvation. By faith Abraham was justified – by obedience his faith was perfected. Paul had certainty that the faithful he converted during his ministry would endure. He didn’t only frame this as a high level of confidence – but as a certainty.
Still Calvinists do not buy into the idea of OSAS (eternal assurance); and practically speaking we do not claim to know who the elect are. Our doctrine of Perseverance merely reflects the confidence and certainty of Paul. The doctrine is supported by other passages outside of the Pauline epistles, but again the passages where Paul expresses his certainty regarding election do not lend themselves to alternate readings, as do other verses – such as the ones you mentioned. There is also something to be said here about the mysteries of the Trinity & the working of the Holy Spirit in relation to the workings of God and Christ. All are manifestations of God and all work for one common purpose. However, there does seem to be a degree of universality to the workings of the Spirit even in the non-elect. There are ideas at tension with one another that must be simply accepted as mystery. It is clear, however, that we are saved by grace, chosen before the founding of the world, and we may have the confidence and certainty in our own election that Paul expressed so fervently. It is also clear that Paul wanted us to have this certainty and therefore it must be a good thing to posses. It is faith in not just the existence of God and Christ and His sacrifice and resurrection, but also in the righteousness of God; a trust that God will keep His promise to us. It seems that this level of trust in and reliance on God and a high view of His sovereignty and providence really gives us the fortitude to endure.
Apologies for the long post (I had to shorten it a couple times to get under the 10,000 character limit). It seems it is difficult for me to discuss this topic with a semblance of brevity
