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2
Corinthians Chapter Thirteen
2 Corinthians 13
Note: The following commentary covers chapters 12 and 13.
Nevertheless, though forced to speak of himself, the apostle would
glory only in his infirmities. But he is, as it were, outside his natural work.
His past life unfolds before his eyes. The Corinthians obliged him to think of
things which he had left behind. After having ended his account, and declared
that he would glory in his infirmities alone, there was one circumstance that
recurred to him. Nothing can be more natural, more simple, than all these
communications. Must he glory? It is but unprofitable. He would come to that of
which a man-as in the flesh-could not glory. It was the sovereign power of God,
in which the man had no part. It was a man in Christ of whom he spoke-such a
one had been caught up to the third heaven, to paradise; in the body, or out of
the body, he knew not. The body had no part in it. Of such a one he would
glory.
That which exalted him on the earth he would put aside.
That which took him up to heaven-that which gave him a portion there-that which
he was "in Christ"-was his glory, the joy of his heart, the portion
in which he readily would glory. Happy being! whose portion in Christ was such
that, in thinking of it, he is content to forget all that could exalt him as
man; as he says elsewhere as to his hope, "that I may win Christ."
The man, the body, had no share in a power, to taste of which he had to be
caught up into heaven; but of such a one he would glory. There, where God and
His glory are everything, separated from his body as to any consciousness of
being in it, he heard things which men in the body were not capable of entering
into, and which it was not fitting that a mortal man should declare, which the
mode of being of a man in the body could not admit. These things had made the
deepest impression on the apostle; they strengthened him for the ministry; but
he could not introduce them into the manner of understanding and communicating
which belongs to man's condition here below.
But many practical lessons are connected with this
marvellous favour shewn to the apostle. I say, marvellous; for in truth one
feels what a ministry must his have been, whose strength, and whose way of
seeing and judging, were drawn from such a position. What an extraordinary
mission was that of this apostle! But he had it in an earthen vessel. Nothing
amends the flesh. Once come back into the consciousness of his human existence
on earth, the apostle's flesh would have taken advantage of the favour he had
enjoyed to exalt him in his own eyes, to say, 'None have been in the third
heaven but thou, Paul.' To be near God in the glory, as out of the body, does
not puff up. All is Christ, and Christ is all: self is forgotten. To have been
there is another thing. The presence of God makes us feel our nothingness. The
flesh can avail itself of our having been in it, when we are no longer there.
Alas! what is man? But God is watchful; in His grace He provided for the danger
of His poor servant. To have taken him up to a fourth heaven-so to speak-would
only have increased the danger. There is no way of amending the flesh; the
presence of God silences it. It will boast of it as soon as it is no longer
there. To walk safely, it must be held in check, such as it is. We have to
reckon it dead; but it often requires to be bridled, that the heart be not
drawn away from God by its means, and that it may neither impede our walk nor
spoil our testimony. Paul received a thorn in the flesh, lest he should be
puffed up on account of the abundant revelations which he had received. We
know, by the epistle to the Galatians, that it was something which tended to
make him contemptible in his preaching: a very intelligible counterpoise to
these remarkable revelations.
God left this task to Satan, as He used him for the
humiliation of Job. Whatever graces may be bestowed on us, we must go through
the ordinary exercises of personal faith, in which the heart only walks safely
when the flesh is bridled, and so practically nullified, that we are not
conscious of it as active in us when we wish to be wholly given to God, and to
think of Him and with Him according to our measure.
Three times (like the Lord with reference to the cup He was to drink)
the apostle asks Him that the thorn may be taken away; but the divine life is
fashioned in the putting off of self, and-imperfect as we are-this putting off
as to practice that which, as to truth, if we look at our standing in Christ,
we have put off, is wrought by our being made conscious of the humiliating
unsuitableness of this flesh, which we like to gratify, to the presence of God
and the service to which we are called. Happy for us when it is by way of
prevention, and not by the humiliation of a fall, as was the case with Peter!
The difference is plain. There it was self-confidence mingled with self-will in
spite of the Lord's warnings. Here, though still the flesh, the occasion was
the revelations which had been made to Paul. If we learn the tendency of the
flesh in the presence of God, we come out of it humble, and we escape
humiliation. But in general (and we may say in some respects with all) we have
to experience the revelations that lift us up to God, whatever their measure
may be, and we have to experience what the vessel is in which it is contained,
by the pain it gives us through the sense of what it is-I do not say through
falls.
God, in His government, knows how to unite suffering for
Christ, and the discipline in the flesh, in the same circumstance; and this
explains Hebrews 12:1-11. The apostle preached: if he was despised in his
preaching it was truly for the Lord that he suffered; nevertheless the same
thing disciplined the flesh, and prevented the apostle priding himself on the
revelations he enjoyed, and the consequent power with which he unfolded the
truth. In the presence of God, in the third heaven, he truly felt that man was
nothing, and Christ everything. He must acquire the practical experience of the
same thing below. The flesh must be annulled, where it is not a nullity, by the
experimental sense of the evil which is in it, and must thus become consciously
a nullity in the personal experience of that which it is. For what was the
flesh of Paul-which only hindered him morally in his work, by drawing him away
from God-except a troublesome companion in his work? The suppression of the
flesh felt and judged was a most profitable exercise of the heart.
Observe here the blessed position of the apostle, as
caught up into the third heaven. He could glory in such a one, because self was
entirely lost in the things with which he was in relation He did not merely
glory in the things, neither does he say "in myself." Self was
completely lost sight of in the enjoyment of things that were unutterable by
the man when he returned into the consciousness of self. He would glory in such
a one; but in himself, looked at in flesh, he would not glory, save in his
infirmities. On the other hand, is it not humiliating to think that he who had
enjoyed such exaltation should have to go through the painful experience of
what the flesh is, wicked, despicable, and selfish?
Observe also the difference between Christ and any man
whatsoever. Christ could be on the mount in glory with Moses, and be owned as
His Son by the Father Himself; and He can be on the plain in the presence of
Satan and of the multitude; but, although the scenes are different, He is alike
perfect in each. We find admirable affections in the apostles, and especially
in Paul; we find works, as Jesus said, greater than His own; we find exercises
of heart, and astonishing heights by grace; in a word we see a marvellous power
developed by the Holy Ghost in this extraordinary servant of the Lord; but we
do not find the evenness that was in Christ. He was the Son of man who was in
heaven. Such as Paul arechords on which God strikes and on which He produces a
wondrous music; but Christ is all the music itself.
Finally, observe that the humiliation needed to reduce
the rebellious flesh to its nothingness is used by Christ to display His power
in it. Thus humbled, we learn our dependence. All that is of us, all that
constitutes self, is a hindrance; the infirmity is that in which it is put
down, laid low, in which weakness is realised. The power of Christ is perfected
in it. It is a general principle; humanly speaking, the cross was weakness.
Death is the opposite of the strength of man. Nevertheless it is in it that the
strength of Christ revealed itself. In it He accomplished His glorious work of
salvation.
It is not sin in the flesh that is the subject here when
infirmity is spoken of, but what is contrary to the strength of man. Christ
never leant on human strength for a moment; He lived by the Father, who had
sent Him. The power of the Holy Ghost alone was displayed in Him. Paul needed
to have the flesh reduced to weakness, in order that there might not be in it
the motion of sin which was natural to it. When the flesh was reduced to its
true nothingness as far as good is concerned, and in a manifest way, then
Christ could display His strength in it. That strength had its true character.
Remark it well: that is always its character-strength made perfect in
infirmity. The blessed apostle could glory in a man in Christ above, enjoying
all this beatitude, these marvellous things which shut out self, so much were
they above all we are. While enjoying them, he was not conscious of the
existence of his body. When he was again conscious of it, that which he had
heard could not be translated into those communications which had the body for
their instrument, and human ears as the means of intelligence. He gloried in
that man in Christ above. Here below he only gloried in Christ Himself, and in
that infirmity which gave occasion for the power of Christ to rest on him, and
which was the demonstration that this power was that of Christ, that Christ
made him the vessel of its manifestation. But this nevertheless was realised by
painful experiences. The first was the man in Christ, the second the power of
Christ resting on the man. For the first the man as to flesh is nothing; as to
the second it is judged and put down-turned to weakness, that we may learn, and
Christ's power may be manifested. There is an impulse, an ineffable source of
ministry on high. Strength comes in, on the humiliation of man as he is in this
world, when the man is reduced to nothingness-his true value in divine
things-and Christ unfolds in him that strength which could not associate itself
with the strength of man, nor depend on it in any way whatsoever. If the
instrument was weak, as they alleged, the power which had wrought must have
been-not its power, but that of Christ.
Thus, as at the beginning of the epistle we had the true
characteristics of the ministry in connection with the objects that gave it
that character, so we have here its practical strength, and the source of that
strength, in connection with the vessel in which the testimony was deposited,
the way in which this ministry was exercised by bringing a mortal man into
connection with the ineffable sources from which it flowed, and with the
living, present, active energy of Christ, so that the man should be capable of
it, and yet that he should not accomplish it in his own carnal strength-a thing
moreover impossible in itself. [1]
Thus the apostle gloried in his sufferings and his
infirmities. He had been obliged to speak as a fool; they who ought themselves
to have proclaimed the excellence of his ministry had forced him to do it. It
was among them that all the most striking proofs of an apostolic ministry had
been given. If in anything they had been behind other churches with regard to
proofs of his apostleship, it was in their not having contributed anything to
his maintenance. He was coming again. This proof would still be wanting. He
would spend himself for them, as a kind father; even although the more he
loved, the less he should be loved. Would they say that he had kept up
appearances by taking nothing himself, but that he knew how to indemnify
himself by using Titus in order to receive from them? It was no such thing.
They well knew that Titus had walked among them in the same spirit as the
apostle. Sad work, when one who is above these wretched motives and ways of
judging and estimating things, and full of these divine and glorious motives of
Christ, is obliged to come down to those which occupy the selfish hearts of the
people with whom he has to do-hearts that are on a level with the motives which
animate and govern the world that surrounds them! But love must bear all things
and must think for others, if one cannot think with them, not they with
oneself.
Is it then that the apostle took the Corinthians for
judges of his conduct? He spoke before God in Christ; and only feared lest,
when he came, he should find many of those who professed the name of Christ
like the world of iniquity that surrounded them; and that he should be humbled
amongst them, and have to bewail many who had already sinned and had not
repented of their misdeeds.
For the third time he was coming. Everything should be
proved by the testimony of two or three witnesses; and this time he would not
spare. The apostle says, "This is the third time I am coming"; yet he
adds, "as if I were present the second time, and being absent now."
This is, because he had been there once, was to have gone there on his way to
Macedonia, was coming a second time, but did not on account of the state the
Corinthians were in; but this third time he was coming, and he had told them
beforehand; and he said beforehand, as if he had gone the second time, although
now absent, that if he came again he would not spare.
He then puts an end to the question about his ministry by
presenting an idea which ought to confound them utterly. If Christ had not spoken
by him, Christ did not dwell in them. If Christ was in them, He must have
spoken by the apostle, for he had been the means of their conversion.
"Since," he says, "ye seek a proof that Christ speaketh in me,
examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Do ye not know yourselves, that
Christ dwelleth in you, unless ye be reprobates?" and that they did not at
all think. This was quite upsetting them, and turning their foolish and stupid
opposition, their unbecoming contempt of the apostle, to their own confusion.
What folly to allow themselves to be led away by a thought which, no doubt,
exalted them in their own eyes; but which, by calling in question the
apostleship of Paul, necessarily overturned, at the same time, their own
Christianity!
From "which to you-ward is not weak" to the end
of verse 4 is a parenthesis, referring to the character of his ministry,
according to the principles brought forward in the previous chapter: weakness,
and that which tended to contempt, on the side of man; power on God's part:
even as Christ was crucified in weakness and was raised again by divine power.
If the apostle himself was weak, it was in Christ; and he lived in Him, by the
power of God, towards the Corinthians. Whatever might be the case with them, he
trusted they should know that he was not reprobate; and he only prayed to God
that they should do no evil, not in order that he should not be reprobate (that
is, worthless in his ministry, for here he is speaking of ministry), but that
they might do good even if he were reprobate. For he could do nothing against
the truth, but for the truth. He was not master of the Corinthians for his own
interest, but was content to be weak that they might be strong; for what he
desired was their perfection. But he wrote, being absent, as he had said, in
order that when present he might not be obliged to act with severity, according
to the authority which the Lord had given him for edification, and not for
destruction.
He had written what his heart, filled and guided by the
Holy Ghost, impelled him to say; he had poured it all out; and now, wearied, so
to speak, with the effort, he closes the epistle with a few brief
sentences:-"Rejoice, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live
in peace." Happen what might, it was this which he desired for them; and
that the God of love and of peace should be with them. He rests in this wish,
exhorting them to salute one another with affection, as all the saints,
including himself, saluted them; praying that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, might be with them
all.
── John Darby《Synopsis of 2 Corinthians》
2 Corinthians 13
Chapter Contents
The apostle threatens obstinate offenders. (1-6) He prays
for their reformation. (7-10) And ends the epistle with a salutation and
blessing. (11-14)
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 13:1-6
(Read 2 Corinthians 13:1-6)
Though it is God's gracious method to bear long with
sinners, yet he will not bear always; at length he will come, and will not
spare those who remain obstinate and impenitent. Christ at his crucifixion,
appeared as only a weak and helpless man, but his resurrection and life showed
his Divine power. So the apostles, how mean and contemptible soever they
appeared to the world, yet, as instruments, they manifested the power of God.
Let them prove their tempers, conduct, and experience, as gold is assayed or
proved by the touchstone. If they could prove themselves not to be reprobates,
not to be rejected of Christ, he trusted they would know that he was not a
reprobate, not disowned by Christ. They ought to know if Christ Jesus was in
them, by the influences, graces, and indwelling of his Spirit, by his kingdom
set up in their hearts. Let us question our own souls; either we are true
Christians, or we are deceivers. Unless Christ be in us by his Spirit, and
power of his love, our faith is dead, and we are yet disapproved by our Judge.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 13:7-10
(Read 2 Corinthians 13:7-10)
The most desirable thing we can ask of God, for ourselves
and our friends, is to be kept from sin, that we and they may not do evil. We
have far more need to pray that we may not do evil, than that we may not suffer
evil. The apostle not only desired that they might be kept from sin, but also
that they might grow in grace, and increase in holiness. We are earnestly to
pray to God for those we caution, that they may cease to do evil, and learn to
do well; and we should be glad for others to be strong in the grace of Christ,
though it may be the means of showing our own weakness. let us also pray that
we may be enabled to make a proper use of all our talents.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
(Read 2 Corinthians 13:11-14)
Here are several good exhortations. God is the Author of
peace and Lover of concord; he hath loved us, and is willing to be at peace
with us. And let it be our constant aim so to walk, that separation from our
friends may be only for a time, and that we may meet in that happy world where
parting will be unknown. He wishes that they may partake all the benefits which
Christ of his free grace and favour has purchased; the Father out of his free
love has purposed; and the Holy Ghost applies and bestows.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Corinthians》
2 Corinthians 13
Verse 1
[1] This
is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses
shall every word be established.
I am coming this third time — He had been coming twice before, though he did not actually come.
Verse 2
[2] I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second
time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to
all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
All the rest —
Who have since then sinned in any of these kinds.
I will not spare — I
will severely punish them.
Verse 4
[4] For
though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God.
For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God
toward you.
He was crucified through weakness — Through the impotence of human nature.
We also are weak with him — We appear weak and despicable by partaking of the same sufferings for
his sake.
But we shall live with him — Being raised from the dead.
By the power of God in you — By that divine energy which is now in every believer, 2 Corinthians 13:5.
Verse 5
[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?
Prove yourselves —
Whether ye are such as can, or such as cannot, bear the test - This is the
proper meaning of the word which we translate, reprobates. Know ye not
yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - All Christian believers know this, by
the witness and by the fruit of his Spirit. Some translate the words, Jesus
Christ is among you; that is, in the church of Corinth; and understand them of
the miraculous gifts and the power of Christ which attended the censures of the
apostle.
Verse 6
[6] But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
And I trust ye shall know — By proving yourselves, not by putting my authority to the proof.
Verse 7
[7] Now
I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that
ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
I pray God that ye may do no evil — To give me occasion of showing my apostolical power. I do not desire to
appear approved - By miraculously punishing you.
But that ye may do that which is good, though
we should be as reprobates — Having no occasion to give that proof of
our apostleship.
Verse 8
[8] For
we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
For we can do nothing against the truth — Neither against that which is just and right, nor against those who walk
according to the truth of the gospel.
Verse 9
[9] For
we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even
your perfection.
For we rejoice when we are weak — When we appear so, having no occasion to show our apostolic power.
And this we wish, even your perfection — In the faith that worketh by love.
Verse 11
[11]
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind,
live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Be perfect —
Aspire to the highest degree of holiness.
Be of good comfort —
Filled with divine consolation.
Be of one mind —
Desire, labour, pray for it, to the utmost degree that is possible.
Verse 13
[13] All
the saints salute you.
The grace — Or
favour.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ — By which alone we can come to the Father.
And the love of God — Manifested
to you, and abiding in you.
And the communion — Or
fellowship.
Of the Holy Ghost — In
all his gifts and graces. It is with great reason that this comprehensive and
instructive blessing is pronounced at the close of our solemn assemblies; and
it is a very indecent thing to see so many quitting them, or getting into
postures of remove, before this short sentence can be ended. How often have we
heard this awful benediction pronounced! Let us study it more and more, that we
may value it proportionably; that we may either deliver or receive it with a
becoming reverence, with eyes and hearts lifted up to God, "who giveth the
blessing out of Sion, and life for evermore."
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Corinthians》
Chapter 13. Final Exhortion
Two or Three
Witnesses
Every Matter Established By Testimony
I. Be Weak in
Him and Live with Him
II. Examine
Yourself
III. Final
Greetings
── Chih-Hsin Chang《An Outline of The New Testament》
Chapter Thirteen General Review
OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER
1) To appreciate that a time must come when discipline can no longer be spared 2) To see the need for periodic self-examination in order to prove that Christ does indeed dwell in us 3) To notice what will ensure that the God of love and peace will be with us SUMMARY
In this final chapter, Paul makes final comments in preparation for hiscoming. This being the third time he is coming, there has been ampleopportunity for those in need of repentance to do so. Especially sincethey seek proof of Christ speaking in him, he will not spare them onthis visit (1-4). His desire, however, is for their faithfulness. He thereforeencourages them to engage in self-examination to prove whether or notthey are in the faith, and whether Christ is in them (5-6). Hisearnest prayer is that they do no evil, but that which is honorable,and to be made complete. It is in keeping with this that he has written this epistle, and to avoid having to use sharpness when in their presence (7-10). Paul closes his epistle with exhortations designed to ensure that the God of love and peace will be with them, some words of greetings, and abenediction that includes all three Persons of the Godhead (11-14). OUTLINE
I. FINAL COMMENTS IN PREPARATION OF HIS COMING (1-10)
A. WARNING OF IMPENDING DISCIPLINE (1-4) 1. This will be his third visit, which will serve to verify their true condition (1) 2. With this visit, he will not spare to exercise his authority in Christ (2) 3. Since they seek proof of Christ speaking in him (3-4) B. EXHORTATION TO SELF-EXAMINATION (5-6) 1. To prove whether or not they are in the faith (5) 2. His trust is that they will know that he is not disqualified (6) C. HIS DESIRE FOR THEIR FAITHFULNESS (7-9) 1. His prayer is that they do no evil, but that which is honorable (7) 2. Not for his sake, for even if he should seem disqualified, he can do nothing against the truth (7-8) 3. He will gladly be weak if it means they are strong, for his prayer is that they may be complete (9) D. HIS PURPOSE IN WRITING THIS EPISTLE (10) 1. So that when present he does not need to use sharpness 2. Which is in keeping with the authority he has from the Lord for their edification II. CONCLUDING REMARKS (11-14)
A. FINAL EXHORTATIONS (11) 1. Become complete 2. Be of good comfort 3. Be of one mind 4. Live in peace -- For then the God of love and peace will be with them B. GREETINGS (12-13) 1. An admonition to greet one another with a holy kiss (12) 2. Greetings sent to them from the saints (13) C. BENEDICTION (14) 1. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 2. The love of God 3. The communion of the Holy Spirit -- Be with them all. Amen REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER
1) What are the main points of this chapter?
- Final comments in preparation of his coming (1-10) - Concluding Remarks (11-14) 2) What will be the significance of Paul's third visit to them? (1)
- Sufficient evidence will have been gathered to make a final judgment ("By the word of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.") 3) What is Paul's warning should he come again? (2)
- "I will not spare" 4) What does Paul exhort them to do? (5)
- Examine themselves as to whether they are in faith - Prove themselves 5) What was Paul's prayer for them? (7,9)
- That they do no wrong, but that which is honorable - That they may be made complete 6) Why was Paul writing this epistle? (10)
- Lest being present he might have to use sharpness 7) In expressing farewell, what four exhortations does he leave withthem? (11)
- Become complete - Be of good comfort - Be of one mind - Live in peace 8) Provided they heed these four exhortations, what blessing will theyenjoy? (11)
- The God of love and peace will be with them 9) What final exhortation does he give to them? (12)
- To greet one another with a holy kiss 10) What three blessings does Paul pray for them as he closes thisepistle? (14)
- The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ - The love of God - The communion of the Holy Spirit
Examine Yourselves (13:5)
INTRODUCTION
1. As Jeremiah lamented over the destruction of the city of Jerusalem he called for the people to examine themselves and turn back to the Lord - Lam 3:40-41 2. In teaching on the proper observance of the Lord's Supper, Paul wrote that it was to be a time for self-examination - 1 Co 11:27-31 3. Paul later challenged the Corinthians to "examine yourselves as towhether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves." - 2 Co 13:5
a. In doing so, he employs the present tense for the verbs "examine" and "prove" b. Indicating that such examination was to be an on-going activity! 4. This should naturally raise some important questions... a. Why should we examine ourselves? b. By what standard should we examine ourselves c. What sort of questions should we be asking ourselves? [In this lesson, I would like for us to focus our attention on this call to "Examine Yourselves". As we do so, let's answer the questionsalready raised, beginning with...] I. WHY SHOULD WE EXAMINE OURSELVES?
A. TO DETERMINE WHETHER WE ARE IN THE FAITH... 1. Paul said, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." a. The expression "in the faith" refers to being a faithful Christian b. Thus we are to examine whether or not we are remaining faithful to the Lord! 2. We need to remember that the danger of drifting is ever present a. It is possible to drift away if we neglect our salvation - cf. He 2:1-4 b. It is possible to develop an evil heart of unbelief - cf. He 3:12-14 3. What our text implies, however, is that it is possible to KNOW of one's standing before God a. In fact, the Bible was written for this purpose, that we might know b. One book in particular has this purpose in mind - 1 Jn 5:13; 2:3; 3:14,24
B. TO DETERMINE IF JESUS CHRIST IS IN US... 1. Paul challenged the Corinthians to consider whether Jesus Christ was in them 2. That Christ indwells the Christian is a wonderful thought a. It was promised by Jesus Himself - Jn 14:21-23 b. It begins when we put Christ on in baptism - Ga 3:26-27 3. We may wonder at times "how" He indwells, but the key here is... a. To know that He does! b. To realize there are ways we can KNOW whether He does! -- Which is why we need to periodically examine ourselves! C. TO DETERMINE IF WE ARE DISQUALIFIED... 1. It is a given that Christ is in Christians, unless they have become "disqualified" 2. What does "disqualified" mean? a. Here is how some other translations read... 1) "ye be reprobates" (KJV, ASV) 2) "you fail the test" (NASV, NIV) b. Literally, "not standing the test", and in the context it refers to the test of... 1) Being in the faith 2) Having Christ in you 3. This verse is simply another among many that reveal that a Christian can indeed fall away from grace! a. Paul warned of falling from grace - cf. Ga 5:4 b. Peter likewise warned of falling from one's own steadfastness - cf. 2 Pe 3:17 c. Jesus described what would happen to those branches who did not bear fruit - Jn 15:1-2,6 -- Again, through self-examination one can KNOW what their true condition is! D. TO DETERMINE IF WE REALLY KNOW OURSELVES... 1. As Paul calls for self-examination, he asks "Do you not know yourselves...?" a. We can easily fall into the trap of self-deception - e.g., Ja 1:22-25 b. The religion of such a person is "useless" - Ja 1:26 2. Only through periodic self-examination can we avoid deceiving ourselves! [So the need is ever present to "examine yourselves", to "prove yourselves". That leads to the next question...] II. BY WHAT STANDARD SHOULD WE EXAMINE OURSELVES?
A. NOT BY THE ESTIMATE OF SELF... 1. We cannot trust solely upon what we may think of ourselves a. We are approved only if the Lord commends us - 2 Co 10:18 b. Therefore even though we might "think" we are right, we are not the final arbitrator - cf. 1 Co 4:4 2. We can be wrong in our basic assumptions, which can lead to wrong conclusions about ourselves a. Paul had thought persecuting Christians was pleasing to God - Ac 26:9-11 b. There will be many people at the Judgment who thought they were pleasing God during their lifetime - Mt 7:21-23 -- We must therefore look for a standard outside of ourselves by which to examine ourselves! B. NOT BY THE ESTIMATE OF MEN... 1. We cannot compare ourselves with others, or trust their approval a. To compare ourselves with others is unwise - 2 Co 10:12 b. The approval of others is a small thing - 1 Co 4:3 2. People are often wrong in their thoughts and evaluations a. The majority will find themselves lost on the day of judgment - Mt 7:13-14 b. Even many religious will be surprised - Mt 7:21-23 -- We must still look for yet another standard by which to examine ourselves C. WE MUST TRY OURSELVES BY THE STANDARD OF GOD'S WORD... 1. Again, it is the commendation of the Lord that makes one approved - 2 Co 10:18 2. It is the Lord who is the ultimate Judge - 1 Co 4:4; 2 Co 5:10 3. As the Lord Himself has said, we will be judged by His words - Jn 12:48 [The only appropriate standard to use when we examine ourselves is theWord of God. We cannot trust our feelings, or what others might say.Finally, let me share some...]