Endure to the End

And now my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved (2 Nephi 13:3). “Enduring to the end — or the fixed purpose to always serve God so that you may always have His spirit to be with you — is essential to salvation. You claim this is your determination every time you take the sacrament. Whether you take this commitment seriously or not determines whether you are destined for salvation or not. It also determines if you are qualified to receive His personal ministry and comfort. The Lord also knows whether it is in you to endure to the end. Whether the end has come is irrelevant to Him. He beholds all things, past, present, and future (2 Nephi 6:7). Therefore, He knows if you are willing to endure to the end before your life is complete.”¹ Endure to the end — meaning both here and in the hereafter. It will be a great while beyond this life before any will reach the “end” He desires all to attain. Therefore, enduring requires one to fight against all that opposes truth, for so long as he is allowed to participate in the battle — not passively, taking in what is wrong and showing tolerance for it, but instead actively standing for truth as long as he exists, here and hereafter.² How long must the enduring last, if it is to result in “Eternal life?” It will be a great deal after this life before you have learned enough to be saved. “You need to endure then, as now, for Eternal life to be yours.”³ Nephi tells us that his words persuade men to endure to the end, which is life eternal (2 Nephi 15:1). See also END, THE.