Self Examination

"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?" II Corinthians 13:5
There are a lot of questions being asked on this site. Some are good and thought provoking, and some are silly or tending to generate more uncertainty. There is one question that you do not have time to put off: "whether ye be in the faith..."
This is not a popular question. It is not a comfortable question (i.e. it causes DIS-comfort). But it is a question you must ask yourself. You not only must ask yourself, you must "prove your own selves..." . Is there Biblical, spiritual proof ,enough to assure YOU? You know all your secrets, all your sins, all your lusts , how you REALLY feel about Jesus Christ. Can you prove to yourself, right now, from the Bible,that you are converted?
"Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you..." Do you know that? Has He been evident in your life? Was there a time YOU confessed and forsook your sin, all known sin, and threw yourself at Jesus feet,begging for mercy for your Hell-deserving soul? Or did you pray a little prayer someone told you to pray, and told Jesus to come into your heart? Well, did He? Did He?
Either you repented and gave yourself wholly to Christ Jesus or you, my friend ,are a reprobate: someone who is lost. Someone that will not go to Heaven.
"except ye be reprobates."
I would be too afraid, too scared, to lay my head on my pillow tonight UNLESS I got this settled.
I believe YOU should examine yourself. Right now.
May God have mercy on you and show you your true condition.

Julian of York
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3
 
That's a very interesting take for a Bible Study. However, this statement can also be used for uncertainty:
Julian of York said:
There are a lot of questions being asked on this site. Some are good and thought provoking, and some are silly or tending to generate more uncertainty.

Only God knows our true hearts. We can think what we like of ourselves, but we do not know completely 100% that we will get into Heaven. The only way to get there is to fully believe that Jesus is the way to the Father and that Jesus is our savior: John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
 
Thank you for your kind response.
I must be honest with you, Christine...I wrote the above thread because I wanted people to come to grips with "uncertainty".
I tremble upon hearing that you believe a person cannot know "FOR SURE" that they are converted. May I with "meekness and fear" share with you the hope that is in me?
"Wherefore the rather,brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things,ye shall never fall." 2 Peter 1:10
That chief apostle, Peter, wrote to fellow believers ,telling them that they should be "diligent" or careful and serious, about the matter of their calling and election to salvation. Why am I concerned about this? Conservative estimates of Evangelical churches estimate that less than ten percent have a real conversion experience. Much of the confusion and apathy in churches that YOU know of is related to this,"Well,I prayed a little prayer somebody told me to pray" and "I am hoping to Jesus I am saved" mentality of salvation.

If you are interested at all in whether you or friends and family are truly saved/converted/born again , please respond and I will give you a few Bible verses that will be of help.

Prayerfully,
Julian of York
 
Well I know that my friends are not saved and I pray for them everyday, but as for myself, I can confidently say that I really don't know. I'm still very new in the practices of His word. I have not been baptized either, but do know 100% that Jesus is our savior and the way to Eternal life. I just did a Bible study on that last night.
 
Well I know that my friends are not saved and I pray for them everyday, but as for myself, I can confidently say that I really don't know. I'm still very new in the practices of His word. I have not been baptized either, but do know 100% that Jesus is our savior and the way to Eternal life. I just did a Bible study on that last night.
ello Christine,
Can a believer know that he has eternal life? Can he know that that he is already saved? Lets go to a few bible scriptures.
1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

To whom does john write this letter? To those who believe on the name of the son of God.
What did John say when he wrote to those who believe in Jesus Christ? He wrote that they may know that they have eternal life.

We can therefore know that we are saved. How do we know we are saved? First we need to know how one can be saved. If we know the road to justification and forgiveness of sins we will know weather we have passed that road.
Act 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

All that believe are justified. You say you know 100% sure that Jesus is our saviour. You are saved! Satan knows that part of the armour of God is the helmet of salvation. He wants you not to be sure so that you would not have this helmet on you.

Look at what Jesus said:

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This verse has three points.It mentions a great fact, a great condition and a great result.

The great fact is that God has sent His son to redeem mankind because He loved us. Not because we were good or had potential to be good.

The great condition is that we should believe. The Amplified translation puts it this way:
16For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([a]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.


The great result of believing in Jesus as saviour is eternal life. You believe in Jesus, you are saved.Do not let the devil rob you of the helmet of salvation.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Say out aloud Jesus is lord of my life, I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Saying this will help you alot.

You see we walk by faith and not by sight. You do not have to feel saved.Just take Gods word for it.You have met the condition therefore are saved.
 
Jas virdee and Christine,
Thank you for your reply to this thread.
Jas vardee, I have always believed the same as you do...up until a year ago. Then I read a book about "True and False Conversions", which got me searching the Scriptures. Christine, in her "Christine's Bible Study" thread, used Luke chapter 14 as a basis for her study. I want to go back a few chapters and show you what I learned about false conversions:
In Mark 10:17 we find Jesus on a journey around Palestine,talking and teaching the people. .In fact in verse 16 we see Him holding the little children (which His disciples wanted to chase away) and blessing them. As He resumed His journey, a rich young man came running up to Him and said,"Good Master, what shall I do,that I may inherit eternal life?" The young man was interested in what we are interested in in this thread: how can a person have and be sure of eternal life? Jesus said," Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one,that is,God." You will notice in verse twenty that the young man changes his approach, and refers to Jesus as "Master", not "Good Master". Obviously, he had stumbled at that great stumbling block that will send untold numbers to hell...he did not know or believe that Jesus Christ IS God.
Then Jesus,Who knows all things,said"Thou knowest the commandments..." This young man had an interest in spiritual things, and had tried to live up to the commandments of God. After Jesus named several, the young man said, "Master, all these have I observed from my youth." And ,even though he had kept all these lawful things, he KNEW that he needed something more...otherwise he never would have asked Jesus.
And then,the Blessed Saviour looked on him in love and said,"One thing thou lackest..."

What was the ONE THING?
To be continued...
J.o.Y.
 
Thank you for you response.
As a matter of fact, after Jesus had said "Sell all that thou hast..." the Bible says in Luke 10:22 that the rich young man went away grieved. He saw the verse as you see it.
But listen to the Master as He speaks to His disciples:
"And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto His disciples,How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God!" Christine, here is something rare in Scripture: an exclamation point! What the Son of Man emphasizes must be very important. So the rich young mans problem was his riches?
Well, the disciples were certainly suprised!
"And the disciples were astonished at His words." I can imagine the Jewish disciples thinking, here this prime candidate for church membership,who is a law keeper, and rich (to their minds,that equated with "blessed of God") and so anxious he RAN to Jesus, and yet Jesus said that he was NOT going to have eternal life in his present condition, lacking one thing...What a shock!
"But Jesus answereth again and said, Children,how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!" So that is the point: the young man had trusted his money, his own power, his THINGS,as well as the things he had done (keep the commandments) and was not willing to trust his life wholly to Christ. (Notice,too,how Christ emphasized the "trusting in riches" with the next exclamation point!)
One more time,those precious disciples,who were such a copy of you and me, were astonished again,and said "Who then can be saved?"
Who indeed. No one, unless they do what Christ told the young man to do: he didn't have to sell all his stuff,his BMW, his Jet-Ski, his mansion, but he HAD TO stop trusting in them and in the things he had done to EARN eternal life.
And Jesus said,:"With man it is impossible:but with God ,all things are possible."
And we see that NO ONE can save themselves,by who they are,what they have done,or what they own. It is impossible,unless their is a TURNING AWAY from sin and self rule of your life, and complete TURNING TO the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see,we have turned "Every man to his own way..."Isaiah 53:6 and "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Being the sinful people we are,Christine, we try to fix it. But,"But they being ignorant of God's righteousness,and going about to seek their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God"Romans 10:3 That is what the rich young man had done: He was ignorant of the "right way" of God, and so he tried to do his own "right way", and so DID NOT SUBMIT HIMSELF TO THE "RIGHT WAY OF GOD".
When Paul spoke of the Thessalonians, he said they had done the right thing by this:"Ye turned from idols to serve the living and true God." I Thessalonians 1:9 There must be a turning away of your control of your life, your attempt to please God by your own "right way" , and a turning to God from idols,or things you worship instead of God.
So,have you submitted to the Righteousness of God?

J.o.Y.
 
I do not trust in material things, nor do I like certain types: jewelry. I give money away when people are in need of it and I never expect it back, though I am not very good at receiving. I say whatever I can so I don't receive anything. I know that isn't good and I'm working on it.
So yes, I can say very well I have submitted to His Righteousness. Still, I lack another important thing. Baptism.
 
Christine, I thank you for bearing with my ramblings.
So, then, in the rich young man's case money was the thing that was counted on. But also you noticed he was counting on the things he had done:keeping the Ten Commandments. So, Christine, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done,but accoring to His mercy He saved us." You said you lack baptism. Can you see that baptism is another "thing"? Will you have eternal life if you give away all your personal property, are baptised over and over and over, and still, what?
Christine, notice in the many,many verses in the Bible that refer to Jesus Christ in His office of Saviour. Do you notice how often,almost always, He is called "the Lord Jesus Christ"? That's it. Jesus wants to be your absolute Lord. You need to not try to do better, but to give uop, and "turn from idols unto the Lord Jesus Christ".
Every knee shall bow,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He seeks that position NOW in your life, by faith giving up, and giving your LIFE to His Lordship;
Nothing less than all. He deserves nothing less than all.
"And the work of righteousness shall be peace;" between you and God by submiting to His righteousness, and not yours "and the effect of righteousness ,quietness and assurance forever." Isaiah 32:17

Julian of York
 
Yes, I agree with what you say here. However, I've done a small Bible Study and posted it in my thread "Christine's Bible Study" about being born again which involves baptism. So, there are more than one thing that needs to be done.
 
ello Christine,
Can a believer know that he has eternal life? Can he know that that he is already saved? Lets go to a few bible scriptures.
1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

To whom does john write this letter? To those who believe on the name of the son of God.
What did John say when he wrote to those who believe in Jesus Christ? He wrote that they may know that they have eternal life.

We can therefore know that we are saved. How do we know we are saved? First we need to know how one can be saved. If we know the road to justification and forgiveness of sins we will know weather we have passed that road.
Act 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

All that believe are justified. You say you know 100% sure that Jesus is our saviour. You are saved! Satan knows that part of the armour of God is the helmet of salvation. He wants you not to be sure so that you would not have this helmet on you.

Look at what Jesus said:

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This verse has three points.It mentions a great fact, a great condition and a great result.

The great fact is that God has sent His son to redeem mankind because He loved us. Not because we were good or had potential to be good.

The great condition is that we should believe. The Amplified translation puts it this way:
16For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([a]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

The great result of believing in Jesus as saviour is eternal life. You believe in Jesus, you are saved.Do not let the devil rob you of the helmet of salvation.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Say out aloud Jesus is lord of my life, I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Saying this will help you alot.

You see we walk by faith and not by sight. You do not have to feel saved.Just take Gods word for it.You have met the condition therefore are saved.

Good post Jas virdee

Jesus also said unless we repent we will perish. Luke13:3 . Some think that just means to say and feel sorry about what we have done and continue to keep doing the same thing, but repent means we must turn from sin and to God
So when we do that and as you quoted in Rom.1o:9-10 we ask Jesus to be our Lord, believe in our heart and confess with our mouth Jesus died for us and rose from the dead. Then we can know we are saved
 
You do have to be baptised to be saved.
Mark 16;16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

But who does the baptising is the important thing.

John 13;8
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

I do like this thread though.What Julian is pointing out in this thread is what leads one to this baptism.
 
You do have to be baptised to be saved.
Mark 16;16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

But who does the baptising is the important thing.

John 13;8
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

I do like this thread though.What Julian is pointing out in this thread is what leads one to this baptism.

The bodily baptism is only symbolic, the real "baptism" is in the spirit, not in the body:

Romans 2:28-29 "For he is not a Jew(ie a true cleric/believer), which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew(ie a true cleric/believer), which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart(ie of the Inside), in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

What if someone have bodily baptism but is sinful/sinner?, and if in the same time someone other is non-believer but being Pure as regards the faith?

Romans 2:14-27 "For when the Gentiles(ie the non-believers), which have not the law(ie a law of faith), do by nature the things contained in the law(ie in the Law of the Faith), these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another..... Therefore if the uncircumcision(ie the non-believer) keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision(ie his unbaptism) be counted for circumcision(ie for non-infringement of the Law)? And shall not uncircumcision(ie unbaptised in the body) which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?"

And after the non-believers do not follow a false god/religion/faith, then why they to be enemies against the true Lord God?
 
The bodily baptism is only symbolic, the real "baptism" is in the spirit, not in the body:

Romans 2:28-29 "For he is not a Jew(ie a true cleric/believer), which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew(ie a true cleric/believer), which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart(ie of the Inside), in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

What if someone have bodily baptism but is sinful/sinner?, and if in the same time someone other is non-believer but being Pure as regards the faith?

Romans 2:14-27 "For when the Gentiles(ie the non-believers), which have not the law(ie a law of faith), do by nature the things contained in the law(ie in the Law of the Faith), these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another..... Therefore if the uncircumcision(ie the non-believer) keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision(ie his unbaptism) be counted for circumcision(ie for non-infringement of the Law)? And shall not uncircumcision(ie unbaptised in the body) which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?"

And after the non-believers do not follow a false god/religion/faith, then why they to be enemies against the true Lord God?

I said who does the baptising is whats important.
You didnt think I was saying Jesus comes down out of heaven to wash people feet did you?
Come on now.
Baptism means to wash.What Jesus was doing to Peter was symbolic of what Jesus would later do to Peter.
John 13'10
Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash [his] feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
 
And how/what think you if someone wise tell you that e.g. namely the hedgelism is most important? - i ask this question with respect to you.

Is not it more important to act directly for the universal Salvation, i.e. for the Salvation of everyone human/soul being?
Or, how is possible the God-pleasing activity for Salvation if the (intended) starting point/purpose (there) is not entirely direct perfect Salvation and if (there) not persevere faithfully/devotedly?

In such event, what is the baptism?, except namely the initiation in the Right activity of (the) universal Salvation for the humans/souls.

Matthew 3:13-14 "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" - because John has been Baptist(therefore has been called John the Baptist) and he has had (the) mission to baptize only for repentance from the wrong/false faith, while Jesus baptizes for activity of the Salvation from the Holy God that is to/for every human/soul (being).
 
Ginger,
Thank you. I tried to send you a private message to say thanks, but I goofed up somewhere. Anyway, I can never understand that "other member" either, and I thought it was just me.

J.o.Y.
 
And how/what think you if someone wise tell you that e.g. namely the hedgelism is most important? - i ask this question with respect to you.

Is not it more important to act directly for the universal Salvation, i.e. for the Salvation of everyone human/soul being?
Or, how is possible the God-pleasing activity for Salvation if the (intended) starting point/purpose (there) is not entirely direct perfect Salvation and if (there) not persevere faithfully/devotedly?

In such event, what is the baptism?, except namely the initiation in the Right activity of (the) universal Salvation for the humans/souls.

Matthew 3:13-14 "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" - because John has been Baptist(therefore has been called John the Baptist) and he has had (the) mission to baptize only for repentance from the wrong/false faith, while Jesus baptizes for activity of the Salvation from the Holy God that is to/for every human/soul (being).

If a gentile needed to be baptised by a man ,then why is the apostle sent to the gentiles not sent to baptise?
1 corinth 1;17
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

Hence .Its not the baptism of man that is required to make one clean.
It is the baptism of God that is required.

Acys 10;15
And the voice [spake] unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, [that] call not thou common.

Like these gentiles in acts needed not to be baptised in water in order to be baptised in the spirit.They recieved the Holy Spirit because they believed in Jesus.Not because they took a bath.
 
The "gentiles"/"heathens" in the Bible are the non-believers, and in principle the God and his servants do not baptize the non-believers because usually they have no serious clerical/ecclesiastical intentions/interests, but at the very beginning the true Lord God has created two categories (of) people, the first is the servants i.e. the clerics(comment: (the) "jews" in the Bible), the other is the users i.e. the non-believers. While the clerics serve to the Holy(ie to the Overall) Salvation and Life, the non-believers are only users, or, the main objects of the Overall Salvation and Indemnification.
 
There are a lot of questions being asked on this site. Some are good and thought provoking, and some are silly or tending to generate more uncertainty.
Who are we to say that there are 'silly' questions? How can we determine at what stage a Christian is at with their walk with Christ? Do we all have the answers?
 
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