Did Paul Have Assurance of Salvation?

3:11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

The NASB translation here is poor. There is more ambiguity in the Greek than is reflected in the English. It means something like: "if somehow" or "if perhaps" I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (The exact same expression is used in Rom.1:10 and 11:14.) It seems to be hard for some to translate it this way because it makes it look like Paul was not certain about his salvation.

Paul’s language in 1Cor.9:27 is even more difficult in this way: "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

There are other places, of course, even in this same letter (e.g. 1:21), where Paul seems very certain about his salvation. Here are my thoughts on this dilemma.

In order to understand this paradox, it seems to me, we must make two important distinctions. The first distinction we must make is between a feeling of certainty about one’s salvation and absolute knowledge about one’s salvation. Only God has absolute knowledge of anything. All humans can enjoy is a feeling of certainty about something or a mental conviction that something is true. And feelings of certainty and mental convictions are not always accurate. Just as there are true Christians who don’t enjoy the assurance of salvation, there are also people who feel very confident about their salvation who are on their way to hell. I agree that the Holy Spirit gives believers assurance of salvation, but no one should think that because they have a firm feeling that they are truly saved, that this in itself means that they are.

The second distinction is between recognizing the reality of the danger of falling away and one’s own sense of certainty that one will not fall away. Paul knows that if a man turns away from Christ he will go to hell (he actually will prove, of course, that he was never truly saved in the first place - 1John 2:19). So the danger of falling away from Christ is real. It happens all the time. But this doesn’t mean that one cannot have a sense of certainty that he will not fall away. I for one have had a strong sense since I became a Christian in 1970 that I am truly saved by Christ and that He will keep me steadfast until the end. But this doesn’t mean that if I turned away from Christ that I would still go to heaven.

My favorite analogy about this is a trip I took as a child to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City. Near the top of what was then the tallest building in the world there is a public open-air landing all the way around the building surrounded by a chain-link fence with barbed-wire around the top. Another story down there was another landing with a similar fence around it. So to fall down to the street one would have to scale two high barbed-wire fences.

When I walked out onto the landing, I was scared stiff. Looking down 100 stories or so into streets filled with what looked like match-box cars made me hug the inner wall to stay as far away from falling as possible, even though it would have been difficult to fall even if I had wanted to. Was I safe there? Indeed, but a large part of my safety was the fact that I took the danger of falling so seriously. I could be certain of my safety because I was so afraid of falling. If another fellow had climbed up on top of the safety fence to see if he could balance like a tight-rope walker, then we would say he would not be safe, because he was not very concerned about the danger of falling.

Paul’s sense of his own safety in the arms of Christ was partly based on the fact that the Holy Spirit had given him such a repulsion toward falling away. The fact that he was so intent on staying with Christ to the end was a large part of the evidence that he was truly saved.

So, Paul’s statements that imply the possibility of not making it to heaven do not seem to me to be indicative of any lack of assurance of salvation. Rather, they express the valid recognition that our knowledge is not absolute and that anyone who turns away from Christ will indeed be lost.

O Father, I thank You that You have put it into my heart to seek You. I know that in myself I did not want to have anything to do with You. You are the author of my faith and You will be the One who brings me to the finish line. It is Your grace that has brought me safe thus far, and Your grace will lead me home. Keep me faithful, O Lord. Empower me to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith.