“⁵Examine 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! ⁶I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ⁷But we pray to God that you may not do wrong–not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.” – 2 Corinthians 13:5-7 (ESV)

More often than not, we use these verses in reference to the salvation of the believer. In context, the Apostle is speaking to members of the church at Corinth and speaking primarily of sanctification. Verse 7 tells us this:

“⁷But we pray to God that you may not do wrong–not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.”

That the verse begins with “But…” is significant because. Grammatically speaking, it means that the words that precede it in verses 6 & 7 are part of Paul’s complete thought, and the remainder of verse 7 completes the writer’s thought.

Clearly, the “test” spoken of refers to what a person “does’; how he/she behaves as a believer. Paul speaks of himself and his brothers in ministry having “met the test” and immediately speaks of the believers in Corinth “doing right”.

This does not mean we cannot use these passages in reference to salvation, only that they speak primarily to the subject of our ongoing sanctification in Christ Jesus. Surely salvation and sanctification are connected! What we ‘do’ reflects our salvation, but does not save us. Also, just because a person ‘does’ right, does not mean he/she has truly received Christ as Savior and Lord. People bound by false religion ‘do’ good works in the world’s eyes.

Paul’s focus here is that if we claim Christ, obedience to God and holy living become part of our lives. If If they are not evident in our lives, we have every cause to question whether or not we are truly “of the faith”.

If that is the case, we are right to ask the question, “Am I even saved?” The answer to that question begins with another question: “What was the gospel message in which I placed my trust?” Did I receive Christ in order to have my present life “fixed?”, or did I come to Christ with a heart of repentance and for the forgiveness of my sin, in order to receive eternal life instead of God’s holy and just wrath against my sin?”

Points to ponder for the new year.