I met Chris in 2000, while standing in line on orientation day at Bible college. We immediately hit it off. Our testimonies were similar; he had also recently come out of a difficult life of drugs and worldly pursuits and had turned to God. We managed to become roommates, and over the next couple years we grew closer and closer. We went mountain biking together, worked out together, and played basketball together. We worshipped together and prayed together. We were accountability partners. As iron sharpens iron, we challenged and sharpened one another. Perhaps what we both enjoyed most, though, was our deep, and sometimes difficult, conversations about theology and the nature of this God we were trying to understand and know.
Had someone asked me during that time, Is Chris your brother in Christ?, I would have certainly answered, Yes, of course he is! Had someone asked Chris during that time if he was saved, I believe that he would also have answered, Yes. He would have professed a belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of the Living God, and that He died to forgive his sins. He would have proclaimed Christ as his Lord and Savior.
But in the 20 years that followed us graduating Bible college, something happened. Time passed. Worldly cares crept in. The pride of life – success and wealth – crept in. Fleshly desires took root. They choked the seed of God’s Word that had been planted in Chris’ heart. Sadly, Chris has now abandoned the faith. To be clear, he has not merely backslid; he has rejected the faith. He no longer believes that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. He no longer believes the Scriptures to be the inerrant and infallible Word of God. He has proved himself to be an apostate.
Although I cannot stand in the place of Christ and pronounce final judgment on the soul of any man, every indication shows that Chris is not my brother in Christ – he is not saved. But if that is true, does it mean that he has lost his salvation? No, it does not. It means that he never had salvation in the first place. He was the seed sown among the thorns (Matthew 13:18-23) He was a tare sown among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). Chris started the race well, but he did not finish. He did not persevere to the end.
I share this story of Chris only to serve as a backdrop for a question I would like to ask you today: Do you know that you are saved? How would you answer that question? Would it give you pause? Or would you immediately answer with a resounding Yes!?
Now I’d like to go a step further and ask you something else: How should you answer that question? For more clarity, let me ask it this way: How should you process that question before giving an answer? How are we, as professing believers, supposed to process and answer the question of whether or not we are truly saved? What is the “assurance of salvation” supposed to look like in the life of a believer, according to the Scriptures?
I would like to propose to you today that there has been a radical shift in the last 100–200 years in the way most professing believers process and answer the most important question in life: Am I truly saved? May I further propose that this change in the way most believers process and answer that question will no doubt have eternal consequence for many.
The majority of Christians today view the “assurance of their salvation” as something that is to be settled within themselves, once and for all. They typically look to some point in the past, where a decision was made for Christ, and they proclaim themselves saved – eternally secure. They look to experiences, and what they deem to be the “fruit” those experiences bore, as evidence that they are in fact saved. When asked the question “Are you saved?” they give a casual and immediate response – “Absolutely” – and then go about their day. No need to ponder and examine; they settled that question long ago. Once saved – Always saved!
Furthermore, many would view any doubt or inquiry as to the genuineness of their salvation, whether coming from within themselves or from others, as an attack from the enemy that should be immediately cast aside.
However, for the majority of church history, up until about 150 years ago, the assurance of salvation was approached much differently. Our church fathers, and the Scriptures, distinguished between two types of assurance: present assurance and final assurance. Present assurance of their salvation was based on where they were at in their present – today. To be clear, when I say “today” I am using the word figuratively, as an all-encompassing word for the present season and moment of one’s life.
Saints of the past would walk in a “present assurance” of their salvation, based on the state of their soul today. The state of their conscience today. The fruit in their life today. Their current relationship with God’s Word. The current manifestation of their love for the brethren and the Church of Christ. They would ask themselves, What is the current trajectory of my life and the state of my inner man – today – in the present moment – in the current season I am in? Based on their answer to that question, they may or may not walk in all of the glorious fruit, and benefits, that come with a strong present assurance of their salvation. But here is what they would certainly not do: Our forefathers, and the Apostles themselves, would not have dreamed of looking to some moment or decision or experience from the past as the basis of their assurance.
But why? Why would they not adopt the same approach as the modern believer today? Why would they not look to that time 15 years ago when they made a decision for Christ, changed some of their sinful habits, and even got baptized? The answer to that question is this: Because they believed in final assurance. They understood that there is only one final and true test as to the genuineness of one’s salvation: Did they endure to the end? Did they persevere? Did they finish the race? They looked out at the landscape of Christianity around them and saw the same things we see today; men were dropping like flies, abandoning the faith. They saw apostates, men like my friend Chris, who once believed according to sound biblical teaching, but had now forsaken the truth, perhaps for a more progressive and tolerant approach.
Now that I have laid the foundation, I can get to the crux of the matter: As our forefathers looked out upon the landscape of Christianity and saw the great number of those who were falling away from the faith, they did not assume themselves to be above such a falling away. No, they recognized the deceitfulness of their own hearts and the power of the sin that still dwelled within them. It was their humble acknowledgment of their own weakness, combined with the warnings of Scripture, which compelled them daily to throw themselves upon the grace and power of Christ to preserve them and keep them from falling away. They enjoyed the benefits of a present assurance of their salvation, all the while knowing that they had not yet attained final assurance, and therefore, as Paul said, they needed to work out their salvation with fear and trembling! (Philippians 2:12) May we consider some of the words of the great saints that have gone before us…
“It is the will of God that believers should be assured of their salvation; but this assurance is not to be obtained without a constant and sedulous endeavor to persevere in faith and obedience unto the end.” —John Owen
Richard Baxter said it this way: “It is the end that crowneth the work. He that continueth to the last, shall be saved, and none but he. You are Christ’s house, but it is if you hold fast to the end.”
John Flavel preached these words: “It is not the one who begins well, but he who continues to the end, that shall be saved. Perseverance is the touchstone of sincerity.”
But Owen, Baxter, and Flavel are just people, like you and I. Who is to say that their theology is correct? Was it rooted in Scripture? The answer is unequivocally Yes. Although the Scriptures don’t use the exact words, the distinction between present assurance and final assurance is clearly found throughout the New Testament. But here is the problem: oftentimes it’s found hiding in places we don’t want to look – those hard and difficult passages that we don’t want to deal with. Or in those little “clauses” that the New Testament writers attach to the ends of sentences. Let’s look at a few of those now.
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” —Hebrews 3:12–14
Paul wrote the following words to the Colossians…
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…” —Colossians 1:21–23
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” —1 Corinthians 15:1–2
Do you see them? Do you see those annoying little clauses they attach to the end? We have to actually deal with those; they mean something. Notice, the remarks are addressed to “brothers” in Christ, assuming that they are. The writers knew they were communicating to those who have made a profession of faith – to those who have begun the race. But they also knew that beginning the race is not what ultimately matters. They understood the difference between present assurance and final assurance, so they were careful to add those little end clauses.
Let’s look even more closely at some very interesting words the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in reference to the final assurance of his own salvation…
“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” —1 Corinthians 9:27
The King James version does not use the word “disqualified”; it uses a word much closer to the Greek:
“…lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
CASTAWAY! – the Greek word used is adokimos. It means unapproved, rejected, failing the test, reprobate.
The great commentator Matthew Henry has this to say about Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “Even he who had been caught up into the third heaven, yet reckoned it necessary to keep under his body… to avoid being rejected at last; for many that have preached to others have yet been cast into hell.”
John Owen puts it this way: “Paul speaks here not of the failing of a true believer of obtaining salvation — for that is secured in the covenant — but of being found in the end not to have been a true believer. This makes him vigilant.”
Am I saying that Paul did not possess the assurance of his salvation? Is that what Owen was saying? I don’t believe so. I do in fact believe that Paul possessed an assurance of his own salvation – but a present assurance, not a final assurance! It was not something he settled long ago and gave no more thought to. No, although he walked in a peace and joy that arose from his present assurance, he also understood that the final test was one of perseverance! Even the Apostle Paul did not consider it impossible that he himself could end up falling away, becoming a castaway. This belief caused him to walk vigilantly! He abided by his own words and “worked out his salvation with fear and trembling.”
Jonathan Edwards said it like this: “The perseverance of the saints depends on their continual watchfulness and care against all occasions of falling away; for he that perseveres to the end is he that watches to the end.”
Richard Baxter wrote: “I thank God I can say, I have no doubt at all of my salvation; yet this is but while I watch and keep my garments unspotted: I know if I play the fool and forsake the Lord, He will not spare me. Therefore, my assurance maketh me more careful, not more careless.”
Some may feel that this leads to men thinking that they maintain their own salvation. Oh no, God forbid. It is only the power of Christ that will keep us till the end. It is His grace that empowers our perseverance. But the question is, How does He do this?
My friend, one of the primary ways He keeps His saints from falling away is by the warnings and admonitions found within the Scriptures. The warnings themselves are the very means He uses to empower us to finish the race. His true saints persevere to the end precisely by their humble acknowledgment of the truths I am sharing with you today. It is the doctrine of final assurance that causes them to tremble at the thought of having hidden sin in their life. It causes them, as Owen would say, to mortify sin in their bodies, and live lives of continual self-examination, to keep watch over their souls with all diligence.
But the modern Christian today has a jumbled and twisted view of the assurance of salvation. The modern Christian has traded in present assurance for some sort of past assurance, and runs their race with final assurance already in hand. They gloss over the warnings of Scripture and ignore those little clauses. And what is the result of this subtle deception? They no longer understand what it means to work out their salvation with a holy fear – a holy trembling. How can they?
As a result, they become like that football player who foolishly begins to celebrate before reaching the endzone, only to have the defender catch up to him and knock the ball out of his hand. They do not keep guard over their souls. They are not able to understand the infinite importance of self-examination. To them it is a trivial thing when the things of the world crowd out their time for prayer, Scripture, and church. It no longer matters when the flame that once existed in their hearts has been reduced to mere embers. They no longer heed Christ’s instruction to cut off arms and gouge out eyes in the fight against sin. They forsake confession and let the hidden sin grow in their hearts. All the while, their conscience becomes more and more numb. Oh, if only they knew the danger they are in! If only they knew how great their fall may be.
My friend, I do not believe this to be just another Christian article I have written: The truth I have shared with you today, if believed, may change the way you approach your entire Christian life. For many, it will shake the foundations that they have rested on so securely for years. I also realize it goes against much of the sentiment held today within modern Christianity. For those reasons, I know that many will not accept these things I have written. Nevertheless, I write them because I love you and I care about your souls. I promise you that these things I have shared are rooted in the pages of Scripture and have been embraced by our forefathers for nearly all of church history. I ask you not just to accept my word but instead, like those “noble Bereans” in the book of Acts, to search the Scriptures for yourself. But remember, that word “noble” means that no difficult passages may be ignored, and every little clause must be dealt with.
“...but the one who endures to the end will be saved.” —Matthew 10:22b