Examinations

2 Corinthians 13
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?
2 Corinthians 13:5


LET IT GLOW

Verse 11 says, "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."

Paul is closing his letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. (NLT)

The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible says:

• be perfect-seek after perfection in knowledge, grace, and holiness, and in the performance of good works: or "be restored"; or jointed and knit together, as before. (verse 9)
• be of one mind-in the doctrines and principles of grace, and ordinances of the Gospel for there is one faith, one baptism.
• live in peace-both with them that are without, and them that are within, with all men, and with the members of the church.
• the God of love and peace shall be with you-He who is love (Himself), has loved His people with an everlasting love, and who is the author and donor of spiritual and eternal peace, has called His people to peace, and expects and requires it among themselves, and all men, will grant to such His gracious presence.

David Guzik challenges us, "It costs something to work hard to be of good comfort, be of one mind, to live in peace. But the reward is worth it: the God of love and peace be with you. If you feel that God isn't with you, perhaps it is because you are resisting and rejecting His call to be of good comfort, be of one mind, and to live in peace."

Concerning this verse, Liberty Bible Commentary has this to say:

Maturity, contentment, unity, and harmony, reflected in these terms, answer to the immaturity, unrest, divisiion, and quarreling so evident in the Corinthian assembly.

It sounds like good advice to me.


LET IT GROW

Who likes examinations? Probably no one does, unless it is the prepared person. There are all kinds of exams-school exams, semester exams, state board exams, when doctors exam your body, when a mechanic examines your automobile, etc. I can do all right on minor exams, but it's those timed ones that throw me.
Ususally, we don't require an exam on the knowledge of the Bible or do an examination of another Christian's life. In the final chapter, Paul tells his readers to examine themselves. I want to dig deeper here.

NLT says this in verse 5, "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith."

"Paul's critics were prepared to examine him, to see if he was rightly related to Christ. He asks them to subject themselves to the same scrutiny," states  Liberty Bible Commentary.

The word reprobate is used in the King James Version.
Reprobate means that which fails to meet a test and is thus rejected as unworthy or unacceptable, as impure silver; or persons. (Holman Bible Dictionary)

Paul is telling the Corinthians to examine themselves to see if Christ is in their heart. If He isn't, then they are reprobates, counterfeits (Falwell uses that term.). So the same can be true of people today. They can be counterfeits, like silver or a coin. It can look like the real thing on the outside, but is not real on the inside.

David Guzik tells us, "Ask yourself 'Am I really a Christian?' "
Spurgeon said, " Do not merely sit in your closet and look at yourself alone, but go out into this busy world
and see what kind of piety you have. Many a man's religion will stand examination what will not stand proof."

Perhaps Spurgeon is talking about works (loving actions) as an evidence or proof of our faith. Is there evidence of Christ in my life?


LET IT GO

Live in peace and unity with others.

Do spiritual self-examinations often.

[Our next lesson is a summary of 2 Corinthians.]