We Are Saved Because The Holy Spirit Endures, Not Us

Matthew 24:11-13, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

This is one of the most controversial passages in the Bible, the phrase: “He that shall endure unto the end shall be saved.” Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) wisely once said: “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” I couldn't agree more! Having said that, I want to share the following helpful quote from Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) explaining the meaning of Matthew 24:13...

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (vs. 13). What does it mean? Arminians have often insisted that it meant people would be saved or kept saved by their own enduring, by their holy living. But that interpretation would contradict some of the plainest statements in the Bible like, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8, 9). Again it is promised, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Clearly one who trusts in Jesus Christ is saved. not by works, but by God's grace.

The Scripture makes clear that our salvation is solely on the merits of Jesus Christ and His atonement. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:18, 19). How could I ne saved by enduring to the end, and at the same time be saved by the precious blood of Christ? How could I be saved by enduring, yet be saved by grace and without works?

No, the word saved here has a different context. Here in Matthew 24:13 Jesus is not speaking of the redemption of a soul. He speaks rather of the rescue of Jews  in the midst of the tribulation. That tribulation is plainly described in verses 15 to 21, and verse 22 says, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.” So the word “saved” in verse 13 and the word “saved” in verse 22 refer to the same thing: the salvation or rescue of the flesh of Jewish people during the tribulation. In mercy God will cut short the tribulation time and will rescue Jews out of the tribulation. Surely some Jew, greatly tempted and threatened with death in the tribulation time, will read this promise of Jesus with joy and faith. He will hold on to his faith, will not renounce the Saviour, and the time will be cut short and he will be rescued.

It would be a serious mistake to make verse 13 refer to the great plan of salvation for the soul, for thus it would contradict many other plain statements in the Bible showing that salvation is not by works, not by man's goodness or faithfulness or endurance, but by virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ. That salvation is received by penitent faith.

SOURCE: Dr. John R. Rice, “Matthew,” pp. 377-378; Sword Of The Lord, ©1955

I have three comments to make regarding what Dr. Rice just taught:

1. I agree 100% on his interpretation of Matthew 24:13, that “saved” refers to the saving of human flesh during the Tribulation period, and not the saving of the soul. 
2. I totally disagree that this passage refers to the Jews. What saith the Scripture? Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” The elect (or chosen) refer to born-again believers, not Jews. God does not choose anyone to salvation, but for those who choose Jesus Christ, they are the chosen of God. Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” This passage plainly teaches that Physical Jews are not the recipient of God's promises, but saved Jews, which promises have also been extended to the Gentiles by faith. Galatians 3:7, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”
3. Nowhere does the Bible require “penitent faith” to receive the free gift of salvation. Respectfully, Dr. Rice is adding to the Scriptures! I don't like when preachers use language that are not found in the Bible. I triple-dog dare you to show me where the Bible speaks of “penitent faith.” It does not! But I can show you hundreds of passages which plainly teach salvation by “faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:26; Romans 4:5-6). There is no mention of having a certain remorseful attitude toward sin. Evangelist Alexander Marshall (1846-1928) gets it 100% correct!!! Sorrow for sins may accompany repentance, but sorrow itself is not repentance. Judas felt sorrow for his sins, but it was a false repentance which did not lead to salvation (Matthew 27:3). Repentance is a change of mind unto the Gospel itself, so that the man who believes has repented, and the man who repents (i.e., changes his mind) has believed. Preachers must be extremely careful not to require what God does not require. The only “change of mind” which God requires to be saved is the acknowledgment of THE TRUTH (2nd Timothy 2:25), that one is a guilty sinner in the sight of God (Romans 3:19-20), in need of the Savior (Galatians 3:24-26). Dr. Rice further states:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith.

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 250-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

I am far from done dear friend. Matthew 24:13 is a highly tortured Scripture! That is what the word “wrest” means in 2nd Peter 3:16, “to torture” the Scripture! 2nd Peter 3:16, “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” One of my favorite Bible teachers is Pastor Harry Ironside (1875-1951), but he utterly made a grave error in his commentary on Matthew 24:13, applying it to the great plan of salvation...

People say, "I see you believe in that old Baptist doctrine of 'once in grace, always in grace.'" Or another says, "I understand you hold that old Presbyterian idea of 'the final perseverance of the saints.'" I do not know why this should be called either Baptist or Presbyterian, only to the extent that Baptists and Presbyterians agree with the Book, and the Word of God clearly shows that once God takes us up in grace nothing can separate us from the love of Christ so that evidently the expression, "once in grace, always in grace," is a perfectly correct one. But, on the other hand, I am not so enthusiastic about the other expression, "the perseverance of the saints." I believe in it; I believe that all saints—all really belonging to God—will persevere to the end, for the Book tells me, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13), and if a man starts out and makes a profession but gives it all up, he will never be saved, because he was never born again to begin with, he was never truly changed by grace divine. On the other hand, the reason he endures to the end is not because of any particular perseverance of his own. What I believe in, and what the Word of God clearly teaches, is the perseverance of the Holy Spirit. When He begins a work, He never gives up until it is completed. That is our confidence. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: The Eternal Security Of The Believer

I have two things to say about Dr. Ironside's teachings above:

1. He is very mistaken to even cite Matthew 24:13 as pertaining to the great plan of salvation, which is obtained solely on the merit of Jesus' precious blood and not human endurance to the end. No preacher ought ever even mention Matthew 24:13 when teaching salvation, unless you are exposing Calvinism.
2. I fully agree with Dr. Ironside that if a person who once professed Christianity, now denies Christianity altogether, they never experienced the new birth in the first place. There is no such thing as: “I used to be a Christian.” You either are one now and always will be; or else you are not a Christian today and never have been. Christianity is not a philosophy, organization, culture or business, it is a NEW BIRTH! Just as the physical birth is irreversible, so also is the spiritual birth (John 1:12-13; 1st Peter 1:23). Albeit, Moody Bible Institute today falsely claims that Dr. Ironside moved toward “a position of moderate Calvinism” toward his latter ministry, based on nothing more than the preceding comment I shared with you from his book. Dr. Ironside plainly stated that he does not believe in the Perseverance Of The Saints heresy, except that he believes the Holy Spirit will persevere in every believer, if one is truly born-again. I fully agree! This has absolutely nothing to do with the believer's dedication, faithfulness or holiness; but rather, God's faithfulness to never leave nor forsake any believer (Hebrews 13:5). 

By foolishly citing Matthew 24:13 in reference to the great plan of salvation, Dr. Ironside gave reprobate Calvinists an inch, so they took a foot! Although wrong in his application of Matthew 24:13, it is clear from Pastor Ironside's own words that he did not like nor teach the heresy that any believer must “persevere” in holiness and service to Christ to be saved. This is a very big deal dear reader, because wicked false teachers like Dr. Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University since 2014) are preaching that... well, read his heretical words for yourself:

“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)

Ephesians 1:13-15 teaches that every believer is sealed with God's Holy Spirit at the time of salvation. The Holy Spirit will NEVER leaves the Christian, not for any reason (Hebrews 13:5). When we sin, grace more abounds (Romans 5:20). The believer is no longer under the curse of the law, but is now under God's grace forever. Once saved, always saved (OSAS). Anyone who denies OSAS is NOT saved, because they are requiring more than God does for redemption. 

Adding even the least human effort to faith cancels grace. Dear reader, God is faithful (1st Corinthians 3:9). We are kept saved because God is faithful, not because we are faithful. If we have to live a holy life to prove that we are saved, then faith is not enough. We are saved because the indwelling Holy Spirit endures, not because we endure! When we got saved, we accepted a free gift, and that gift is eternal life. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”