In reading Dr. Picirilli’s Understanding Assurance and Salvation, I came across this gold nugget. Just read it for yourself.
It is . . . important . . . for us to warn believers about the danger of apostasy and to exhort them to persevere in faith and good works, not as a means of frightening or troubling them but as a means of edifying them and nurturing their spiritual development, which is the one, sure, biblical way of avoiding apostasy (2 Pet 3:17-18).
As already noted, the traditional Calvinist agrees that the New Testament itself does actually present such warnings and exhortations, and that these are in fact means of perseverance. It is obviously biblical, therefore, to take up such warnings and exhortations. It is not so obviously biblical, however, to teach believers that these are merely warnings against something that cannot really happen. One wonders if these warnings and exhortations can have their intended effect if the presenter afterward assures his hearers that such apostasy is not a real possibility. Do any of those pastors who deny the possibility of apostasy warn their flock against it?
If not, that is most certainly not the biblical way. Indeed, such warnings and exhortations have force precisely because they refer to a real danger. To convince believers that there is no possibility of apostasy is to negate the biblical warning. I cannot avoid saying, therefore, that the Calvinist attempt to explain the biblical warnings as means by which the perseverance is ensured is, finally, a sad travesty.
Very well said, Dr. Pic.
