According to Matthew 10:22, we have to endure until the end to be saved. I am afraid I may get weak and not endure. Will I lose my salvation if I do not endure properly?
The Lord began this warning to His disciples in Matthew 10:16 which says, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” This verse, and the following verses, mainly address the troubles, persecutions, and sufferings which would happen to the apostles after the death and resurrection of Christ…sent out by Christ to preach His Gospel to the world.
Consider the sobering words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples in verses 17-21, “But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.” Even as the Lord commissioned these men to serve Him in the world, He also warned them of the promised persecutions they would encounter. It was not that they MIGHT be persecuted, but by their faithful obedience to the Lord, they WOULD be persecuted. The Apostle Paul later wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL SUFFER PERSECUTION.”
In the face of their persecution, the disciples realized that to suffer for the Lord’s sake was an honor. We read in Acts 5:40-42, “And…when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”
Now let’s read Matthew 10:22, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” What exactly does this mean? Why does the world hate Christians? Does our salvation depend upon our endurance of suffering?
We know the world of the unbelievers hates believers because they hate our savior. The Lord Jesus said in John 15:18-19, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” We are not of this world when we have faith in Christ. Our citizenship is in Heaven (Philippines 3:20). We must endure hatred, but we must also show the love of Christ in the midst of that hatred. (Read Luke 6:27).
It is a fact that many merely profess faith in the Lord Jesus, but when hard times come, they turn back to their worldly ways. ENDURANCE IS EVIDENCE OF TRUE POSSSESSION OF FAITH IN CHRIST. It is not a condition of salvation. We have a reassuring word to the true believers in Hebrews 10:39 which says, “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” There are certain rewards for those who continue in faithfulness to Christ, but it is the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross that gives us salvation. When we put our faith in Him as our Lord and savior, the Lord assures us that we possess eternal life. (The very definition of eternal life shows that it can never end.) “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28). (CC) (594.6)