Assurance of salvation in 2 Tim 4:7-8?

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Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is my understanding that we are never assured of our salvation until judgement day. However, as a protestand friend pointed out to me, Paul seem quite confident of his salvation in 2 Tim 4:7-8:

**7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 8 As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming. Make haste to come to me quickly.
**

Could anyone shed any light on the apparent contradiction please? Was Paul being presumptuous?

God bless,
Noel.
 
When I read this I am struck by the notion that Paul may have been granted a private revelation from God, when he was close to his death (as he notes), that he will indeed be saved.

Be sure and note that this passage is not a good one for Protestants to use, since Paul links his salvation to the fact that he has done things (fought a good fight, finished his course, kept his faith). That’s probably why I’ve never seen a Protestant use this passage - it’s very much anti sola-fide and OSAS.
 
And Paul says he still has to face judgment, which I take to mean the determination by Jesus as to where he will spend eternity. Nothing is final until He says either come on in or depart from me.
 
Anyone who has loved the Lord, kept His commandments and died in a state of grace has the reasonable expectation and hope of a heavenly reward from a merciful and loving God.

That’s not the same as, “I’m saved and nothing can change that.”

Gem
 
More Protestant- hittters in 2 Timothey ( sorry, I’m a Croat, so I might mispell some names, and do few typos )

Paul hopes that Jesus will find mercy for Onesiphor in front of God ( **2 Tim 1:18 **) , which means a Christian will be sentenced at Judgement Day.

Apostolic Tradition described in 2 Tim 2:1.
and 2 Tim 3:14.
 
nkelly said:
**7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 8 As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming. Make haste to come to me quickly.
**

Could anyone shed any light on the apparent contradiction please? Was Paul being presumptuous?

God bless,
Noel.
Click to expand...
No contradiction. Paul does have a reasonable moral assurance (not an absolute assurance) of his salvation. He has fought the good fight, he has finished the course, he has kept the faith. He notes elsewhere the importance of perseverance–perseverance to the end.

It seems to me that here he feels morally assured of his salvation because he has kept the Lord’s commands, just as we must do.
 
If you read Paul’s earlier work, he is not sure at all of his salvation. He actually thinks that because he persecuted and killed Christians, he will spend his entire life being unworthy. This is a more assured Paul… I would have to agree with the private revelation idea based on those facts.
 
Very good points everyone. Thanks for the help!

God bless you all,
Noel.
 
You must also put these verses into context with verse 6 -

  1. *]For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand.
    Paul says what he says in verses 7 and 8 based upon his conviction that his death is imminent. This is also evident in verse 18 -

    1. *]The Lord hath delivered me from every evil work: and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
      At this point he is speaking as the son who said no, but then did the fathers will, who has already died and is ready for judgement
 
one of his statements that I take on in my life is that he works at his salvation with fear and trepidation.
 
Thanks again. I find it very frustrating when a Protestants use certain verses to “prove” a point while ignoring other verses.

Paul seems to refer only to faith for justification and doesn’t refer to works. Maybe I’m wrong.

I sometimes think the bible could have been more explicit at times so that these arguments wouldn’t arise. There are so many arguments over matters such as confession, primacy of Peter, salvation by faith alone etc, the Eucharist etc. I suppose it must be part of God’s plan. He wants us to trust His Church just like He wants us to have faith in Him.

God bless,
Noel.
 
Well, if you have doubts- consider that Jacob said that Christian teachers will have stricter judgement ( Jacob 3:1 ) calling them “we”- meaning himself too.

If he believes he goes to judgement, then he isn’t sola fide, right?
 
I am familiar with 2 types of assurance, but only one is the right one.
  1. Assurance we are going to heaven. Also known as Once saved Always saved.:rolleyes:
  2. Assurance God will save us.
The only time we know if we’re going to heaven or not is at Judgment Day. So #1 isn’t the right answer…

And this is where protestants get confused. Paul does mention assurance of salvation, but only in the sense that we can be 100% confident that God will fulfill his promise. Even if we are to take this assurance as our own, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians destroys any idea of “assurance of salvation”. If the Bible says X and Y, a protestant will have you ignore Y because it says X. We must look at everything the Bible has to say.

Also, i don’t seem to get any idea of assurance from 2 Tim 4:7-8. Paul talks about salvation in a FUTURE tense. Also, “fought a good fight” = works?..“finished my course” = Paul passing responsibility to Timothy (Apostolic Succession). So if anything, i see that the verse not only disproves OSAS, but Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura. Not that i’m saying we can prove anything with one verse alone, but rather it is a poor verse for a protestant to pick.
 
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