The Mark of a True Believer

In Matthew 24:13 Jesus makes an interesting statement:

"But the one who endures to the end will be delivered." Or "be saved".

(He's speaking in context of predicting the destruction of the Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 and then moves to predicting what it will be like on the earth before the Second Coming.)

But his statement is an interesting general principle referring to salvation that we also find throughout the book of Hebrews. Several times in Hebrews the author repeats the following truth:

"For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start."

"Let us...run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus..."

It seems like it should be an obvious statement: that the one who loves Jesus genuinely won't ever stop loving Him, but we always find ourselves wondering, "How do I know if so and so is a believer?" or "I'm not sure if they love Jesus or not?" or "How do I know if I'm a believer?" Well, here's the answer to these questions for us: we know if we endure to the end! (The author also adds another mark of a true believer that if we're not being disciplined by God we're not true children of God.)

With that being said, a believer can sometimes fall into sin and wander from God, but he or she will be under too much conviction to stay there for long. He will always return.

It's the mark of a true believer!