Eternal Security and Matthew 24:13

Matthew 24:13 that says, "he that endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." This is the verse that Lordship salvation quote to support their heresy and also those that believe you can lose your salvation. If you were to type Matthew 24:13 in a search engine then most replies will come from either one of those heretical camps.

I agree with Dr Lloyd Olson who wrote, "Only shoddy exegesis and ignorance of context would take a passage about the end times given solely and specifically to national Israel and twist it into a present fear of personal loss of salvation. Fear and ignorance are some of Satan's most powerful tools!" He also states concerning this verse and those that teach that it must mean loss of salvation: "This is a clear case of violently wrenching the verse out of text and forcing one's opinions upon God's Word."

As I shared before, many believer's get hung up over a verse and cannot see before it or after it. All they can see is the word "saved" and they make the foolish conclusion that salvation from sin must be meant when the word saved has more than one meaning in Scripture.

The first thing that I like to ask those that believe that they can lose their salvation is to define what the word "end" in that verse. Surprisingly, most will tell me the end of one's life. I tell them that the very chapter defines the word "end" and it doesn't mean one's life. This passage is talking about Jacobs trouble or the great tribulation period as we would call it. Here are the verses that define what the word "end" means from that chapter:

"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the END of the world?" (Vs. 3).

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the END is not yet." (Vs. 6).

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the END come." (Vs. 14).

I challenge you to find anyone one of those verses to even remotely define the word "end" as meaning the end of one's life????? The "end" is clearly referring to the "end of the world" and not the end of one's life. I do not have time to share in great detail but if you are a believer then you will not be the one enduring to that end to be saved because you are going to be saved from God's wrath. I will at the end share a verse that argues that strongly.

So what does "shall be saved" mean here? The context defines that too. We also see in Jeremiah 30:7 a reference to the end and being saved out of it:

"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it."

Remember, the word "saved" in Scripture has more than one meaning. Jesus prayed "Save me from this hour" and Paul said that a woman shall be "saved in childbearing." Saved can mean preserved, deliver and so on but to simply make it saved from sin just to support one's doctrine because it sounds so good is wicked. Look at verse 22 that defines what shall be saved:

"And except those days should be shortened, there should NO FLESH be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Vs. 22).

What is the saving there? From sin or physical death? I have some news for you if you think that "elect's sake" means saved people. The "elect's sake" is a reference to Jews. Calvinists have found clever ways of distorting Scripture to their own fancy. I can't believe I used to be a 5 point Calvinist but God delivered me from it. This chapter is dealing with national Israel. God will spare some as they will be saved out of it (Jeremiah 30:7). For further study on the Great Tribulation see Jeremiah 30:4-11; Daniel 12:1-3; Ezekial 20:33-44; Matthew 24:21. You will see that it was Israel that God had in mind here and not the so-called poor souls in the USA. Israel will one day repent and those that endure to the end of these series of judgments pronounced will enter into the blessing of the millennial reign of Christ. The passage defines "end" as the end of the world and the word "saved" as referring to one's flesh. There is NOTHING evangelistic here that says, "He that believes and endures to the end shall be saved" or "He that endures to the end shall have everlasting life" as that is nowhere stated. You have to twist and mutilate this passage to get such a rendering. I am used to those Lordship advocates coming back with a new twist on the passage to hopefully make their heresy plausible but I am sorry, the passage clearly defines "end" and "saved" and you have to simply quote verse 13 and ignore the rest of the context to prove that it must somehow mean from sin.

Look at 1st Thessalonians 5:6-10 that says:

"Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him."

If you do not believe that this has to do with the end time then you should take some time and read the verses prior. Now if one has to be a good boy or girl until the end to be saved then this verse teaches the opposite. The people Paul describes are not enduring but are lazy and indifferent and yet they are going to live with Him!!! Some people would love to define the word "sleep" in verse 10 as meaning dead but never once does Paul elsewhere ever use that Greek word to define death. Also, the work "wake" is not the Greek word to refer to life either by Paul. Not only does Paul not use that Greek word anywhere to mean alive or dead but verse 6 clearly defines what Paul meant with those words. In verse 6, Paul refers to be asleep to that of those drunken in the night compared to those that are sober who walk in the light. It is the watchful being compared to the lazy and indifferent and Paul clearly says in verse 10:

"Who died for us, that, whether we wake (watchful) or sleep (lazy and indifferent), we should live together with him."

Comfort yourself with such words for God has not appointed YOU to wrath and judgment but to salvation. Even if you are not watching and are lazy then you still can rejoice that you will be with Him forever! This is a powerful verse in support of eternal security of the believer.

Praise the Lord that we have a verse in 1st Corinthians 1:8 that says,

"Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We have a God that not only saves us but seals us unto the day of redemption. I can't remember what author said this but he talked about how God sealed Noah into the ark and not the other way around. He didn't drive a peg hook into the side of the ark and told Noah to grab hold and if he endured to the end then he shall be saved. No, God sealed him in that ark and protected him from the danger without. Our God saves from beginning to end. God does all the saving apart from our works. How one can say "endure to the end to be saved from sin" is not a work at all is beyond me and yet they will deny it being a work. Only a person with a self righteous ego will hate the doctrine of free grace in saving sinners. They can keep their teaching as they frustrate the grace of God. If they want to make Matthew 24:13 apply to them then I hope the tribulation period doesn't happen 100 years from now as they have a long time to endure to that end and unless our medical community finds the secret of longevity then I doubt they will make it to the end. I hope their in Israel too because it is addressing that nation.