The Race set before us: A Biblical Theology Of Perseverance And Assurance

by Thomas R. Schreiner, Ardel B. Caneday

Discipline. Endurance. Perseverance. The Christian life is like a racecourse, a marathon, set out before us. There is a reward in running well but particularly in finishing. Christians agree that this is a consistent pattern of New Testament teaching.
But is the prize an extra bonus, a reward for having finished well? Or is the prize salvation itself? And if the prize is salvation, can it be lost? Or is everyone who has signed up and started the race guaranteed a share in the prize - even if they quit before the end or follow a different course?
Do the warnings in Scripture tell us that it's up to us to succeed or fail in the race? If so, is there no assurance of our salvation? Or can we be assured that 'once saved, always saved,' and only a difference in rewards awaits us? Are there other ways of looking at these issues? These questions of perseverance in the Christian life and assurance of salvation have puzzled Christians for generations.
In this exploration of biblical theology of perseverance and assurance, Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Caneday weigh and consider all of the relevant New Testament texts. Applying sound principles of biblical interpretation and conversing with recent evangelical thought, they give us a foundational study with profound spiritual implications for Christian living and pastoral ministry.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Christian Living

344 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2001

About the author

Thomas R. Schreiner (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including New Testament Theology; Magnifying God in Christ; Apostle of God's Glory in Christ; and Romans in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament.

Reviews

[John Brackbill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The primary issue this book raises is the nature of the warning passages and how they relate to the assurance passages in the New Testament and what that has to do with perseverance in the Christian life.

Chapter 1 lays out 5 views, including the view that Schreiner and Caneday defend throughout the book.
1. Loss-of-salvation: Warnings reveal a true believer can lose their salvation
2. Loss-of-rewards: Warnings reveal a true believer can lose various rewards
3. Test-of-genuineness: Warnings tell us that if someone doesn't persevere, they were never a true believer
4. Hypothetical-loss-of-salvation: Warnings make it clear that if a Christian could apostatize, it would be impossible for that person to become a Christian again.
5. God's means-of-salvation view: Warnings are a means that God uses to bring true believers who are currently experiencing the already aspect of salvation into the not-yet aspect of salvation. This is the position that the authors argue for.

The way that the different positions are presented by the authors makes it seem as if theirs is the only one that views the warnings as a means of perseverance. But the authors do acknowledge that Grudem (who represents the test of genuineness view) says this: "These warning will often be the very means God uses to keep his own from turning away" (p. 35). So what does Grudem mean and can the test of genuineness view legitimately claim that the warnings are used as means for perseverance in the life of a believer? Schreiner and Caneday believe Grudem means "One's response to the warnings is the test of faith. Just as failure to persevere is evidence that one does not belong to God's people, so all who respond to the warnings by persevering in loyalty to Christ prove that they are genuine believers and members of Christ's household" (35). When it comes down to it, the "tests of genuineness" view and the "God's means of salvation" view are saying the same things, just from different angles and from different texts. Both agree there is a not yet aspect of salvation, both agree that no one loses their salvation, both agree that one must persevere, and both agree that the warnings are used as a means of perseverance.

It is important to realize that the authors do not deny the elements of truth in views 2 and 3. Scripture does teach there are rewards in eternity and there can be loss of reward. It is also true that perseverance will reveal whether or not someone's profession of faith in Jesus was genuine. The authors do not deny the importance of the 1 John 2:19 principle about those who do not persist in professions of faith. The question has to do with the warnings are addressed to true believers and what function they have in the life of true believers. Are they real warnings to real believers? What implications follow from these being real warnings to real believers?

This is a meaty small font 300-page book that will take some time to work through. I found the following discussions especially strong and helpful in this work: present & future salvation and assurance in saving faith and growing in the Christian life.

Topics include: What is there to win or lose?; Our Present & Future Salvation; The Necessity of Obedient Faith; Heeding God's Admonitions & Warnings; Who are those who have fallen out of the race?; Going the distance by God's power; Being assured that we shall win the prize; Who are those who run to the end & win?

The appendix deals with a response to William Lane Craig regarding middle knowledge.

This is not written on a popular level, but it is pastoral. It is especially helpful to work through the nature of the warnings we find in the book of Hebrews. Like with so many things, if one is looking for a reason to reject the author's position, you will find it by not working hard to understand what they are and are not saying. I can imagine some would charge them with works righteousness or calling eternal security into question. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is their contention that they are preserving the teeth of the warnings without implying that one can lose salvation or that perseverance is unnecessary.

And yet, upon more reflection, I would say that there are several places where the authors are confusing and unhelpful. They also tend to force their grid on all passages that speak of perseverance.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will not be an unbiased review. My father is one of the co-writers of this book, and I was naturally given a copy of it at no cost.

Schreiner and Caneday argue in this book that there are primarily four competing views regarding the the interpretation of warning passages and assurance in Scripture. These positions are "loss of salvation," "loss of rewards, "test of genuineness," and the "hypothetical loss of salvation" views.

The book begins with an examination of these four positions, including their proponents. They are able to articulate fairly, I believe, what each position believes, how they argue it, and list the texts that proponents of each will use to express their belief. Schreiner and Caneday, however, believe that there is a fifth position that has been largely ignored for many years. It is the position of G.C. Berkouwer in his book "Faith and Perseverance."

This fifth position argues that the warning passages in Scripture are a means toward perseverance. The warnings are not hypothetical scenarios where a believe might lose their salvation, nor is it a test of the genuineness of one's faith, nor are they warnings about loss of mere rewards. The warnings are warnings to Christians against apostasy. The encourage the believer to remain on the path of salvation. They are the fence protecting the Christian against sin and temptation.

In the words of the authors, "Jesus fully intends for us to understand that God, who elected his own for salvation, secures them from apostasy and preserves them through afflictions by use of warnings that caution watchfulness, wariness and vigilant steadfastness." p. 159

This position is worked out in several ways--many of which may sound familiar, but are not often understood in the way Schreiner and Caneday do. First, they argue that we must "embrace the biblical tension between the already and not-yet aspects of God's gracious gift of salvation. This is necessary, for biblical warnings are prospective and evoke faith that perseveres to the end in order to lay hold of the eternal prize of life at the end of the race that is set before us." This will sound familiar to many readers, especially those familiar with John Piper and his "Future Grace." But there are critical differences. Piper uses the same language, but does not work it out as Schreiner and Caneday.

They show that salvation is not spoken of as exclusively, or even primarily, as a past event--but a future one also. These main differences are explained in the pivotal chapter four of the book:

"It is crucial for us to recognize that Jesus specifies three matters that make many evangelicals nervous. First, Jesus denotes a condition for salvation but does not use the word 'faith'. He says that salvation will belong only to 'the one who perseveres.' This kind of talk worries many evangelicals because it sounds like salvation by works to them. Second, Jesus also formulates this conditional promise with a focus on 'the end.' This is instructive because many Christians have formulated salvation almost exclusively in terms of the beginning, namely, conversion in one's personal history, not in terms of consummation... Third, Jesus uses the future-tense verb--'will be saved'--in his conditional promise. For many evangelicals, salvation is punctiform. That is to say, they conceive of salvation as a point, not a contiuum that includes beginning, process and consummation. Because many think of salvation as happening in a moment, we frequently hear Christians say, "Sanctification comes after salvation.' This way of speaking of salvation betrays one's failure to grasp the already-but-not-yet accent of the New Testament." p. 147-148

Failure to embrace this tension, along with reading one's perspective onto a text, flattens this dimension out and results in readers transforming a "warning from a prospective incentive for perseverance to the end into a retrospective test that exposes pseudodisciples by their past behavior," among other mis-readings. p. 154

Christians ought not doubt their salvation, nor conceive of it as their own work. Schreiner and Caneday are very clear in the book that salvation is of the Lord. God bestows faith as a gift, exhorts believers to persevere, then grants them the grace to obey. They write:

"Precisely because the apostle [Paul] believes in God's power to secure his own, Paul also believes that it is necessary to warn both himself and us that God requires us not only to leave the starting blocks but also to run faithfully to the end. There is an inseparable continuity between the start and the finish line, and it runs through the exigencies and pressures of life in this present world as it demands faithful endurance from us." p. 183

One of the strengths of the book, is that it rightly, and helpfully directs the Christian from self--particularly harmful introspection, and into the arms of our Savior. Bringing our "salvation to completion" is not a fearful thing, because we do not rely upon ourselves, instead, working out our salvation with "fear and trembling" is done in confidence. "This fear does not paralyze one with dread or terror toward God; it is fear that gives rise to caution that looks away from self to God, who is the source of faith." p. 185

I could write more on this, especially chapters three and four, as these are the crux of the position, and the rest of the book either builds up to, or works out of these chapters. The book finishes strong in discussing who are the "fallen runners" so to speak, persevering in the grace of God, and a great discussion of the passages on assurance.

Misreading the warning passages results in misreading passages on assurance--a doctrine that flows naturally from the author's understanding that warnings are real. It gets interesting here, as the authors critique perhaps the most well-loved theologian whom they critique, Martin Lloyd-Jones.

Lloyd-Jones holds the position that all Christians will experience God's confirming love at some point in their Christian walk, but it is not necessarily an immediate experience upon conversion. Schreiner and Caneday argue this is mistaken, saying, "assurance of salvation is joined indissolubly with saving faith. Such assurance is coincident with faith in Jesus Christ, and thus it is the joyful experience of all believers." p. 271

They go directly to Hebrews 11, exposit the text, and insist "that saving faith is faith like Abraham's and faith like that described in Hebrews 11. It is a faith that endures to the end, faith that is the dominant motif of a believer's life. Such faith is inevitably correlated with assurance, for faith by definition involves confidence in God and a belief that he has promised a glorious future for us." p. 275

and then write what is one of the most helpful definitions of faith that I've encountered:

"...what it means to walk by faith is to believe what God says about death, sin and hell instead of believing our own subjective feelings about these things. We may feel that we are still guilty before God. But the truth is that if we have believed in Jesus we are free from God's wrath and stand clean before him. The declarations of God's Word are accepted as true, even though we experience moments of anguish during trials in which we believe that we are still guilty before God." p. 280

The book is full of great quotes, but I'll finish with one that reinforces the necessity to hold the already and not-yet in tension:

"We must beware of an either-or mentality that brings the promises of God to center stage and eliminates the role of human obedience. We must adhere to the balance presented in the Scriptures, where both God's promises and human obedience play a role, although the promises of God have the lead and fundamental role." p. 283

This is an outstanding work that digs deep into the New Testament in particular and argues the necessity of obedient and persevering faith. It explains the tensions present in the New Testament in ways far more satisfactory than other positions that have to either ignore what the text clearly says or explain it away in very unsatisfactory ways.

This is a difficult read, but will repay those who persevere to the end. ;)

[Joe Rigney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top Five

Few questions are as vexing for professing Christians as the question of assurance of salvation. This question is complicated by the presence in the Bible of both glorious promises of final salvation to all who presently trust Christ and terrifying warnings to professing believers threatening them with terrible punishment if they fall away.

How do we reconcile such things without muting one side or the other. Schreiner and Caneday set out to address these crucial issues while letting all the verses have their say. The discussion of the already/not yet dimensions of salvation in Chapter 2 is worth the price of the book.

This is not an easy read, but the heavy slog will be worth it.

[Keller Hackbusch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work on perseverance and assurance. This is a must read.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps I just wasn't as in the mood for this topic as I thought I was, but the tedious nature with which the authors pick their way through perseverance, election, assurance, and salvation got to be a drag. Their premise is a good one, and I appreciate their conclusions, but their nit-picking and razor-edge walking through Scripture caused me to lose sight of their big picture thesis and with it, my interest in the book. Still, they do a good treatment of the issues and really enlightened me in some insightful interpretations of Scripture that will serve me well to remember.

[Chris Armer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have read thus far on the issue of perseverance. I had read Schreiner's journal article about the same, but the book was enjoyable. Schreiner and Canneday do not seek to reinterpret the warning passages to fit a supposition. They seek to wrestle with the very real tension of God's promise that believers will not perish and the explicit warnings to believers that they will perish if they don't persevere. They do a fine job.

[Ben Holloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Caneday are both New Testament scholars who are deeply committed to pastoral ministry. Schreiner was a pastor for fourteen years and now serves as Professor of New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Caneday serves as a pastor and is Professor of New Testament studies at Northwestern University. In The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance, Schreiner and Caneday defend a Calvinistic view of the perseverance of the saints: It is not possible for a person who is a genuine believer to lose their status as a divinely elected person. The alternative position to this view states that a person can at one time be a genuine believer and then at a later time become a non-believer. While the authors refute the latter view, their concern is for those who might agree with them in principle but who fail to use relevant texts correctly. Since the focus of the thesis is on the use of the text in the life of believers, the book is pastoral in tone, attempting to persuade the reader of the usefulness of texts on perseverance for the assurance of believers.

Several kinds of biblical texts form the outline of the book. Conditional promise and conditional warning texts suggest that God’s saving or damning action is contingent upon human perseverance. Promise texts tell us that God guarantees to save those who persevere not save those who do not persevere. Assurance texts tell us that we can know that we are those who will be saved by observing our actions. Finally, causal texts tell us that we will persevere if and only if God causes us to persevere. The authors list five competing views of the texts. The loss-of-salvation view states that believers can lose their salvation by apostasy. The other four views all hold that believers cannot lose their salvation. The loss-of-rewards view states that believers can lose their rewards but not their salvation. The test-of-genuineness view states that believers do not lose salvation or rewards, but unbelievers who pretend to be believers will apostatize. Since those who apostatize are unbelievers, they will not be saved. The hypothetical-loss-of-salvation view states that if believers could apostatize, then they would lose their salvation. The view suggests that the warning passages show what would happen if apostasy was possible. The final view, the view of our authors, agrees that believers cannot lose their salvation and suggests that the warning passages “serve to elicit belief that perseveres in faithfulness to God’s heavenly call on us…Biblical warnings and admonitions are the means God uses to save and preserve his people to the end.”[1]

So, what distinguishes the view of the authors? First, the authors argue that proponents of opposing views miss a crucial temporal aspect of salvation texts. According to the authors, salvation should not be reduced to a past event, but includes a future fulfillment. Consequently, texts linking salvation to perseverance should not be taken to imply that perseverance is certain, given one’s salvation. Rather, and especially when it comes to the Pauline corpus, salvation is consequent upon perseverance. The authors argue that the future aspect of salvation is stressed by almost all metaphors of salvation in the Bible. Except for regeneration, conversion, becoming children of God, reconciliation, and forgiveness of sins, the Bible either emphasizes both past and present aspects or, as is the case with salvation, resurrection, eternal life, and the inheritance of believers, the future is emphasized over and above any past event. Thus, we should not stress the already aspect of salvation over the not-yet. If we do, we will misinterpret promise and warning passages.

Second, the authors argue that God commends only those who obey God. Some might object that if God’s approval is dependent upon human obedience, then it is not grace. The authors argue convincingly that the objections rests on reducing faith to passive rest. The authors argue that the Bible’s view of faith is much richer than mere rest and includes an active persistence over time. The evidence for this is seen in the plethora of active metaphors the biblical authors use to describe faith. Metaphors such as running, fighting (1 Tim 1:18), following (John 10:26–28), and consuming Jesus’ body and blood (John 6:44–58) all stress the active, obedient nature of faith. Indeed, the authors point out that faith itself is an act of obedience.[2]

The authors argue that we should not take references to salvation as a reward (Heb 11:6) to entail that rewards are merited. Rather, given the active nature of faith, we should consider reward to imply the great value of salvation. The reward is given to those whose faith is active and only this kind of faith is commended by God: “God is pleased with faith that perseveres; God does not commend a person for a singular act of faith that fails to endure. God does not reward faith that does not go the distance.”[3] Consequently, interpretations of warning texts should not shy from emphasizing the human effort in perseverance and should interpret salvation as a future completion of an event rather than a completed action.

The central question for any view of perseverance is how to interpret warning texts. In chapter four, the authors argue that warning texts are the means by which believers are helped to persevere. In the discussion of Matthew 10:22 the authors argue that the text does not imply that it is possible to lose one’s salvation as commentators such as I. Howard Marshall suggest. However, they also critical of the test-of-genuineness view by suggesting that it inverts the conditional. The text reads: “The one who perseveres to the end will be saved” (Matt 10:22) They cite John MacArthur as interpreting the text to say that those who are saved are those who persevere. Consequently, if someone is saved, then they will persevere. In reply, the authors claim that MacArthur has inverted the “two elements of the conditional promise.”[4] In contrast, they claim that “perseverance is the [sufficient] condition.”[5]

Is perseverance the necessary condition of Jesus’ statement? As the authors argue, it is not. Indeed, a statement of the kind Jesus makes is much more likely to mean that perseverance is the sufficient condition. If perseverance was the necessary condition, the subject of Jesus’ statement would have been those who will be saved. It would have read, ‘the one who will be saved perseveres to the end.’ The subject of a statement like this is usually taken to be the sufficient condition. If I said, ‘all apples are fruits from a tree’ I am saying ‘if it is an apple, then it is a fruit from a tree.’ Likewise, the subject of Jesus’ sentence is the one who perseveres. Plausibly, Jesus is making a general statement about all those who persevere and not merely one particular person. If so, then the subject of his statement is all those people who persevere. What about those people? Those people are the people who will be saved. In other words, if a person perseveres, then he or she will be saved.

Since the text does not say anything about those who do not persevere to the end, the authors are right to reject Marshall’s implication. However, it is not clear that the reformed position (at least MacArthur’s version) is guilty as charged. It is possible to take MacArthur to be assuming from other texts that those who are justified are those who will persevere and then concluding from Matt 10:22 that those who persevere will be saved. In other words, the test-of-genuineness proponent may reply that though the completion of the saving act is in the future, the justification of a person who will be saved is a past event. Since being justified is sufficient to guarantee that a person will be saved, it can be argued that perseverance is evidence for salvation. In reply, the authors point out that the New Testament concept of justification includes reference to a future “verdict of acquittal.”[6] The authors argue that since the future salvation of the believer is in view, a responsible interpretation should not imply that believers do not have to attend to warning texts.

The authors go on to consider specific examples of those who fail to persevere. The authors examine examples of apostasy in general, Israelite apostasy, named members of a church, and compare Peter and Judas. They conclude that each example does not provide evidence for either the loss of salvation view or the loss of rewards view. They also conclude that the test of genuineness view is not supported either. The book ends on a pastoral note by arguing that perseverance is ultimately dependent upon a divine work and cannot be carried out without God acting.

It is not difficult to imagine that the authors present their view with two types of readers in mind. On the one hand, there are those whose assurance is based on the most recent good or bad action they have done. For those who believe they can lose their salvation, the book provides a helpful reminder of their security and God’s power to keep those he has saved. On the other hand, there are those who may feel that warning texts may be brushed aside as irrelevant. The book offers a helpful, and pastoral, correction and argues persuasively that God has given us warnings to ensure the perseverance of his people.

However, the authors mistakenly argue that their view is incompatible to other Calvinistic views. It is possible to hold one or more of the supposedly opposing views and hold to the view the authors present. Indeed, at least one of the opposing views is entailed by the authors’ view. The central concern of the authors is to show that warning texts serve as a means by which God ensures the perseverance of the saints. But surely someone who holds to the loss-of-salvation view, the test-of-genuineness view or the hypothetical-loss-of-salvation view see themselves as holding to a view that entails that the warnings serve as the means by which God preserves believers. Part of the problem is that the authors tell us that the relevant texts are the means by which God perseveres his people, but they do not explain sufficiently what the means is. If God uses warnings to ensure the perseverance of the saints, then we are led to wonder how those warnings achieve that end. Unfortunately, when the authors do attempt to explain, their explanations sound much like an opposing view.

For example, at some points the authors’ view sounds like the test-of-genuineness view. On the test of genuineness view, the believer reads a warning and asks himself ‘am I persevering in the faith?’ If he answers no, then he has reason to think he may not be in the faith at all. On the authors’ view, the believer reads the warning passage and, by some unspecified process, is caused to persevere. But surely the obvious process is the process imagined by the test-of-genuineness proponent. Indeed, this seems to be the authors’ conclusion at several points. Two pages of chapter three is spent defending the thesis, “faithfulness is the proof of faith.”[7] The authors argue convincingly that our actions, including our perseverance in obedience, reveal a person’s heart. In conclusion of their exegesis of 1 John 2:19, the authors write, “Thus, John properly concludes that people who are against Christ forsake the assembly of Christ’s people because they never truly belonged among us, for they never really belong to Christ.”[8] And again, in the conclusion to the chapter, the authors surmise, “Who are those who have failed to persevere? They are the people who had varied responses to the gospel, but all proved, by their failure to persevere, to be imposters.”[9] How are we to distinguish between the two views? The authors appear to shed no light on how why they think the two views are incompatible or why they think their view is different.

At times the authors’ view sounds very much like the hypothetical-loss-of-salvation view. On the hypothetical-loss-of-salvation view, believers cannot lose their salvation but are warned by imaging what would happen if they could lose their salvation. The authors make a strikingly similar suggestion and argue that if believers imagine what will happen if they do not persevere, then they will persevere. They will conceive of the dire consequences of apostasy and be motivated to keep going. The authors suggest that in the same way that a driver might be motivated to drive safely by imagining the consequences of veering off the road, the believer is motivated to persevere by imagining what would happen if he or she apostatized. However, in the case of apostasy the Bible’s warnings are not of a probable consequence but only conceivable: “The Bible warns of conceivable consequences, not of probable consequences.”[10] How are we to discern the difference between the two views? It is not even clear that the test-of-genuineness view and the hypothetical-loss view are even incompatible with each other. Might it not be the case that warning texts function by both inviting readers to imagine what would happen if it was possible to lose their salvation and to provide a test of the genuineness of their status?

It might be replied that the book’s thesis is a reductive thesis – the warning texts are reducible to the means by which a believer perseveres. However, if this were the case, then the authors’ view would be eminently compatible with the loss-of-salvation view. Indeed, the loss-of-salvation proponent would presumably argue that it is their view that most emphasizes the warning texts as a divine instrument for the perseverance of believers. They might even respond by suggesting that on the other views, we have good reason to believe that the texts are useless since salvation is assured without them.

Schreiner and Caneday offer wise council to those who have tended to skip over the warning texts of the Bible. Their suggestion that those texts are God’s instruments for our perseverance is sound and well supported. This is an important pastoral point. However, the authors fail to show why competing views are incompatible with their own.

Schreiner, Thomas R. and Ardel B. Caneday. The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance & Assurance. Downers Grove: IVP, 2001.

[1] Ibid., 40.
[2] Ibid., 131.
[3] Ibid., 95.
[4] Ibid., 151.
[5] In the book, the authors say necessary condition. But it is clear from their argument that they mean sufficient condition. Indeed, they are accusing MacArthur of interpreting the text to make perseverance the necessary condition. Ibid.
[6] Ibid., 161.
[7] Ibid., 96.
[8] Ibid., 217.
[9] Ibid., 243.
[10] Ibid.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a decent book covering a difficult topic. The choice of wording at times is unnecessarily provocative and at other times unnecessarily indecisive. I feel that this topic would better be covered in a technical paper or theorem-proof format. The prose tends to be repetitive and loses the precision needed to decipher the relationship between warnings and perseverance. My reading group has certainly benefited and grown through our study of this topic through this particular book. Many thanks to the authors for their hard work.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I read in 2001 and one of the most important theological books I've read in the past 15 years.

[Matt Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read on this subject. The two things that have shaped my understanding of these doctrines more than anything else are this book and Pipers sermon series on Hebrews.

[James Horgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, it's a long academic tome that considers how to understand the apostasy passages in the New Testament together with passages that teach the perserverance of the saints. It appears to interact mainly with fundamentalist/evangelical perspectives. There seems to be an absence of interaction with Reformed teachers historically and in the present. And at the end the authors pull a rabbit out of a hat by saying they hold a Reformed view!

Their solution is to take an eschatological 'already and not yet' view of the apostasy texts so that the warnings should be taken seriously by professing Christians.

At least in this edition the book is set in a very thin type which is wearing on the eye. And its got a lot of pages. And it's not the most fun book I will ever read.

[Levi Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers in great depth key texts around the perseverance in, and assurance of, salvation. While somewhat technical, the way Schreiner and Caneday engage with interact with the particular approaches to individual texts and biblical examples is needed, particularly for those who will be engaging with people who import their preconceived theological convictions onto significant texts that speak to this topic.

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful book concerning the different ways Christians have attempted to deal with the warning passages of scripture--are they about losing salvation? Losing reward(s)? Do they test the genuineness of our faith or are they hypothetical? The author's careful research into salvation metaphors and the "already/not yet" tension in the ways various terms representing salvation are used throughout the Bible make this a necessary read on this sometimes baffling theme.

[Tim Wilder]

Quasi Arminian perspectival view of justification.

[Melissa]

Goodreads review

[Valerie Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow was this thorough. more than i thought it would be. and more academic. but helpful and informative.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a mean contrarian streak. If everyone's wearing plaid, I'm in stripes. It wasn’t until I started kicking it with Calvinists that I began rethinking long-held beliefs about apostasy. I've always interpreted the Bible's warning passages according to the loss-of-rewards model. Now I'm not so sure.

Schreiner and Caneday have a spin on the "hypothetical" model. They argue that the warnings are designed to spur believers on to perserverance. An example might be a guy walking toward a cliff. The shout "Look out!", will surely stop him. In the same way, passages like Hebrews 6:4 speak of "conceivable consequences, not of probable consequences". Their intent, according to Schreiner, is to keep us on the right track. Not to describe what would happen if we don't.

What do I think? I'm not settled, but this book doesn't convince me. God help me, but the best reading of the warning passages is that they're genuine warnings. What a can of worms!

Notes:

(1) Thesis: warning passages serve to spur us on to perserverance (38) distinct from "hypothetical"

(2) The already, not yet of salvation (47)

(3) Inaugerated but not yet consumated (54)

(4) The prize to be won is eternal life (86)

(5) Surprisingly, the authors put " faith" in the already/not yet category. That is, they agree with classical calvinism that faith is a gift from God (already), but grant the Arminian understanding that faith is something to be exercised continually (not yet) (140)

(6) Good point about perseverance, "he who endures to the end will be saved". If it simply means they will be saved from death, it creates a tautology. " He who endures to the end will not die" (149)

(7) Kudos to Schreiner. He admits that Matthew 10 is not a good passage to support his perspective on perseverance, Read, " the one who is saved will persevere unto the end.". I agree that Matthew seems to be making the opposite point (151)

(8) Schreiner attempts to solve this problem with a narrow interpretation of Jesus's words. What if you don't persevere? You won't be saved. However, I don't think we can escape the implications (152)

(9) Personal note : can both be true?
1. God is faithful to his promise to keep his elect
2. Man may fall away and apostatize
--A possible way to answer yes is to reckon salvation to be conditioned upon faith. God keeps those who are in Christ, so long as they are in Christ through faith

(10) All the warning passages in Hebrews "carry a singular message: promise of salvation is the inheritance that comes only to those who, after entering into salvation, persevere infaithfulness to the end" (202)

(11) This Spurgeon quote might well serve as the book's thesis. The warnings are the means by which God preserves his people (203)

(12) Personal note: while it's true that if I tell you that the cup in front of you contains arsenic, you're not likely to drink it, is equally true that the cup in front of you contains arsenic. Obviously the warning passages are intended to keep the believers from falling, but this presupposes that they could fall. Moreover, what if you found out there wasn't arsenic in the cup after all? You would feel deceived, and you'd be right

(13) "By way of conditional appeals, God arrests our attention to understand that he preserves us by using warnings, admonitions and conditional promises " (206)

(14) "The Bible warns of conceivable consequences, not of probable consequences" (209)

(15) Personal note: if we take if-then propositions from scripture and suppose the "then" is merely "conceivable", how then would we interpret a proposition such as, "if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, then you will be saved"? Is the salvation merely conceivable? Schreiner's interpretation proves too much. It would undermine our entire interpretive enterprise

(16) "God secures us in Christ by using admonitions and warnings framed in the same contingent or conditional form as the initial call of the gospel". Really? Maybe the simplest solution is to simply accept that salvation is conditioned upon faith. Both at first and ongoing. (212)

(17) Schreiner believes Alexander, Hymenaeus, and Phyletus were false professors within the church. Their departure proves they were not elect. (229) The wheat and tares grow together

(18) Faith is a human choice? (248)

[Deky]

Apakah sesudah menerima Kristus sebagai Tuhan dan Juruselamat (lahir baru), seorang Kristen dapat terhempas dari jangkauan kasih karunia Allah karena kemurtadan? Schreiner dan CaneDay membahas isu tentang jaminan keselamatan dan ketekunan orang-orang kudus dengan menyajikan berbagai pandangan dalam teologi Kristen mengenai topik tersebut.
Kita tahu bahwa topik ini menjadi bahan perdebatan yang berkepanjangan antara kubu Calvinisme dan Arminianisme termasuk variasi-variasi dari kedua pandangan utama ini. Schreiner dan CaneDay, dengan menggunakan pendekatan Teologi Biblika menyorot kelemahan dari berbagai pandangan yang pernah diusulkan, lalu mereka berdua mengusulkan sebuah pandangan baru yang menurut mereka bersifat "irenic".
Buku yang informatif dan inspiratif ini dapat memperkaya wawasan kita mengenai isu di atas. So, baca buku ini segera!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second read of this initial, in-depth presentation of the true believer/means of grace view of the warning passages in Hebrews, though the book covers the broader idea of perseverance to a certain degree.

This book is an important read on this topic, but Schreiner has continued to publish his view of the five warning passages in various places with a more concise clarity.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exegetically rigorous exposition of perseverance from a Reformed standpoint. Presents a provocative reading of the New Testament warning passages as one of the means God uses to cause the elect to persevere.

[Colin Fast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exhaustive in depth, biblical through and through.