Do I Work Out My Salvation?

I’ve heard it said “once saved, always saved.” It’s true, but I think it’s misleading. It’s misleading because it may imply that once you’re saved, it doesn’t matter how you live, that you’re “in” no matter what. But that’s not how the Bible speaks.

The Bible repeatedly warns us that God will not finally save you if you don’t persevere in the faith and good works. So not everyone who claims to follow Christ actually follows Christ. What seems to be genuine faith may actually be spurious. And that’s why the Bible repeatedly warns those who claim to be Christians to beware apostasy.

Here are three examples. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” So if you characteristically live according to your sinful nature, you’ll experience eternal death.

Here’s another passage. Colossians 1:21-23 says, “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 . . . .”

If you’re genuinely saved, then you will persevere in faith and good works.

So Paul warns that persevering in the faith is a condition for final salvation. And here’s the third passage in 1 Timothy 4:1: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons . . . .” Departing from the faith is apostatizing. And there are many more examples, especially in the book of Hebrews.

Warning passages are a God-ordained means to a God-ordained end. They’re one of the ways God ensures that all genuine believers will persevere. And that’s why I think the bumper sticker line “once saved, always saved” is misleading. A more accurate way to say it is “once saved, always a believer” or “once saved, always persevering.”

In other words, if you’re genuinely saved, then you will persevere in faith and good works. And the reason we persevere is that God preserves us. As Philippians 2 says, we “work out our salvation” because God works in us—the willing and the working.