“Does Revelation 3:16 teach you can lose your salvation?”

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2,3 are not written to us today, they are written to Tribulation churches. John prefaces Revelation by explaining that he was their “companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom” (1:9), and then went on to describe the Tribulation and the kingdom of heaven on earth in the ensuing chapters. That is, he saw a vision of the future and was their companion in those things in the virtual reality sort of way that such prophetic visions afforded the prophets.

In describing the Tribulation, the Lord said,

“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” (Matt. 24:12,13).

Iniquity will begin to abound when the beast issues his mark, and believers won’t be able to buy food or raiment without it (Rev. 13:16,17). Believers in that day must help other believers with these things to be saved (Matt. 25:31-46; James 2:14-17), and they must continue to help them “unto the end” (Heb. 6:10-12) of the Tribulation (cf. Matt. 24:3) to be saved (24:13,14). If they let their love for their brethren wax cold, they won’t continue to help them, and this will show they never “believed to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:39), forcing God to spew them out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16).

In our day, believers should help others with these things (Gal. 6:10), but our salvation doesn’t depend on it!

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