Assurance of Salvation?

What Scripture teaches

Jesus said whoever endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13; cf. 25:31-46). Whoever dies in friendship with God goes to heaven; whoever dies in mortal sin goes to hell. Wilson Ewin claims no sin can forfeit a believer's salvation and that denying this denies Christ's perfect redemption. But he confuses redemption accomplished for all (1 Timothy 2:6; 4:10; 1 John 2:2) with each person's appropriation of it, which requires repentance and faith. If we can come to be reconciled, we can, like Adam and Eve, become unreconciled, and like the prodigal son, return. Adam and Eve received unmerited grace and lost it (cf. Romans 11:17-24). Paul warns that we remain in God's kindness or are cut off (Romans 11:22; see Hebrews 10:26-29; 2 Peter 2:20-21).

Can you know?

Whether salvation can be lost differs from whether one can know one is saved. John writes so that believers may know they have eternal life (1 John 5:13), and such passages must be taken seriously. But they do not protect against self-deception, as even the Radio Bible Class booklet admits, citing "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord'" (Matthew 7:21).

Catholics do not live in terror. Mortal sins are grave and deliberate, not slipped into on the spur of the moment. And the Church does not deny assurance. God gave the sacraments as visible signs of his invisible grace, and one can examine whether one has committed mortal sin. John's tests are tests of grave sin: whoever does not do right or love his brother is not of God (1 John 3:10; 4:20); love of God means keeping his commandments (1 John 5:3). A faithful life can give confidence for the future, as Paul was sure God would complete his good work in the Philippians (Philippians 1:6-7), and as he, near death, expected the crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Earlier, though, Paul claimed no infallible assurance: his conscience was clear, but that did not justify him; the Lord judges (1 Corinthians 4:4). He disciplined his body lest he be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27). So may we have confidence, but not infallible certitude, since self-deception is possible (cf. Matthew 7:22-23) and some believe for a while and fall away (Luke 8:13). We work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

What to say

Asked "Are you saved?" a Catholic can answer: I have been saved (Romans 8:24; Ephesians 2:5-8), I am being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15; Philippians 2:12), and I hope to be saved (Romans 5:9-10; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Like Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), with hopeful confidence in Christ's promises (Romans 5:2; 2 Timothy 2:11-13).