Assurance of Salvation

What does Scripture teach regarding the assurance of salvation for the believer?  The believer may rest assured in his or her salvation because the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable – Rom 11:29.  The overwhelming sense of the Scriptures taken all together points to the security of the believer, especially when scriptures that point to the predestined nature of the believer’s salvation are factored in (see Eph 1:3-11).

However, admittedly, there are certain other Scriptures which tend to leave one with the impression that a Christian, in certain situations, can indeed fall away and ultimately be condemned.

What does Scripture teach regarding “apostasy” and the possibility of a believer forfeiting salvation.  Taken all together, it does appear from Scripture that God does reserve for the believer the right to renounce his or her own salvation, thereby becoming apostate and forfeiting salvation – See Heb 6:4-6.

To understand this properly, I believe that we should see this is an extension of the Old Testament concept of the “sin of the high hand” (i.e. the shaking of a raised fist defiantly at God).  More specifically, in Numbers 15:28-31, we see that the system of sacrificial laws that God gave to Israel – where animal sacrifices took the place of sinners being punished – resulted in everyone being graciously forgiven – even those who sinned unintentionally – except for those who had sinned “with a high hand” (which is the literal meaning of the word often translated “defiantly”).  Since Jesus says He did not come to do away with the Law but rather to fulfill it (Matt 5:17), it is reasonable to assume that some similar exception probably would continue to exist in His New Covenant, since God does not change (Mal 3:6).  And so, I believe that every New Testament Scripture that seems to point to the possibility of a Christian “falling away” can be categorized as a “sin of the high hand” in keeping with the Old Testament template – the best example being the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which Jesus said was not forgiveable (see Mark 3:28-30).

How do we best stay away from this situation?

 Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, encourages us to be ‘ruthless’ when it comes to sin.  (See Matthew 5:29-30).  This is because all eventual “renunciation of our salvation” starts with a small sin being allowed to go on without being taken seriously.  I believe this also best explains what happened to Judas — who betrayed Jesus — but that’s another story.  The bottom line is this.  As long as we agree with God that sin should be dealt with, we never, ever have to fear that we might lose our salvation (See 1 John 1:9)