“But the one who endures to the end, that one will be kept safe” (Matthew 24:13).
This verse speaks to those who are truly regenerated and persevere in faith to the end. Those who persevere are being preserved by God’s regenerating Spirit. Matthew 24:13 speaks to what some have called “The perseverance of the saints.” It is true that we persevere but by by whose will and power do we persevere? God’s of course. And that is why the phrase “preservation of the saints” is a better phrase since perseverance is the result of preservation (for an article on preservation see: http://www.outsidethecamp.org/presgrace.htm).
“For you have need of patience, that having done the will of God you may obtain the promise. For, yet a very little while, and the One coming will come, ‘and will not delay.’ ‘But the just shall live by faith;’ ‘and if he draws back,’ ‘My soul is not pleased in him.’ But we are not of those withdrawing to destruction, but of faith, to the preservation of the soul” (Hebrews 10:36-39).
“Preservation of the soul” says the author of Hebrews. This preservation is by the power of the Holy Spirit. And now here are some relevant verses to Matthew 24:13 that also relate to the doctrine of the preservation of the saints.
From the Christian Confession Of Faith:
D. Preservation
1. When God saves a person, He preserves that person from ever returning to a state of lostness and from ever being punished in hell. [Psa 31:23; 37:24,28; 55:22; 66:9; 121:3-8; Pro 2:7-8; Jer 32:39-40; Joh 6:40; 10:28-29; Rom 8:30-39; Eph 1:13-14; Phi 1:6; 2Th 3:3; 2Ti 1:12; 4:18; 1Pe 1:3-5; Jud 24]
“O love Jehovah, all you saints of His; Jehovah preserves the faithful, and abundantly repays the proud doer” (Psalm 31:23).
“Though he falls, he is not cast down; for Jehovah upholds his hand…For Jehovah loves judgment and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever; but the wicked’s seed shall be cut off” (Psalm 37:24, 28).
“Cast on Jehovah what He has given, and He will keep you; He will not give the righteous to waver, forever” (Psalm 55:22).
“Who holds our soul in life and does not allow our foot to slide” (Psalm 66:9).
“He will not give your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will not slumber nor sleep. Jehovah is the One keeping you; Jehovah is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night; Jehovah shall keep you from all evil; He shall keep your soul. Jehovah shall keep your going out, and your coming in, from now on and till forever” Psalm 121:3-8).
“He lays up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to the ones who walk in integrity, to guard the paths of judgment, and He protects the way of His saints” (Proverbs 2:7-8).
“And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me all the days, for good to them and to their sons after them. And I will cut an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do good to them. But I will put My fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me” (Jeremiah 32:39-40).
“And this is the will of the One sending Me, that everyone seeing the Son and believing into Him should have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).
“And I give eternal life to them, and they shall not perish to the age, never! And not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29).
“But whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Truly He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up on behalf of us all, how will He not freely give all things to us with Him? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? God is the One justifying! Who is he condemning? It is Christ who has died, but rather also is raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession on our behalf. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Even as it has been written, ‘For Your sake we are killed all the day; we are counted as sheep of slaughter.’ But in all these things we more than conquer through Him loving us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord” (Romans 8:30-39).
“in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also believing you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is an earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
“being persuaded of this very thing, that the One having begun a good work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
“But the Lord is faithful who will establish and will guard you from the evil” 2 Thessalonians 3:3).
“For which cause I also suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard my deposit until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12).
“And the Lord will deliver me from every wicked work and will save me for His heavenly kingdom; to whom be the glory to the ages of the ages. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He according to His great mercy having regenerated us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in Heaven for you the ones in the power of God being guarded through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).
“Now to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy” (Jude 1:24).
2. There are sins that God, in His sovereign preserving grace, keeps His people from committing. Any sin that God says proves lostness is, by definition, a sin that a believer cannot commit, even temporarily. These include believing in a false gospel, confessing belief in a false gospel, and speaking peace to one who brings a false gospel. [Jer 8:11; Mat 7:18; 24:24; Mar 16:16; Luk 6:45; Rom 10:3; Gal 1:8-10; 1Jo 1:8,10; 2:22-23; 2 Joh 9-11]
“For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace! And there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8:11).
“A good tree cannot produce evil fruits, nor a corrupt tree produce good fruits” (Matthew 7:18).
“For false christs and false prophets will rise up. And they will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).
“The one believing and being baptized will be saved. And the one not believing will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
“The good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of his heart. And the evil man brings forth evil out of the evil treasure of his heart, for his mouth speaks out of the abundance of his heart” (Luke 6:45).
“For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3).
“But even if we, or an angel out of Heaven, should preach a gospel to you beside the gospel we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, and now I say again, If anyone preaches a gospel beside what you received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I would not be a slave of Christ” (Galatians 1:8-10).
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us” (1 John 1:8, 10).
“Who is the liar, except the one denying, saying that Jesus is not the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. Everyone denying the Son does not have the Father. The one confessing the Son also has the Father” (1 John 2:22-23).
“Everyone transgressing and not abiding in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. The one abiding in the doctrine of Christ, this one has the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bear this doctrine, do not receive him into the house, and do not speak a greeting to him. For the one speaking a greeting shares in his evil works” (2 John 9-11).
3. Those who have professed belief in the gospel but later show themselves to be unregenerate did not lose their salvation. Instead, they show that they were never saved. [Joh 6:64-65; Heb 6:4-6; 1Jo 2:19]
“But there are some of you who are not believing. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were, the ones not believing, and who was the one betraying Him. And He said, Because of this, I have told you that no one is able to come to Me except it is given to him from My Father” (John 6:64-65).
“For it is impossible for those once having been enlightened, and having tasted of the heavenly gift, and becoming sharers of the Holy Spirit, and tasting the good Word of God, and the works of power of a coming age, and having fallen away, it is impossible for them again to renew to repentance, crucifying again for themselves the Son of God, and putting Him to open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).
“They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they left so that it might be revealed that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19.
Agrammatos 