Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?; unless indeed you are disqualified. (2 Corinthians 13:5)a. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Paul asks the Corinthian Christians to consider a sobering question: “Am I really a Christian?”
i. We are rightly concerned that every believer have the assurance of salvation, and know how to endure the attacks that come from Satan in this area. At the same time, we also understand that there are some who assume or presume them are Christians when they are not. It is a challenge to all: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?
ii. We are often very ready to examine and test others. But first, and always first, we must examine and test ourselves. “That was the trouble at Corinth. They criticized Paul and failed to examine themselves.” (Redpath)
iii. “To examine yourself, in fact, is to submit to the examination and scrutiny of Jesus Christ the Lord – and this never to fix attention on sin but on Christ – and to ask Him to reveal that in you which grieves His Spirit; to ask Him to give you grace that it might be put away and cleansed in His precious blood.” Self examination “takes the chill away from your soul, it takes the hardness away from your heart, it takes the shadows away from your life, it sets the prisoner free.” (Redpath)
iv. “Now, ‘prove yourselves.’ Do not merely sit in your closet and look at yourselves alone, but go out into this busy world and see what kind of piety you have. Remember, many a man’s religion will stand examination that will not stand proof. We may sit at home and look at our religion, and say, ‘Well, I think this will do!’” (Spurgeon)
v. Unless indeed you are disqualified: Paul knew there were some among the Corinthian Christians who were disqualified for eternal life and salvation. Their thinking was worldly because they were of the world, not of the Lord. This is a hard truth to confront, but it is better to know now than when it is too late! The word for disqualified is simply the negative of the word for test in this same passage. If we don’t examine ourselves and test ourselves now, we may find that we ultimately don’t pass the test and are disqualified.
b. What are to look for when we examine and test ourselves? We are to see that Jesus Christ is in you. We are not to look for perfection, in ourselves or in others; but we should see real evidence of Jesus Christ in us.
i. “Now, what is it to have Jesus Christ in you? The Roman Catholic hangs the cross on his bosom; true Christian carries the cross in his heart; and a cross inside the heart, my friends, is one of the sweetest cures for a cross on the back. If you have a cross in your heart - Christ crucified in you, the hope of glory - all the cross of this world’s troubles will seem to you light enough, and you will easily be able to sustain it. Christ in the heart means Christ believed in, Christ beloved, Christ trusted, Christ espoused, Christ communed with, Christ as our daily food, and ourselves as the temple and palace wherein Jesus Christ daily walks.” (Spurgeon)
i. We are rightly concerned that every believer have the assurance of salvation, and know how to endure the attacks that come from Satan in this area. At the same time, we also understand that there are some who assume or presume them are Christians when they are not. It is a challenge to all: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?
ii. We are often very ready to examine and test others. But first, and always first, we must examine and test ourselves. “That was the trouble at Corinth. They criticized Paul and failed to examine themselves.” (Redpath)
iii. “To examine yourself, in fact, is to submit to the examination and scrutiny of Jesus Christ the Lord – and this never to fix attention on sin but on Christ – and to ask Him to reveal that in you which grieves His Spirit; to ask Him to give you grace that it might be put away and cleansed in His precious blood.” Self examination “takes the chill away from your soul, it takes the hardness away from your heart, it takes the shadows away from your life, it sets the prisoner free.” (Redpath)
iv. “Now, ‘prove yourselves.’ Do not merely sit in your closet and look at yourselves alone, but go out into this busy world and see what kind of piety you have. Remember, many a man’s religion will stand examination that will not stand proof. We may sit at home and look at our religion, and say, ‘Well, I think this will do!’” (Spurgeon)
v. Unless indeed you are disqualified: Paul knew there were some among the Corinthian Christians who were disqualified for eternal life and salvation. Their thinking was worldly because they were of the world, not of the Lord. This is a hard truth to confront, but it is better to know now than when it is too late! The word for disqualified is simply the negative of the word for test in this same passage. If we don’t examine ourselves and test ourselves now, we may find that we ultimately don’t pass the test and are disqualified.
b. What are to look for when we examine and test ourselves? We are to see that Jesus Christ is in you. We are not to look for perfection, in ourselves or in others; but we should see real evidence of Jesus Christ in us.
i. “Now, what is it to have Jesus Christ in you? The Roman Catholic hangs the cross on his bosom; true Christian carries the cross in his heart; and a cross inside the heart, my friends, is one of the sweetest cures for a cross on the back. If you have a cross in your heart - Christ crucified in you, the hope of glory - all the cross of this world’s troubles will seem to you light enough, and you will easily be able to sustain it. Christ in the heart means Christ believed in, Christ beloved, Christ trusted, Christ espoused, Christ communed with, Christ as our daily food, and ourselves as the temple and palace wherein Jesus Christ daily walks.” (Spurgeon)
This beautiful interpretation of this verse was taken from Enduring word.
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