Gospel

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Examine Yourself

5 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

If there's anything I've noticed about Christianity in these times it is complacency. I myself as well as just about every other God-fearing Christian has fallen victim to it at one point or another. Complacency can be detrimental to your faith because sometimes it leads to believe your in the right place, when in fact you may not be. Jesus said straight was the gate and narrow was the way that leads to life. He also stated that few would find it(Matthew 7:14). That sounds difficult, and as I read scripture that's the way it's supposed to be. So if the way is narrow, the gate is straight, and few will find it, we cannot allow complacency to overtake us. There's grave danger in being too comfortable sometimes because as I read the book of Acts, I don't find a lot of easy-believism, complacency, or smooth-sailing practiced by the initial church. This is certainly not to imply that the Christian life is always going to tribulation, but the church today appears to be a mite too comfy, and one of the reasons is that people are not examining themselves like they ought to be. Many Christians are very ignorant of the book(the bible) that details exactly what is involved in genuine faith. Many preachers are unconfrontive about true faith, never challenging their flocks to evaluate their faith; testing it to determine whether or not they are really saved. If we are to take Matthew 7:21-23 seriously, where Jesus bluntly says that many will call him Lord yet be deceived, then 2 Corinthians 13:5 should be an intrical part of a lot of preaching. Pastors know that their churches are occupied with professed Christians they know are not truly converted. Why aren't they preaching self-examination more often? We know that the Lord's people are and have always been a small remnant, and that most people who profess Christ are not saved according to Jesus himself---so where is this message in modern day preaching?
The bible wants people to know. God doesn't ask anybody to roll the dice concerning salvation. He wants you to be sure and the only way to do that is to go to the bible. Your pastor can tell you you're saved, you're brethren can tell you you're saved, and your heart can tell you you're saved, and yet you can be lost. The bible, which is absolute truth, is the only reliable and infallible source by which you can know. The book of 1 John are the tests that will tell us whether or not we're saved or not because John says so himself:

13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5:13

"That ye may know". The Lord wants us to be sure because if we gallop through our Christian life always unsure, we'll never be able to serve him properly. There are a myriad of tests in this book but we'll just look at a few of the more significant ones here.

Confession of sin

9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
A truly saved Christian confesses sin. If your confessing sin that it's one indication you belong to God because unsaved people don't care. Sin doesn't bother them so they feel no reason to confess it. I think confession of sin should be automatic the minute one becomes conscious of it. There are things we do unknowingly that perhaps might be sinful, but God is looking for a recognition of that which one knows violates his commands. A heart that recognizes and confesses sin is evidence of true conversion.

Obedience

3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 1 John 2:3

Entire sanctification is not possible, nobody is sinless. If people could live sinless then Christ died in vain. But John is speaking here about a style of life, a pattern, a habit, of obedience to God. Is your life dictated by a desire to obey God's commandments? Do you feel awful when you come up short? Is holiness the goal in your everyday life? If it is then you're saved. Professing Christians who do not obey the Lord are not his, it's written in black and white here. Jesus also made this clear in Luke 6:46. In Matthew 7:23 Jesus gives us the reason for why he tells many professed Christians to depart from him---"depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Working iniquity; disobedience; living their way and not his. This is especially true among professed Christian youth. A good many of them live their way, do their thing, chase after our immoral culture, and Jesus' commands are insignificant to them. Many youth pastors prefer to play games with them rather then teaching them what the bible says about faith. Since the majority of Christian youth are ignorant of scripture they can't possibly know how they are to live. Adults included; many professed Christians don't know the bible so they can't live accordingly. If we don't strive to obey the Lord, even in our failures, we don't belong to him.

Love for Christians

10He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 1 John 2:10-11

This is one of the strongest tests of faith: do you love and desire to be in the company of other Christians? When you are the most happiest being amongst the people of God. you are saved, there's no question. The world hates Christians, and the world hates being around them. If you enjoy the fellowship of believers you belong to Christ. If you enjoy the fellowship of the unsaved more then your brethren, then you have a problem. God's people are magnetically drawn to each other by the common bond they share in Jesus. If you're drawn to the heathen, be concerned, be very concerned. I'm convinced that this is an absolute dead giveaway concerning false conversion---when professed Christians love the company of the heathen more then the company of God's children. There's many instances during evangelistic work where we must spend some time around the unsaved but that's the mission; that is somewhat different then when we're speaking of the preference of our company. We all have people we're trying to reach for Christ, but when the bones are stripped clean and it comes down to it, we, if we're born again prefer the company of God's children over the heathen.

Seperation from the World

15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15

Be in the world but not of the world(1 Corinthians 5:9-10, John 15:19).
We're stuck here for the time being but the idea is not to adopt, practice, or embrace the world. It's philosophies, it's culture, or it's activities are not things we want any part of if we're born again. One who is geuninely born again is repelled by what the world has to offer. All over the globe, the world has infiltrated the church. Yoga, which is based on eastern mystic hinduism has poured into churches everywhere. Money has taken over hearts, covetousness has ruined many faiths, and a lot of professed Christians behave vastly as unsaved people do. If we gravitate to the ways of this lost world it is evidence we're not converted. Are we concerned about what's happening in the world more then what's happening in the church? Do we support what the world supports? Do we claim to be Christians yet support abortion, homosexuality, Euthanasia, feminism, or sex outside of marriage? Do we love ungodly music, ungodly films, and excuse our behavior under the blanket of "Christian liberty". It matters not either whether something is labeled secular or Christian, because some material labeled Christian is quite the opposite; the question is what is being said in the music or depicted on film. If it's contrary to God it's worldy. A converted, born again, blood bought, bible-believing Christian likes what God likes and hates what God hates. A few months back here in Nova Scotia, a small town mayor turned down a request by the gay community to fly their rainbow flag citing reasons pertaining to his Christian faith. He was villified, but held fast because he's not of this world, he is an umcompromising born again Christian. Seperation from the world will entail being named intolerant, bigoted, narrow-minded, and ignorant. The apostles withstood the same malignment and so must we if we really belong to him.

There a couple of others but these are the primary tests of faith. Whether a person has been saved 40 years or six months, 1 john applies to everyone. Self-examination never does harm, only good. The bible told us to check on our own faith because even though we're saved, we're still naturally inclined to backslide because we still have sin dwelling in us. Staying pure is tough as is resisting the enticements of the world, and if we are not fully aware that we have an enemy whose focus is undeniably always upon us, completely dedicated to our destruction; we can easily be led away from the truth of the gospel. I don't believe examining ourselves is an option, but an urgent necessity.
Praise the Lord

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