I was just noticing this week how clearly the Apostle Peter articulates some core doctrines of grace. In particular, his description of the nature and workings of the perseverance of the saints caught my attention:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)

Here we have pretty much the whole picture. God is the author, instigator, and finisher of our salvation, "causing us" to be born again. He then guards us, by His own power, through faith. He saves us, He causes us to persevere, and He does it all through our faith. So we are not uninvolved, yet it is by the power and grace of God that we persevere to the end.

Now, reconciling all of this with the various situations we encounter in life can admittedly be difficult, and simplistic formulations can frequently be more problematic than helpful. But it is safe to say, as is laid out rather explicitly by this passage, that those who are born again will be guarded, and will persevere in their faith to the end. That they are secure is plain from the fact that it is by God’s power that they are guarded; what God guards is guarded indeed, and no one can destroy what He protects. That it is in the form of perseverance and not just some kind of permanence of salvation independent of continuance in faith is also plain, in that they are guarded through faith. God works to empower our faith to remain until the end, and thereby our salvation is realized.

Nifty. And humbling.