On the need for spiritual assessments:

Most people aren’t thrilled about testing time. If they haven’t prepared, they’ll probably be terrified. But even if they have studied hard and prepared as best they can, it can still be a nerve-wracking experience. And it’s not just a school exam – we can also think about a medical exam, etc.

This fear or hesitation is more or less true in our spiritual life as well. Various passages speak of the need for us to test things, including ourselves. For example, what the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 is something we all need to take to heart: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourself. Verses 5-10 provide the immediate context:

Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith; test yourself. Don’t you realize that Jesus Christ is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test? And I hope you will find that we have not failed this test. Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong, not so that people will see that we have stood the test, but that you will do what is right even though we seem to have failed. For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. We are happy whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored. Therefore I write these things when I am away, so that when I return I will not have to be harsh in my use of authority – the authority which the Lord has given me to edify you , not to tear you down.

The fuller context is that of this entire epistle, where Paul has to deal with the Corinthians and their support of false apostles or “super-apostles”, etc. They continue to demand that Paul prove that he is a true apostle. His rivals urged the Corinthians to question his authority and legitimacy. So here, Paul reverses the situation. He says they need to examine their own lives.

And he hopes they pass the test. Although he had to rebuke and chastise the Corinthians more than once, his goal is to see them become all they should be in Christ. Or as verse 9 says, “our prayer is that you may be fully restored.”

Having regular medical checkups is good for our physical body. And taking regular spiritual exams is also necessary for our journey with Christ. Without testing and questioning ourselves – with the help of the Spirit and in accordance with the counsel of Scripture – we can all go astray.

If we do not monitor our spiritual condition, we can drift away, something the scriptures warn us against. For example, Hebrews 2:1 says: “Therefore we must give greater attention to what we have heard, lest we stray from it. ” And 1 Corinthians 10:12 says it this way: “Be careful lest you fall. »

One commentator is worth quoting here. As for tests and exams, what Trent Casto says is very useful. He reminds us that exams are not the problem:

A health exam does not indicate poor health; it simply reveals one that is already there. Likewise, an academic exam does not make us fail; it simply reveals that we are failing. Spiritual self-examination does not make or break us as Christians; it simply reveals what we are. This can help us: whether we are Christians or not, we must know what we are. Paul certainly thinks so. When he gets to Corinth, he will find out what the Corinthians really are and treat them accordingly. It is far better for them to self-examine and address issues immediately rather than wait until he gets there and deals with them more forcefully.

Therefore, in this passage Paul is asking the Corinthians to examine themselves. Until now, thanks to the super-apostles, the Corinthians have been much more focused on examining Paul and his ministry to see if it is legitimate. As the apostle concludes his letter, he turns the tables and asks the members of the church to examine themselves before his arrival, so that he can deal with him gently and not harshly.

Certainly, we won’t have an apostle coming to visit us anytime soon. But we have someone much bigger on the way. Jesus is coming, and the severe discipline that Paul may have to show the Corinthians if they have not repented is only a weak image of the severe authority that Jesus will exercise when he returns. Once he gets there, it will be too late. We must examine ourselves today and see if we are ready to receive His visitation. So as we look through this passage and examine ourselves, we will look for evidence of the purity of Christ, the presence of Christ, and the posture of Christ within ourselves in our churches.

On this issue of self-examination, we certainly need to keep an eye on our lives, but we also need to guard against being too introspective. It is not on our own lives that we should chiefly keep our eyes, but on Christ. Casto goes on to offer these helpful remarks:

While there is great value in examining our public and private lives, there is also some danger if we do not also look to Christ. The danger is that in pure introspection we get lost in a dark labyrinth of the heart, which only leads to despair. To guard against this danger, Scottish preacher Thomas Chalmers gave some of the best advice on self-examination. He said that the best way to find something in a dark room, like in the heart, is not to keep probing and searching in the darkness, but rather to open the window blinds and let in the light. ? Looking at Jesus with faith. Chalmers writes:

“If the I fails in its discernment when it is turned inwardly toward the evidence, we should ask it to turn outward toward the promises, and this is the way to bring clear and satisfying light to the soul. Just as in a careful and difficult search of the floor of an apartment we open all its windows to the sunlight of nature, so we must, by faith, open all the chambers of the inner man to the sunlight. of justice. These are the external truths, which give rise to the traces of an internal spiritual work.

If, upon examining ourselves, we are not sure we see love for Christ or devotion to Him, we should not simply continue to look inward. Rather, we should look to Christ in faith, and we will see love appear. Chalmers goes on to say:

“In the absence of manifest love, manifest loyalty, and manifest sacredness of the heart, which we have sought in vain among the ambiguities of the inner man, we should expose the whole of this mysterious territory to the influences of the inner man. Sun of Righteousness, and this is done by looking at it with the eyes of the believer. It is by considering the love with which God in Christ has loved us, that the previously cold and slow heart is awakened to the response of love.

Looking at Christ with faith is the surest way to discern the presence of Christ in us. As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. » If we wish to look further as Christ we must look more has Christ. If, in examining ourselves, we do not see sufficiently the presence of Christ within us, then we must look more frequently with faith at Christ himself, outside of us, as revealed in the Word. The more we examine ourselves and see our own deficiencies, the more we will see the all-sufficiency of Christ. One of Chalmers’ students, Reverend Robert Murray M’Cheyne, put it beautifully:

“Learn much about the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is absolutely adorable. Such infinite majesty, and yet such gentleness and grace, and all this for sinners, even the ruler! Live a lot in the smiles of God. Enjoy its rays. Feel His all-seeing eyes resting lovingly on you and rest in His almighty arms.

The presence of Christ must be evident in his people.

These are indeed very wise words. We must always test ourselves and carefully consider our spiritual condition. But we do this best by keeping our eyes fixed on Christ.

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