EXAMINE YOURSELVES by Louis Bartet

What is the condition of your spiritual health? This lesson will help you examine yourself to see if you are in the faith and if Christ is in you. EMAIL US

(2 Corinthians 13:1-10)

2 Cor. 13:5-6 (NASB) 5Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test? 6But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.

2 Cor. 13:5-6 (TMNT) Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won't show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we'd rather the test showed our failure than yours. We're rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn't possibly do otherwise.

2 Cor. 13:5-6 (TLB) 5Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ's presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren't at all? 6I hope you can agree that I have stood that test and truly belong to the Lord.

If you go to the emergency room because of an injury or illness, one of the first things the medical attendant will do is check your vital signs-blood pressure, heart rate and repertory rate. These are called vital signs, because without them you cannot live.

· The average adult blood pressure is about 120/80.
· The average adult heart rate is from 60 to 80 beats per minute.
· The average repertory rate is 20 breaths per minute.

Anything that is significantly above or below these averages may suggest that your illness or injury is life threatening. When you go to your doctor for a regular check up, he will check these telltale vital signs. Why? These vital signs can help him evaluate your physical condition.

What is true in the physical arena is also true in our spiritual life. Paul's command to every believer is "examine and keep on examining ourselves."

I. Why should we examine ourselves?

A. We need to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
 1. Does what we believe agree with the Word?
 2. Is our believing genuine or is it counterfeit?
 3. Are we being faithful to the faith? Are we living within the sphere of the      faith? Does our life reflect the message we believe? (13:8)
B. We need to examine ourselves to see if Christ is in us.
 1. Does His Spirit dwell within you? (Romans 8:9)
 2. Are you a partaker of His life?
 3. Are you trying to live the Christian life without being a Christian?

II. What standard are we going to use to examine ourselves?

A. Self approval?
  1. What we say and think about ourselves doesn't count for much.
2 Cor. 10:18 (TLB) 18When someone boasts about himself and how well he has done, it doesn't count for much. But when the Lord commends him, that's different!
  2. Many who thought they pleased God are going to be disqualified.
Matthew 7:21-23 (TLB) 21"Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but still won't get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22At the Judgment many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles.' 23But I will reply, 'You have never been mine. Go away, for your deeds are evil.'"
B. The approval of others?
2 Cor. 10:12 (TLB) 12Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't dare say that I am as wonderful as these other men who tell you how good they are! Their trouble is that they are only comparing themselves with each other and measuring themselves against their own little ideas. What stupidity!

C. Divine approval!
  1. The Lord is the judge.
2 Corinthians 5:10 - "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…"
  2. The word is the standard.
John 12:48 - "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day."

If God is the Judge and the standard by which He will judge us is His word, then it would behoove us to examine ourselves in the light of His word. How can I know if I'm in the faith? How can I know if Christ is in me? While we need to examine ourselves in the light of the full counsel of God's word, John offers us seven vital signs by which we can check our spiritual life.

III. John give us seven essential vital signs that will assist us in determining our spiritual health.

A. OBEDIENCE - Are we doers of the Word? Do we obey those in authority over us? Do we obey our parents?
1 John 2:3-5 - "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, 'I have come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him."
1 John 3:24 - "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him."
If we constantly disobey the authorities in our life, it is a sign that we are spiritually unhealthy. We may be infected with pride, independence or rebellion. It is essential that we renounce these and ask God to deliver us from everything that keeps us from total obedience. (See 2Cor 10:5.)

B. BEHAVIOR - What does our lifestyle say? We cannot declare that Christ lives in us and that we are in the faith, and yet continue to live like the world. Works do not save us, but they are an indicator of who and whose we are.
1 John 2:29 - If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.
Matt. 7:16 through Matt. 7:23 (TLB) 16You can detect them [false messangers] by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes or figs with thistles. 17Different kinds of fruit trees can quickly be identified by examining their fruit. 18A variety that produces delicious fruit never produces an inedible kind. And a tree producing an inedible kind can't produce what is good. 19So the trees having the inedible fruit are chopped down and thrown on the fire. 20Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit produced. 21"Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but still won't get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22At the Judgment many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles.' 23But I will reply, 'You have never been mine. Go away, for your deeds are evil.'

C. SIN - Are we living in habitual sin?
1 John 5:18 (TLB) 18No one who has become part of God's family makes a practice of sinning, for Christ, God's Son, holds him securely, and the devil cannot get his hands on him.
1 John 2:1-2:2 (TLB) 1My little children, I am telling you this so that you will stay away from sin. But if you sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. His name is Jesus Christ, the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely. 2He is the one who took God's wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the world's.
1 John 5:16 (TLB) 16If you see a Christian sinning in a way that does not end in death, you should ask God to forgive him, and God will give him life unless he has sinned that one fatal sin. But there is that one sin which ends in death, and if he has done that, there is no use praying for him.
Christians may sin, but they do not live in sin. If you are living in sin, there is a good chance that you are not in the faith and that Christ does not dwell in you. Paul asked, "How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" I recognize that works do not save us, but the faith that grips the grace provision of God also influences the way we live. If there is no fruit, then chances are there is no life and no root.

D. VICTORY OVER THE WORLD
1 John 5:4 (NASB) 4For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith.
1 John 5:4 (TLB) 4for every child of God can obey him, defeating sin and evil pleasure by trusting Christ to help him.

E. LOVE - Do we love God? Do we love one another? Do we love our enemies?
1 John 3:14-19 (TLB) 14If we love other Christians, it proves that we have been delivered from hell and given eternal life. But a person who doesn't have love for others is headed for eternal death. 15Anyone who hates his Christian brother is really a murderer at heart; and you know that no one wanting to murder has eternal life within. 16We know what real love is from Christ's example in dying for us. And so we also ought to lay down our lives for our Christian brothers. 17But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won't help him-how can God's love be within him? 18Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. 19Then we will know for sure, by our actions, that we are on God's side, and our consciences will be clear, even when we stand before the Lord.
1 John 4:7 (TLB) 7Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better.
John 13:34-35 (TLB) 34"And so I am giving a new commandment to you now-love each other just as much as I love you. 35Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

F. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT - Do we have the witness of the Spirit? The witness of God is greater than the witness of men (1 Jn. 5:9).
1 John 4:13 (NASB) 13By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
1 John 3:24 (NASB) 24The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Rom. 8:16 (NASB) 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
Gal. 4:6 (NASB) 6Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

G. OUR CONFESSION - Can we say from our heart or do we really believe that Jesus is the Son of God? The issue isn't merely the parroting of words, but the conviction of the heart. When I say "Jesus is the Son of God," am I declaring what my heart knows to be true?
1 John 4:15 - "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God."
Romans 10:10 - "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

CONCLUSION
If my blood pressure was 220 over 100, my heart rate was 120 beats per minute, and I was experiencing shortness of breath and severe having chest pains, you'd probably be justified in showing concern for my life. Likewise, if you are living in disobedience to God's word and your behavior and lifestyle are void of righteousness and tainted by habitual sin, then you have every reason to be concerned about your spiritual condition. If you are more like the world than you are like Jesus, again, you have every reason to be concerned about your spiritual condition. If you have no love for God and the things of God, then you have every reason to be concerned about your spiritual condition. If you constantly need others to tell you that you are saved, then you have every reason to be concerned about your spiritual condition. If you cannot, from your heart, declare that Jesus is the Son of God, then you are spiritually dead and should be concerned about your spiritual condition. IF/THEN isn't it time to do something about it?

© 2001 by Louis Bartet, all rights reserved
03/04/01