Question about the perseverance of the saints

[SamIam]

As I understand it, if a person is one of the elect and is irresistably drawn to Christ, he will persevere.

What does the Calvinist say about one who claims to have been drawn to Christ, professes faith in Jesus, lives a Godly life and by all observation a member in good standing of a true Christian church.

Then that person falls away from the faith (either doctrinally or morally or maybe both).

Sometime later the person returns and reaffirms their faith, repents and lives again as a Christian.

According to Calvinism, is that person truely elect? After all he did not presevere in the faith. He did not continue in the faith continually from his regeneration until his death.

[steve]

Some Calvinists qualify the doctrine of perseverance with the word "final." Hence: Point #5="Final Perseverance of the Saints." On this view, a true saint may actually fall away, for a time, but will inevitably return and will finally die in the faith. Therefore, the person you described could be regarded as "elect." What is not clear is why God would allow a true saint to become apostate, even for a while, if He is exerting soverign power to preserve those who are HIs.

[SamIam]

Steve,

If a Calvinist will allow one to fall away for a while, they do not believe in perseverance. My dictionary says that to persevere is to persist (that is, to remain unchanged) in a particular state. If one falls away he has not persisted, thus he has not persevered. Have they redefined the word?

[steve]

If they are already redefining the character of God, is it a big deal for them to redefine an English word or two?