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What did Jesus mean when he said, "But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13)? Can Christians lose their salvation at some point in life?
Jesus tells us that there will be those who profess Christ but don’t have new life in the Spirit:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21)
And Jesus tells us what the Father wills regarding all who believe in him:
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)
Having new life in Christ by the Spirit guarantees that one will endure to the end.
All who are regenerated to new life in Christ by the Spirit will endure to the end. The Spirit does not come and go depending on our level of faithfulness (Eph. 1:23-24). Once the Holy Spirit has regenerated you, making you a new creation in Christ, he keeps your life and preserves you forever:
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8)
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph. 1:13-14)
Salvation is God's gift entirely. Someone who has new life by the Holy Spirit cannot lose their salvation. Believers did nothing to earn regeneration and there is nothing they can do to become un-regenerated. The Spirit indwells all true believers, and he convicts God’s children of their sin in his sanctifying work. No one will snatch Jesus' sheep from his hand (John 10:28).
The Westminster Confession of Faith, one of the great confessions of the historic church, states,
They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. (Phil. 1:6, 2 Pet. 1:10, 1 John 3:9, 1 Pet. 1:5,9) — Westminster Confession of Faith 17.1
Around the throne of Christ, the solace and quiet of the permanent resides without any shadow of change.
To be raised with Christ by faith makes us part of the new creation. It alters our identity, our homeland, our family, and our destiny. Being raised with Jesus means we are strangers and aliens in this age. Our new family is the body of Christ. Our homeland is the Age to Come. The country of our new birth is the world above. We seek the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. This is a pursuit of Jesus—to be near him, to see him, to worship him. It is focusing the lens of our hope upon the enthroned Christ.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. — Colossians 3:1-4
The constant changing of circumstances of our lives injects us with insecurity, fear, anxiety, and instability as the good today may be gone tomorrow. Yet, around the throne of Christ, the solace and quiet of the permanent resides without any shadow of change. The weather of our lives here may be foul or fair, but our true home is found secure in the everlasting peace of Christ in heaven. To seek the things above is to rest in the forever of Christ’s love and glory; it is to let his grace pour into our hearts like rivers of living water from Mount Zion above.
Peace with God and eternal life are found in Christ alone alone.
If you have not already done so, receive Jesus Christ as your Savior today:
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:9-13)
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