Isn't it only the one who endures to the end who is saved?
Matthew 24 and 10, and the crown of life.
The short answer Settled
Not saved from hell. Enduring to the end is not a condition of eternal life. In each passage it brings deliverance through hard days, or a reward.
Which end, and which saving
The disciples asked Jesus about "the end of the age" (). In His answer "the end" is the end of the age: "the end is not yet" (), and "then the end will come" (). He also says that unless those days were shortened "no flesh would be saved" (): no one would live through them. Shortening days keeps people alive; it does not decide who has eternal life. So "he who endures to the end shall be saved" () promises that the one who lasts through those days will be brought through when the end comes. Jesus said the very same words when He sent out the twelve: "he who endures to the end will be saved" (). There too He meant the end of those days, not the end of a person's life. The next verse says when that end comes: "you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes" ().
A crown is a reward
Christ told the believers in Smyrna, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (). He had just told them, "but you are rich" (). A crown rewards how a believer endures testing: "when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life" (). Eternal life is not a prize. It is "the gift of God" (), which the believer already "has" ().
The usual objection
Jesus said, "he who endures to the end shall be saved" (). Revelation promises the crown of life to the faithful and praises "the patience of the saints" (). On this view a believer who does not hold out to the end of his life will not be saved.
Each passage says which end and which saving it means. Matthew 24 speaks of being brought through to the end of the age, and Revelation 2 of a crown. In those who endure are already "saints"; their endurance is refusing to worship the beast. None of these makes endurance the way eternal life is received.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος tēs synteleias tou aiōnos, "of the end of the age" (Strong's 4930, 165) | Nouns | The end the disciples asked about. | |
| ὁ δὲ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος, οὗτος σωθήσεται ho de hypomeinas eis telos, houtos sōthēsetai, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (5278, 5056, 4982) | Aorist participle; future passive | Lasting through to the end, and being brought through. | |
| οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη πᾶσα σάρξ ouk an esōthē pasa sarx, "no flesh would be saved" (4982, 4561) | Aorist passive, negated | The same verb, meaning kept alive. | |
| δώσω σοι τὸν στέφανον τῆς ζωῆς dōsō soi ton stephanon tēs zōēs, "I will give you the crown of life" (1325, 4735, 2222) | Future active indicative | A crown: a reward for faithfulness. | |
| τὸ δὲ χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ ζωὴ αἰώνιος to de charisma tou theou zōē aiōnios, "but the gift of God is eternal life" (5486, 2222, 166) | Nouns | Eternal life is a gift, not a prize. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.