Matthew 24:4-22
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
The Grace New Testament Commentary - Matthew 24:13
24:13 During the Tribulation only believers who "endure to the end" will be delivered, not from hell, but from physical death (cf. use of saved in Matt. 24:22). Endurance under trial is never a means to salvation from the penalty of sin for that would entail human merit (Eph 2:8-9). The passage does not assert that a believer must endure to the end of his life to remain saved or to prove he is regenerate. Salvation cannot be lost (John 6:37, 39; 10:28-29; Eph 4:30), and assurance rests on the promises of God and Jesus Christ, not on performance under severe trial (1 John 5:13).
Endurance will culminate in a glorious, physical deliverance and rewarding of a faithful Jewish remnant. Not everyone will be slain (Matt 24:9, 22); Jesus will come to their rescue (v 31). The words are spoken to encourage those who will go through that terrible time not to lose heart.
Charles Bing - Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship - He Who Endures to the End, Matthew 24:13 (cf. Matthew 10:22; Mark 13:13; Luke 21:19)
(Salvation) Interpretation: Only someone who continues in good works and faith to the end of his life will receive salvation or prove he was saved.
(Discipleship) Interpretation: Only those of Israel in the Tribulation who are able to endure persecution until the time of Christ's return will be delivered from the hostile nations.
This saying in Matthew and Mark is used by some to teach that professing Christians must persevere in faith and good works in order to prove their salvation is genuine, which is a (Salvation) interpretation.
While those who say professing Christians must persevere in order to prove that they are genuinely saved, they would not admit that perseverance is a work that earns salvation. Of course, this is flawed reasoning, because if perseverance is necessary to prove salvation, then perseverance is necessary for salvation. This is in addition to one's initial faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Salvation would be by faith plus one's performance, which contradicts the free nature of God's grace. Some might try to avoid this charge by modifying their view to say that true saving faith is a faith that performs, but this does not avoid the error of making works necessary for salvation.
The (Salvation) interpretation understands "the end" to mean the end of one's physical life. But this ignores the unique order and events of the end times about which Jesus is speaking. The context indicates what "the end" refers to. It is clear that Matthew (and Mark) is speaking about conditions in the time of Israel's great Tribulation (which also seems to be the context of a similar saying in Matt. 10:22). In answering the disciples' question about His return (Matt. 24:3), Jesus answers the last question about the end of the age first. When Jesus refers to "the end" in verses 6, 13, and 14, it has the same meaning - the end of the age which concludes with the Tribulation period. In that time of great sorrow, the Jews will be hated and killed by all the nations (Matt. 24:9), betrayed by their own countrymen (Matt. 24:10), deceived by false prophets (Matt. 24:11), and experience lawlessness and lack of natural affection (Matt. 24:12). After verse 13, Jesus' prophecy reveals the details that actually describe His coming (Matt. 24:14-51). Though many of Israel will be killed, those who endure these perils to the end of the Tribulation (not to the end of their physical lives, which is the (Salvation) interpretation) will be delivered ("saved") from their enemies, the nations who hate them. This "last minute rescue" of Israel by Jesus Christ is a clear biblical prophecy (Zech. 12:2-9; Rom. 11:26). This is an example of the word saved referring to deliverance from a danger, not deliverance from hell. Indeed, hell is not mentioned in the passage. This is obviously (Discipleship) because enduring to the end does not relate to eternal salvation but temporal deliverance of God's people. In verse 22, Jesus says, "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved..." It appears that "no flesh" includes Gentiles among those delivered. The parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46 shows that Gentiles ("nations") will be present at the end of the Tribulation.
Israel's story is a story of God's grace. They were chosen by Him to be a special people. In spite of constant sin, God preserved them throughout their history. He will preserve them in the future as well, not because they deserve it, but because He is faithful to His promise to do so. We who are saved by God's grace are kept saved by grace, and will be glorified ultimately and finally by His grace, not because we deserve it, but because that is God's promise to all who believe (John 3:16; 5:24; Rom. 8:28).