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     We are looking at a series of lessons dealing with five main points of Calvinism.  They are arranged as an acrostic for the word TULIP.  The doctrines we have looked at so far are:  “Total Hereditary Depravity”, “Unconditional Election”, “Limited Atonement”, and “Irresistible Grace.”  If you would like more information on these please contact us.  In this final article we are going to look at the “P,” which stands for “Perseverance of the Saints.”  Sometimes this doctrine is called “Once Saved, Always Saved” (OSAS).  Simply put this doctrine teaches that once a person is saved, there is nothing that they can do to be lost.
     This is another doctrine that reading the New Testament with an open and sincere heart would correct.  So we are going to look at a couple of verses to get you started on the road to knowing truth.  First let’s consider what Paul writes in Galatians 2:11, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”  Peter has been a Christian for a number of years and yet Paul writes by inspiration of God that he “stood condemned.”  Open your heart to the truth and this one verse shows very clearly that a person who is saved can end up being condemned.
     I debated what other Scripture to use to show the error of OSAS.  I decided to just turn back a few chapters to Galatians 5 and let’s look at verse 4, “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”  If these people that Paul is writing about are “severed from Christ,” then they had to have been with Christ at some point.  If they have “fallen from grace,” they had to have been in God’s grace at one point.  This verse not only refutes OSAS but also the “Irresistible Grace” doctrine.
     While I admire Calvin’s sincerity in examining what he had been taught, sadly the doctrines he formed were no more accurate than those he was rejecting.  We must be willing to check all of our doctrines with the Word of God and follow only those that are found to be truth.

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