Concerning the relationship between assurance and works

Hey Tony,

I had some concerns about the sermon that was taught yesterday over Hebrews 6:9-12. I hope that you find the tone of this email to be humble and kind. I’m not trying to slam dunk on you here, I just have a few questions.

My main concern is with the idea that our works fuel our assurance. I feel that preaching that assurance of salvation comes through work is treacherously close to a works-based theology of salvation. That kind of soteriology can be harmful to both the believer and the non-believer.

In this email I would like to address the following

Foundational beliefs about salvation through Christ

Implications of works fueled assurance for believers and non-believers

Biblical precedents for making judgements on salvation

Foundational Beliefs on salvation through Christ

The origin of our faith is Christ’s work on the cross and our works do nothing to keep us (Galatians 3:3). Salvation comes as a gift (Romans 6:23) and it can’t be taken away from us (Romans 8:39).

Implications of works fueled assurance

Believers

A believer who doubts their salvation may take this concept to mean that the presence of their doubt is proof that they’re falling away. The only solution to this problem is try and gain assurance through completing tasks (church attendance, serving the body, bible reading). Effectively chasing the identity that has already been purchased for them.

The believer’s service to the body or engagement with spiritual disciplines should flow out of their identity as a saved and secured child of God (Philippians 2:12-13).

Non-Believers

The idea of assurance of salvation being tied to works is also hugely problematic for the non-believer. I think non-believers can really be split into two categories; fence-sitters and standard unbelievers. The confusion between faith and works is harmful to both in unique ways.

Fence-sitters

For those who are pretending, they feel a sense of belonging in the church and enjoy fellowship with the saints. I understand you have concern that they may have a false sense of security in living a nominal Christian life. Unfortunately the exhortation to fortify their confidence through works can only lead them to a greater self-deception.

Matthew 7:21-23 is an example of those who counted themselves as saved, faithfully performing great works and yet the savior they thought they knew denied them. I think a better exhortation for the fence sitter would be from 2 Corinthians 13:5. They would do better to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith than to “patch the holes” in their confidence with works.

Isn’t there a danger in encouraging those who are already “fake christians” to “get off the fence” and commit to practicing behaviors that in themselves are not salvific? This can only lead them to feeling falsely assured of their salvation as long as they keep working.

Standard Unbeliever

An unbeliever hearing that assurance is solidified through serving the church may come to a false understanding about the gospel. It would be easy to see how someone could could fail to see how this version of the gospel is any different than Catholicism. Or one may actually start to walk the walk and find themselves as a fence-sitter.

Some practical questions

As a believer who struggles with doubt how much work do I need to do before I can be sure of being saved?

What if I’m unable to serve (i.e. paraplegic, bed-ridden)?

Our work for the kingdom becomes us-focused.

In addition to these concerns, I don’t actually see what you taught in the text.

Here’s a brief outline of what I see in the text

Despite these warnings, I’m sure that you are all believers

I know this because I see you working and loving one another

And I desire that you would all have earnest, genuine assurance of hope until the end

We want you to have this assurance so that you can joyfully and vigorously press on to imitate the faithful saint who have come before.

Making judgements about salvation

What I understood you to say yesterday seemed to flip the order of verse 11 and verse 12. This would make the writer out to say “Press on and imitate those who are faithful and patience, so that you can have assurance.”.

I believe it’s helpful to think about assessing salvation from two perspectives - our own assurance, and our judgement on the salvation of another.

Our own assurance.

The writer makes no mention of our works being able to prove our own salvation in our hearts. In fact our assurance seems to be the source of our works, not the other way around. This relationship can be seen in the causal relationship between verse 11 and 12. They’re linked together by “so that”. In the case of these verses, that would make verse 11 (assurance of hope) the causal force for verse 12 (imitating saints who inherit the promises).

Our judgement of others.

The writer of Hebrews seems to judge the salvation of those he’s writing to based on their works. In this way He’s modeling how we can think about other’s works. This is consistent with 1 John 2:19. We can make a judgement about someone’s salvation based on their actions. Whether or not or even how often we should make those judgements is another story.