EXAMINE YOURSELF!

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 9, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday message; January 9, 2022 from 2 Corinthians 13:5-6

Theme: We must personally examine ourselves to make sure that we have a redeeming relationship with Jesus Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we come to some words that—no doubt—had a shocking impact upon the Corinthian Christians who first read them. Perhaps they’d have a similar impact upon us today:

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. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified (2 Corinthians 13:5-6).

It may surprise some of us to find such words in the Bible. But this speaks to a very important issue. It’s a warning that we don’t hear as much about as we should. It’s that it’s a very dangerous thing to make ‘assumptions’ about ourselves with respect to Jesus Christ.

As these words from the apostle Paul show us, we must personally examine ourselves to make absolutely sure that we have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Now; there was an important reason why Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian Christians. He was dealing with some serious problems within the church family in that ancient city. On the one hand, there were some Christians—let’s call them ‘professing’ Christians—who were living in open sexual immorality. Paul wrote about them in 2 Corinthians 12:21; speaking of those he was concerned that he would sorrow and mourn over,

who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced (12:21).

And what’s more, he was also very deeply concerned about a divided atmosphere in the church in which such sin was allowed to take root and flourish. He wrote about this in verse 20; fearing that

I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults … (v. 20).

Paul was writing to these particular members of the Corinthian church because he was planning to come to them and deal with these problems. But to make matters even worse, they were being encouraged by false teachers to doubt Paul’s authority and question his own authentic standing with Jesus Christ. He warned them that he would come; and that they would then see the hard proof that Jesus Christ was, indeed, working in him. But he didn’t want to have to do that. Instead, he wanted them to repent. And so, he was telling those who were arrogantly ‘examining’ him that they actually needed to turn things around and examine themselves. Were they truly ‘in’ the faith that they were professing with their lips—and yet were denying with their actions? Was the Jesus Christ who they were professing to believe truly ‘in’ them?

What an important reminder this is for you and me. We may not be suffering from the same sorts of problems; but we need—just as much—to heed this warning, and ‘examine’ ourselves. Are we genuinely in the faith? Is Jesus truly in us?

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This has reminded me of a very great turning point in my own life.

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, or have much of any Christian influence in my younger years. But I had a very powerful awareness of my sin. I knew that I had no relationship with God and that I was going to hell. But one evening, I was watching a Billy Graham crusade on television—all alone in my bedroom—and I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and believed.

But because I wasn’t raised in the Christian faith, and because I didn’t go to a church or have any kind of spiritual instruction in the faith, I wasn’t sure that I was truly saved. I had prayed the prayer. I had believed on Jesus. But I still wasn’t sure.

And then, about a month or so later, another Billy Graham crusade was being broadcast on television. And it just so happened that his sermon was on the subject, “How To Know For Sure That You Are Saved”. Dr. Graham explained the things that would happen in the life of someone who was truly saved—that they would confess their sins; that they would have a new love for Jesus Christ and the things of God; that they would find increasingly that they no longer wanted to do the sinful things they used to do, and will want instead to do the things God says to do; that they will want to read the Bible more, go to church more, and fellowship with other Christians more; that they will want to tell other people about Jesus … And as I listened to his sermon, I found myself saying over and over, “Yes! Those things seem to be true of me! I am seeing those changes in my life! I’m not perfect; and I certainly have a long way to go. But I’m definitely heading in the right direction!” And by the time he was through with his sermon, I was completely convinced I had truly been saved and that Jesus Christ truly dwelt in me.

And that was a greatly transformational day in my life. I would say that it was second in importance to me only to the day when I first believed. It was shortly after becoming convinced that Jesus Christ dwelt in me that I started to attend a church and became baptized. It was when my Christian faith became a very exciting reality for me. It was because I had begun to carefully examine myself as to whether or not my faith in Jesus was real—and was sure that I truly had a life-transforming relationship with Him by which He dwelt in me.

But even long after that day, I still examine myself. Is the evidence still there in my life? Can I say that I am in the faith? Do I still prove that Jesus Christ has taken up residence in me?

Dear brothers and sisters; it’s not wrong to do what Paul says and ‘examine’ ourselves as to whether or not we’re in the faith. It’s not wrong to ask, “Is my faith real? Do I truly believe? Does Jesus Christ truly dwell in me? Can I see the evidence?” In fact, as the actual grammar of those words from Paul suggests, it’s something that we should do—not just once for all time—but in an ongoing kind of way. It’s something that the Bible itself tells us to do.

Please understand; this is not a matter of engaging in some kind of morbid and unhealthy introspection. This isn’t meant to develop in us an unhealthy uncertainty about our faith, or to make us constantly worried—in a negative way—about whether or not we have lost our salvation. Rather, it’s a matter of—in a positive way—making sure and certain of that salvation. Think of the apostle Peter. He once wrote to his brothers and sisters in Christ and told them;

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11).

Some people might think that examining ourselves in this way would almost amount to denying the sovereign call and election of God in our salvation. But it’s not a matter of denying those things at all. Rather, it’s a matter of making our calling and election “sure”—not sure to God, but sure to ourselves. It’s so that we will never “stumble”; as some of the members of the Corinthian church were doing. It’s a matter of doing what King David wrote about at the end of Psalm 139; and saying;

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).

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Now; let’s consider some of the things that this passage urges us to do. First, it tells us that …

1. WE MUST EXAMINE OUR BELIEF IN THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.” When he spoke of “the faith”, he wasn’t speaking of merely having ‘faith’ in general. Rather, he was speaking of our saying ‘yes’ to something very specific. He was speaking of whole-heartedly believing “the” faith—what Jude referred to in Jude 1:3 as “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”—that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The message of the gospel is not vague and subjective. It’s something that is very clear and concrete and objective. The apostle Paul wrote at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15;

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).

That is the message that saves those who believe it. No one can be saved by simply “having faith” in some vague, undefined way. No one is saved by simply “believing” in just any ol’ thing—no matter what it is or how sincerely they may believe it. Nor is anyone ever saved by believing a gospel of their own or some other human being’s creation. They must believe the “gospel”—the “faith”. As Paul wrote elsewhere;

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:8-10).

So; here’s the first thing we must do. We must examine ourselves—that is, put ourselves to the test—as to whether or not we really have heard the message of the gospel, and have understood what it says that Jesus has done for us in the cross and in the empty tomb, and have believed it so as to rest our hope for salvation upon it. Paul puts it in a very strong way: that we should examine ourselves as to whether or not we are “in” the faith—that is, whether or not we are spiritually united to it and claim it as our only hope for God’s favor throughout eternity.

Many people have grown up “next to” the gospel. They’ve heard it all their lives. It may even have been “under” the gospel in the sense that they were raised in it. But we must examine ourselves as to whether or not we have embraced it; and have believed it; and have so rested our hopes in what it says about Jesus Christ that it can truthfully be said that we are actually “in” it.

Have you examined yourself as to whether or not you are “in the faith”?

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But here’s where we need to be careful. There are many people that think that all they have to do is check off a list of beliefs in order to be saved. What a terrible mistake that would be! After all, even the devil knows about the gospel. In fact, he is far more accurate in his theology than you or I could be—and he believes every bit of that theology intellectually. Just believing the right things doesn’t make you a Christian. It isn’t a matter of embracing a set of “religious beliefs”; but rather of entering into a “personal relationship” with a wonderful Person.

Paul went on to say, “Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” And right there, you have the best definition that you can find of what it means to be a Christian: A Christian is nothing less than someone who has placed their faith in the gospel and in whom Jesus Christ now personally dwells. And so; another thing that Paul tells us is that …

2. WE MUST PUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS TO THE TEST.

Does our life show the evidence that Jesus Christ truly dwells in us? Does our life give evidence that it is Jesus Himself—through the indwelling Person of His Holy Spirit—who is actually living in and through us?

Jesus Himself made it very clear to us that this is the true nature of the Christian life—that is, that we must have such a deep personal relationship with Him by faith that it can be said that we abide in Him—and that He abides in us. In John 15, He said;

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples (John 15:1-8).

And so; we need to ask ourselves. Does the ‘fruit’ of our lives prove that it is Jesus who dwells in us? Is our experience like that of the apostle Paul? In Galatians 2:20 he wrote;

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

It’s worth every effort we can put into examining ourselves in this matter; because unless Jesus Christ has taken up residence in you, you are not saved. As Paul put it in Colossians 1:27, our salvation is defined in this way:

Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

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Now; how would you know that you are truly “in” the faith, and that Jesus Christ truly is “in” you? When I first believed the gospel, I had a profound experience of a new relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. I felt a new power within. I felt that I had a relationship with Jesus Christ; and I felt the joy of that relationship. Many of you can testify to the very same thing. But examining ourselves means much more than just a feeling alone. There are objective bits of evidence we can look for that show us that Jesus Christ dwells in us.

• If Jesus dwells in us, for example, then we will have such an assurance of our relationship with God that we will cease from trying to earn His favor. The Bible tells us that “the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). That means that we will no longer work hard to try to earn God’s favor, but will—instead—rest wholeheartedly on the assurance that we are already in His favor through what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

• But if Jesus dwells in us, this will also show itself by the fact that we no longer live in a state of sinful rebellion against God. The fact that we are assured by the indwelling Holy Spirit that we are in God’s favor means that we will also now try to live faithfully in His favor. Old sins will be ongoingly and progressively set aside from our life; and we will increasingly seek to live in obedience to our Father—just as Jesus Himself lives.

• We won’t be perfect or sinless, of course. But if Jesus dwells in us, then His presence will demonstrate itself by the fact that we confess our sins and seek increasingly to turn from them. Our hearts will convict us whenever we sin; and we will feel the gentle rebuke of the Holy Spirit. We will respond by being honest before God. We will admit the truth, confess our sins, and walk in the light—just as Jesus is in the light.

• If Jesus is dwelling in us, then we will have an increased love for our brothers and sisters in the faith. The Bible warns us that we cannot love God whom we cannot see, and at the same time hate our brother whom we can see. If Jesus is dwelling in us, then we will also grow in our love for others in whom He is dwelling. We will seek to make things right with them, and not hold grudges against them. We will forgive them; and we will also ask forgiveness from them.

• If Jesus is dwelling in us, then we will grow increasingly to love His word. He Himself loved the Scriptures and kept His Father’s commandments. Jesus’ presence in us will demonstrate itself by the fact that we carefully read, and study, and meditate upon and learn together from the holy Scriptures. We will love the Bible especially because it is a book that is all about Him. And if Jesus is dwelling in us, we will also grow to hate that which is contrary to His word and that stands in opposition to it.

• One of the greatest evidences that Jesus is dwelling in us is shown in where we go to when we’re in trouble or in need or in sorrow. If Jesus is truly dwelling in us, we will find ourselves going less and less to the things of this world for comfort and help, and will be turning more and more to our Father in prayer. We will make full use of the wonderful freedom to approach the Father’s throne for all our needs that has now been made available to us through Jesus’ cross.

• If Jesus is dwelling in us, then we will find that we are characterized more and more by mercy. If we have been truly impacted by the love and forgiveness and the grace of Jesus Christ toward us, then we will find ourselves increasingly showing love and forgiveness and grace to others. If He has given His all for us, how can we help but be generous toward others? If He has had compassion on us in our need, how can we withhold compassion from others in their need? If He has forgiven us of all the wrongs we’ve ever done to Him, how can we not forgive others who have wronged us?

• And finally, if Jesus is dwelling in us, we will find ourselves wanting to tell others about Him. We will have a joy that we will feel compelled to share. We will want others to know the wonderful Savior who now dwells in us, and desire that they experience His life-transforming power as we have experienced it. We won’t do it perfectly, of course; but we will nevertheless be His witnesses in this world.

Now; these are some measurable pieces of evidence that Jesus Christ has taken up residence in us and that we truly are ‘in’ the faith. And so, as this passage urges us …

3. WE MUST MAKE SURE THAT WE STAND APPROVED BEFORE GOD.

As Paul put it, “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. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.” It’s something that we can put to the test. It’s something that we can know and be sure about.

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And dear brothers and sisters; there’s nothing more vital to be sure about than this. Let me close with a truly terrifying warning from our Lord. In His Sermon on the Mount, He said;

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

There will be many professing Christians—’Christians’ in name only—who will stand before Jesus Christ on the great day of judgment and receive the most horrifying surprise that anyone could ever receive. They will have done good deeds. They will have been able to check off all the right theological boxes. But they will suffer eternal loss. And why? It will be because they made a terrible assumption about their condition before God; and never took the time to examine whether they were truly ‘in’ the faith, and that Jesus Christ was truly ‘in’ them. They will have thought that they were Christians; but He Himself will say that He never knew them.

So; this may be a shocking passage. But let’s get over the shock and heed what it says. Let’s examine ourselves! Our eternal destiny depends upon it.

AE