In John 3:16 we read: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. What does it say there? ...that whosoever doeth not such and such a thing should not perish? That is certainly not how it is written. It only says that whosoever BELIEVES in him (in Christ)!
The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the believers in Galatia, who asserted that in order to be saved
it was necessary not only to believe in Christ, but also to keep the Law, that is, to do certain works. To them Paul responds: O foolish Galatians... I would learn this only from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, having begun with the Spirit, are you now perfected by the flesh? Gal. 4:9,10.
Only Christ can save us because He died on the cross, being punished by God the Father in the place of the sinner.
Whoever believes in Him has eternal life, is saved eternally. And this does not depend on what we do or do not do, but on what Christ did; and this does not come from you, it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Therefore,
our salvation depends EXCLUSIVELY on Christ and His work; it does not depend on us, because if it depended on us, the glory would be ours. But, thank God, it does not depend on us, who are sinners and always prone to sin.
When a sinner comes to Christ, repentant of his sinful state, this only happens through the work of the
Holy Spirit in his heart, because it is the Spirit who convinces us of sin (John 16:8). So, by faith, the sinner believes that Christ took his place on the cross, bearing his (the sinner's) sin. When the sinner believes in this way, God gives him salvation that is complete; God gives him forgiveness that is also complete and this person will never lose his salvation again, because it is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8) and it will never be taken away by God because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance (Rom. 11:29). God does not take away the salvation of the believer, and no one else can do so because I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Rom. 8:38,39)
