Chapter 17 - OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS

1 God accepts those He loves, effectively calls them, and makes them holy through His Spirit. He gives them the precious faith of His chosen people. These individuals cannot lose their state of grace, either completely or permanently. They will certainly continue in this grace until the end and will be eternally saved. This is because God's gifts and His calling are irreversible. Because of this, He continues to create and strengthen their faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, which lead to eternal life. Even though they may face many storms and floods, nothing can ever remove them from the foundation and rock to which they are fastened by faith. However, due to a lack of faith and the temptations of Satan, they may temporarily lose their awareness of God’s light and love. Even in these moments, God remains unchanged. They can be sure that they will be kept by God's power until they receive salvation. There, they will enjoy what Christ has purchased for them, because they are engraved on the palms of God's hands, and their names have been written in the Book of Life from all eternity.

2 The perseverance of God's people is not based on their own free will. Rather, it comes from the unchangeable nature of God's decision to elect them, which stems from His free and unchanging love. This perseverance is also rooted in the effective work of Jesus Christ's merits and prayers, our union with Him,
God's promise, the continuous presence of His Spirit, the divine nature within us, and the very character of the covenant of grace. Because of these things, we can be absolutely certain that our perseverance is guaranteed.

3 Believers may, when tempted by Satan and the world, and overcome by their own remaining sinfulness and a neglect of the ways God has given them to persevere, fall into serious sins. They may continue in these sins for a time, which will displease God, grieve the Holy Spirit, diminish their faith and comfort, harden their hearts, wound their consciences, hurt and scandalize others, and bring about God's temporal judgments upon them. Despite this, they will repent and be preserved in their faith in Christ Jesus until the very end.