Nor by the remission of sins does the Lord only once for all elect and admit us into the Church, but by the same means he preserves and defends us in it. For what would it avail us to receive a pardon of which we were afterwards to have no use? That the mercy of the Lord would be in vain and delusive if only granted once, all the godly can bear witness; for there is none who is not conscious, during his whole life, of many infirmities which stand in need of divine mercy.
John Calvin, 1509-1564, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter 1, 21 (translated by Henry Beveridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1973, Volume II, p. 298)
To what extent does God preserve us despite our sin? How should this affect how we live?
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