True Christians renew their repentance and faith in Christ (Luke 22:32, 61-62; 1 Corinthians 11:32). Just as the elect will not die before they are converted, so the regenerate will not die before they repent.
This is a vital argument against Satan’s whisper, “If you sin, you can repent.” Yes, and you will, but to truly repent is to vomit up the sin. All the enjoyment of eating the dainty morsel of sin is more than made up for by the miserable nausea and vomiting. There will always be more misery than pleasure in sin, for a true Christian!
Modern easy-believism has objected to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and taught, in its place, the doctrine which has become popularly known as “eternal security.” While the Confession does, in a sense, teach eternal security, it does not teach the popular view that eternal security means that men will be saved regardless of how they live and irrespective of whether they repent of the grievous sins into which they fall. Several passages are often brought forward in support of this view. 1 Corinthians 11:29-32 is dealt with in Chapter 30. Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-39 are clearly dealing with those who, in the end, are lost, not Christians who ultimately end up in heaven, in spite of their backslidings (Hebrews 6:8-9; 10:39).
1 John 5:16-17 speaks of “the sin unto death.” The sin unto death has frequently been interpreted as referring to Christians who continue in sin and, thus, are visited by physical death by a grieved Father. Several conclusive objections may be brought forward against this interpretation.
Firstly, the text says death, not premature physical death. Since all Christians die, physical death, itself, cannot be viewed as a judgement.
Secondly, note the contrast between death in 1 John 5:16-17 and the mention of eternal life in 5:11-13, 20 (and the similar contrast in 1 John 3:14-15). The contrast in view in this passage is not between physical life and physical death, but eternal life and eternal death.
Thirdly, the terms “life” and “death” in 1 John are never used of mere physical life and death.
Fourthly, the immediate context contrasts those who have committed the sin unto death with those who are born of God, and asserts that the truly regenerate cannot commit the sin unto death (1 John 5:18: 3:9).
Finally, the historical situation in which 1 John was written provides the clue for identifying those who committed the sin unto death. Throughout 1 John, the writer was attacking the Gnostic pseudo-Christians who had apostatized from Christ and were doomed to destruction (1 John 2:18-22; 4:1-6). The sin unto death is denying the gospel of Christ, as the Gnostic pseudo-Christians had done.
From: A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (3rd edition) by Samuel E. Waldron (Darlington: Evangelical Press, 1999), pp. 222-223. First edition: 1989.
The Rev. Samuel E. Waldron has been pastor of Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, since 1977.
