If salvation is by faith alone, why does Jesus teach that we must endure to the end?

Question

Matthew 10:22: "And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved."
Matthew 24:13: "But he who endures to the end shall be saved."
Mark 13:13: "And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."
Luke 21:16-18: "You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life."

It sounds like something more than faith is required: Endurance in the face of tests and temptations.

One things is clear: We can definitely rule out once in grace, always in grace. If getting into grace one time did it all, there would be no reason to teach enduring to the end.

"The kind of faith that receives salvation must by its nature produce good works." How do you figure, Anonymous Lutheran? James certainly did not think so (2:14-17(:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Answer 1

It isn't by faith alone. Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23

Bearing a cross means subjecting yourself to very difficult situations for the sake of the gospel. Just as you quoted in Matthew above, you may be subjected to hatred, persecution, and even betrayal by those once closest to you. It is not for the faint of heart.

Our actions are evidence of our faith. James 1:22 "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves."

There is no scripture to support the idea of once in grace, always in grace. Salvation is a daily struggle against sin but grace increases with each denial of sin. Consider the words of this disciple of Christ:

Philippians 3: 12-15

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

Answer 2

Briefly, no. Here are Jesus' teachings about faith: Salvation requires one to believe Christ and put faith in him: Luke 7:50: Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Luke 8:12: Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. John 5:34: Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. John 10:9: I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. John 3:14-16: Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:36: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 5:24: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. John 6:40: For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:47: I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. John 11:25-26: Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 14:6: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 17:3: Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. A careful reading of these teachings will show that Jesus teaches that faith is NECESSARY, but not SUFFICIENT. In other words, Jesus does not teach faith ALONE. For salvation, Jesus ALSO requires us to be baptized (Mark 16:16; John 3:5), renounce our own lives (e.g., Matt 5:3, 10), repent (Matt 3:2; 4:17; 18:8-9; Mark 9:42-48), obey God and do what is just and charitable (e.g., Luke 10:25-28; Matt 19:17; Matt 25), adopt the humility of a child (Matt 18:3-4; 19:14), eat the bread of life (John 6:51, 53-54), and endure to the end (Matt 10:22, 24:13; Mark 13:13, Luke 21:16-18). CDF

Answer 3

Good question.

Salvation is by faith; and then those who know for sure that they are saved in God's and Jesus' and the Holy Spirit's one combined love here, begin to ever increasingly do the fruits of the Spirit in their lives to others. The fruits of the divine Spirit which are yielded in the lives of Spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace.

All humans are always in the perfect love and grace of our Holy Father-Son-Spirit God; but humans also each have freewill from God as a human personality to reject some or all of this lavish love and merciful grace.

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Answer 4

Ok Bruce it's like this, I have faith that the Son of almighty God came to the earth to save me from my sin.
Once I excepted the free gift He gave to me, I still have to live in this world, He didn't take me out of the world as soon as I became born-again.
So I must endure the prince of the powers of this world & those who fellow him.
The walk in faith is hard because there r always roadblocks & obstacles put in our path.
Many of us (in other countries) have been badly treated & will continue to do so.
We in the USA only have to hear or read some people bad mouthing the Son of God as well as using God's name in vain, saying mean things on this site of our God. & many don't answer the meaness in love, the love we are told to show even our enemies.
He loves them, even though those who say mean things about Him don't really know Him, yet we r to show them an example of Him on earth, now truly how many of us can say we do that.

Answer 5

Grace came after Christs death. Those that were spoken to before his death were still under the law, and needed to perservere.
As faith based christians, we too are encouraged to 'finish the race', and we are reminded 'faith without works is dead' - a notice that if we don't exhibit our faith it will have no good effect on the world and loved ones around us. We must ''endure'' the persecution of the world while keeping alive the faith within us.
Our salvation is our faith in Christ - "our faith is counted as righteousness". Its the Holy Spirit and His holy word which supplies that faith, and that is why He is able to seal us 'for that day of redemption'.
Man cannot add any of our 'righteousness' to help with salvation, for He said "the righteousness of man is as filthy rags." You are suggesting endurance will be mans work to make sure he is qualified for salvation. Sometimes we are just overwhelmed by the world, and He knows that, and keeps us in His grace (salvations grace too) as we go thru our darkest and coldest moments. Thus we are 'sealed by the Holy Spirit' unto that day of redemption.

Answer 6

No one I know of believes that salvation is *by* faith. Salvation is *through* faith, but it is *by grace*.

Jesus is talking about endurance of faith--and the kind of faith that receives salvation must by its nature produce good works. However, the good works are not what achieve salvation--only God's grace does that. Nor do good works merit salvation--only Jesus can do that, and since He has infinite merit while having no personal need of salvation, He shares His merit with us out of His abundance.

Edit: I'm having a difficult time identifying what it is that you disagree with about what I said. James said, "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." I said, "The kind of faith that receives salvation must by its nature produce good works." Aren't I simply restating what James said, in my own words?

Answer 7

Were are not just in it for what we can get.

Even if you will be in heaven, how will you feel if you do not do what you can to bring your family, friends, and acquaintances too?

You never know the good you are doing, until
we get over to heaven. Some one, who never read God's Word, is looking at you! Shine!

You are their only bible, if you continue to the end....or a libel against God, if you are selfish and/or lazy. For GOD's sake!!! Serve Him, while there is time.

Answer 8

Some people say that faith actually produces that endurance and passages like the ones you quoted are descriptive and not prescriptive. I vacillate between the two positions myself.

Answer 9

also Matthew 23:13

Answer 10

http://kingjbible.com/matthew/24.htm