Editing Perseverance of the saints (section)

=== A consequence of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination ===
Orthodox forms of Calvinism view God's [[Divine providence|providence]] as expressed through [[theological determinism]].{{sfn|Helm|2010|p=230|ps=. "[I]t is reasonable to conclude that although Calvin does not avow determinism in so many words, he nevertheless adopts a broadly deterministic outlook."}}{{sfn|Helm|2010|p=268}}{{sfn|Clark|1961|pp=237-238|ps=. "God is the sole ultimate cause of everything. There is absolutely nothing independent of him. He alone is the eternal being. He alone is omnipotent. He alone is sovereign."}} This means that every event in the world is determined by God.{{sfn|Alexander|Johnson|2016|p=204|ps=. "It should be conceded at the outset, and without any embarrassment, that Calvinism is indeed committed to divine determinism: the view that everything is ultimately determined by God."}} As the Westminster Confession of Faith put it: "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass."{{sfn|Westminster Assembly|1946|loc=ch. 3}}

Concerning salvation, Calvin expressly taught that it is God's [[Sovereignty of God in Christianity|sovereign]] decision to determine whether an individual is saved or damned.{{sfn|Calvin|1845|loc=3.21.5}}{{sfn|Calvin|1845|loc=3.23.1|ps=. "Those therefore whom God passes by [does not elect] He reprobates, and that for no other cause than He is pleased to exclude them."}} He writes "By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death."{{sfn|Calvin|1845|loc=3.21.7}} Indeed, human actions leading to this end are also [[Predeterminism|predetermined]] by God.{{sfn|Sproul|2011|p=37|ps=. "If God has decided our destinies from all eternity, that strongly suggests that our free choices are but charades, empty exercises in predetermined playacting. It is as though God wrote the script for us in concrete and we are merely carrying out his scenario."}} In accordance, Calvin held to the doctrine of perseverance of the saints, contending for the unconditional preservation of the elect.{{sfn|Davis|1991|p=217}}