Have you ever had someone throw Colossians 1:23 at you to try to shake your assurance of salvation? I recently heard this argued and thought it would be good to explain the passage.
You will find two very different religious camps using this single verse to rob God’s people of their peace.
The Arminians, who teach you can lose your salvation, point to this verse and say, “See? You are only saved if you hold on and keep believing until the very end. If you stop, you go to hell!”
The Lordship Salvationists, the Calvinist crowd who teach the “perseverance of the saints,” use it to say, “If you don’t faithfully endure in good works until you die, it proves you were never actually saved in the first place.”
Though they belong to different theological camps, both groups make the exact same error. They take a passage dealing with a believer’s practical discipleship, rewards, and presentation at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and they drag it into the realm of eternal salvation.
When you rightly divide the Word of Truth, the text becomes beautifully clear. Colossians 1:23 does not teach that continuing in the faith is a condition to keep from dropping into hell. It is a call to grow up, stand firm, and receive a reward.
The Context: The Colossians Were Already Reconciled
When you study any verse, you must never rip it out of its context. Let’s read verse 23 in connection with the two verses right before it:
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel…”
— Colossians 1:21-23 (KJV)
Look closely at the grammar of verse 21. Paul does not say, “Yet now are you on probation, hoping to be reconciled at the end of your life.”
He says: “yet now hath he reconciled.”
It is in the past tense. The Colossian believers were already reconciled to God. Their salvation was a finished transaction. In the very next chapter, Paul drives this home by showing that their debt was paid in full:
“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”
— Colossians 2:13 (KJV)
If a believer has already been forgiven of all trespasses, past, present, and future, how could they ever be cast into hell for failing to “continue”? If they could lose their salvation, then they were never truly forgiven of all trespasses, and God’s Word would be broken.
What Happens If We Fail to Continue?
Those who pridefully preach a works-based gospel want you to believe that the moment a Christian stumbles, doubts, or fails to continue in faithful service, God cancels their citizenship in heaven.
But God has already answered that fear in the Scriptures. What happens when a believer is weak, stumbles, or fails to hold up their end of the walk?
“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”
— 2 Timothy 2:13 (KJV)
Once you are saved, you are translated into the Kingdom of Christ. Even if your faith falters, He cannot deny Himself. Your security doesn’t rest on your tight grip on Jesus; it rests on His unbreakable grip on you.
Who is the one responsible for keeping you until the end? Is it you, or is it God?
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
— Philippians 1:6 (KJV)
Our salvation is not a cooperative effort where God does His part and we have to do ours to keep it. God sustains it, and God will complete it.
Salvation vs. Service: The Judgment Seat of Christ
If Colossians 1:23 is not about going to heaven or hell, what does it mean when it says, “to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight: If ye continue…”?
We must distinguish between a believer’s standing and a believer’s state.
Your Standing: Positionally, in Christ, you are already perfectly righteous. You are washed, justified, and sealed forever (Ephesians 1:13). God sees you through the blood of His Son.
Your State: Practically, your daily walk can be faithful or unfaithful. This practical walk will be evaluated at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
The Judgment Seat of Christ is not about heaven or hell for believers, it is just for rewards for the family of God:
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:10 (KJV)
When Paul writes about presenting the Colossians “holy, unblameable, and unreprovable,” he is talking about their practical presentation before Christ on that day.
A Christian who stays grounded in sound doctrine, resists false teachers, and continues in the faith will be presented before the Lord with joy and receive a reward. But what about the believer who gets lazy, gets deceived by false doctrine, and fails to continue?
Does he burn in hell? No. He is saved, but he suffers loss of rewards and experiences shame:
“If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
— 1 Corinthians 3:15 (KJV)
The Apostle John warned of this exact same thing:
“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
— 1 John 2:28 (KJV)
You don’t lose your soul at the Judgment Seat, but you can lose your crown. Colossians 1:23 is a loving, warning not to let false teachers rob you of your future rewards.
A Free Gift vs. An Earned Crown
The Bible always keeps a sharp line of distinction between a gift and a reward:
Salvation is a FREE GIFT. It is unearned, unconditional, and paid for entirely by the blood of Christ.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
— Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
Crowns and Approval are REWARDS. They are earned through running the race, keeping the faith, and enduring trials.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness…”
— 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (KJV)
If continuing in the faith were required to go to heaven, salvation would no longer be a free gift. It would be a wage paid for our endurance. It would be a gospel of faith plus human performance, which the Apostle Paul declared to be an accursed, false gospel (Galatians 1:8-9). Here in 2 Timothy shown above, Paul mentions he has kept the faith and therefore received a reward for that.
Stand Fast in Free Grace
Colossians 1:23 is not a threat of damnation but is an exhortation to steadfastness.
Paul was writing to young believers who were surrounded by legalistic Judaizers, pagan philosophers, and early Gnostic heretics. He was telling them, “Don’t let these wolves move you away from the simple hope of the gospel you first believed! Stay rooted, stay grounded, so that when you stand before Jesus, you can receive your full reward.”
Do not let works-preachers confuse sonship with discipleship, or the free gift of eternal life with the earned reward of a crown.
The moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you were reconciled, passed from death unto life, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Rest in His finished work, and then serve Him with all your heart, not out of legalistic fear, but out of deep, everlasting gratitude.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
— Romans 8:35 (KJV)
Do you have questions about eternal security? Read our full article on the topic.
