The Cannots of Dort
Last night, with my pre-confession class, we were covering chapter 5 of the Canons of Dort. Chapter 5 deals with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. We came to article 8, which is really the central article in this chapter. The article stresses that if it were left up to us, we could not stand. We persevere because of the grace of God. Left to ourselves, we would undoubtedly fall away. But then the article says,
“But with respect to God this cannot possibly happen, since his counsel cannot be changed, his promise cannot fail, the calling according to his purpose cannot be revoked, the merit, intercession, and preservation of Christ cannot be nullified, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be frustrated nor destroyed.”
This is a beautiful statement of biblical doctrine. One of my students quipped “It’s the Cannots of Dort!”
