Examining Yourself - Part 2
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 second word that we have here is our word for proving yourselves. This is dokimazo, which means to "prove, with a view to approval." This has all the earmarks of someone who sets out to prove that they are worthy of approval by someone else - in this case, the Lord. The original word was used in the area of metallurgy when you refined a metal to get it to come out as the very best. When metal was refined in this way it led to approval of the metal itself as being worthy. Again, this indicates that you yourself are doing the action.
2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB) [15] Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
In like manner, the passage in 2 Tim 2:15 indicates an approval process where the original word evolved from refining metal. Although this is a different word (dokimos from which the previous word is derived) it carries the same general meaning - in this case, to receive, or approved. Looking into the word of God is how we determine if we are in the Lord's will or not, that is our guiding principle. In the amplified version it is written -
2 Timothy 2:15 (AMP) [15] Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
It all goes back to how much we are in scripture and how we handle it when examining ourselves. We cannot rely on ourselves to determine if we are in the faith, nor can we rely on ourselves to determine if we are even doing things that are correct. It is only when we look into the Word of God that we can truly see what we are. Keeping in the Word is basic to our understanding of ourselves and God. I am fearful that we are entering a time in which we are having a famine of the Word of God as was predicted in the old testament.
Amos 8:11 (NASB) [11] “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.
We have become a nation that listens instead of diving into the Word of God for ourselves. We have pushed the pursuit of the Word of God off onto professionals and we sit and absorb what we can. The problem is that we have need to relearn elementary things because all we have done is absorb and not use the Word of God in our lives. We haven't taken the time to examine ourselves, to see what God's Word says about us. We rely too much on simple messages from the pulpit and refuse to dig any deeper to obtain that which will make us strong. What will happen to us if this luxury falls down? What if the USA fails, as it will in the future (predicted by the events in Revelation), how will we be able to stand up. I am fearful that we will fall away at the least bit of push against us since we have only known "the good life."
Galatians 6:4, “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”
This passage goes back to what we were saying before. We are the ones to examine our own work, to see that our work is what the Lord wants. We cannot keep deluding ourselves into thinking that we are a "chosen" people. That is what the Jews got into trouble with when Jesus appeared on the scene. He found external actions instead of internal truths being evident. We need to come to terms with what the Lord says, not relying on ourselves. The Lord be blessed forever and ever.
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 second word that we have here is our word for proving yourselves. This is dokimazo, which means to "prove, with a view to approval." This has all the earmarks of someone who sets out to prove that they are worthy of approval by someone else - in this case, the Lord. The original word was used in the area of metallurgy when you refined a metal to get it to come out as the very best. When metal was refined in this way it led to approval of the metal itself as being worthy. Again, this indicates that you yourself are doing the action.
2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB) [15] Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
In like manner, the passage in 2 Tim 2:15 indicates an approval process where the original word evolved from refining metal. Although this is a different word (dokimos from which the previous word is derived) it carries the same general meaning - in this case, to receive, or approved. Looking into the word of God is how we determine if we are in the Lord's will or not, that is our guiding principle. In the amplified version it is written -
2 Timothy 2:15 (AMP) [15] Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
It all goes back to how much we are in scripture and how we handle it when examining ourselves. We cannot rely on ourselves to determine if we are in the faith, nor can we rely on ourselves to determine if we are even doing things that are correct. It is only when we look into the Word of God that we can truly see what we are. Keeping in the Word is basic to our understanding of ourselves and God. I am fearful that we are entering a time in which we are having a famine of the Word of God as was predicted in the old testament.
Amos 8:11 (NASB) [11] “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.
We have become a nation that listens instead of diving into the Word of God for ourselves. We have pushed the pursuit of the Word of God off onto professionals and we sit and absorb what we can. The problem is that we have need to relearn elementary things because all we have done is absorb and not use the Word of God in our lives. We haven't taken the time to examine ourselves, to see what God's Word says about us. We rely too much on simple messages from the pulpit and refuse to dig any deeper to obtain that which will make us strong. What will happen to us if this luxury falls down? What if the USA fails, as it will in the future (predicted by the events in Revelation), how will we be able to stand up. I am fearful that we will fall away at the least bit of push against us since we have only known "the good life."
Galatians 6:4, “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”
This passage goes back to what we were saying before. We are the ones to examine our own work, to see that our work is what the Lord wants. We cannot keep deluding ourselves into thinking that we are a "chosen" people. That is what the Jews got into trouble with when Jesus appeared on the scene. He found external actions instead of internal truths being evident. We need to come to terms with what the Lord says, not relying on ourselves. The Lord be blessed forever and ever.