Preservation: The Doctrine of Assurance

By Phil Newton

The Christian is "protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time," according to I Peter 1:6. How do we know that we are kept for eternity? The testimony of Jesus Christ keeping His disciples while He was in the world helps us to understand that He keeps us as well. "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (John 17:12).

First, the ones Jesus kept were those "which Thou hast given Me." It was elect of God, those chosen before the foundation of the world and entrusted to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, whom He kept (17:2-3). Our Lord makes a clear distinction He kept the eleven disciples. He did not keep Judas Iscariot because the Father never gave Judas Iscariot to Christ. There was nothing to keep!

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the late pastor of Westminster Chapel in London, points out that if He had said that He kept all the ones the Father had given Him except the son of perdition, and then it would imply a failure on the part of Jesus Christ. There are no exceptions to the keeping power of Jesus Christ. Those He saves, He keeps for eternity [Safe in the World, 124-127]. Instead, He kept all whom the Father gave Him but distinct from them was Judas Iscariot, who was reserved for destruction.

So, the question must be asked, 'Was Judas Iscariot a believer who fell?' If this is the case, then we could not depend upon the faithfulness of Christ to keep us. Judas walked closely with Christ and was intimately involved with everything Jesus did for a period of three years. The Gospels are very clear that Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas Iscariot was not a believer and that he would betray Christ. Our Lord told the disciples, "'Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?' Now He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him" (John 6:70-71). Judas was selected so that the plan of God might be fulfilled. And I believe that He also shows us in the choosing of Judas, that we need not be surprised along the way in the church when Judases arise. If that first band of followers of Christ had a Judas, you can be sure that more will follow after.

Jesus calls Judas "the son of perdition," which is a Hebraism that implies he was characterized by destruction or damnation. His whole life was bent on a destiny with damnation. There was never any saving work in his heart. Though he participated with the disciples in all they did and perhaps even performed miracles, he never knew the saving work of Jesus Christ. He gave outward appearance of being a believer, but his heart was corrupt, filled with greed and a lust for materialism. John even comments that he was a "thief" who pilfered the moneybox of the disciples (John 12:6). The only other time this term is used comes in reference to the coming man of lawlessness or anti-Christ, as we typically call him (II Thes. 2:3-4). So, the point is very clear: Jesus keeps all of those given to Him by the Father.

Secondly, you will notice that He uses two words to describe His keeping power. "I was keeping them in Thy name...and I guarded them." While there are similarities in these words there are shades of distinction that we must see. As the one who "keeps" His disciples, Jesus acts as a Shepherd, who constantly observes his sheep. His eyes are on His own. He knows precisely what they need and He is ever ready to apply the grace and strength necessary to keep them pressing on in the faith. Think of how often, as Jesus walked with His disciples, that He brought up subjects to teach them and apply His grace in their lives. He spoke of humility, service, obedience, and faithfulness, all with a view to keeping His disciples walking in fellowship with the Godhead. He who keeps us constantly applies the Word of God to us along with the grace to obey. Perhaps we could say that the keeping applies more to the internal work in a believer's life than anything else. Christ supplies what is deficient in us due to our weaknesses, so that we might persevere in the faith.

But He also "guarded" the disciples. The word is used often in the New Testament, as in, "My little children, guard yourselves from idols" (I John 5:21). It implies that there are those things that would threaten and harm the believer for which he must be on guard. Paul uses it to describe the sense of the Lord protecting us from the harm of those who would seek to pervert and destroy us: "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect [guard] you from the evil one" (II Thes. 3:3). When the enemy came lurking in the shadows to attack the disciples, Jesus Christ guarded them. Without Peter even bringing up the subject, Jesus warned him of an imminent attack by the devil, but that He had prayed for Peter so that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:31-33).

We can conclude that Jesus did a marvelous and thorough job of keeping and guarding those who were His own! He that was faithful with the disciples continues in faithfulness to those who have followed after them.

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