Christian Navel-Gazing

2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)

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.

The above verse was not given to encourage us in “Christian navel gazing”.  Some people use this verse to scare you, to make you doubt that you are even saved.  It’s a verse you might hear quoted prior to communion.  “Are you really saved?  Is there sin in your life?  Let us all examine our navels together!”  Navel-gazing is constantly looking inward to look for sin or to see if we’re really saved.

It is easy for us to become preoccupied with how we are doing.  We become proud when we think we are doing well, and we are devastated when we fail.  We will look at how others are doing and measure ourselves against their performance.  The Apostle Paul is NOT saying, “Examine yourselves periodically for sin or to make sure you’re still saved.”  The examination that Paul is speaking of is not to make you doubt your salvation or to look for the presence of sin, but is about reinforcing what you should already know: “Don’t you know that Christ is in you?”  Paul often in scripture used this rhetorical phrase “do you not know”.  Why?  Because he was saying to them, “by now you should know”!  Are you fully persuaded in your own mind that you are one with the Lord?

Incidentally, this whole idea about self-examination to evaluate our standing with God is entirely religious and unbiblical.  They did not even do this in the Old Testament.  Under the Old Covenant, the man brought a lamb to the temple for sacrifice for his sin, the priest didn’t exam the man, he examined the lamb.  God is not looking at you, He is looking at the Lamb, His Son!  Jesus, The Lamb of God was thoroughly examined and there was no fault found in Him.  Praise God!  That was an Old Covenant shadow of the New Covenant reality.  When we do communion, we’re supposed to examine Jesus, not ourselves. “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24-25).  When you examine yourself, see Christ Jesus in you.  He is your life.  You are one with the Lord, you are as righteous and holy as He is (1 John 4:17).  You are pleasing and acceptable to God, able to stand, because Jesus makes you so.  You are saved by grace and kept by grace, not self-examination.  Believe it and be at peace.