You Can't Work For Salvation
"...by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." - Galatians 2:16
Once you've trusted the gospel of the grace of God, you may come to ask, "Now that I'm saved, can I lose my salvation?" Revisiting how you were saved will produce the answer, which in case you are worried about it, is no. If you are saved, you cannot lose your salvation.
Consider Romans 3.
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." - Romans 3:20
God gave the law to Israel, and Israel showed the world that man cannot keep the law. Thus the need for a savior. The gospel that saved you makes it very, very clear that you weren't good enough to save yourself. Romans 3:21 goes on to explain that "but now the righteousness of God without the law is made manifest..." The law can show you your sin, but the law cannot save you. That means that you could do nothing at all to save yourself.
If you could do nothing to save yourself, that means the work to save you, of necessity, was done by somebody else. We understand that somebody to be Christ, God manifest in the flesh.
He Paid the Debt He Did Not Owe
"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." - Romans 4:4
This is perhaps a classic example, but a good one nonetheless. If you owe somebody money, you are said to have a debt. The individual that you owe money to has every right to expect that you will repay that debt. Sometimes though, a person simply cannot pay off the debt that they owe. They could work their entire life and never make the money necessary to repay what they owe - drifting further and further into debt. But what if someone else, a mediator, paid the debt for you and expected nothing, other than you trusting that they had done the work and had earned the money that could pay your debt? That's gracious.
That's where we as humanity are when we attempt to work for salvation, we can never do enough good to satisfy the justice of God. But the good news is that God did more than enough to satisfy His own justice regarding your sins. He sent His son who you can read about, He did the work that you can read about, and He defeated sin - of which you can read about. Do you believe that He can pay your sin debt? Do you believe His work is enough to cover what you owe?
If that's what you believe, then you understand that you did nothing to contribute to your salvation. Furthermore, if that's true, then you can do nothing to lose it. You're not the one who did it to begin with. Whose work paid the debt? Your work as you drifted further and further into debt? Or the mediator who did the work and had the funds to show for it?
What Happened to You?
"...ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." - Ephesians 4:30
The greatest assurance of your permanent salvation comes from what was done for you when you believed.
Ephesians 1:13 Explains how your salvation worked in a simple summary.
"In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise," Ephesians 1:13
You heard the word of truth, the gospel, you believed it, and you were sealed. "Sealed unto the day of redemption" Ephesians 4:30 elaborates. But that's not all that happened to you. The following is a list of several things that occurred when you were saved. This list is not exhaustive.
By God's grace...
- You were crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)
- You were buried with Christ (Colossians 2:12)
- You were resurrected as a new man in Christ (Colossians 2:12)
- You were placed into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:17)
- You were made alive in Christ (quickened) (Ephesians 2:1)
- You were sealed in Christ (Ephesians 1:13)
- You were washed in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11)
- You were justified in Christ (Romans 5:1)
- You were sanctified in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11)
- You were called with an Holy calling in Christ (2 Timothy 1:9)
- You were given a job (vocation) in Christ (Ephesians 4:1)
- You were accepted in the beloved [Christ] (Ephesians 1:6)
- You were made at peace with God through Christ (Romans 5:1)
- You were seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6)
Do you see the tremendous operation of God in your life through these verses? For you to lose salvation God would have to reverse the work he's done. He would have to deny Christ's work, amputate you from His body, kill the new man He's made you, and resurrect the old man - not to mention go back on His word that you were at peace with Him.
"...But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" - Romans 5:20
What Will You Do?
"[11]For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, [12]Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; - Titus 2:11-12
Now that God has given you His grace, what will you do with it? Grace does not make sin ok, grace does not want you to continue living as you always have. Grace allows you to express thanks to God for what He's done for you, and sets you free to serve God knowing that you are at peace with Him.