Chapter XVIIOf the Perseverance of the Saints
Text of the 1646 manuscript
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Text public domain · U.S.
1946 transcription of the 1646 manuscript; the copyrighted editorial note is omitted. Source: Wikisource scan transcription.
The 1646 text is public domain; Wikisource omits the 1946 editorial note and identifies the remaining transcription as insufficiently transformative for a new copyright. Rights evidence. Verified 2026-07-14.
They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God’s, displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.