"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!" (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Beloved,
Over the last couple weeks we have taken a hard look at what scriptures have to say about the tangible evidence of being a child of God. We have seen that genuine faith changes a person internally from who they used to be into something brand new; completely changed and different from before. We have also seen that this transaction will in fact produce real, tangible fruit in the life of the one who experiences the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And now, it is time for each and every one of us to take the test. Yes, take the test! The apostle Paul commands every believer to examine and test themselves. This is not a pop quiz but rather a full blown examination to see if what you believe about yourself is really true; does your life-style match your confession? The two words Paul uses for “examine” and “test,” besides being in the imperative form, that is a command, are two words that mean to put under pressure, tempt or expose to temptation, even sinful temptation (examine) and to test with extreme or strenuous standards or very high expectations in an effort to determine worth or value (test). In short, we need to stop fooling ourselves and be real about what we say we believe. Each of us needs to take a long, hard look at our faith and our actions to see if they stand up to the standard of righteousness and purity that the Bible requires of every child of God. Paul also warns us that in this process some people will washout; that is they will fail the test. When they look at themselves closely, they will see that they do not meet the criteria for being a Christian; their fruit does not match their profession but in fact matches the root of who they are. Do you remember what Jesus said about the diseased tree and its fruit? Why would anyone want to do this? Truthfully, we don’t! Our flesh wants to keep the truth in the dark and we are afraid to dig around in the back corners of the closet for fear of what we might find lurking there. Even the genuine child of God may initially be hesitant to obey, but that is why we are commanded by Paul to do this. It is not our human nature to be honest and transparent about ourselves, even to ourselves. However, if you are a child of God, you are no longer controlled by your human nature; you are now controlled by the living Spirit of God and He requires that we do the self examination. In this test, one of two things will happen. There is no outcome other than either you pass the test or you don’t. There is no grading on the curve, no structured or contracted grades, either an “A” or a “F.” However, this test is given for the same reason any other test is given. If you pass, then you are free to move up a grade level and begin to take on greater and greater challenges that are designed to bring you into full maturity. If you fail, it does not mean you are worthless but rather there is some remediation that needs to occur before you can move to the next level. In the area faith, the remediation that is needed is the regeneration of the Holy Spirit that enacts the “2C517” event which removes the old and ushers in the new! Without this step there is no real moving forward; there is neither real maturity nor any real ability to fulfill the commands of God. Only those who have the Holy Spirit living inside them can accomplish this task. If you have not been changed from the inside out you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you fail the test and are in need of something further. But, isn’t it better to know that now so that something can be done as opposed to hiding from this reality only to find out on graduation day that you don’t measure up? Maybe God is using this moment of painful failure to show you where you really stand and maybe He is using this to draw you into repentance and faith? Maybe this is your “2C517” moment; one that will enable you to pass the test and move on toward maturity.
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