No — persecution cannot cause a believer to lose their salvation.
Romans 8:35 asks whether tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword can separate us from Christ's love, and verses 37-39 answer that nothing in all creation can separate us. Les Feldick teaches that our salvation rests on what Christ has done, not on what we have done, so external persecution cannot remove what God has secured.
Romans 8:35-39 — This passage directly answers the question by listing persecution among the hardships that cannot separate us from Christ's love.
In Romans 8:35, Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” The question itself puts persecution on the same level as every other hardship that could threaten a believer's security. Then Romans 8:37 declares, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Verses 38-39 close with the absolute answer: neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Scripture also says in 2 Corinthians 1:5 that as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. The Bible does not teach that persecution removes a believer from God's love; it teaches the opposite.
Les Feldick reminds believers that becoming a Christian does not mean a rose-petaled pathway. He says God does not remove us from trials and tribulations; He simply says, “I’ll see you through it” (Clip 4). For the church at Smyrna, Les explains that the more persecution crushed those believers, the more they exuded their testimony—they were poor in material things but spiritually rich (Clip 0). He also directs believers to Romans 8:35-39 as the great passage of salvation not based on what we have done but on what Christ has done for us (Clip 7). He asks the central question from Romans 8:35 and connects it to trusting God's grace, while insisting grace is not license (Clip 3). Finally, Les guards against one common misinterpretation: Matthew 24:13, “But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved,” does not mean endurance saves. He says it simply means the person survives the tribulation period (Clip 6).
Romans 8:35 lists tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword as potential threats to our relationship with Christ's love. Les Feldick reads these verses as a description of “our great salvation, not based on what we have done, but what Christ has done on our behalf” (Clip 7). The scriptural answer to the question is that in all these things believers are more than conquerors, and nothing can separate them from the love of God.
Les says the same Lord that permits persecutions and testings is the same Lord that provides the strength to go through it (Clip 1). He reminds believers to rest in the fact that regardless of what comes, God is for us, and even though men may touch the flesh, the soul is in God's care (Clip 2). Trials and tribulations are part of life in this old world, says Les, but God will always escort us and never forsake us (Clip 4).
Les addresses Matthew 24:13 carefully: “Does enduring save anybody? No.” He says Jesus is not talking about salvation by virtue of enduring the tribulation; the verse means that if someone has the wherewithal to come to the end of the tribulation, then he is going to be spared from its horrendous events. It is survival, not salvation.
Les explains that Smyrna, like myrrh, does not exude its fragrance until crushed. The more persecution crushed those believers, the more they exuded their testimony. God knew their tribulation and poverty, but spiritually they were rich. Their persecution did not remove them from God's love—it made their testimony more visible.
Smyrna's Crushing Persecution
Les explains that the church at Smyrna was poor in material things but rich spiritually under persecution, and the more they were crushed, the more they exuded their testimony.
God Provides Strength Through Persecution
Les says the same Lord who permits persecutions and testings is the same Lord who provides the consolation and strength needed to go through them.
God Is for Us Despite Persecution
Les teaches believers to rest in the fact that regardless of what comes, God is for us, and even though persecution may touch the flesh, the soul is in God's hands.
Romans 8:35 Central Question
Les asks the central question from Romans 8:35—“Shall tribulation or distress or persecution...?”—and connects it to trusting God's grace, while insisting grace is not license.
Trials Are Part of the Believer's Life
Les teaches that believers are not promised a rose-petaled pathway; God does not remove us from trials but escorts us through them and never forsakes us.
Martyrs Endured Without Renouncing Faith
Les describes early believers who went through horrible persecutions and, rather than renounce their faith, went to their deaths singing hymns like Paul and Silas.
Endurance Does Not Earn Salvation
Les clarifies that Matthew 24:13 does not mean endurance saves anyone; enduring to the end means surviving the tribulation period, not earning salvation.
Salvation Based on Christ's Work
Les says Romans 8:35-39 describes our great salvation, not based on what we have done but on what Christ has done on our behalf, and it must be read and believed again and again.
Romans 8:35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
This verse lists persecution among the hardships that cannot separate us from Christ's love.
Romans 8:37: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Believers are not merely surviving persecution; they are more than conquerors through Christ.
Romans 8:38-39: For I am persuaded, 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the absolute answer: nothing in all creation can separate a believer from God's love.
2 Corinthians 1:5: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
The same Lord who allows suffering also supplies consolation, so persecution does not mean abandonment.
Matthew 24:13: But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Les clarifies this verse is about surviving the tribulation, not about being saved by endurance.
Revelation 2:9: I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
The persecuted church at Smyrna was spiritually rich even while materially poor.
No. Romans 8:35 lists persecution among the hardships that cannot separate us from the love of Christ, and Romans 8:38-39 says nothing in all creation can separate us. Les Feldick adds that salvation is based on what Christ has done, not on anything we do or endure.
Les Feldick teaches the opposite — the same Lord who permits the persecution is the same Lord who provides the strength to go through it. God is for us, and He will never forsake us as He escorts us through valleys.
Les says this does not mean we are saved by enduring tribulation. It means the person who survives those seven years will be spared from the horrendous events of the tribulation. Salvation is still by Christ's finished work, not by endurance.
Watch the Teaching: Can Anything Separate You from God's Love? Romans 8:33-39