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One of Calvin’s five "points" is variously expressed as "Perseverance of the Saints," "Security of the Believer," or more popularly, "Once saved, Always saved." One of the standard arguments in defense of the doctrine relies upon passages of scripture affirming the providential care of God over his children. Scores of passages may be quoted; but do not be confuse! Only one argument is being made with this abundant support. That argument is that God’s power preserves his children (or the godly or the righteous or the believer or the saints) and precludes the possibility of their being lost. The advocates of this doctrine cannot see how a saved man could ever become a lost man without God being either weak or faithless.
The Bible teaches the security of the true believer, but not an unconditional security. The question is not whether God cares for the righteous man, but whether the righteousness man can become an unrighteousness man (e.g. Ezekiel 18:24, 26). It is not whether the believer is secure, but whether a believer can lose his faith.
One of the proof texts is 1 Peter 1:5 which is good illustration of my point. An inheritance, we are told, is "reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." The preservation, it is clear, has two sides. It is "by the power of God." That is God’s side, and one may be sure that God’s power will not fail. But there is another side. It is "through faith." That is man’s side, and man’s faith can fail (Luke 8:13; Hebrews 3:12).
Consider a parallel: "…by grace have ye been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). Most people understand that salvation has two sides: (1) God’s grace and (2) man’s faith. Many will not be saved despite of God’s because they do not have faith. There is nothing wrong with God’s grace. But they do not meet the condition on which God’s grace is bestowed.
Just as we are saved (1) by (2) through faith (Ephesians 2:8), so we are guarded (1) by the power of God (2) through faith (1 Peter 1:5). God’s power will not fail, but man’s faith might. In that case he is not guarded, for the guarding is conditioned not only upon the power of God but also upon man’s faith.
This reply should be sufficient for any except the most thorough, "dyed in the wool" Calvinist who will hold that faith is not a human action but a divine; that it is brought about by a direct, divine operation, and cannot fail.
The refutation is this: (1) Faith is a human act which is brought about by the word of God rather than a direct operation of the Holy Spirit (Acts 14:1; 15:7; 18:8; Romans 10:17). (2) Faith being a human response to the word of God, it can fail. Hebrews 3:12 shows that "brethren" (cf. vv. 1, 6) can come to have "an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God."
L. A. Mott, Jr., via Eastland News Vol. 32, No. 13, March 26, 1979
