“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 Cor. 13:5
I recently mentioned that neither image nor imagination can save us. Regardless of what you think, salvation comes only according to the scriptures. And, based on that I can say that most people are far off course. That’s not just unfortunate it is awful beyond words. It means the difference between heaven and hell. Yet, as important as this is, there is more confusion about this than anything in the world – senseless confusion, because the Bible is perfectly clear about the matter.
No where does the fallibility of man’s thinking shine brighter than it does in regards to redemption. Man brags about all his achievements, which according to him is evidence of his brilliance, but on the whole he has yet to recognize the plain simple soul saving message of the gospel. Indeed, “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which beleive not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” ( 2 Cor. 4:4).
It is no wonder that Paul said, “Examine yourselves… prove your own selves“. But how do we prove ourselves? We do so by examining ourselves, as he says – to see if we are “in the faith“. The phrase “in the faith” speaks of the body of truth that was once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). It has to do with the Bible, the pure unadulterated truth. That is the standard by which we must examine and measure ourselves. It includes what we ought to believe regarding how a person is saved and the evidence of it. It’s not what you think or believe that saves you, it is what the Bible tells you. To know for certain that you are saved you must examine yourself in the light of what God’s Word says. Your image, imagination, and ideas are useless in making that determination. Feeling like you are saved and even believing that you are saved isn’t enough. Many people believe they are going to heaven who have no idea what the gospel is. You must know the facts and have faith in them to be saved. Our blessed assurance is based on the firm foundation of God’s revelation regarding redemption. Examine yourself and you will know the truth about your spiritual state. Have you? Will you? When? – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
