People sometimes profess their faith and join a church but later fall away from the church (and their faith!) either in thought or actions. Does this mean that God’s grace has somehow failed that person? Was this person saved and then lost their salvation? The Fifth (and final) Main Point of the Canons of Dort addresses this topic and issue as it was one raised by the Remonstrants (followers of Jacob Arminius). We need to know what was discussed before we can understand what the Canons teach.

The View of the Remonstrants

Interestingly, in 1610 the Remonstrants had not made a firm judgment regarding what happens in situations in which a person turned away from faith. However, this changed in 1618 when they were asked to more fully explain their views, as they noted that that “true believers” can fall into “shameful and atrocious deeds” and die in them so that they had fallen and would “perish.” In essence, the Remonstrants acknowledged that God gives strength to believers to remain in the faith and return to that same faith when they sin, but they also had the ability to turn away from the faith and perish (being sent to hell). Just as the Remonstrants thought that one needed to cooperate with God’s grace in order to be saved, they also believed that all needed to cooperate with God’s grace to remain saved. This opinion, however, is rejected in the Fifth Point of the Canons of Dort.

The View of Dort

The Canons of Dort effectively state that God completes His work in broken sinners; He elects, calls, and keeps people until the end so that they are holy and blameless in His sight. Article 6 of Main Point 5 puts it this way:

“For God, who is rich in mercy, according to the unchangeable purpose of election does not take the Holy Spirit from his own completely, even when they fall grievously. Neither does God let them fall down so far that they forfeit the grace of adoption and the state of justification, or commit the sin which leads to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit), and plunge themselves, entirely forsaken by God, into eternal ruin.”

My paraphrase of that statement is that God preserves those whom He calls so that they remain faithful. A key passage supporting this view is Romans 8:29-30: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (ESV). There is no mention of people who fall away; it does not say that some whom God calls will be glorified but that all whom God predestined will be glorified. Jesus makes a similar point in John 10:28-29: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (ESV). No one is able to snatch them from his hand, which includes the people themselves. These verses are cited in the Rejection of Errors appended to this Main Point, along with others such as 1 Corinthians 1:8. God calls and God keeps.

But What About Those Who Believe For a Time?

The Canons of Dort acknowledge that some people will profess faith but then fall away. They maintain that this was never true faith, citing the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 as it notes different kinds of faith (Rejection of Errors 5.7). Therefore, it is not that the people who fall away lose their faith, but that their faith was never true, genuine faith that was produced by the Holy Spirit. The Canons of Dort do not explicitly cite 1 John 2:19, but this passage makes this point: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (ESV). People who fall away from the faith and do not return never had true faith. The deficiency is not God’s grace and the work of the Spirit, which produces true faith, but rather resides with the person who might have believed for a time but then turns his/her back on God.

“Once Saved, Always Saved”?

People sometimes explain this doctrine of the perseverance of the saints as “once saved, always saved”, but at times this wording can be unhelpful, implying that someone just needs to profess faith once and they are okay. Rather, the Canons of Dort show that the Bible teaches that someone who is saved will continue in belief until the end. People can still stumble into sin, but  repentance occurs because God’s grace has been given to them.

As we reflect on this final point, may we be confident (and thankful!) that God completes His work in us and give us a desire to see His work in our lives. I know I say this often, but one of my favorite verses makes this point: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13-14). Because God is at work in us, may we continue in our faith and see fruit.

Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@wearefaith.org. You can also request to receive weekly emails with our blog posts by filling out the information on the right side.