Lesson 35: Examine Yourself
“We are loved by God and held by Christ. Christ who holds all things together will see to it that we are kept in the faith and that we reach our eternal inheritance.” There are people who believe that salvation by grace gives them the right to continue to sin without restraint and that God will graciously forgive all their sins. But God will see to it that on judgment day the unrighteous are consigned to eternal punishment. In the Book of Amos the prophet said to the people “If you will turn from your sins and repent God may yet save a remnant of you.” Such a widespread change in attitude would need to stand the test of time to prove its genuineness. This points to the folly of presuming upon God’s grace.
We’re told in 2 Corinthians 13 – “Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith, test yourselves, do you not know that the spirit of Christ lives in you; unless of course you fail the test.” And in 2 Peter 2: “Be all the more eager to make your election and calling sure.” If we cultivate the qualities of faith identified in Chapter 1 we and others can be sure that God has chosen and called us. To your faith add goodness, to goodness, knowledge; to knowledge, self- control; to self-control, persistence; to persistence, godliness; to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to this love. When God elects and calls it is to a life of obedience. The Holy Spirit leads us from an attitude of rebellion to one of obedience. If we give evidence of our faith in this manner, we will not fail to persist in overcoming the corruption in this world caused by evil desires. God invites everyone to be part of His kingdom (Matthew 22) but few are chosen. This doesn’t mean that God is being arbitrary. The invitation needs to be accepted, accompanied by an appropriate change in behavior. Proper conduct is evidence of being chosen.