Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
2 Corinthians 13:5
Recommended Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
We are tested in school and sometimes in the workplace. God even tested Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4; 20:20; Deuteronomy 8:2). In general, we have a negative attitude toward being tested—and tend to avoid tests when we can.
The idea of testing ourselves is a unique idea found in Scripture. The apostle Paul exhorted the Corinthian Christians to test themselves, to examine whether they were genuine Christians or not. Why is that important? Because a day is coming when many who profess to be Christians will fall away from the faith when their faith is tested (Matthew 24:10-12; 1 Timothy 4:1). Jesus even said that not all who profess faith in Him will enter the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). The time to examine the genuineness of one’s faith is before the test comes.
Don’t let this day pass without knowing for sure that you are in Christ and that He is in you. If you haven’t already, embrace Him as your Lord and Savior today.
We do believe in eternal security, but we do not believe in eternal presumption. Let a man examine himself.
Donald Grey Barnhouse
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