gift from God: “For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God––not because of
works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
4
(ii)
We are being saved by working out our salvation “in fear and
trembling” (Phil. 2:12).
(iii)
We will be saved if we persevere through God’s grace: “Whoever
holds out to the end” (St. Matt. 10:22).
Fundamentalists believe that upon the one-off act of accepting Christ as
‘their personal Lord and Savior’ they are ‘saved,’ and that essentially
nothing further needs to be done except wait for death. However, Scripture
tells us that Christians should be working constantly to earn their salvation:
“Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my
presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).
“Do you have assurance of salvation?”
Fundamentalists believe that once they are ‘saved’ they cannot lose their
salvation, not even by serious sin. This was the teaching of Luther:
“Even if you sin greatly, believe even more greatly, and be a sinner
and sin boldly but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly. No
sin will separate us from the Lamb even though we commit
fornication and murder a thousand times a day.”³
In contrast, Christ taught that “whoever, then, relaxes one of the least of
these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven” (St. Matt. 5:19).
4
Eph. 2:8-9 is one of the most frequently used verses to support “faith alone”
doctrine. Yet the very next verse (v. 10) illustrates St. Paul’s belief that good works
proceeding from grace are necessary for salvation: “For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them.”
3
Epistle # 99 to Melanchthon, Let Your Sins Be Strong, 1 Aug. 1521.
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