John MacArthur on Perseverance & eternal security
No — the genuinely saved will certainly persevere
"All the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever... Those who once professed faith and subsequently deny the Lord demonstrate by their going out from us that they were never truly saved in the first place."
THE POSITION
Eternal security, joined directly to the lordship-salvation reading of apparent apostasy: someone who professes faith and later denies Christ demonstrates by that denial that they were never genuinely saved, rather than a true believer actually losing salvation.
27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
15 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Pastor of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, from 1969 until his death in July 2025. Expositional preaching, hard cessationism, dispensational premillennialism. Researched from the church's own Doctrinal Statement, covering all 15 loci in one document.
Cite this page
"John MacArthur on Perseverance & eternal security", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/macarthur/perseverance (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/macarthur/perseverance).