Does Philippians 1:6 Teach Unconditional Security?

A verse which is heavily leaned upon by believers in unconditional security will be analyzed here.

Philippians 1:6: “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:”

This verse is often cited as an attempted proof of the concepts of Perseverance of the Saints and Once Saved Always Saved. These are staples of Reformation Theology. These concepts are also highly influential in Evangelical Christianity overall.

Does Philippians 1:6 really teach that a true believer in Christ can never fall away from Him to damnation? Or, is taking it that way inserting an unwarranted assumption into the text?

In the Book of Revelation the Risen Jesus tells a leader of a 1st century assembly which was overseen by the Apostles of Christ the following.

Revelation 3:1-2: “And unto the angel (i.e. messenger) of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”

Neither the leader of Sardis nor his church overall had always been spiritually dead. Note that they had been spiritually alive. The counsel for the messenger of the Church in Sardis to “be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die” would be nonsense if he had never been spiritually alive. There had been backsliding and much decline at this point, yet not to the point of falling away completely into apostasy.

Why were those in Sardis not progressing? Why had they rather regressed? Was their pathetic spiritual condition the result of God being unfaithful to complete the good work which He had begun in them? According to what Jesus would proceed to tell them, their pathetic state must have been their own fault. God also did not prevent this from happening.

Example after example can be given from the Bible of people who failed spiritually in spite of God’s faithful work on their behalf that was potentially enabling them to overcome. It is unwarranted to interpret a guarantee of that work happening as a guarantee that its goal will always be accomplished.

Nevertheless, note the way in which the Lord did intervene to help the Church in Sardis recover. He did not irresistibly cause them to repent and straighten out. He rather gave them a reality check and told them what they had to do in order for the good work which He had begun in them to continue towards completion. Note who the onus (i.e. burden/duty/responsibility) is placed upon here. It is not God.

Revelation 3:3: “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

God was already working in the backslidden leader of Sardis and the backslidden members of his church. Therefore, the burden is placed upon them to remedy their pathetic spiritual condition.

A believer in Christ really does need to overcome by enduring as His faithful disciple to the end in order to be saved. A true believer in Christ can really have their name blotted out of the book of life.

Continuing in Revelation 3:4-6: “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

Some acknowledge that they need to repent and get on the right track before they die- yet they also believe that God won’t let them die before that happens. They are deluded. The Bible does not teach in accordance with this presumptuous mindset. It actually teaches that those who harden themselves against His reproof should not expect to ever have a better opportunity to repent and that no one who is living in sin is beyond the real possibility of dying and going to hell.

Proverbs 29:1: “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

Ananaias and Sapphira were killed suddenly by God’s judgment due to their lying in Acts chapter 5. Many believe that Ananaias and Sapphira were never true believers in Christ and were rather hypocrites from the time they joined the assembly of believers at Jerusalem. Yet it is not warranted to believe that they were hypocrites from the beginning. Not only does the Bible never say that they were hypocrites when they first professed faith in Christ, it also teaches that genuine believers in Christ can fall away and be sent to hell.

These things echo what had already been stated in principle all over the Bible. Look at what Jesus even said so blatantly to His disciples within the Gospel accounts.

Matthew 24:9-13: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Those who claim that Philippians 1:6 is teaching unconditional security also likely teach that the endurance spoken of in Matthew 24:13 is only speaking of evidence of true faith. They are essentially saying that anyone who ever exercises saving faith in Christ will surely endure in that to the end and can never really fall away. However, that goes directly against what Jesus is saying in these verses. He is warning His own disciples about falling away in the midst of the affliction of persecution, through being deceived by false prophets, and through their love waxing cold because iniquity is abounding. Enduring to the end is put in contrast to becoming snared by one or more of these things.

Warning people about falling away from a dead faith in Christ would be very bad counsel. Lamenting people failing to endure in a dead faith in Christ is at best foolish. Warnings in accordance with Matthew 24:12 concerning the danger of love waxing cold are meaningless when put forth to those who never had a love for Jesus which is in line with how He has been revealed in the Bible and the conditions set forth to be in His grace. Love like this waxing cold could not happen without one turning from a living faith in Christ to unbelief.

Matthew 24:9-13 is dealing with the very real potential of true believers in Christ falling after having undergone a real conversion and new birth in Him. The verses are obviously communicating that choices must be made continually by an individual after they undergo a new birth in Christ which cause them to endure in faith until the end. Otherwise, they will not be saved. This in no way contradicts verses such as Philippians 1:6. There is nothing said in Philippians 1:6 or any other place in the Bible which negates the reality established over and over in the whole counsel of the Bible that one can fail to endure in faith. God’s good work will not be completed in those who do not endure and they will not be saved on the day of Jesus Christ.

Along the same lines, look at what Paul told Timothy concerning his duties as a shepherd of Christ’s people.

2 Timothy 4:1-2: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick (i.e. living) and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

There is obviously the need for these things because the promise in Philippians 1:6 won’t be fulfilled in anyone without their diligent cooperation in following the narrow way of Christ. Not only is it possible for the believer to fail to fulfill their obligations here, there are even strong forces opposing this. Those forces include an individual’s own desires to want relief from the unpleasantness which comes with enduring sound doctrine and faithfully walking in the truth.

2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Those being spoken of in the preceding verses are born-again believers in churches founded by the Apostles of Christ and their co-workers.

It is no wonder that unconditional security teaching is so popular. People believe in this so often because hearing that salvation is automatic and guaranteed is pleasant to the ears in a way that appeals to man’s desire to justify not receiving and walking in the truth. Yet it is not the only thing. As with the sacramental system taught by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the teaching of unconditional security is an invention by man to accommodate people’s itching ears.

Note also Philippians 1:7 along with the verse in question here.

Philippians 1:6-7 says: “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: Even as it is meet (i.e. fitting) for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”

Even among the churches founded by the Apostles of Christ themselves, not all were excelling in righteousness to the same extent and some had sins among them which others did not have. This reality demonstrates that there is freewill after conversion to Christ as well as beforehand, human cooperation is necessary for one to endure on the narrow way to life in Christ, and some born-again believers succeed where others fail. These things demonstrate that God is not the sole agent in humans overcoming and attaining salvation. This is all contrary to Reformation Theology. It is a lie which shouldn’t be given any credibility.

Martin Luther, John Calvin, and all those involved in forming Reformation Theology did not completely break from the unscriptural traditions of the Catholic Church (their continuing to practice and vehemently defend infant baptism is just one example). Moreover, Luther and Calvin were very heavily influenced by the writings of the Roman Catholic Augustine even after they left the Catholic Church.

It is also notable that the Church in Philippi is one of the few churches written to by an Apostle within the Bible which didn’t receive any significant rebuke. The Church in Philippi had begun much better, and was overall more excellent, than many of the other churches which were founded by the Apostles. Keep that in mind as well in considering what Philippians 1:6 is actually communicating.