Customer Reviews

Kept by the power of God: A study of perseverance and falling away, ([Library of ecumenical studies])

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The subject of this book would be called by some, "the perseverance of the saints". The author calls it, "a study of the tension under which the Christian lives his life from conversion until his entry into the eternal kingdom".

It may be helpful to clarify its subject by putting it in the form of a set of questions:
- Under what circumstances, if any, can a Christian fall away and lose his inheritance?
- In what sense is salvation purely a work of God?
- What part does a person's response to the gospel play in determining his eternal destiny?
- How can predestination and free choice both be true?

Instead of trying to defend the beliefs of a particular traditional, the author's primary approach is to see what Scripture says. I find this very refreshing.

The author is faithful to Scripture and so holds to its teaching on election while also accepting the repeated emphasis on our responsibility to obey in faith. He corrects some common errors in this area.

This is the best book I have seen on this important, but all too often neglected subject.

In this classic study (published originally in 1969 and republished with a new substantive epilogue in 1995), Marshall looks at a key theological issue in the New Testament, the perseverance of believers. In a setting of persecution, the question of perseverance is one that arises often in the NT texts, and it is an important pastoral issue still today. But it is also extremely useful as a lens through which to view the NT understanding of salvation, election, judgment, and many other interconnected ideas. In short, it is a vital test case, or maybe better put, it is essential data for a robust NT doctrine of God and of salvation.

Marshall digs in to the relevant NT texts by first investigating the OT and Jewish background concerning perseverance. He then moves through the various corpora in the NT: the Synoptics, Acts, Paul, Pastorals (may or may not be by Paul, but treated separately from though with an eye toward the undisputed Pauline corpus), Hebrews, the Catholics, and the Johannine literature. This systematic study is largely exegetical, as Marshall works carefully with the individual texts on their own before summing up each author's perspective.

Marshall then brings all of this data to bear on a conclusion: "We can say firmly that, while it is possible for a Christian to fail to persevere after a genuine experience of salvation, yet, with all the promises of a faithful God to sustain those who trust in Him, the main emphasis of the New Testament is on confidence and assurance of final salvation" (210). In short, while we can't explain away the possibility of falling away, believers may be "confident of persevering through the power of God" (199).

I am greatly appreciative of Marshall's study. I think it is a wonderful exegetical survey of this important area. And I think it provides an important testimony to the work of God in salvation. It obviously has much bearing on the Calvinist-Arminian debate (though Marshall prefers the designation "non-Calvinist" in this context because the second position isn't necessarily in conformity with Arminius). He has many insightful discussions of election, calling, monergism vs synergism, and some of the other relevant theological areas that are touched on by this topic. I greatly benefited from this book, and think Marshall has taken a robust, biblical line on the question of perseverance and, more broadly, on God's working in salvation. There is no doubt that Marshall hasn't given us the final word on this oft contested topic of "perseverance," but future discussions need to contend with what he has written.

I recently emailed a prominent theology professor with a question about his own work, and as part of his reply, he recommended I read this classic work by Marshall. It was a worthwhile investment - Marshall surveys the New Testament to strongly (and in my opinion, persuasively) argue that salvation can be forfeited, contrary to the teaching of much of today's Protestant church. Marshall avoids both the toxic invective so often associated with some Arminians in their writing on the subject as well as the implication that Christians are in constant danger of accidentally falling - while Marshall admits in the foreword that he "overemphasizes" the possibility of apostasy only because the church widely underemphasizes it - his focus, in the end, is on God's ability to assist Christians in persevering (thus the book's title).

Marshall is a serious, focused scholar and wastes no time in making his point - don't expect any pop culture/modern history references or personal stories. Despite this, he still comes across as engaging, warm, and pastoral at heart.

My only issue with the book (and it is minor) is that I wish that Marshall would have done more to systematically compare Hebrews to the rest of the New Testament. While he does have a chapter on Hebrews, and uses it to strongly argue his case, Marshall seems content to present Hebrews as contradicting the rest of Scripture on the possibility of restoration after falling without attempting to resolve this paradox. (For what it's worth, as far as I can tell, Marshall has since done this in "Many Witnesses, One Gospel", in which he interprets Hebrews 6:4-6 differently than he does in this book). However, this doesn't detract from the broader case he makes, which seems quite sound to me.

This is not light reading, but I recommend it for the serious-minded Christian, as it is the best case for conditional security I have read.