2Co 13:5 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?

In this final chapter, Paul concludes his letter to the church in Corinth with a few final warnings and encouraging words. He informs the Corinthians that he is on his way to visit them for the third time. Recall that Paul’s critics had said he was weak in person but bold only in his writings. Their idea of one sent by God should be “awesome”. Paul seemed too weak and humble for their liking. So, Paul says this time he would deal harshly and severely towards those who have sinned (v.1, 2). Meekness is not weakness. Paul is meek but not weak. Paul gives the example of Christ (v.3, 4). Would the Corinthians consider Christ weak? Paul challenges his critics to do this: "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?" (vs.5) What he is saying is this: “Are you sure you are a Christian? If you say you are, prove it. How you are behaving now, especially in your attitude towards me, isn’t how a Christian should behave. Come on, test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. One who has Christ living in him will not behave the way you do. Perhaps, you have already known you have failed the test.” Paul asks the Corinthian Christians to consider this sobering question: “Am I really a Christian?” It is a challenge to all: “Examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith. Test ourselves. If Jesus Christ is not in us, it means we have failed the test.” We are often very ready to examine and test others but not ourselves. Paul’s enemies were vocal in criticising him. But they failed to examine themselves. Jesus has this to say to those who can see the fault of others but not their own: “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?” (Matthew 7:3, 4). Paul calls on his critics (and us) to do these three things: 1. Examine yourself. 2. Prove yourself. 3. Know yourself. Do we know ourselves? How can we know our true selves? We may think we speak better, know better, and perform better than the preacher or an elder. Well, the only way to verify our claims is to take an examination, that is, do and let others appraise us. Are we willing to take the test? Paul used this word to describe those who fail the test – reprobates. Vincent Word Studies says: “A reprobate is one abandoned to perdition.” It is a Quality Control Manager picking up a sample that fails to meet the standard and throw it away. In this context, Paul knew there were some among the Corinthian Christians who would be disqualified for eternal life because they had failed the test. If we don’t examine ourselves and prove ourselves now, we may find out too late that we did not meet the requirements for eternal life; it means we have been disqualified! (Matthew 7:21-23). It is a sobering question: “Am I really a Christian?” Think about it.