Examine Yourselves
“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? (II Corinthians 13:5)
A few days ago, I was asked to provide my thoughts on Paul’s admonition to “examine yourselves.” The following three observations seem helpful in that regard:
1. Paul is addressing believers – namely, “the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia” (II Corinthians 1:1). This admonition is directed at those who already have a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not at the unregenerate or unbelieving.
2. Sincere “examiners” are already in a state of grace. Those who would sincerely take up this charge to examine themselves are answering the question regarding their state of grace in their willingness to do so. Indeed, would a natural man who regards the things of the spirit of God as “foolishness” (I Corinthians 2:14) be able to sincerely inquire about his spiritual state? I believe this is Paul’s point: If you have sincere concern for your state of grace, that alone is proof that Christ is in you, because natural men would have no such concern.
3. Could Paul be addressing the reprobate to get them eternally saved? Consider for a moment the possibility that Paul is addressing the reprobate in this verse. Could such a man have a sincere concern about his own state of grace when his carnal mind regards the entire matter as nonsense? No. For the sake of argument, let’s suppose for a moment that he could sincerely examine himself. He looks at himself to see if he is in the faith and he comes to the proper conclusion that he is NOT in the faith. What on earth could he do to rectify that situation? Precisely nothing. He has no faith, he cannot believe even if he wanted to (which he doesn’t). In all this he comes face to face with the Nicodemian Precept – “except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) If a reprobate could see himself properly as a reprobate, it would profit him nothing because he is ever and always in the flesh and that which is born of flesh is flesh and the flesh profiteth nothing where eternal salvation is in view. Even if he could embrace an accurate assessment of his current lack of grace, he neither could nor would be able to do anything to change that situation. Isaiah said it best, “Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.” (Isaiah 26:10)
Conclusion
Far from a means of getting people eternally saved, Paul’s admonition to “examine yourselves” is directed at the regenerate family of God with the intent of encouraging regarding their present state of grace and improving them along the path of discipleship by identifying deficiencies in their service to God and providing an occasion to modify their practice.
- Elder Daniel Samons