Anyone familiar with GES knows we place a lot of emphasis on context. If we don’t look at the context of a verse, we will almost certainly misunderstand what it says. In fact, we can seriously misinterpret a passage, even turning it upside down. I recently observed someone do that very thing. It was as if he called black white, or white black. It’s a warning for all of us.
I was in a Bible study where the teacher was explaining the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. He wanted to focus on Matt 24:13, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” He quoted the verse and correctly pointed out that the context was talking about going through difficult times. A believer will pass through such times.
I was expecting him to choose between a couple of options. Was Jesus talking about the Great Tribulation and the difficulties believers will experience in those times, or was He talking about what the Jewish nation would experience when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70?
He chose neither, evidently thinking that Jesus was speaking in very general terms. The teacher thought Matthew 24 could be used to encourage believers in any era when they go through hard times. He mentioned financial and health problems as examples. We all have to deal with such things.
The teacher encouraged the class to hold on when they confront tribulations. If they did, they would be “saved.” He then completely ignored the context. He said that the salvation in verse 13 is not salvation from tribulations. He said it was salvation from the lake of fire.
He specifically said that this salvation is not one we can experience in this world. It has nothing to do with physical salvation, such as saving one’s physical life. Instead, it deals with eternal salvation and the salvation of the soul.
I don’t think he saw the contradiction in his words. He had just said that the Lord was talking about tribulations in this world. The believer needs to endure when he encounters them. But then he said that the salvation such a believer will experience has nothing to do with being saved through those tribulations. He did not address verse 22, which speaks of the salvation of physical lives.
Instead, he said that the endurance needed is the need to endure in “sound doctrine.” The believer who remains faithful to sound teaching in the midst of trials will make it into heaven.
So, the context speaks of saving lives and enduring trials. But the salvation the believer can experience has nothing to do with saving his life and being saved through his trials! The teacher, while well-intentioned, interpreted Matt 24:13 in a way that completely reversed its meaning in context.
The context says nothing about holding fast to sound doctrine. It says nothing about being saved from the lake of fire. But the interpretation given put these issues front and center.
At the end of the study, the teacher admitted that he had said a believer has to endure in good teaching in order to make it into the kingdom. But he told the students not to ask: “Can a believer lose his salvation?” Instead, we ought to “guard our salvation.”
I must admit I did not understand what he meant. He found himself in a theological ditch and did not know how to climb out. He seemed to understand that eternal life is a gift, but his interpretation of Matt 24:13 led him to believe that the “gift” is given only to those who hold on. That is not a gift.
If he had simply looked at the context of Matt 24:13, he would not have fallen into that ditch. When he ignored the context, he turned the verse on its head. Let’s all be careful not to make the same mistake.
