Exposition
The Christian journey is based on the doctrine of perseverance, which defies the concept of “once saved, forever saved”. After believing and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, one has to build endurance. From the scriptures, believers are encouraged to hold fast to the faith they profess to the end. Perseverance is the situation whereby a person continues in a course of action pertaining to his/her beliefs without regard to discouragement, opposition, or previous failure. Moreover, the doctrine of perseverance is a Christian teaching that asserts that once a person is truly born of God or regenerated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Christian will continue doing good works and believing in God until the end of his/her life. Through perseverance, we believe we will surely be kept by the power of God until the end of our lives on earth. Jesus Christ encouraged all His followers to endure to the end and receive complete salvation (Matthew 10:22).
Paul said that Christ has reconciled us to God with the main purpose to continue in the faith so that Christ can present us as holy and blameless to our heavenly Father. He further advised the Colossian believers to endure in the faith, ground in the faith, settle in faith, and not move away from the faith. We can join church fellowship and, perhaps, be baptised into the membership of the church and yet not obey the commands of Christ. However, a strong believer in the Lord with strong determination alongside the power of the Holy Spirit must endure to the end.
True believers are those who continue in the doctrine of the Word of God in order to keep the faith to the end of our stay here on earth. Remember that true Christians are those who persevere in the Christian journey to be resilient, firm, and steadfast in the faith through the study of sound doctrines and appropriation of God’s word.