Westminster Confession on Perseverance & eternal security
No — the genuinely saved will certainly persevere
They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally, nor finally, fall away from the state of grace: but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
THE POSITION
WCF 17.1 rules out both partial and final apostasy for the same class of people - those accepted, effectually called and sanctified - so the doctrine is tied to a description of what God has done rather than to a description of the believer's constancy. 17.2 makes that explicit by listing the grounds: the immutability of the decree, the merit and intercession of Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and the nature of the covenant, 'not upon their own free will'.
6 being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
15 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
The confessional standard of English-speaking Presbyterianism, completed by the Westminster Assembly in 1646 and adopted with its Scripture proofs. This entry rests on the 1646 text from the manuscript of Cornelius Burges as edited by S. W. Carruthers (1937) for chapters 1-24, and on the 1647 text for chapters 25-33; the Assembly's own proof texts attached to each paragraph supply every reference below.
Cite this page
"Westminster Confession on Perseverance & eternal security", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/westminster/perseverance (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/westminster/perseverance).