INTRODUCTION
The word “self” is a very complicated word in the Christian life. We are called to lose it (Mark 8:35), deny it (Luke 9:23), decrease it (John 3:30), and die to it (Galatians 2:20). This can make self-examination a challenging thing to put into practice. After all, if self is already the convicted culprit, what sense does it make to give it the magnifying glass and turn it loose on the crime scene?
Yet self-examination is a calling for many causes: to see if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5), when partaking of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:28), when under judgment (Lamentations 4:30), when admonishing our brethren (Galatians 6:3), and as a regular practice (Psalm 119:59). Because self-examination is a work that contributes to our assurance, it can be difficult to keep up without falling into nomism.
The final chapter of 2 Corinthians contains the most well-known passage on the subject, but it should not be applied before considering the context of the entire epistle. 2 Corinthians starts with Paul’s instructions on restoring a wayward churchman, followed by expositions on putting off the flesh, consecration from the world, godly sorrow, and finally an examination of his own true apostleship in a world of impostors. He then tells them to examine their own selves, but the reason goes beyond one verse.
2 Corinthians 13:5-10
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, that you may be made complete. Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.
The motive for this self-examination is not to fear disqualification, as though every glance at ourselves should come through the lens of “unsaved until proven saved.” If we were indeed disqualified, he tells us, we would not have Christ. But if Christ is in us, the buck stops with Him. He cannot be disqualified, because He has atoned for all sin. Self-examination is an exercise in something we should already be doing: looking for Christ. And if we know Christ, then we know He cannot thrive in sin, nor can any other spirit thrive in sanctification. Where the body of Christ is, therein will His works be.
In order to be qualified to examine ourselves, we must be in a position above our own flesh; and if our life is hidden with Christ in God, we reign over it with Him. In his maritime walk, Peter reigned over the mortal waves until He forgot that their Creator was the One sustaining his steps. Like him, we should know the inability of our flesh; but from him, we should learn that examining the waves will only lead to doubt.
This sets us free to examine ourselves with the knowledge that we are already equipped for it by the same blood that saved us. By the Holy Spirit’s conviction, it was self-examination that showed us our need to die to the flesh. This was declared when we, like Peter, were led to our immersion and raised up by Christ. After this, we must no longer examine ourselves as the old man, but as those called to life in Him. Four preliminary questions can help us balance our self-examination accordingly: How does it regard sin? In whom does it trust? For whose sake is it? And where does it lead?
HOW DOES IT REGARD SIN?
Proverbs 14:9
Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is favor.
“Asham,” the Hebrew word for “sin” in this verse, is elsewhere used to refer to the guilt brought with the guilt offering. One of the primary meanings for “luts,” the word for “mock,” is “to make mouths at.” However else these words may apply, it is indeed mockery at sin to repent of your guilt only by the mouth. God will not favor this, unlike upright repentance which comes from the heart.
Claiming to be perfect is generally too delusional for even the most desolate of truth suppressors, so they admit that they “make mistakes.” Thus obscuring the moral standard, they treat sin as a spiritual paper cut upon an otherwise comely soul. Admitting to mistakes is easy because it affirms the humanity that the flesh takes pride in. But easy repentance is no repentance at all.
Like a cheap eraser that turns letters into smudges, these barren confessions judge in word only and suppose that God will do the same. This is largely due to lukewarm cheerleaders and their chants, such as “nobody’s perfect!” or “to err is human!” Some will even name their favorite “mistake” so they can follow it up with “I’m not proud of it.” Oh, but they sure are proud of admitting it.
There are only a few words in Scripture that can be translated as “mistake,” but none of them are the normative word for sin. The Hebrew word “shegagah,” for example, is used to refer to unintentional violations. There are also a few words used to refer to stumbling in weakness as a believer, such as the Greek “ptaió,” but they are still affirmed as nothing less than sin.
“Nobody’s perfect: That’s the believer’s bed of thorns; that’s the hypocrite’s couch of ease.”
— John Duncan
IN WHOM DOES IT TRUST?
Jeremiah 17:9-10
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
Another popular lie is that we can examine ourselves by ourselves. Many modern religious teachers only address self-examination when they realize this jagged cane stalk can be cooked down and filtered into addictive sugar crystals. Ignoring the plank in their own eye, they see a dollar sign in their brother’s eye, and the self-examination they teach is really selfishness.
Even if we could number all our forgotten and unnoticed sins, we could never understand them by treating self-examination as a stretching exercise for the conscience. Rhetoric like “look deep inside yourself” or “listen to the angel on your shoulder” leaves it to us to decide what our sins are, instead of opening the Word of God and letting it do the judging for us.
Psalm 19:12
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
In these passages, the Psalmist starts by realizing his inadequacy. He knows that his finite humanity cannot begin to comprehend the depth, let alone the details, of his infinite crimes against an infinite God. So he calls upon God to examine Him first, a prayer that is answered both in itself and in the Word. A life spent in these is a life of self-examination; and if we remain close to God, we will pursue a constant and continuous state of it.
FOR WHOSE SAKE IS IT?
Despising the perfection of Christ’s example, the philosophy of worldly self-examination is to “become the best version of yourself that you can be.” But this complacency begins and ends with one’s own works, which defeats the purpose if we wish to say “it is well with my soul.” We are not called to conform to a glorified image of ourselves; we are called to be conformed to the image of Christ.
If our desire is to please God, we will strive to live up to the righteousness of Christ, which is ours in Him, wrought by the Holy Spirit, and approved by the Father. But if our desire is to please men, whether ourselves or the world, we will plant the chequered flag at whatever point we feel warm and fuzzy inside or the world tells us we’re on a roll. Such an approach to sanctification is no different from how works-based salvation heresies approach justification.
Matthew 6:2-4
Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
When Jesus speaks of seeking glory from men, that includes oneself. Even in private, it is far too easy for us to sound a trumpet in our hearts and proclaim to our left hand what our right hand is doing. It is even easier to look to earthly influences, because they are finite and therefore more easily grasped. While righteous role models are valuable motivations, our goal must never be to smile inwardly and imagine that our mothers, pastors, favorite theologians, peers, or communities would be proud of how far we’ve come.
Yet another pitfall is examining ourselves based upon a lack of conviction, as opposed to a presence of spiritual growth. Self-examination should approve where appropriate, but not exalt; it should respond to the conscience, but not dismiss it. Otherwise, we have our reward. To be sure, God has commanded it for our good (Romans 8:28), but this does not mean living our “best life now.” It means living with eternity in view (Mark 9:43). When Paul speaks of “seeing if we are in the faith,” this is no trivial reason.
James 3:13-18
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
WHERE DOES IT LEAD?
On the pole opposite flattery is another danger: flagellation. Self-examination should lead us to the throne of grace, not a dark night of the soul. An honest look at “self” may make us want to get as far away from it as possible; but we will only be left alone with it if we run anywhere but towards Christ. While He remains faithful in any case, His presence will not be felt if we dig ourselves into a pool of despondency.
This ungodly sorrow is not that of self-examination, but rather that of self-pity. While repentance begins with brokenness over our sin, it also leads to the joy and freedom of being forgiven. The enemy can abide the former if it means he can keep us from the latter. To this end, he will look for any vulnerability in us to attack. This can range from bidding us wallow in our guilt to bearing false witness with false guilt.
This is why we must not forget justice in our self-examination. It will remind us that Christ has satisfied justice on the cross, and Satan has no ill left to accuse us of. Moreover, the Holy Spirit who indwells us is good; and we must not loathe His temple. By all means, we should loathe our sin, but only to the effect of directing us to the One who died for it. This will increase our love for God, which will increase our obedience, which will increase our fruits.
COMPLETE AND EQUIPPED
Matthew 7:22-23
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
As demonstrated by this passage, self-examination will not save us. If it proceeds from the flesh and not the Spirit, it is a futile and hopeless endeavor. Those in such a state will likely end up on one of three trajectories: thinking they need no saving, thinking they have saved themselves, or realizing they can’t and surrendering to sin.
Christian self-examination, however, shows unbelievers their need for justification and believers their need for sanctification. It is honoring to God, sustaining to the soul, and profitable to the Kingdom. But the journey must be a straight and narrow one. This is not easy, but it is simple: abide in the ways of God, not the ways of men.
Without an honest perception of sin, it is self-deception. Without humility, it is self-empowerment. If it’s done for this life only, it is self-serving. And without belief in Christ, it is self-waste. Wherever there is Biblical self-examination, the weight of truth must be upon examination. Otherwise, it’s just self.