2 Corinthians 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?
The dispensations of providence begin to be alarming to this confident generation, in the great mortality prevailing in several places, and look like the beginning of sorrows. And the language of such a dispensation, as is expressed in the text, bids everyone to examine themselves, whether they “be in the faith . . .”. In these words we have two things:
1. A necessary duty proposed:
The trial of their state: examine and prove – the call being doubled because of the weight of the matter.
(1.) Examining oneself.
[1.] Consider the point on which the Apostle would have them put to trial: “whether ye be in the faith”. He knew very well that they professed faith in Christ, but all is not gold that glitters. None but believers, true believers – whose faith works by love, being a spiritual vital principle within them – will see heaven. But many take themselves for believers who yet are not so, and others take them for believers also.
[2.] The trial Paul would have them to make: “examine yourselves”. The church of Corinth was a divided church. There was a censorious party among them, conceited of themselves, and despisers of this eminent and highly distinguished apostle. For all the clear demonstrations there were that the Lord was with him, they sought a proof of Christ’s speaking in him (v 3). Now, says he, you are very much abroad, busy examining me, and make much ado for a proof of Christ speaking in me; I would advise you to be more at home and examine yourselves. Put yourselves to the trial, whether you are in the faith or not. The original word signifies to make such a trial as one does of a thing by piercing through it, whereby he may know what is within and whether it be sound or not.
(2.) Proving oneself:
“prove your own selves”, that is, by trial, as offenders are tried in courts, or they who stand for an office are put on trials to prove whether they are fit for it or not; or rather, as goldsmiths try metals, whether by the fire or by the touchstone, whereby they distinguish the true metal from the counterfeit. This is closely connected to the former expression, examine, but is not quite the same. To prove oneself speaks of bringing the matter to a point, pursuing the trial till it ends in a full proof of one’s state, good or bad. “Ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me”, as if to say, Do not rest till you prove what your own state is.
2. The weighty ground that makes this duty necessary, most necessary:
“Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Here we have:
(1.) The ground itself, Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates.
Now Christ dwells in the heart by faith (Eph 3:17). Where there is no vital union with Christ, the person is reprobate. There is no union with Him but by faith; therefore you have great need to examine whether you have faith or not. Reprobate here is not opposed to elect: for certainly the Apostle did not mean to drive them to absolute despair if they found themselves without faith in the trial; or to persuade them that, if Christ was not in them already, He would never be in them. But it is opposed to upright and genuine, and so denotes a person or thing that, when tried, is found unsound or counterfeit (Jer 6:30), and so is useless, absolutely unfit for the ends desired (1 Ts 1:16), and so rejected.
(2.) The necessity of the knowledge of oneself in this point:
“Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Knowledge of oneself is highly preferable to the knowledge of other men. Alas, what will it avail men to be raking into the state of others, while in the meantime they are strangers to themselves? They do not pay attention to this great point: how unless Christ is in them, they are all wrong for time and eternity.
Observe from the context that self-judging is a proper means to deliver people from rash judging of others. Peter was not judging rashly when he pronounced Simon Magus to be in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity, after he had offered money for the extraordinary power of conferring the Holy Ghost. Neither is it rash judging to pronounce profane men scandalous in the habitual course of their lives, to be going in the way to destruction; for the Spirit of God says the same thing through Paul: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:19-21).
But it was rash judging in these Corinthians to question Christ’s speaking in Paul, because in some things he was not so acceptable to them as some others. It is rash judging also to reject men who appear to adhere conscientiously to the points of practical godliness on which people agree, because they differ from these men in some points not agreed among good and holy men. Self-judging would call men home to their own case, so that they would not be at so much leisure to ramble abroad. It would let them see so much evil in themselves, and how much they need to be forgiven by God, that they would not dare to be severe on their brethren and their behaviour, lest the measure they mete to others should be measured to them again. Therefore I cannot but most earnestly recommend this practice of self-judging, which will happily tend to make you low in your own eyes and often preserve you from doing wrong to others and misunderstanding them.
Having thus explained the words, and considered their connection with the preceding context, I shall at this time only observe from them the following doctrine: It is a most necessary duty for those professing the name of Christ, to examine themselves, whether they are in the faith or not; and to pursue that examination and trial till, bringing the matter to a proof, they come to a conclusion on this great matter. I shall consider: (1) the point to be tried, (2) the trial of the point, (3) some application.
1. The point to be tried.
The point concerning which everyone is to try himself is: Whether he is in the faith. And here let us consider: (1.) What it is to be in the faith. (2.) The weight and importance of this point.
(1.) What it is to be in the faith.
To have true faith, to be true believers, and to be in the faith, are all one as to the matter; even as to be in Christ and Christ being in us are the same thing in effect. The man that is endowed with the grace of faith, enriched with precious faith, is in the faith; and the faithless, the unbelieving, in whom the grace of saving faith has never been wrought by the Holy Spirit, is not in the faith. But I conceive the expression aims at these three things:
[1.] This heavenly gift belongs only to the elect; hence it is called the faith of God’s elect (Tts 1:1). It is the special treasure of these happy objects of everlasting love; it is given to none but them; it remains among that blessed people as what is particular to them. Hence the Apostle Peter addressed himself to those to whom he writes, under this character, “them that have obtained like precious faith with us” (2 Pet 1:1). There is a fourfold faith mentioned in Scripture: (1) a historical faith, that devils have (Jas 2:19); (2) a faith of miracles, which one may have, yet be without charity (1 Cor 13:2), or (3) true saving grace; (4) a temporary faith, which apostates may have had, like the stony-ground hearers (Mt 13:20,21). But the faith to be tried here is the faith that unites to Christ, which none have but those who are “ordained to eternal life” (Acts 13:48). It is by this faith a sinner receives and embraces Jesus Christ as a Saviour, and relies upon Him, trusting in Him as his Saviour in particular, for the whole of his salvation. In virtue of it he lives to God. Now it is everyone’s concern to try whether he be in this faith or not.
[2.] The life of faith. The Christian life is indeed the life of faith. Hence Paul says, “The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God” (Gal 2:20). By Adam eating the forbidden fruit, mankind were led off from the heavenly life into the life of sense – living to gratify their senses, follow their passions, please the vanity of their minds, and the vileness of their affections. Now God has, by Jesus Christ, brought in a new way of heavenly life as the road to happiness, and that is the life of faith. You should try whether you are in that road or not. To live by the senses is indeed a spiritual death. See whether you are in the faith, whether you have the life, the true life of the soul.
[3.] The efficacy of faith, for faith “worketh by love” (Gal 5:6). Faith is inward, indiscernible to all the world, but not to God and the believer himself. But then it is not a dormant or inactive principle, but spreads its effects outwardly through the whole man. Sound faith operates in the whole life, in every part of it, unto true holiness. It brings in a respect to all the commands of God and sanctifies the whole man throughout. In vain do they pretend to possess faith, who do not live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. For they to whom God has shown Christ Himself, and who have by faith rolled the burden of their salvation upon Him, will do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with their God, as the genuine and never-failing fruits of true faith. So consider whether you are in the faith, which is the way to all other good things.
(2.) The weight and importance of this point.
Nothing about you can possibly be of greater importance for you to know and be clear about. It is the chief point, on which all that concerns your eternal salvation depends, and that is a matter of the last importance to every sinner. We must not stay to enumerate the various particulars. But the weight of it will sufficiently appear, if you consider that on it depends:
[1.] Your union with Christ and your saving interest in Him. If Christ dwells in you, it is by faith (Eph 3:17). This is supposed in the text. Without Christ we remain branches of the first Adam, till by faith we come into union with Him as the true vine. If you are not in the faith, if you are not of that household, you are none of Christ’s; you have no saving interest in Him, and so you have no interest in His purchase. You are yet far from God, strangers to His covenant, and without any special relation to Him.
[2.] Your deliverance from the curse of the law, and being absolved from the sentence of the condemnation you were born under. Hence Paul says, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1). If you have received remission of sin, it has been by faith. Hence Paul says, “Be it known unto you . . . that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39). If you are not in the faith, there is not one of all your sins, from the womb to this day, but is sealed up among God’s records and will be brought out against you in due time. The curse of the broken law holds you under wrath, for “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (Jn 3:36).
[3.] Doing anything acceptable in God’s sight, for “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb 11:6); if you are not in the faith, you are unfit for every good work. You can no more serve the true ends of Christianity than dross can go for gold, or counterfeits pass for current money. For without saving faith, you are without Christ; and without Christ you can do nothing (Jn 15:5); so however your works may be in the world’s view – some good, some bad – yet none of them, however good in themselves, are good in God’s sight, as they do not proceed from a principle of faith in the heart, and are not directed to the glory of God as their ultimate scope and end.
[4.] Your eternal salvation. It is the stated ordinance of heaven: “He that believeth . . . shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned” (Mk 16:16). So to make clear that point is to make clear whether you are in a state of salvation or not. No point is more weighty and important than this. How then can that fail to be a point of the greatest moment which depends on it? If men were more concerned as to their place in the other world, they would be less concerned about the vain pleasures, amusements and profits of this world, and would bend all their endeavours and attention to gain a blessed and happy eternity.
After this, I hope, some may be ready to say, Seeing so much depends upon being in the faith, and since we must eternally perish without it, what shall we do to get faith, so that we may not lie under the wrath of God for ever? I answer, Faith is the gift of God, and to Him you must apply for it. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of faith, and to Him you must betake yourselves, that He may work it in you. The Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of faith, and faith is the effect of His work; so you must go to Him, in order that He may fulfil in you the work of faith with power. More particularly, if you would have this precious grace of faith:
[1]. Be diligent in reading and hearing the Word.
This is a means that God hath appointed for begetting faith in the hearts of sinners. Hence the Apostle tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). Such as would have faith without hearing, would have it out of God’s way. See that you diligently attend the preaching of the Word, and miss no opportunity of hearing it. The ordinances are the organ through which the Spirit breathes, when He conveys quickening influences into the souls of men. They are the pipes through which the water of life runs. They are Christ’s road in which He comes to bless sinners. See then that you are not out of the way when He passes by. The pool of Bethesda was a figure of the ordinances, to which the diseased went to wait for the descent of the angel to trouble the waters, and whosoever stepped into the pool after the moving of the waters was immediately healed. But if any absented themselves, they could receive no benefit by it. So if you wish to be healed of your spiritual diseases, especially unbelief – that deadly malady that fixes the guilt of all your sins upon you – make conscience of attending the preaching of the Word, and cry for the Spirit of faith.
[2.] Pray earnestly to God that He would teach you to believe.
Remember faith is His gift, and He bestows it on whoever He will. Pray diligently for it, and redeem time for that purpose. And pray importunately, besieging heaven with your cries for that effect, as resolved to get what you want. Seek faith from God as a condemned man would seek a pardon; seek this as a man would sue for his life when he sees death before him. Remember, sinner, that there is no life for you without it: for “he that believeth not . . . shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him”. Fall down then before God and cry for it as for life, saying, O give me faith, or else I die. I may live and be happy for ever without friends or relations, wealth, honours or pleasures; but I cannot live happily and comfortably without faith. Without it I can do nothing acceptable in Thy sight. Grant me this precious blessing, so that I may glorify Thy name for ever.
1Taken with editing from Boston’s Works, vol 2. A footnote indicates that this was originally “two short sermons”, preached “after he was confined to his house by the illness of which he died”. They “were preached from a window in the manse to the people standing” outside, on 2 and 9 April, 1732; “after which he preached no more, the God whom he had served in the work of the gospel, from the latter end of the year 1699, having called him home on 20 May 1732, to inherit the crown of righteousness laid up for him”.