“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13
We saw Louis Zamperini speak the year before he died. He was still sharp as a tack, and gung-ho for Jesus! He and Billy Graham remained friends for the rest of Louis’ life after their fateful meeting in 1949. Today, Billy Graham is still writing articles for Christian journals, is an outspoken advocate for Christians to be “Involved” in their community and still has a heart for saving the lost. Corrie Ten Boom spent the last half of her life criss-crossing the globe for Jesus, telling any who would listen of the marvelous power of forgiveness in Christ.
Persevere!
I make no claim here to be on either side of the “Once saved, always saved” debate. There are those who think you can lose your salvation, and this Bible verse (above) seems to point to the fact that we must persevere to the end. However, if you were saved, and you lost your salvation, how did you lose it? I’m inclined, as I said, to just allow it to be a mystery of salvation, of God’s divine providence, that we can somehow be saved – at all – and perhaps it’s both? Meaning, yes, you are saved just once, but you definitely must persevere to the end also.
I have this argument periodically with myself, and others, over whether you could wake up, lose your salvation in the morning, then get it back at lunch, then lose it again in the afternoon, only to regain it at night before going to bed. It sounds ridiculous, but some actually believe that. I think we just should treat it as the most wonderful gift we’ve ever received, and show Jesus that we cherish it by surrendering to HIs Lordship and striving to work “For Him” f
or the rest of our lives.
Confessions of a Jesus Freak 
I’ve had friends who think you can continuously lose their salvation. That sounds like a tragic way to live life- not knowing if you’ll go to heaven depending on the time of day and what you’ve done.
About the best way I’ve heard it said is to celebrate the fact that you’re saved, but live each day as if you could lose your salvation. In other words, to quote Jesus from Luke 10:20 “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” And, as I use it in this article, Matthew 24:13 – persevere to the end! Keep on following Jesus, no matter what.
We, at Hope Chapel, completely refute the modern “Name it and claim it” gang, i.e., those who preach “Prosperity”. That’s really a form of “Magic”, sympathetic magic at that, thinking that you can alter your own reality simply by believing something will happen if you just wish it hard enough. Jesus, and the other Apostles in the New Testament, teach nothing of that sort. Jesus teaches that we must instead deny ourselves, picking up our crosses daily and follow Him. It may not necessarily be easy or pleasant. But, we can be joyous no matter what, knowing we have our salvation and that we’ll spend eternity in a place with Him.
I think the prosperity gospel rests pretty much solely on the “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13) The problem of course, is that verse is conditional, on the “Whatever you ask” for being aligned with His will. Everything we do, or strive to do, should be in His will. I am pretty sure that’s what the “In my name” piece means, not that we should simply ASK in His name, but that we should make sure that what we’re asking is worthy of His name, aligned with what His will is for our lives.