When a Christian believes and understands the gospel, he is saved forever. However, the Christian is also asked to endure to the end. How can a believer know that he is saved, if he doubts his ability to endure to the end? God makes us a promise not only to save us, but also to cause us to endure to the end.
We Are Saved Forever
God boldly claims that those who come to him are saved forever.
Titus 3:5-7 (NLT) he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.
Similarly, Hebrews assures us that Christ saves us to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25), perfects us forever (Hebrews 10:14), and gives us “great confidence” because God’s salvation is “a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls” (Hebrews 6:18-19 [NLT]). Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes that our salvation is a free gift, not earned by our works but received by grace.
According to Scripture, coming to faith is a new birth that nature shows cannot be undone (John 1:12-13; 3:5-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 18). When we believe and understand the gospel, God seals us with the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing what is to come, as seen in Ephesians 4:30 and Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV), “When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.”
We have “confidence that we will inherit eternal life” because the promise of our salvation is sure and not in doubt.
We Must Endure
God makes no apologies for the certainty of his words. However, other scriptures state that one must endure to the end to be saved.
1 Corinthians 15:2 (NLT) It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place [that is “if Christ has not been raised” (1 Corinthians 15:14,17)].
In Hebrews 3:6 and 14, it says that we are partakers of Christ if we hold our confidence firm to the end. In Colossians 1:21-23, it says that we will be presented holy and blameless before God if we continue in the faith. Matthew 24:12-13 states that those who endure to the end will be saved.
How can God ensure that all believers will be saved, if they also must endure to be saved?
We Will Endure
God promises to save and keep the faith of Christians forever. Once a person truly believes in and understands the gospel, the Holy Spirit within them compels, guides, and protects them, making it impossible for them to give up on their faith. Several scriptures confirm this promise.
Jeremiah 32:40 (WEB) I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
John 6:39 (WEB) This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.
John 10:28 (WEB) I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
1 Corinthians 1:7-8 (NIV) Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 (WEB) being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (WEB) May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.
2 Timothy 1:12 (WEB) For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.
Hebrews 12:2 (WEB) looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith
Hebrews 13:20-21 (WEB) Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ
1 John 5:4 (WEB) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.
1 Peter 5:10 (NIV) And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Jude 24-25 (WEB) Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, 25 to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Paul tells us to take pride in our suffering because it produces perseverance for the Christian. Romans 5:3-5 (NIV) says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Additionally, in Romans 8:35-39, Paul explains that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, not even persecution.
God will not allow us to be persecuted beyond what we can endure, so that we are not tempted to leave the faith.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (WEB) No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Peter 1:5 (WEB) who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 (WEB) But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
John 17:11 (NIV) I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
2 Peter 2:9 (ESV) the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials
According to Paul, we are instructed to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling,” (Philippians 2:12-13 [NIV]) which means we should have total self-distrust and recognize our own weakness and inability. Consider how Paul used the phrase, “fear and trembling,” in 1 Corinthians 2:3.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NIV) And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
In working out our salvation, we must acknowledge our own weakness and inability to please God or persevere and rely on God’s power instead. As Paul continues, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (NIV).
Recall that John referred to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). He boasted in God’s love for him, and as a result, he fearlessly stood with Jesus at his crucifixion while the other disciples fled (John 19:25-27). Meanwhile, Peter and the other apostles boasted of their love for Jesus and promised not to deny him (Matthew 26:35). However, they were all in hiding during the crucifixion (Matthew 26:56). The name “Peter” means “a stone,” (Strong’s Greek: 4074. Πέτρος – Petros) while “John” means “Jehovah is gracious” (Strong’s Greek: 2491. Ἰωάννης (Ióannés) — John). When it comes to remaining faithful, Peter typifies trust in law-based performance, while John typifies confidence in God’s grace. This teaches us that endurance comes by recognizing our weakness and trusting in God’s grace and love for us, rather than our love for God.
Both statements are true. We must endure to be saved and we will be saved because God will make us endure.
Departing the Faith
According to the scriptures, if a believer temporarily strays from the faith, the Holy Spirit will lead them back. Hebrews 5:2 states, “The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness” (WEB). Similarly, Hebrews 2:17-18 explains that Jesus, our merciful and faithful high priest, was made like his brothers in every respect, so that he could help those who are tempted.
Jude 22 encourages us to be merciful to those who doubt, while 2 Timothy 2:12-13 teaches that even if we are faithless, God remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. James 5:19-20 also urges us to turn back those who wander from the truth, and promises that those who turn sinners from the error of their ways will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
However, if someone completely departs from the faith and does not return, it may be because they never truly understood the gospel to begin with. Matthew 13:19,23 describes how the evil one snatches away the word sown in a person’s heart if they don’t understand the gospel, while 1 John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us” (WEB).
Ultimately, Hebrews 3:14 reminds us that we have become partakers of Christ only if we hold fast to our confidence in him until the end.
Summary
When we believe the gospel, we are “saved completely,” “made perfect forever,” “born again,” and “marked in him with a seal” so that he may have “confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” God maintains our faith despite any persecutions we endure. The Spirit living within us prevents us from falling away. A believer is not only eternally secure, but is promised to endure to the end.
If you have a hard time believing you would be able to endure to the end, remember that God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure (1 Corinthians 10:13), and his Spirit provides the desire and power to follow him. Enduring is not an act of your willpower or strength, but of his grace.