Proclamation:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith;
test yourselves. Do you not realize that
Christ Jesus is in you, unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)
Explanation:
These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth . In this the last chapter of Second
Corinthians, Paul tells them that he plans to visit them in order to personally
address the incorrigible members among them who did not respond to his repeated
warnings. (2 Corinthians 13:1-2) He
exhorts them to examine themselves. Then
he asked them a rhetorical question, “Do you not realize that Christ Jesus in
you?” He ends by telling them to strive
for full restoration, to encourage one another, to be of one mind, and to live
in peace. (2 Corinthians 13:11)
Application:
As believers we are saved, but unfortunately, even though we
are believers in Christ, we still sin.
When we fall back into sin, we do not lose our salvation; we just
interrupt the fellowship that we have with Christ. That is why we should frequently ask to be
forgiven because we sin daily. Remember,
in addition to our sinful behavior, we can sin with our words (Matthew 15:18)
and with our thoughts. (Proverbs 23:7 and Matthew 5:28) There are also sins of omission as well as
sins of commission. We all need to check
ourselves regularly and confess our sins.
Pray that God will forgive us, cleanse our heart and mind, and renew a
right spirit within us. (Psalm 51:1-4 and 10)
The Holy Spirit of God is within us (Ezekiel 36:27) and our behavior
should exhibit the fruit of The Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) Our life, our walk, and our talk should be
different after we accepted Christ than it was beforehand. And, no matter how long we have been in
Christ, we should all be growing in knowledge and holiness. (2 Peter 2:18) The only things that do not grow are things
that are dead. We should strive to be
more Christ-like each day.
