2 Corinthians 13:5: “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!” (ESV)
The church in Corinth was giving Paul some serious headaches. One report after another, he would read about the ongoing problems with sin. Some in the congregation were even challenging Paul’s authority as an apostle in his absence.
It is in his second letter to the Corinthians that Paul admonished them to address the issues he had written about earlier in his first letter. And he summed it up in 2 Corinthians 13:5. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. If you fail the test, Christ isn’t in you!
Paul was hoping to avoid having to confront them personally before his next visit. Ideally, they would see their own waywardness and repent.
When believers let sin go unchecked in their own lives, they force the other believers in their circles to assume the very awkward, uncomfortable task of correcting them. And sometimes this doesn’t go over too well. Who wants to be told that they’re sorely missing the mark? Moreover, what true Christ follower desires to be the one to tell another person that their actions are in direct conflict with what the Bible teaches?
If not done properly with love and concern, it can lead to resentment and a ruined friendship. Pride must be left out of the equation, for both parties.
This is why Paul turned the challenge around on them. Instead of them challenging his authority as an apostle, he knew it would be much more fruitful for all involved if they could see their own sin, seek forgiveness, and repent on their own.
As Paul was addressing these issues in the early church, the New Testament had yet to be written. But surely he could offer them guidance for their personal testing through his instruction in previous letters, most notably in Galatians 5:22-23 as he wrote about the 9 fruits of the Spirit.
Today, we have the entirety of the Bible, both Old and New Testament. And it is in the Book of 1st John of the New Testament that the Apostle John provides us an excellent blueprint to answer the question of whether our faith is genuine.
Below are just a small sampling of verses from 1st John that can be easily posed as questions to test our genuine faith.
- Do we enjoy having fellowship with God? (1 John 1:3)
- Would others say we walk in the light or in darkness? (1 John 1:5-6)
- Do we admit and confess our sin? (1 John 1:8-9)
- Do we keep God’s commands? (1 John 2:3-4)
- Do we love God or the world? (1 John 2:15-16)
- Is the pattern of sin in our lives increasing or decreasing? (1 John 3:6)
- Do we walk the walk instead of talking the talk? (1 John 3:18)
It’s not unusual for a new believer to ask a more seasoned believer, “How do I know if my faith is real and genuine?” But if the seasoned believer isn’t taking the time to inspect his own fruit according to the standard of God’s Word, how will he know?!
Former Blackout Artist 