Christian Living
Do we pass the test?
2 Corinthians 13:5
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you —unless indeed you fail the test?
Karen and I were privileged to visit First Baptist of McKinney for the second time this month. The sermon after Resurrection Sunday was Discipleship. One verse stood out to me and that was 2 Corinthians 13:5. This is probably because I’ve been engaged with self-examination to the point that I was thinking I might be a wee bit narcissistic.
The Pastor described that baptism was symbolic of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I was baptized almost 50 years ago at Lindenwood Baptist Church in St. Louis. In most of those 50 years, my thoughts about my religious life was, “OK, I’m a Christian, so what do I do next?”
There hasn’t been very much spiritual progress in the last 50 years and this is what I’ve figured out so far:
1. It’s not about me. It’s about Him. I can’t be a Christian without Christ.
2. It’s all about me. Wait a minute; didn’t you just say it’s not about you? As far as Christ is concerned, He loved me so much that he went to the cross and endured torture and pain so I might be fit to stand in the presence of Almighty God.
3. Carnal me has to die. Christian me has to be born again. I cannot be a disciple of Christ unless I’m made a new creature in Christ.
4. Which leads me to: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
So that’s how we know we’ve passed the test. Yes, I’m a slow learner, so I’ll give myself a C minus for this particular quiz.
What about number one on the above list? It isn’t about me.
It’s about following our Lord and Savior. It’s about obedience and following His commandments. If we are to be true disciples of Christ, we must obey His great commission:
Matthew 28:16-20
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19 [a]Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you [b]always, even to the end of the age.”
That is our main job as disciples of Christ. We go into this world and make more disciples of Christ. This is the most important job we can do in these last days of the Church age. We don’t want anybody left behind to endure the horrors of the Tribulation. We don’t want anybody, not even our worst enemies, to die in their sins. We need to tend the fields until we plant all the seeds we can; and, God gleans the very last grains of wheat.
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