YOU MUST BE FAITHFUL UNTIL THE END
You cannot quit. You cannot receive Jesus and live like the world. You cannot accept Christ, serve Him for a while and then go back to the world. If you do, you will forfeit salvation.
We must be devoted to Christ for the rest of our lives. While we cannot live perfectly, we can live faithfully. That is something that we can decide to do and must decide to do. God does not save those who return to the devil’s side.
The Bible tells us that we must “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). That fight is ongoing for the rest of our lives. We cannot quit the fight. We are also admonished to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Endurance means that you keep on going until the end.
If what Jesus said about Himself is true, then His very nature demands sustained faithfulness. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The truth is, He IS the way, and you cannot quit going His way if you expect to have life.
Jesus said of His followers, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This means at least two things. The only way that we can do the work of God and be His people is by the strength that He provides. Without Him, we can do nothing. And it also means that we must remain in Him. You cannot remain in something you never had in the first place. And He would not tell us to remain in Him if it were impossible for us NOT to remain in Him.
The spiritual and biblical declaration that “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13) is definitely true and should be accepted and taught by everyone who claims to be a Christ follower. If someone thinks they do not have the strength to be faithful, then focus on HIS faithfulness. If you want to stay saves, He will keep you saved. “The Lord is faithful; He will give you strength and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3). But He will not do this for those who do not remain in a faithful relationship with Him.
Only those who are “faithful, even to the point of death” will receive the “crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). There is no heaven, no eternal salvation, promised to those who quit. But, since quitting on Jesus is a choice, that means you don’t ever have to do it. You can decide to stay faithful. And if you have gone away from Jesus and have stopped following Him, then you can decide to come back and He will receive you.
Jesus’s parable of the talents teaches that the Master will say to some, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21). Obviously, if you have not been faithful to Him until death, you will not hear that. Faithfulness to Jesus is required for salvation. You SHOULD do it, you MUST do it, and you CAN do it. Start from where you are and decide that you will be faithful to Jesus for the rest of your life.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
