(2Corinthians 13:5) “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do
you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless
indeed you fail to meet the test!”
Here we have an instruction and it
asks us to gaze into the mirror and to be brutally honest with ourselves about
ourselves. It is a reflection test and must be stripped of any aids; make-up
will not help but only hinder our advances in working out our own standings
before a Holy God. This inspection calls for brutal honesty and any application
of base will hinder our assessment. Who I am, and how I am perceived by others
must be part of the evaluation, however the pressing issue is to test myself in
the light of “faith” and how I stand in that regard with my commitment towards
God. Do I serve Him, or pretend to serve Him so that I may benefit today for
today or am I driven by something far deeper, which is the laying down of my
life for the sake of my Christian family? Because if we have the Spirit of
Christ, if Jesus is in us we must now learn to behave differently in every area
of our lives; hence the test! Rebellion to that call must begin to dissipate
into an afterthought of the Oldman’s conduct.
Prior to arriving at this understanding
we all lived in a very rebellious state towards God but thankfully the mercies
of God covered me even back then and it was often the rod that was used to
drive folly from me. I was an aggressive, unfaltering, self-centered individual
and one who shunned authority at all costs. It was all part of my sinful
character which God patiently allowed to play out in order to teach me how
desperately I needed Him, bless His brilliance. He is ever wise even when
others only see destruction, He adequately works miracles into any given
situation and graciously saves individuals from themselves; this is my
testimony; it took me 22 years to come to that understanding and the need to
find forgiveness for my sins. And although many of those unwanted traits of my
old character miraculously seemed to disappear without any effort on my part. After
a while those hindering traits would look to rear their head and dominate any
given situation when challenged. Nothing more than rebellion!
I have noticed through my experiences
and encounters with other Christians that many deep rooted traits from the old
man, our old lives prior to salvation sadly often never leave us, which can be
very damaging not only for ourselves but for those who witness our appalling
behaviour. This however does not excuse us in the light of being covered by the
grace of God. Sure we find repentance for our actions from day to day in and
through the finished work of Calvary; this is commonly known as part of our ongoing
daily sanctification. Our lives must be filled with a measure of
self-reflection as we have been commanded to put on the mind of Christ. In
other words we must change the way we once conducted ourselves and apply
ourselves to that change not with a carnal understanding, which at times may even
seem as if we are doing the right thing on a moral level, if it is contrary to
the mind of Christ it will only ever ensnare us deeper into our rebellion of
self.
It is easier to pick out a fruit that
is marred on its outer shell than one that is filled with worms which are
hidden and feed off the inside of the produce. And yet both are equally
undesirable. Let us not be fooled into excusing certain types of behaviours
while picking on the more obvious easy targets. Our minds must now become
obsessed with the “mind of Christ” and we must make every possible effort to
understand what that looks like. Forget everything you thought you once knew,
because some of what you may believe to be kosher may in fact be the very thing
which hinders you from going onto maturity. It is God who hinders or
accelerates a Christians progression; “Therefore let
us leave the elementary
doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation
of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about
washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal
judgment. And this we will
do if God permits.” (Hebrews 6:1-3)
As a Christian, there is a process we must get to
grips with no differently to a newborn baby familiarising themselves with their
new surroundings, from the womb into the world and for the Christian; from the
Oldman’s reckonings to the mind of Christ. If we resist this transformation we
will sadly not be allowed to go onto maturity. Who in their right mind would
want to be an adult with an infant’s understanding, how long would that
individual last amongst the wolves of this world? Now before I am misunderstood;
all of salvation is subject to the grace of God, however we must pay careful
attention to the Spirit’s direction. The apostle Paul gives us this instruction
and it would be extremely beneficial to examine ourselves in light of the
tutoring; “Examine yourselves, to see whether you
are in the faith.”
We must test ourselves and our conduct compared to the mind of Christ. We are
new creatures in Christ, if in fact we have His Spirit in us, if not we kid
ourselves and try to kid those around us that we belong to Him, when in fact we
have a form of religion but it carries no power in our deliberations. We will
eventually be found wanting, driven by our old characters where sin dominates
our lives. There is nothing hidden from God, therefore we must examine ourselves;
we must be honest with ourselves so that the necessary steps may be realised
and then appropriate action through repentance in the finished work of Calvary
can be taken. This is a very important facet of what it means to put on the
mind of Christ…
Signing
off
Tyrone