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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
December 28
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Today's Pathway:
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The Corinthians have been challenging Paul to prove his apostolic authority, and he has been forced to tell them about both the accomplishments and struggles of his service to the Lord. Now in verse 5 he turns the tables on them. Look at the passage above. If you notice, even though there are no parentheses there, the section which begins in the middle of verse 3 with "which to you" and ends at the end of verse 4 with "God toward you" is a parenthetical statement which refers back to Christ. So, what Paul is saying here in the context is,
"Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me... examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith".
I think this is an amazing statement, and one that is very important for us to think about. Many believers like to examine other believers. They pick out things about others that they find to be "below the standard". However, they rarely seem to apply those same standards to themselves. In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus said,
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
In His scenario one brother is so busy noticing the tiny sliver that is in his brother's eye that he fails to notice the large stick that is in his own eye. Paul is using this same principle on the Corinthians. They have found fault with his ministry, but what they should be doing is finding fault with themselves. This does not mean that another's sins can never be pointed out. But it does mean that we need to stop the hypocrisy of criticizing others when our own life is not what it should be.
Paul tells the Corinthians to "examine" themselves. The word "examine" means "to put to the test". The verb tense used indicates continuous action, which means that Paul wants the church members to be doing this all the time. He also says that they are to "prove" themselves. This is also a continuous action verb and means "to make a trial of, to verify". It is a stronger term than "examine", and involves not only testing, but also determining the genuineness or value of something, and is associated with being tried by fire (I Corinthians 3:13). What are they supposed to be proving and examining about themselves? The answer is: whether or not they are "in the faith". Some view this as Paul telling the Corinthians to check themselves to find out if they are really saved. Certainly, everyone should know whether or not they have received Christ as Savior and have become a child of God. And, there is no doubt that there are professing Christians in Bible-believing churches who have never been saved. However, I don't think that is the primary focus of this verse. First, Paul has made it pretty clear throughout the epistle that he is writing to believers (II Corinthians 1:1; 1:21-22; 3:2-3; 6:14). Second, the fact that the verbs used here call for continuous action would seem to contradict this idea as well. Why would somebody need to be continuously examining himself to see if he was really saved? Either the person has repented and put his trust in Christ's redemptive work on the cross or he hasn't. It would seem that someone would not need to be constantly evaluating the validity of his own salvation, particularly since we know that once a person is born again they are eternally secure. However, it does make sense that a Christian should be evaluating himself constantly to see if he is in a proper relationship with his Heavenly Father. This is what I think Paul is telling the church to examine, and is something that all Christians should be doing on a continual basis.
We will continue with this tomorrow.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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