Should Christians Test Themselves
To See if They're Really Saved?

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"Confronting Theology & Practice With
the Lordship of Jesus Christ"

Acts 17:10-11    1st Thess. 5:19-22

Should Christians Test Themselves

To See if They're Really Saved?

An Examination of 2nd Corinthians 13:5

Ian A. Paul

Carnal Wisdom

I once heard a popular radio show host -- a "doctor" of something or another -- a woman who gave advice to people concerning how they should live their daily lives, say something to the effect that "What you do is what you are." If this is true, then no one should have any difficulty knowing precisely who they are. And, indeed, it seems to make a lot of sense. When speaking to a young woman who had recently slept with a married man, the doctor told her that this action made her a slut or some such derogatory term; and, in a sense this is certainly true. If you commit an act of sluttiness, then you've just become a slut, even as, if you murder a man, you become a murderer. In this sense, you are identified as a slut or a murderer in relationship to a specific instance of an action you have committed.

Questions About Identity

And yet, the caller insisted that she really didn't think that she was a slut, at all. She kept insisting, "That's really not me; that's just not the sort of person I am." Of course, the talk show host insisted, that, yes, really it is the sort of person she is, because, for one thing, she was the one who did it, and, for another, you are what you do. But does a specific instance of an action really determine who you most fundamentally are; is the woman now identified as a slut in relationship to her intrinsic being, her personality, who she is at the deepest level of her being, simply because she gave in to this one temptation?

The question I'm asking here, is, "Does a single action, or, really, even a slew of the same action repeated several thousand-fold during ones life, make a person -- in his innermost being -- what his actions are?" In other words, is a person's true identity, his core essence, identified in terms of what he does? Or is what a man is based upon something much more significant than what he does? I would suggest that a man's true identity is not determined by what he does, but, rather, by his primary relationship. If you don't understand that, now, don't worry; you will.

For example, is a U.S. Soldier who goes AWOL no longer a U.S. Soldier, simply because he has ceased to wear his uniform and has forsaken reporting to his superiors? Or is he simply a U.S. Soldier who is acting shamefully with respect to who he really is? Is not a soldier's identity to be found in the nature of his relationship rather than in the nature of his actions? While a no man's primary relationship is to his country's government, governments never see it that way when it comes to soldiers. As far as governments are concerned, a soldier is their property until they decide otherwise; whether they realize it or not, soldiers are, in fact, slaves of their government. But the primary relationship in life, that which determines your fundamental identity, is with respect to God. Either you stand reconciled to Him, or you stand condemned and are awaiting sentencing.

Does God Judge as Men Judge?

More specifically, then, does God see men in terms of their conduct? Certainly, it is true that God will judge all men according to their works; the Scriptures make that unequivocally clear. But such judgment has to do with rewarding and punishing the actions of men, much the way soldiers are rewarded or punished according to their actions. This really isn't what I'm talking about. What I'm getting at is this: Does God somehow look at the godless man who, in his self-righteousness, never commits adultery or murder, or any other major sins, and who does wonderful things for his fellow man, and consider him a child of His on that basis? Does He somehow see men who have placed their faith in Christ but who never amount to much in the faith, who actually fail to excel in holiness and, in fact, do all sorts of shameful deeds, as people who are not holy in Christ?

What We Do Does Not Determine Who We Are

I would suggest that the doctor, mentioned above, has given a shallow, carnal opinion. Unbelievers are lost sinners, no matter how wonderful their lives may be (Isa. 64:6). And the believers, as Neil T. Anderson rightly observes, in his book, Victory Over the Darkness, are living saints regardless of their deeds:
Have you noticed that one of the most frequently used words of identity for Christians in the New Testament is "saint"? A saint is literally a holy person. Yet Paul and other writers of the Epistles used the word generously to describe common, ordinary, everyday Christians like you and me. For example, Paul's salutation in 1 Corinthians 1:2 reads: "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."

Notice that Paul didn't say we are saints by hard work. He clearly states we are saints by calling. The tendency of the church is to believe that saints are people who have earned their lofty title by living a magnificent life or by achieving a certain level of maturity. In the Bible, believers are described as "saints," which means holy ones (e.g., Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Phil 1:1).

Being a saint does not necessarily reflect any present measure of growth in character, but it does identify those who are rightly related to God. In the King James Version of the Bible, believers are called "saints," "holy ones," or "righteous ones" more than 240 times. In contrast, unbelievers are called "sinners" more than 330 times. Clearly, the term "saint" is used in Scripture to refer to the believer, and "sinner" is used in reference to the unbeliever.1

Now, while I'm not prepared to go so far as Anderson, who says, "Although the New Testament provides plenty of evidence that the believer sins, it never clearly identifies the believer as a sinner" (p. 48), I would say that certainly the New Testament rarely, if ever, uses the term "sinner" of believers. What's the point? Just this: If you have trusted in Christ as God's Anointed One for the forgiveness of your sins and to receive eternal life, you are a saint regardless of how wicked your sins -- regardless of how often and how persistently you commit these sins. And if you don't understand this, you will never be able to live as a saint is supposed to live until you are certain of it!

A False Gospel

Unfortunately, however, in the churches it is common for well-meaning teachers to proclaim a doctrine of uncertainty. Clearly, a doctrine of uncertainty is not good news and, therefore, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. As every new believer is taught, early on in his Christian career, the word gospel means "good news." Now it does me no good to know of the free gift of eternal life or the coming of the kingdom of Christ if I cannot obtain unto it or, having obtained unto it, if I cannot certainly know that I have obtained it. Nor is it good news if, having obtained it, and knowing that I have obtained it, there is a possibility that I might, at some future moment lose it because of the weakness of the vessel in which my inner most being is housed in this life.

If my participation in eternal life is unknown to me, then, at the very least, to me it is not good news; it will be good news when I know it, but until then it is not good news to me. But the Good News of Jesus Christ is news of a definite offer which men can obtain now, and which they can know with absolute assurance that they have obtained it. It comes by the promise Christ (John 3:16), not by the efforts of men to obtain or sustain it (Rom. 11:5-6). Thus, when pastors and teachers tell the saints that they must test themselves to see if they are truly saved, they are calling into question the truth of the gospel:

For by grace yu have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. -- Ephesians 2:9
Now if a test of my salvation is my works, then salvation logically is by my works -- at least partially -- and not by grace through faith alone. But Paul says, that if works enter into it, then it is no longer of grace (Rom. 11:5-6). While it is true that it is God who works in us to will and to do (Phil 2:13), it is also true that we are the ones who actually do what God has worked in us to will and to do. If we didn't do it, it would not get done; personal holiness does not take place without our active participation. So it really is our works, even though God has worked in us to will and to do them! If then what God works in us to will and to do is a prerequisite to our salvation, then salvation is as much by works as by faith, and every man who is saved has reason to boast (or at least gloat -- which, sadly, those who preach that we shoud test whether or not we're saved often seem to do).

The Idea of Testing Your Salvation is Not in the Bible

The Bible never tells anyone to test themselves to see if they are really saved. It's not there. Look carefully at 2nd Corinthians 13:5 and see what it really says:
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? -- Unless indeed you are disqualified?
First off, if this passage is saying that we should test ourselves to see if we are saved, and that Christ is in us in a saving way, unless we fail the test, then Paul has told his readers at Corinth, whom he has everywhere assured they are indeed saints, that, really, it is not certain, after all, that they are truly saved. This is really confusing, because no one tests something they already know to be true; it is only when things are in doubt that they are tested. Presumably, since the Corinthians had the temerity to question whether or not Christ spoke in Paul (2nd Cor. 13:3), they felt certain that Christ was indeed in them. Now, if Paul didn't know it, then it is he who needs to test the Corinthians; and, further, he is seen as speaking deluding words when he everywhere affirms to the Corinthians that they are saints and that they are the church of Christ at Corinth!

Second, as James H. Brookes so cogently observes in his article, "Self-Examination As it Relates to Assurance":

Self-examination as conducted in the manner and to attain the ends for which it is usually urged [i.e., to see if you're really saved] is the most painful and profitless exercise that can engage the soul, and I would confidently appeal to the experience of every conscientious and intelligent Christian to testify whether this is not true. If you expect to get assurance in this way, you might as well expect to get health by looking at disease, to get light by looking at darkness, to get life by looking at a corpse.
For the physician is not us, seeking to live worthy of the blood infusion, nor can we obtain or maintain life by faith in the Physician plus our striving to be worthy of the blood. The light comes not from striving to avoiding that which the light exposes, nor does it come from faith in the Light in combination with our effort to avoid the evils exposed by the light. Life does not come by means of the dead man seeking to act alive, nor can more life be had than that which the new born child has received. Christ is the Physician! Christ is the Light! Christ is the Life! It is Christ alone whom we must trust. If we aren't assured of our salvation by His promise alone, what does this say about our opinion of His word?

Third, if the Corinthians are in doubt as to their salvation, they clearly do not know who they are. If they do not know who they are, if they do not know certainly that they are saints, how can they possibly pass the test? Further, would not even a self-deceived man seek to abstain from various sins that might indicate he is not saved, and do whatever good works might be considered proof that he is? After all, isn't this the natural conclusion of those who say we must test ourselves to see whether or not we are truly saved, that we must examine our deeds to see whether or not Christ is objectively in us?

Test Your Life in the Faith

Fourth, the words "in the faith," in the New Testament, always means according to the faith. "In the faith," never means saved or regenerate or born againanywhere in the New Testament, unless this passage is the exception. If it is the exception, it is up to those who say it is to prove that it is. But, even if one could provide some sort of evidence that this is what "in the faith" means, one is then presented with a very problematic text that yields no significant benefit.

A Sticky Wicket

To say that 2nd Corinthians 13:5 talks about testing yourself to see if you're really saved leaves one with questions that no one can answer without equivocation: What is a sure test? How often must I test myself? If I fail the test, and then get saved "again," must I get baptized, again, also? (And again, and again, and again?) If I must test myself from time to time, doesn't this mean that, at some time in the future, I might fail the test? If I pass the test now, but fail the test in the future, what does this say about the viability of the test, since, apparently, the test will then be proved to have yielded a false positive in the past? Or is it possible to have eternal life at one point, and then not have it at a later point? If so, have we not then redefined eternal life as not really quite so eternal, after all? Or is that for which we are to test ourselves not the certainty that we have become the recipients of Christ's promise in John 5:24 & 11:25-26?

If the test of our salvation is some standard of righteous behavior, what is the standard? Would not Matthew 5:20 seem like a logical choice? Here Jesus says:

For I say unto you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
But, if this is the standard by which we must measure ourselves, who then can be saved? In Philippians 3:6 Paul, who was a Pharisee before Christ opened his eyes, tells us how righteous he was as a Pharisee:
. . . concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Do we dare suggest that we do not have to be more righteous than Paul, but that we can chose some other Pharisees who, perhaps, were not so righteous as the apostle was? And where are we to find these Pharisees, and how are we to determine exactly how righteous they were?

Perfection & Hypocrisy

Indeed, Christ Himself tells us, Matthew 5:48, that, if standards of conduct are the means by which we are to judged righteous enough to enter into heaven, then we must be perfect in our behavior, for God is perfect! Therefore, those well-meaning pastors and teachers who keep telling us to test ourselves to see if we are really saved must be hypocrites, for none of them is perfect! How could they themselves possibly pass the test, unless they lower the standard of morality to fit their own conduct? Now, I'm sure that some of them no doubt think they are perfect in their conduct; but this would mean that they have no sin in their life. But the apostle John tells us in the 1:8 of his first epistle:
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
On the other hand, if the certainty of whether or not we are the recipients of Christ's promise in John 5:24 & 11:25-26 is that to which the test is in regard, is not the test really just a matter of whether or not we have believed in Him whom the Father sent? That's what Jesus says in these texts; is He a liar or incompetent to speak clearly on the matter? Even the pastors and teachers who say we must test ourselves to see if we're really saved would not say that He is. But salvation is not that which the apostle had in mind when he told the Corinthians to test themselves. 2nd Corinthians 13:5 is part of a unit of thought which begins in verse one and ends with verse six.

Understanding the Text

The apostle is upset with the Corinthians in this passage, but clearly, in Christ, he sees himself as having some authority to judge them. He does not see himself as having authority judge those who are not saved and who are, therefore, not a part of the church (1st Cor. 5:12); thus it is apparent, in the passage before us, that he doesn't have any doubt that his readers are in fact genuine saints who have received the gift of eternal life through faith in Christ. The salvation of the Corinthians is not the issue to which he addresses himself in 2nd Corinthians 13:5. Here, in the first six verses of this chapter is what Paul is saying to the Corinthians:

  1. This is the 3rd time I'm coming to you to make judgments.
  2. However, I recognize that all judgments must be made at the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses.
  3. I remind you of what I have twice said: If I come again, my judgment will be unsparing.
  4. You question whether I have Christ's authority to make such judgments.
  5. Christ who is mighty in you to make your own judgments.
  6. For Christ died in weakness but lives by the power of God.
  7. And I too shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.
  8. So test yourselves before I come to judge, whether you are living according to the faith you have in Christ.
  9. Don't you realize that Christ's authority to judge is with you, just as it is with me?
  10. Unless, indeed, you live in such a way as to not be qualified to wield His authority?
  11. But I'm confident that you know that I am qualified to wield Christ's authority over you in righteous judgment.
In his seminal tome, The Reign of the Servant Kings, Joseph C. Dillow provides commentary on Paul's use of "in the faith" in 1st Corinthians 13:5, observing:
In 1 Cor. 16:13 Paul says, "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." Being "in the faith" here seems to mean something like "live consistently with what you believe." Paul spoke of fellow Christians who are "weak in the faith" (Rom. 14:1). Doesn't this mean something like "weak in living according to what one believes"? Paul wants believers to be "sound in the faith" (Ti. 1:13), and Peter urges Christians to be strong in resisting the devil, "steadfast in the faith" (1 Pet. 5:8-9). In each case, being "in the faith" refers to consistency in the Christian life, not possession of it."2
In his essay, "Man's Role in Present Sanctification," Robert N. Wilkin notes:
Note the last word in 2 Cor 13:5 [viz., the word "unqualified"]. In the Greek it is the word adokimos. Paul said in 1 Cor 9:27 that he feared that after he had preached to others he himself might be disqualified (adokimos). Clearly he did not fear hell. What he did fear was being disapproved for the prize of ruling with Christ (1 Cor 9:24-25; cf. 2 Tim 2:12). Likewise, the Corinthians were in danger of being disapproved for that prize.

It is a mistake to assume that "in the faith" here refers to being saved. A look at the preceding verses shows that some of the Corinthians doubted that Paul himself was Christ’s spokesman (v 3). So in v 5 Paul asks them to examine themselves rather than him! They questioned whether he spoke for Christ. He challenges them to see if they speak for Christ. When he says, "examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith," he is referring to their experience, not to their position. Were they in the faith in their behavior?

Similarly, in this context when Paul questions them as to whether or not Christ is in them, he is not questioning their salvation. He is questioning their present sanctification. He wants them to see whether Christ is experientially active in their lives or not. Paul wrote something very similar to the Ephesian believers. He prayed "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3:17). These were saved people and he was praying that Christ might dwell, or be completely at home, in their hearts.

Lean Morris comments in his article in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary, "The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians," on the word adokimos (which is in 1st Cor. 13:5 is translated "disqualified" in the NKJV, but as "castaway" in other versions), points out:
"Castaway" is too strong for adokimos. The word means "which has not stood the test," and in this context refers to disqualification. Paul's fear was not that he might lose his salvation, but that he might lose his crown through failing to satisfy his Lord (cf. 3:15).3

We Live According to What We Think of Ourselves

Brethren, we cannot live faithful lives if we have any doubt about who we are. Men live according to what they believe about themselves. A man may be six foot five inches tall, weigh 300 lbs., be able to bench press his own weight, be incredibly swift and agile, but if he does not think of himself as a tough guy or a killer, a one hundred pound runt who does think of himself as a tough guy and a killer may be able to whip the tar out of him. Likewise, an atheist, who has a well defined idea of righteous behavior, if he thinks of himself as a righteous man, will live as a righteous man. A horse that has been in the corral of one man for 15 years, will return to that same corral, given the chance, even after he has been sold to another-- because it still considers himself as belonging to his former master.

And you, dear brother, though you be in Christ -- though Christ is in you objectively, or positionally, in a saving sense -- if you do not see yourself as a saint, a child of the living God, called to do good works, you will not be able to overcome sin or effect great things for the Lord -- Christ will cease to be in you subjectively, or positionally, in an authoritative sense. Though you are now a slave of Christ, if you do not understand and know with full assurance that you have been bought with the price of the blood of Christ shed on Calvary's tree, you will not cease to serve sin but will instead continue to return to that which mastered you before you received eternal life.

I would encourage you to simply believe what Christ has said in John 5:24 & 11:25-26, and know that you have eternal life and are a child of God called to serve Him. John tells us that he wrote "that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31). If there is a test of life in Christ's name, belief that Jesus is the uniquely begotten Son of God (John 3:16) is that test. Trust not in what you see, for faith does not live by sight. Trust only in Christ, for it is He alone who saves.

So Test Yourselves to See if You're in the Faith

So then, should we as believers in Christ test ourselves? Certainly. But not to see if we're really saved. We are! The single condition to obtain eternal life that men must satisfy is to believe on Him whom the Father has sent to take away the sins of the world. Faith in Christ alone is the conduit through which eternal life has come unto us. Faith in Christ plus our own striving is, however, the only means whereby we can satisfy the purpose of our salvation, that we should serve Him. Faith in Christ alone is the means whereby God bestows His grace upon us; faith plus works, for those who have received eternal life, is the means whereby we may merit his praise and heavenly riches.

Faith in Christ unto eternal life is not a work of man. One doesn't simply decide what he will believe; one must be persuaded. Can a grown man decide to believe in the tooth fairy? No; he can only decide to pretend that he believes in her, for he knows full well that she is nothing more than a children's myth. So it is, then, that belief in Christ is not a work, nor anything that anyone can boast in. That Christ is the Son of the Living God, sent to die as a payment for our sins, anointed by the Father to be the heir of all things, is something only the Holy Spirit can persuade a man. While we may sometimes think it is logical to believe, the fact of the matter is that the god of this world has so blinded the eyes of natural man, that we cannot believe apart from the mercy of God in opening our eyes to the truth.

If you have believed in Christ, then you know you have done that -- even if, now, you have doubts or, perhaps, no longer believe. And if you have believed, then you have eternal life and are a saint by calling. Test yourself, then, to see if you are living according to the faith you once placed in Christ; for Christ is in you with authority, unless you have disqualified yourself from wielding His authority. If you cannot prove that you are walking in the faith, then confess your sins, for "He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1st John 1:9), and no longer "present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but presnt yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (Rom. 6:13).

Notes

1. Regal, Ventura, CA, 2000; pp. 47-48
2. Schoettle Publishing Co., Hayesville, SC, 1992; p. 300
3. Tyndale, London, 1957-65, Tasker, R.V.G., gen. ed.; P. 140 (Quoted in Dillow, p. 300.)

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