Assurance and Warning in the New Testament

Can believers lose their salvation? According to the doctrine called the perseverance of the saints, also known as eternal security or “once saved, always saved,” the answer is no. The saints are guaranteed by God to persevere to the end, and therefore, they will be saved. They cannot and they will not lose their salvation.

New Testament Assurance: Christ’s Sheep are Secure

In John 10, Jesus emphatically states that his sheep are secure.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (vv. 27–30)

“They shall never perish” sounds emphatic and provides believers with incredible security. Romans 8 contains another passage that emphasizes the security of God’s people.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (vv. 29–30)

Note that Paul places the verbs in the past tense because from God’s perspective the process is completed. God’s people are glorified. They have already made it to the finish line.

New Testament Warnings: We Must Continue in the Faith

But the doctrine of eternal security is debated by sincere believers because other Scriptures suggest  that saints can fall away and lose their eternal inheritance. Note the stern warnings and conditional clauses in the following passages: John 15:6; Rom 11:17–22; 1 Cor 15:1–2; Gal 5:2–4; Col 1:22–23; Heb 3:6; 3:14; 6:4–6; 2 Pet 2:1; 2 Pet 2:20–22. Here are three examples:

• Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. (Rom 11:22)
• You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. (Gal 5:4)
• We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. (Heb 3:14)

Can We Reconcile Assurance and Warning Statements?

So here’s the data: The New Testament contains incredible assurances and strong warnings. And here’s the question: How can the two be reconciled? If we are fully secure, how can we lose what we have? And if we are warned of the danger of losing what we have, how can we be fully secure?

Proponents of eternal security find a way forward by using 1 John 2:19, which states,

They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

In other words, those who abandoned the faith were not genuinely saved in the first place so the “once saved” part of the phrase “once saved, always saved” does not apply. Christ’s sheep are secure, but they were not really his sheep. Thus the warnings are not real possibilities for genuine believers. You can see how this debate can go back and forth on point A without progressing to point B.

On the other hand, those who think believers can lose their salvation say that the New Testament warnings are written to believers. And the natural way to read a warning is to assume that the stated peril is real. How else do you read a warning label on a bottle of medicine?

Notice that the same thing tends to happen with both solutions—the other side gets neglected. Clinging to eternal security often means not reading the warning passages as real warnings while embracing the warning passages often means not taking the security promises seriously.

Agreement

I don’t know how to perfectly balance NT warnings and assurances.

So let’s work with what we know: the NT contains warnings and assurances.

Why?

Because we need both.

Why do we need both?

Here are three reasons:

1. Different stages require different emphases – at certain points in our faith journey, we need to hear warnings. Warnings serve as a wake up call and keep us sharp in our faith. At other points, we need to be assured by God’s love for us.
2. Different people require different emphases – since everyone is in a different place some need to be encouraged while others need to be warned.
3. We all need to live between warning and assurance: secure in God’s power and motivated to keep moving forward.

Perhaps like a wise coach encouraging his players, God uses warnings and encouragement to keep us on the right path.

Les Bridgeman

After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.