Even the apostle Paul feared losing his salvation. 1 Corinthians 9:27 —
'I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to
others I myself should be disqualified.' The Greek adokimos means 'failing
the test, rejected.' If Paul was not sure of his final standing, nobody
can be. Salvation depends on perseverance, discipline, and faithful
endurance.
is a common JW proof-text for eternal insecurity. The answer is that Paul himself defines what adokimos means — in , the very next letter, he uses the same word in a specifically evidential sense. 'Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test (adokimoi)?' There adokimos is an evidential test of whether Christ is in you. Paul's language in shows the seriousness of his discipline, not doubt about God's promise. He runs like a man who intends to finish, knowing that God himself is the one who 'sustains you to the end' (). Discipline is what a saved person does, not what they do to get saved. A runner runs because he is in the race; he does not run to create the race.
Paul does not fear losing a salvation he possesses. He fears exposing himself as a counterfeit who never had it. The cure for that fear is — 'there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus' — and 's self-examination: am I in the faith? Paul lived with constant self-examination, not constant insecurity.
But Paul says 'lest I be disqualified' — that means he could be. If Paul could lose it, anyone can.
Paul uses this language to show the seriousness of his discipline, not to express doubt about God's promise. The 'lest' is the same kind of language a marathon runner uses: 'I train hard so I do not collapse before the finish line.' That is not the same as saying 'I might lose the justification God has given me.' Paul's letters are full of the opposite language: — no condemnation; — nothing can separate us from the love of God; — 'he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.' Paul held both together: self-disciplining diligence AND unshakeable assurance. The two are not contradictory; the diligence is the way God's preservation works out in practice.
But what does adokimos mean? Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 9:27 without defining it.
Paul defines adokimos for us in his very next letter to the same church — . 'Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test? I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.' Notice how the NWT itself translates this: 'unless you are disapproved.' The same word the NWT uses at ('disapproved') is used at to mean a test of whether Christ is really in you — an evidential test, not a threat that salvation could be revoked. Paul is using the same vocabulary in both places. Paul applied the self-examination standard to himself constantly. He never concluded he might lose his salvation. He concluded he should live like a man whose faith is real — because it was.
Didn't Calvin say Christians should live with 'godly fear' about their salvation?
Calvin and every Reformed teacher since says the Christian should live with 'godly fear' — but what they mean is reverential awe of God and ongoing self-examination, not the anxious insecurity the Watchtower teaches. Calvin himself wrote that assurance is 'of the essence of faith' — you cannot have saving faith without some measure of assurance. Paul felt both: reverential awe ('I discipline my body') and unshakeable assurance ('nothing can separate us from the love of God'). The two are not the same thing. One is a posture; the other is a ground. The posture is appropriate for every Christian. The ground is Christ's finished work, which does not move.
Paul also wrote 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling' in Philippians 2:12. That sounds like insecurity.
Read the next verse — verse 13: 'for it is GOD who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.' The fear and trembling is not the insecurity of wondering whether you are saved. It is the reverential awe of knowing GOD is actively at work inside you — which is terrifying in a beautiful way. You work out what God has worked in. The Greek verb katergazesthe means 'to bring something already present to its full outward expression' — not 'to earn something you might not receive.' Paul is saying: live worthy of the salvation that God has already planted in you, because God himself is the one producing the growth. The fear is about the weight of God's presence, not the shakiness of your standing.
Do not lecture the JW about assurance before you have engaged 1 Corinthians 9:27 on its own terms. Show them 2 Corinthians 13:5-7 first and let adokimos interpret adokimos.
Read and in one sitting. What does adokimos mean in each? Is it a threat of losing salvation or a test of whether Christ is really in you?