Examining Yourself - Part 1
This started From reading a blog entry at Mike Boldea's website (http://mikeboldea.blogspot.com/2010/08/personal-examinations.html), which gives a number of verses related to self examination.
2 Corinthians 13:5-7, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – Unless you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified.”
The word for examine here is peirazo which means "to tempt, try." This is interesting in light of the fact that the Lord is always telling us to try Him at His word. To examine the Lord and see that He is good. I get the feeling that it is looking at the truth of the matter. So to examine yourselves is to find out the truth, are you in the faith or not. It is to come clean, to really establish once and for all if you are really a believer or not. Do you really believe what you say you believe, are you genuine. This is a present active imperative, indicating that you yourselves are to do the examining, not God.
2 Corinthians 13:5-7, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – Unless you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified.”
The word for examine here is peirazo which means "to tempt, try." This is interesting in light of the fact that the Lord is always telling us to try Him at His word. To examine the Lord and see that He is good. I get the feeling that it is looking at the truth of the matter. So to examine yourselves is to find out the truth, are you in the faith or not. It is to come clean, to really establish once and for all if you are really a believer or not. Do you really believe what you say you believe, are you genuine. This is a present active imperative, indicating that you yourselves are to do the examining, not God.