2 Corinthians 13:5-8
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.”
Examining Ourselves
If we are going to examine ourselves to see whether we are
in the faith then we must examine ourselves and our beliefs and our practices
against the teachings of the Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament. And
we must evaluate if our lives agree or disagree with the teachings on salvation
and on eternal life with God and on the Christian life and what it is to look
like.
Now, we can’t cherry pick the Scriptures we like and discard
the ones we don’t like, and we can’t pull Scriptures out of context and
willfully misinterpret them out of their context. Honestly, to do a fair
evaluation, we should read word for word from Matthew through Revelation. And
we must look at all teachings aimed at those who are to be followers of Jesus
Christ.
Now there are many preachers out there telling you what to
believe, and they are presenting to you their thinking on what the Scriptures
teach, but not many of them today are teaching the gospel taught by Jesus and
by his New Testament apostles. They may all be teaching the fundamentals
regarding who Jesus is and why he came to the earth and what he did by dying on
that cross for our sins, but from there it splits.
Few appear to be teaching what the Scriptures teach in their
fulness. Most appear to be teaching a distorted and altered version of the gospel
of Christ. Although on the surface these two teachings may appear to look the
same, they are not the same. The version of the gospel that is most popular
today and which is permeating the church is based in the flesh of humans, for
it appeals to the lusts of their flesh and their sinful passions and desires.
And it gives them permission to keep on in their sinful passions
and desires under the guise that Jesus has forgiven and forgotten all their
sins and that God can’t even see when they sin anymore. So, they make room for
the flesh to live and to thrive. They do not put it to death. They see their freedom
in Christ as freedom from the guilt and punishment of sin rather than freedom
from their bondage (slavery, addiction) to sin.
So, those who are buying into this man-created gospel, which
has the appearance of being the same as the true gospel, they are drifting and
wandering through life living for the pleasures of their flesh, just
slip-sliding away through life as though it is one big party. But it is all
about feelings and fleshly appetites and not about holiness and righteousness.
And it is all about their personal comfort rather than obedience to Jesus
Christ.
And this is why we must examine ourselves and our lifestyles
and our beliefs against the whole of the New Testament where it is directed
towards faith in Jesus Christ and what it means to believe in Jesus and to
follow him and to be forgiven of sin and to have eternal life with God. We must
not just listen to preachers or writers of devotions or books, but we must
listen to the word of God and get our truth from there, in context.
Pass or Fail?
Now Paul did give us a couple of hints here, although he
certainly wasn’t hinting in what he said. He was direct. He prayed to God that
they may not do wrong but that they may do what is right. And the measure of
what is wrong and what is right is found in the Scriptures. He also stated that
he and the other apostles cannot do anything against the truth, but only for
the truth, and we will find what is truth by reading the Scriptures word for
word.
So, what is truth? Well, Jesus said that if anyone would
come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die with
Christ to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For, he said if we save our
lives (if we hold on to living in sin and for self) that we will lose them for
eternity. But if we lose our lives (die with him to sin and to self) for his
sake, we will live (Lu 9:23-26; cf. Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Matt
7:21-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).
Then Paul said that the truth that is in Christ Jesus says “to
put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is
corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your
minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness” (See Eph 4:17-24; cf. Tit 2:11-14; Gal 5:16-21; Rom
6:1-23).
And the Scriptures teach that Jesus died that we might die
with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might
no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. He shed
his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we
would honor God with our lives. And by faith in Jesus we are crucified with
Christ in death to sin so we will no longer be enslaved to sin but to righteousness
(1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15, 21; 1 Co 6:19-20; Rom 6:1-23; 1 Jn 3:4-10).
And then we have all the Scriptures which tell us that we
are all going to be judged by God according to our works. So, if we sow to
please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please
the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. And if sin is what we
practice, we will not inherit eternal life, but if righteousness and obedience are
what we practice, then we will have eternal life with God.
The Scriptures do not teach that we can believe in Jesus, be
forgiven our sins, be guaranteed heaven when we die, but that we can keep on in
deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. They do not teach that we don’t
have to repent of our sins nor follow Jesus in obedience nor submit to him as
Lord. They teach the opposite of this. They teach that we must forsake our
lives of sin and follow Jesus in obedience if we want eternal life with God.
Oh,
to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics
by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music
by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s
treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy
love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy
fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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