1 Timothy 4:16

Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching. Continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee.

Paul never thought of salvation as a "once procured, final feat, settled and done forever!" No, salvation was a matter of fidelity and perseverance to the end of life. From this, it is also clear that there is a sense in which men must save themselves, not in the sense of either meriting or earning salvation, but in the sense of diligent continuity in the Christian way. There is no occasion in the Christian life when the follower of the Lord may feel free to rest upon his laurels, assume that he "has it made," or cease the fidelity that should mark the entirety of his whole life. Wallis pointed out that "continuing" is one of the basic words "used to describe the steadfast walk of a Christian (Galatians 3:10; Hebrews 8:9; James 1:25; Acts 14:22 and Colossians 1:23). It is basically the same as ABIDE in John 15,1John."[30]