Calvinism, for all its claims of gospel clarity, often clouds the very heart of justification. Nowhere is this more evident than in its doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints,” which subtly recasts faith as a kind of spiritual achievement. This is not a minor error. It is a direct assault on the finished work of Christ and the inheritance of the sons of God.
Faith Is Not a Virtue—It Is Surrender
The Calvinist framework insists that faith, in the end, distinguishes the saved from the lost because it is something only the “regenerated” can do. This turns faith into a badge of superiority—a work by which the believer is seen as more righteous than the unbeliever. But this is precisely what Paul rejects. Faith is not a demonstration of our virtue or capacity; it is the confession that we have none.
Scripture is unambiguous:
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)
Justification is not the reward for those who manage to muster up belief. It is the gift given to those who abandon all claims to their own righteousness and trust God’s promise. Faith is not a work; it is the surrender of all works.
God’s Wisdom Revealed in Weakness
The cross is not a stage for human potential. It is the public display of the utter bankruptcy of human strength. God has chosen to reveal His wisdom and power in what the world calls foolishness and weakness:
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” (1 Corinthians 1:27)
Faith, then, is not the triumph of the strong. It is the collapse of self-righteousness. The gospel is not for those who can boast in their ability to believe, but for those who have nothing left to boast in at all.
Who Is Justified?
The Gospels make this distinction painfully clear. The Pharisees—armed with their own righteousness—rejected Christ. They could not believe, not because faith was too hard, but because surrender was too costly. Meanwhile, lepers, prostitutes, and sinners—those with no righteousness to defend—believed. They were justified, not because they possessed some hidden virtue, but because they abandoned all pretense of it.
If you accept the Calvinist error—if you make faith a work—you lose everything. You forfeit the very foundation of justification by faith alone. You turn the inheritance of sons into the wage of servants. The conscience is never cleansed, because assurance is always tied to your own capacity to believe, rather than to Christ’s finished work.
The Real Gospel: Rest, Not Merit
True faith is not a human achievement. It is not a virtue to be admired or a work to be performed. It is the surrender of self-righteousness and the embrace of God’s promise. It is the means by which God justifies the ungodly, not the righteous. To turn faith into a work is to rebuild the wall that Christ tore down.
Let the gospel stand as Paul preached it:
Justification is for those who do not work, but believe. Faith is credited as righteousness, not because it is a superior act, but because it is the abandonment of all acts. The wisdom and power of God are revealed in what the world despises—weakness, foolishness, and the cross.
Anything less is not the gospel. Anything more is a return to bondage. The promise belongs to those who surrender, not to those who perform. Let no one boast—not even in their faith. Let all glory be to God, who justifies the ungodly by His grace alone.
