Rose, a reader who has previously asked questions, has submitted new Bible questions that are equally sharp. Today, I’ll try to answer another one of her questions with the help of the Holy Spirit: “Are lukewarm Christians saved?”
This is something many of us wonder about. The question is straightforward, almost begging for a simple “yes” or “no,” but an answer that is faithful to Scripture requires greater nuance. And since the Bible never leaves us defenseless, it also requires an answer to the subsequent question: how do we avoid becoming lukewarm?
The answers to these questions largely depend on what we define as “lukewarm Christianity”. The term “lukewarm” is taken directly from Revelation 3:16: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” But what does this verse mean exactly?
If you read this verse out of context, the answer to Rose’s question would be that lukewarm Christians are not saved, as Jesus spits them out, away from His presence. But there is more to it.
In the preceding verse, Jesus said He would have preferred them either cold or hot. If you take a second to let that sink in, you realize that He said that even coldness is preferred over lukewarmness. Thus, to Jesus, being lukewarm is worse than having a stone-cold heart!
Presented to God
Let’s figure out why lukewarmness is such a bad thing by continuing to work with His analogy for a moment.
All of us will one day stand before God to have our “temperature measured” and to have our works tested by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10-12). So, both our hearts and our works will be judged.
When someone tastes something and spits it out, it’s generally because it is repulsive or possibly unsanitary and unsafe. When food that should be cooked is not heated properly, especially meat, it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. It is therefore unhealthy and dangerous to consume (or, in Biblical language, unclean). Spitting it out is the best option.
All people begin their lives raw, cold, and unclean, as children of a world ruled by satan (Romans 3:10-12, 23). Some come before God cold. The fire never really touched them, so they haven’t been cleansed (John 13:10). But even in their coldness, they serve a purpose, as we can read in the story of Judas. When they meet the fire, they will be completely consumed, for everything in them is impure. And God is a consuming fire, destroying every impurity it touches (Hebrews 12:29, Luke 12:49).
Others are meant to progress from cold to hot. God treats them like fine gold, which is purified by subjecting it to fire (Mark 9:49, 1 Peter 1:6-7). In this world, their flesh is heated until cleansed of every impurity. They need to be kept “hot and fresh” so that when they come before God, they will be as a pristine Bride (Ephesians 5:27).
This means that both hot and cold serve a purpose for God’s glory, while lukewarm food has lost its purpose. It is as useless as salt that has lost its flavor and will be discarded and trampled underfoot (Matthew 5:13).
Unfortunately, many people claim they don’t need fire to be purified. Some believe that they are already clean, while others try to cleanse themselves, which is impossible. And some initially warm themselves by the fire, endure for a while, then step away and cool off, adopting the world’s callousness (Matthew 13:20-22). Without intervention, this last group becomes lukewarm. When they do, as with meat, various contaminants stick to them and grow and multiply until all the flesh is spoiled. At a certain point, it’s too late to turn back to the fire. The meat is already spoiled to the core and must be discarded to prevent contamination of other foods.
Backsliding
In other words, these people were backsliding; they did not complete their process of sanctification and regressed from bad to worse.
We can read in other Bible verses that people who step away from the faith do indeed become worse than unbelievers, for example, in 1 Timothy 5:8, Hebrews 10:26-29, and Luke 12:47-48. And these verses are also very clear about this: “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:20-21).
This is also what happened in the church of Laodicea, which Jesus called lukewarm. About 30 years earlier, Paul wrote them and the church in Colosse a letter (Colossians 2:1, 3:13-16), in which he rejoices to see their good order and the firmness of their faith (Colossians 2:5). So, something must have changed in those 30 years, but what?
Well, Jesus explained why He called them lukewarm in the verse that follows: “For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,’ not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). It seems that these Christians had become “comfortable” and self-reliant. They didn’t feel they were lacking anything, and they didn’t really feel challenged in life. They had it all together, at least when it came to material stuff.
All people, by nature, seek comfort. Who doesn’t want to be well-fed, warm during the cold winter months, and free from physical or mental pain?
In the world, we craved these things more than anything. Unbelievers crave success, wealth, and independence so that they can buy themselves these comforts and find what they consider peace and happiness. But when we become born-again Christians, these things become secondary, because God comes first: When we seek to please God, we find true joy and peace. And when we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, we receive all we need (Matthew 6:33).
In contrast, when we begin to feel comfortable in life and rest in our health, wealth, or prosperity instead of in Jesus, we are back to where we started as unbelievers. Only worse, because we now know that this is not right.
Self-reliance
The lukewarm Christians of Laodicea thought they didn’t need anything (Revelation 3:17), but all of us need Jesus.
Jesus said, “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:3-7, emphasis added).
Jesus repeated the word “abide” so often for a reason. It is crucial to walk in the Word through the Spirit continuously, steadfastly, enduringly. Those who don’t abide in Him, the Word, will be destroyed by the fire. So, we must do everything we can to prevent becoming complacent. Only then will we be saved, fruitful, and see all our wishes fulfilled.
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The danger of comfort for Christians
You may have noticed that those who seem lukewarm often also seem “comfortable,” just like the church of Laodicea. They navigate their daily lives with a certain ease. There is always food on the table, plenty of clothes to wear, they buy whatever they like, and they seem generally satisfied in life. Their goals and challenges don’t really differ from those of the people of the world.
Some of them find themselves at home in churches with comfortable sermons that sound more like pep talks with a sprinkling of Bible Truth here and there, rather than faith-building, conscience-stirring, obedience-demanding, life-changing, Bible-centered teaching. Others prefer legalistic churches, so that they can tick off boxes in an attempt to work their way into heaven without changing their hearts.
Lukewarm Christians lack spiritual depth. They hardly study the Word, and their love for God and the Body of Christ seems shallow. The decisions they make are their own, and they have forgotten how to walk in the Spirit. In all they do, they focus on what is seen, rather than on what is spiritual, leading to quarrels over superficial things when they should build one another up in the way of the Lord. Unfortunately, because they feel satisfied and unchallenged in most areas of their lives, they lack motivation to make substantial changes in their relationship with God.
The bottleneck is that they desire their current comfort more than they desire Christ. So, they are stuck in spiritual complacency and spiritual blindness.
Spiritual blindness and lukewarm faith
Jesus called these lukewarm people blind (Revelation 3:17). Peter wrote that people who have become spiritually nearsighted or even blind lack certain qualities: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (2 Peter 1:5-10). As a result, they become ineffective or unfruitful (2 Peter 1:8).
When you are spiritually blind, every stumbling block can cause you to fall. You can be misled, or when times get hard, you fall away from Christ, instead of running towards Him. Blind people have also forgotten that they were cleansed from their former sins (2 Peter 1:9). This can lead to self-reliance, self-justification, and other things that lead us away from Christ.
To prevent us from falling, we need to continue practicing those qualities Peter mentioned (2 Peter 1:10-11). He said that he even reminds those who already do, until the day he dies, that’s how important this is for our salvation (2 Peter 1:11-15).
Illegitimate children
Sometimes, the ease with which these Christians seem to navigate life can evoke a feeling of jealousy when you are in fact suffering for Christ. But don’t be fooled: It is a bad sign when we are comfortable for an extended period of time. God disciplines those He loves, so that we may become holy like Him (Hebrews 12:7-11, 1 Corinthians 11:32). He allows pain and suffering in our lives, for our good. Sometimes as a consequence of sin, but also when we haven’t sinned. Just like with Job (in whom God seemed to take pride), He allows satan to challenge us occasionally, so that we grow. Even Jesus, who was without sin, was tempted by the devil in a season of preparation (Luke 4:1-15).
No life with God is without trials. In fact, the very fact that we endure discipline means that we are His children (Hebrews 12:7-8). So, if we aren’t challenged anymore, what does that tell us?
When the rich young man in Mark 10 refused to relinquish his wealth to follow Jesus, he left disheartened. He wasn’t prepared to give up his comfort to follow Jesus, so he walked away from Him.
Jesus said that it is more difficult for a wealthy person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Mark 10:25). It takes a miracle, and it requires loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).
A wake-up call
Jesus said, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19). That must mean that He hadn’t given up on those lukewarm Christians yet, since His words are indeed a stern warning. He gave them another chance to repent and to become zealous for God again.
A body of water that isn’t stirred up, flowing, or moving in any way becomes stagnant, toxic, and bad-smelling. No life, other than bacteria, can survive in it, and contaminants pile up. It’s the same with us: we need to be stirred up to stay fresh, active, and life-promoting. This occurs when we are moved by what happens in our lives and in the lives of other people. But the harder our hearts become as a result of ignoring the Holy Spirit, the less we are moved by what moves God.
Working hard in church doesn’t have to mean that we are zealously working in the Spirit. We can do ministry with the wrong state of heart, for example, if we do it to please people or in the hope that those works will save us in the end.
Jesus said: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot” (Revelation 3:15a, emphasis added). The word “works” implies that they were toiling. The fact that they weren’t cold likely meant that they weren’t doing the works of the flesh as Paul detailed in Galatians 5:19-21. Their sin wasn’t as obvious as sexual immorality, jealousy, or rage; it was a lack of passion. If they had done those things, at least they would have felt something, which could have woken them up to repentance. But they didn’t really care anymore, and so they were likely going through the motions.
As I’ve detailed in my book, we can work hard, believing we are doing all the right things for God, while deceiving ourselves and allowing our flame to dwindle until we burn out. We must continue to walk in our purpose and, in doing so, confirm our calling to be useful for God’s glory (2 Peter 1:10).
Sometimes, something deeply tragic must happen, something that makes us so uncomfortable that we run back to Christ in desperation. He will then open our eyes and restore us.
But not all will wake up
Jesus said that He will stand at the door and knock, and anyone who hears His voice and opens the door will be with Him (Revelation 3:20). That implies that there will be some lukewarm Christians who will not hear His voice, and others who will hear His voice but won’t open the door.
The world cannot see and know the Spirit, so the more we conform to the world, the harder it will be to recognize His voice and discern what pleases God (Romans 12:2, John 14:17). With enough time passed and warnings ignored, even when He comes knocking with a final warning to be zealous and repent, we won’t be able to hear and understand what He means.
If we continue to disobey or ignore the Holy Spirit, there will come a time when it will be too late. Every time He warns us, it could be the last chance we get, for nobody knows when they will breathe their last.
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How to avoid becoming lukewarm
Of course, nobody wants to be the person who doesn’t wake up on time and is lost. And we don’t want our brothers and sisters to be lost if we fear that they have become lukewarm. But we cannot live another person’s life. And since only God knows the heart, we cannot know the exact temperature of someone’s heart (even our own), unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. He may do this so that we know how to pray and what to say, but even then, whether a person will eventually be saved is completely between them and God.
Thankfully, God uses Scripture as a thermometer to reveal the temperature of our own hearts. So what we can do is take Jesus’s counsel to heart, and instruct ourselves and others with it:
- Jesus told the lukewarm Christians that they need to buy from Him gold refined by fire, so that they may become truly rich (Revelation 3:18).
Having riches and splendor in the world is meaningless without God (Ecclesiastes 2:8-11). It is not about what we have on this earth, for that will eventually be destroyed; it is about what we have in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). Even if we possessed all the gold on earth, we would own nothing of true and everlasting value. But when our hearts are set on the purest treasure of all, the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will refine our thoughts, feelings, and actions as with fire, so that we become more and more like Christ. That will result in good works that, when tested by fire, will reap an everlasting reward (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
So, store up treasure for yourself in heaven, and focus on walking in the Spirit even when that becomes uncomfortable. Because it’s not the Christians who are being tried and tested who backslide, but those who are comfortable.
The prophet Daniel wrote about this: “and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time” (Daniel 11:35).
Being refined by fire, and thus challenged, is never pleasant, but the result is definitely worth it. For the same fire that refines God’s children will eventually destroy God’s enemies. - He instructed them to buy from Him white garments to clothe themselves and cover their shame (Revelation 3:18). This means that they should clothe themselves with holiness provided by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:13-14).
These Christians were spiritually naked and shamefully exposed. This is similar to what Adam and Eve experienced after they sinned (Genesis 3:10). They, too, were naked and ashamed as a result of disobedience, since they weren’t covered by the blood of Jesus. Instead of asking God for help, they avoided Him and (self-reliantly) sewed themselves loincloths from fig leaves (Genesis 3:7-8).
We do have the blood of Jesus available to us. So, if you notice any lukewarmness in your heart, repent and ask for forgiveness; let Jesus wash you clean again, so that the shame of your sin will no longer be seen, nor held against you. Then, continue to walk in holiness and righteousness by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. - He said to buy from Him salve to anoint their eyes, so that they would be able to see. When you walk in darkness, you won’t know where you are going, and you will stumble over any obstacle you encounter. We’ve already learned the qualities we must practice to prevent falling as a result of blindness. But to do this, we need the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Salve, or anointing oil, is one of the Biblical symbols of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly, the words salve and salvation both have to do with restoration. The Greek word translated to “salve” is kollurion, which, according to Biblehub, is a small bread roll, and an eye salve shaped like a roll. If this is accurate, this word use is by design, since the Holy Spirit will cure us from our blindness as He guides us into the Truth of God’s Word (the Bread of Life).
He is also the oil that fuels the lamp: when we read the Word, the Word will be as a lamp to our feet so that we won’t stumble (John 16:13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Psalm 119:105).
Jesus’s third piece of advice is therefore: Listen to the Word and do what it says with the help of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 7:26, John 8:31-32, 14:26).
In every word of counsel Jesus gave them, He pointed to Himself as the Source. That is important to note, since it signals the opposite of self-reliance. We must completely rely on Him to steer our thoughts, feelings, and actions in the right direction. We must completely rely on Him to be forgiven and sanctified. And we must completely rely on Him to see Him, ourselves, and other people in the Light of His Truth.
Being saved is not just a one-time occurrence; it’s also a process that continues until the day we die. Each and every day, we should choose to abide in Him, in the Word, through the Holy Spirit. On mountain tops and in valleys, in quiet times and in storms. Always.