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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!” (v. 5).
Drawing his epistle to the Corinthians to a close, Paul is clear that he will not fail to exercise discipline when he comes to Corinth if he needs to do so. At the same time, we get the sense that the Apostle does not want to have to discipline anyone in Corinth. He hopes that he will not have to mourn over ongoing, flagrant sin in the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 12:19–13:4).
In light of this, discipline is not inevitable. The Corinthians can take steps to avoid it. This is why Paul urges the Corinthians in today’s passage, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (13:5). Here we find a strong call for self-examination, for us to look at our lives and to discern whether we are actually trusting in Christ for our salvation. We are not to assume that we are Christians simply because we have made a profession of faith at some point in our lives. Instead, we are to consider the state of our hearts from time to time and look for the spiritual fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in believers (Gal. 5:22–23). As we do this, we are looking not for perfection but for sincerity. After all, 1 John 1:8–9 indicates that we will never be able to claim sinlessness in this life. We remain imperfect until we are glorified, which means that any fruit that we find is going to look bruised and not nearly as appetizing as we want it to be. Yet, bruised spiritual fruit remains true spiritual fruit, for those who are in the flesh and not united to Christ by faith cannot do anything pleasing to God (Rom. 8:8). Moreover, we examine ourselves to make sure we are safe in the arms of Jesus, as all those who truly trust in Him will be preserved in Him forever (John 10:27–30). Matthew Henry comments, “We should examine whether we be in the faith, because it is a matter in which we may be easily deceived, and wherein a deceit is highly dangerous.”
When we examine ourselves, we will find things for which we need to repent, and in repenting we show the regenerate state of our hearts. For the Corinthians, their repentance and spiritual fruit that demonstrates true faith would also show that Paul’s ministry to them had not failed the test (2 Cor. 13:6). Their true faith, which the Apostle had good reason to believe was present despite all the problems of the Corinthian church (7:16), would confirm that they had believed the truth Paul preached, for Paul did nothing against the truth (13:7–8). The implication is that if no fruit was present, it was due to the Corinthians’ believing the false message of Paul’s critics.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The book of 1 John gives three tests to see if we are in the faith, repeated in various ways throughout all five chapters. We have to have the right doctrine (believe Scripture’s teaching on Jesus), right love (love for fellow Christians), and right ethics (the pursuit of holiness and striving to put sin to death). If we find these things in our lives, no matter how imperfect, we can be confident that we trust in Jesus.
For Further Study
- >Psalm 139:23–24
- 1 Corinthians 11:27–32
- Galatians 6:3–5
- 1 Peter 1:3–7