2 Corinthians 13:5 – “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”
This passage of scripture is a great challenge to all of us professing faith in Christ: examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. Self-assessment is rarely done but quite necessary. We must constantly stay on top of our spiritual condition. Paul says, “Test yourselves.” So why don’t we do that? Paul says in the next sentence, “Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” That’s our criteria for the test.
There are several New Testament markers that are dominant when it comes to the doctrine of the indwelling Christ.
Faith – Colossians 2:6,7 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”
Love – 1 John 4:12,13 “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
Hope – 1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”
Dying – Romans 8:10 “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
Are you in the faith? C’mon, take the test!