Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. – Hebrews 13:20-21
The second reason why we can have assurance of our salvation stated by the Westminster Confession of Faith is because of God’s “decree and covenant to give them perseverance.” There are three proof text used (2 Timothy 2:19, Hebrews 13:20-21 and 2 Samuel 23:5), but I only want to look at one and that is Hebrews 13:20-21. To read more about God’s covenant with sinful man you can read a post I wrote called, “All We Need is Love,” today I want to focus on God’s decree and what He has decreed about us that give us confidence in our salvation. The beauty of this doctrine that we see in Hebrews 13:21 is that it is about God’s glory. If it was for our name sake and who we are that we have confidence in our persevering until we are glorified then we’d not have anything weighty to rest on. Our salvation is not for the purpose of making much of us, but it is for God’s namesake (Psalms 106:8) and to make much of Him, therefore our foundation is not something imperishable, but the imperishable blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:23). God is glorified in the fact that we can’t fall away because as Michael Horton states, “Of what sort of regeneration would the Holy Spirit be the author if those whom He he has resurrected and given eternal life are capable of dying spiritually again.”
What God has declared over us is peace, we are no longer at enmity with Him, the hostility that we had against God is over as we are now reconciled by Christ blood. God is our peace and has made it so that no sin will ever come between us and him (Ephesians 2:14-18). Once we were God’s enemies, but now He has adopted us into His family. To borrow an illustration from Horton, no child can tell their parents that the mother did not give birth to them or that the dad is not their natural father. As hard as we may try to run or fight against God, His love will always be victorious and secure those who He has called. This is because of grace, it is by grace we have been saved and no good works of our own Ephesians 2:8-10). What comfort we can draw from this truth of adoption by God’s grace, that there is no more striving but only feeding on God’s grace and living by His unmerited favor as He grows us.
Lastly, it is important to note that God is equipping and working in us, He is the One making it possible for us to persevere. He has begun a good work and is faithful to bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6). If He did not work in us, then we would have plenty of reason to worry, we can trust that if He brought us out of sin and into newness of life then He will sustain us and bring us home safely to glory. When the Israelites escaped Egypt and backslid, God could have wiped them out, but He preserved them for His glory so that all would see His power (Deuteronomy 9:25-28). It is the same with us, God has promised to be gracious to us, and in spite of our sin and continual failure, He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Grace is not just the basis of our salvation, but it also enables us to keep on trusting on God and works in us to bring us home to Heaven. Jesus has decreed “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. (John 10:28-29).” Let us take Him at His Word and believe and rest in the grace that gives eternal life from start to finish.