From his book, Following Christ, Stephen E. Robinson taught:
. . . .Usually the scriptures link enduring to the end specifically with remaining faithful to our Christian covenants and to the covenant community, which is the Church. For example Doctrine and Covenants 20:29 states: “We know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God” (See also 2 Nephi 9:24).
The Savior reinforces this covenant dimension of endurance in his teaching to the Nephites, specifically emphasizing the covenant obligation or repentance and baptism: “It shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled: and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world“ (3 Nephi 27:16).
So enduring to the end means entering into the gospel covenant through faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and then remaining faithful to that covenant. Doctrine & Covenants 20:37 even makes “determination to serve Christ to the end” a condition of baptism into the Church.
Consequently, enduring to the end is more than just “being active” in the Church. Enduring to the end requires personal awareness of covenant obligations and a personal determination to keep them faithfully. While the term active describes visible behavior, enduring faithfully to the end describes an inner commitment to the gospel and church of Jesus Christ. Of course it’s better to be active than inactive, but just being active doesn’t guarantee much about our spiritual commitment—even yeast is “active.” We can be active for the wrong reasons, or for trivial reasons. True sons and daughters ought to manage better than yeastcakes. Having a constant awareness of our covenant obligations and to keep them to the end is being active for the right reasons.
I once knew a man who had to decide whether or not to pay his tithing every time his paycheck came, whether or not to go to his meetings every time they were held, whether or not to take a drink every time he was offered one. Finally I asked him,“Why can’t you decide once and for all which side you are on? Why do you have to double-check your loyalty every time a decision is called for? You are spiritually reinventing the wheel over and over again, and you will never make any progress until you can build on what you already know.” A few weeks later he called and asked for a ride to our stake meetings. I was pleased he was going, and when I told him so, he responded,“You know, I wouldn’t like it if my wife told me she had to decide whether she still loved me or not, or if she told me she only stayed with me because she hadn’t found a good enough reason to leave—yet. I guess the Lord is entitled to more of a commitment than that from me. I’m ready to stop reinventing the wheel and move on with my life. I’ve decided that I’m ready once and for all to be a Latter-day Saint.” ~Stephen E. Robinson, Following Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019), . . . .continued, see Enduring to the End II
