The first sentence from Toplady’s “Thoughts on Perseverance”:
“Many of God’s dear people are frequently afraid that, on account of their own weaknesses and the power of their spiritual enemies, they shall at length make shipwreck of faith, and totally fall away.” (Augustus Toplady, Complete Works, p. 769)
If Toplady truly cared for and loved these “dear people” then he would have followed Paul’s example in Romans 10:1-4. Toplady did not follow Paul’s loving example by telling these “dear people” that they are woefully (yet, zealously) ignorant of whose righteousness salvation is conditioned upon. Instead, Toplady followed the example of the false prophets of old, saying, “Peace, peace” when there is no peace (cf. Jeremiah 6:13-15; Ezekiel 13:9-16). These “dear people” are afraid of totally falling away because they pray to a god who cannot save (cf. Isaiah 45:20-21). They are seeking salvation by their own self-righteous works; they are bearing fruit unto death (Romans 7:5). They need to be lovingly commanded to repent of their self-righteousness and believe in Jesus that they may be justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses (Acts 13:38-39).
