Examine Yourselves

Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor

“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

There are two ditches we can fall in regarding self-examination of faith. The first I experienced as a young Christian. I had genuinely placed my faith in Christ’s death and resurrection alone for eternal life. However, my struggles with ongoing temptation and giving in to sin caused me to perpetually question if I was genuinely saved. There was an unhealthy introspection and a lack of clarity about my forgiveness and acceptance in Christ. There is a second error on the other end of the spectrum. I remember one young man who had said a prayer when he was a young kid, but never gave any indication of wanting to walk with the Lord and gave no indication of ever having been born again. What are some of the marks of genuinely being a Christian?

1. A clear understanding of the gospel. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) We can only believe what we understand. We need to hear the message of the Gospel including who Christ is and what he did in his death and resurrection to pay for sin and provide salvation to us.

2. A clear testimony of resting in the finished work of Christ on the cross and resting in Christ alone for eternal life. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10) Not only must we know what the gospel is and acknowledge that it is true, we must place our full rest and trust in what Jesus did to become a Christian.

3. The internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Roman 8:16) There are both internal marks and external marks of genuine faith and both are necessary. The first is the work of the Holy Spirit confirming in the depths of our heart that we are forgiven, and each of us has become a child of God having been adopted into his family.

4. Signs of spiritual life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) A new believer is going to have the abiding presence in the Holy Spirit who will immediately, inevitably, and necessarily change the person to become more and more like Christ over a lifetime. Our goal is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), so there should be a desire to be holy, a hatred of our sin, a desire for God and his word, a longing to fellowship with other believers, and a perseverance that shows our faith isn’t a momentary flash in the pan.

5. Leading of the Spirit away from sin and towards holiness. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:13-14) A non-Christian is a peace with his sin and freely gives in to his temptation. For the genuine believer it is a battle that we face every day. Even when we give in, there is a hatred for the temptation and sin in our lives. In God’s strength we put sin to death.

6. Acknowledging Jesus as Lord which means we recognize we are slaves to Christ. “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3) This is more than just mouthing the words. We know that unbelievers and even cultists can mouth these words. But “Lord” means “Master,” and when we say that Jesus is our master, we recognize in our hearts that we are slaves of Christ having been bought with a price. We are not our own. Our hearts and allegiance are under the lordship of Christ.

We don’t flippantly judge others regarding their salvation but neither do we accept every profession of faith without some clear biblical evidence. More importantly, we look at our own lives to see God’s presence in our lives and his work changing us to be more like Jesus. We have assurance in the work of Christ and confidence in our security in Christ to all who believe.