Our present Statement V is a helpful re-wording that expresses the fullness of our position concerning a Christian’s assurance and responsibility before God.
Benoni Stinson and Liberty Association of General Baptists had a very different article 5 in 1824. It read: “That the saints will finally persevere, through Grace, to Glory.”
This wording is identical to United Baptist statements and reflects Stinson’s heritage in a Baptist tradition that was basically Calvinistic.
John Calvin (d. 1564) taught that that those for whom Christ died (limited atonement) and who had been called by irresistible grace to experience salvation would never totally fall away and be lost.
This doctrine is called the Perseverance of the Saints. A shorter, more popular way to express this is “once in grace, always in grace.”
Stinson never believed in limited atonement, but in 1824 he had not thought out all the implications of believing that atonement was for all and that people had the power to accept or reject the Gospel.
But by 1845 Stinson led Liberty Association to reconsider their position on perseverance. The Association was divided. Many held to the original belief. Stinson argued that a person could reject grace and salvation after conversion just like before conversion.
A compromise was adopted. (Stinson wanted a clearer statement.) The wording comes from Mark 13:13. The new article read: “We believe that he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
As the years passed, Stinson’s position became dominant and General Baptists read the 1845 article 5 as Stinson wanted with the implication that some might not endure. In 1949 Article 5 was revised to make it clear that salvation could be lost.
Statement V (1970) unambiguously asserts both the assurance of salvation and the possibility of the rejection of salvation by a Christian. This wording would please Stinson.
But a two-fold pastoral concern emerges among Arminian (non-Calvinist) Christians. Arminians often live lives of joyless uncertainty. They lose confidence in their salvation over residual guilt from a (confessed) transgression or in the midst of a personal struggle or due to a loss of emotional fervor or to the vague fear of what tomorrow may bring.
On the other hand, a misplaced pride may also appear because an Arminian may come to trust his or her own actions to guarantee salvation.
Neither Christian can ever sing “Amazing Grace” with full voice because they are looking only to themselves (their sins or their works) and not to God.
Our position affirms that a new covenant exists (like a marriage) between ourselves and God through Christ. This covenant is built upon the steadfast love of the Lord (Psalm 107:1-3), a love displayed on the cross.
Assurance emerges from our confidence in the completed work of Christ and it is confirmed through the Spirit as we live in union with him.
Dr. Douglas Low, Professor of New Testament, Chapman Seminary and OCU