Will You Pass The Test?
2 Corinthians 13.5 – 7
July 20, 2001
KJV - 5. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 6. But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. 7. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
Living Bible - 5. Check 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? 6. I hope you can agree that I have stood that test and truly belong to the Lord. 7. I pray that you will live good lives, not because that will be a feather in our caps, proving that what we teach is right; no, for we want you to do right even if we ourselves are despised.
Introduction
One of the most memorable and fearful times that I remember when I attended middle school some twenty-three years ago was the day when I walked into my history class, sat down, and heard those infamous words:
“Clear your desk, take out a sheet of paper, and a number two pencil. There will be a test today.”
I remember the fear and anxiety that it caused me because I was quite sure how well I was going to do because I didn’t do well taking tests.
I faced algebra tests in the ninth grade, English composition tests in the tenth grade, human anatomy tests in the eleventh grade, and American history tests in the twelfth grade.
There were final exams throughout school, Act’s and scholastic aptitude tests or SAT’S.
Everywhere you turn there is a test or examination to take for some reason or another. There are college placement tests. The military entrance examination is the ASFAB test.
To drive you have to take a drivers test, on paper and on the road. In the physical arena there are physical exams.
There’s the blood test, stress test, skin test and internal dye test. What about eye exams, dental exams, hearing test, and the pregnancy test?
You can have psychological examinations and emotional examinations. And without a doubt you are probably thinking about a whole lot more that I have missed along the way.
There are all kinds of reasons for giving tests or taking examinations. The main reason is to collect data or to make an assessment on what is or isn’t known.
The Bible is not excluded from the practice of examinations. They go beyond the physical, psychological, or emotional, as it’s core but the spiritual.
For instance:
The Psalmist reflects on how God gave a test to examin his heart;
Psalm 17:3 You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
The Psalmist in Psalms 26 asks the Lord to examine him;
Psalm 26:1 –2 Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. 2Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
What about Psalm 139:23-24;
Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Jeremiah joins the bandwagon when he exhorted Israel to take an exam;
Lamentations 3:40 Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD; 41Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to examine themselves when it came to the Lord’s supper;
1 Corinthians 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
Paul also exhorted the Galatians to take an exam on the their work in the Lord;
Galatians 6:4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself
alone, and not in another.
There is a balance in the Scriptures for both God examination and self-examination. Paul is exhorting the Corinthians to do some self-examination in our text this morning.
This was one of the most difficult letters that Paul had to write because it was one he had to write validating his apostleship.
After all the labor, sacrifices, and suffering he endured among them they would question his authority he had in Christ.
According to verse three those Corinthians still seeking proof that Paul was a genuine apostle would have it when he arrived. They may have gotten more than they bargained for, however, for Paul was going to use his apostolic authority and power to deal with any sin and rebellion he found there.
But before he would arrive he challenges them to take a test. He takes the emphasis off of the authenticity of his apostleship to the genuineness of their conversion.
Here’s what he instructs them to do:
verse 5 - Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
There in lies my two points: examine your own selves, and prove your own selves.
The Gr. grammar places great emphasis on the pronouns “yourselves” and “you.” Paul turned the tables on his accusers; instead of presuming to evaluate his apostleship, they needed to test the genuineness of their faith.
It’s time to take the test. It is good for all of us every now and then to do some introspection, a time to turn inward and gauge where our foundation lies.
So clear your desk, take out a pencil and your Bible, this will be open book. It is time to take the test.
I. Examine Your Own Self
verse 5 - Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
The word “examine” (pi – rad’ – zo) in the Gr. text means to objectively scrutinize, go about, to test yourself.
And what does Paul want us to examine? If we are really in the faith. The word “faith” (pis’ tis) in the Gr. text means moral conviction, especially reliance upon Christ for salvation.
In other words are you a true believer. Don’t rush to your answer because how you respond will tell on you, not when the teacher collects the papers, but when Christ collects your life in the end.
Is Jesus Christ in you? Paul exhorts every individual in the church to ask himself that question. This, of course, is because all wrong behavior leads at last to that question.
Somewhere, somehow, when we are out-of-line with Christian standards we have to ask ourselves, "Am I a true Christian or am I a counterfeit? Have I been born again or am I only putting up a front?"
Those of us who are Christians ought to ask ourselves that occasionally. It is a good idea to examine yourself, that is what the apostle says, especially if there is any kind of consistent wrong behavior involved.
Now the very fact that the apostle could ask a question like that indicates that is what marks true Christianity. A Christian, of course, is not simply one who joins a Christian church. Many people feel that is the criterion, but it is not.
There are millions of church members in this country today who are not Christians. Nor does adhering to a certain moral standard in your life, or the fact that you consistently read the Bible make you a Christian.
The thing that really marks it is if Jesus Christ is living in you. A true Christian is someone in whom Christ dwells.
And the person in whom Christ dwells will have certain inescapable evidence of that fact given to him or her. That is what Paul is suggesting we ask ourselves.
Do we have the evidence that Jesus Christ lives in us? Has a fundamental change occurred at the very depths of our being? It is actually the question, of course, "Are you really born again?"
That is a term that has fallen into wrong use these days. Many people who merely change their actions for a little while are said to be "born again."
People are using that term about everything today. But this is the question that Paul is asking, "Are you truly and permanently different because Jesus Christ has come to live within you?"
II. Prove Yourself
verse 5 - Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
The word “prove” is the same as test. In the Gr. text (dok-im-ad’-zo) points to approve, discern, by implication.
A. Inner Witness
You may be asking, "How can I know that?" Well, the answer is found in several places in Scripture. For instance, Scripture speaks of an "inner" witness.
In Romans Paul says, "God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God," {cf, Rom 8:16}.
That is one way you know. There is an inner testimony, a feeling, a sense within produced by the Spirit of God who dwells within that you are part of the great family of God.
If we are really born again this will be a mark that we have occasionally borne to our hearts, the "witness of the Spirit that we are the children of God."
REPROBATE — one who fails to pass a test and is rejected. While the word “reprobate” only appears in the KJV, it speaks graphically of those whom God has rejected and left to their own corruption (Rom. 1:28). The prophet Jeremiah speaks of “reprobate silver” (Jer. 6:30, KJV).
Conclusion
Yet, we must never imagine that examination is wrong. We must each examine ourselves continually, lest, we be deceived.
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" The point of examination is just this - "Whether ye be in the faith." Here are some questions by which I try to examine myself.
Is Jesus Christ in me? If Christ is in me, then I am in him. Salvation is not Christ upon our lips, but Christ in our hearts. It is Christ in you, living and reigning in you as your Lord and Savior, which is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).
Is Jesus Christ King upon the throne of my heart? If the Son of God is my Savior, he is also my Lord. Faith in Christ is giving up the rule of your life to him (Matt. 16:25). If I belong to Christ, I give up and lose my life to him willingly.
Is his presence in me manifest in my spirit, attitude, words, and actions? Believers love one another. Our love for one another is far from perfect; but it is constant and is manifest to those who benefit from it (1 John 3:14).
Is Christ before me as the goal of my life, the hope of my soul, the end of my journey, the prize of heaven toward whom I am pressing? If my faith in Christ is genuine, if I am born of God, then Christ is what I desire and seek (Psa. 17:15; 27:4; Phil. 3:7-14); my heart’s great ambition is to be like him and with him forever.
