How do I truly engage in self examination (2Cor.13:5; 2Pet.1:10 etc.), without any self-pity, or shying away from unpleasant results, and thinking "hey you are doing good by this"?
There is probably no step by step guide.
Have downloaded a couple of sermons (Baxter, Whitefield, Edwards) on the topic from this site and will try to work through them.
Thank you for any help and prayers.
When the rich young ruler came before Jesus there was one thing that God had a controversy with this young ruler about.
[color=000066] Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. (Mark 10:21)[/color]
This is God putting His finger on the thing in our life that is standing between us and Him. Since Jesus ascended into Heaven the Holy Spirit operates in this function. So we come before the Lord and we wait on Him. The Lord will put His finger on things in our lives that are lacking or are a controversy with Him. Sometimes it comes as we are reading the scriptures.
I am not real confident about 'self' examination apart from this method. We are very much blind to our own condition until the Lord shines the light upon us. The old timers used to say, "Lord turn the search light of heaven on in my heart to see if there be anything in me."
Read the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs and let the Holy Spirit speak those Scriptures to your heart. The book of Job declares who God is in relation to man. The book of Psalms declares what God has done in the hearts of men, both faithful and unfaithful. The book of Proverbs defines the Wisdom of God that is available to all who seek Him.
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1Cor. 1:4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
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We have the mind of Christ, let us seek to feed on the word of God and allow our Savior to lead us in the paths that we should go.
God Bless
Ask GOD to search your heart and know your ways
as David did. The Holy Spirit does the examining.
He will convict of sin, of righteousness, and
judgment. It helps to have an understanding of
the character and nature of GOD. When we see HIM
revealed in HIS righteousness and HIS holiness;
we see how blind, needy, poor, and wretched we
are without GOD as the center of our life!!
Self examination is important and biblical. But there are two ditches on each side of self examination.
First self examination is done with bible open, prayers made for God to reveal what the Spirit of God wants to deal with. Many sins are works of the flesh that simply need acknowledged, confessed and heartily repented from. But there are other sins like "besetting sins", those sins that knock us down, or sins which we trivialize but are genuinely a dishonor to the Lord. For those sins, just ask your wife or hubby, or your best friend, or maybe a godly leader who looks over your life. They can bring perspective.
The real issue in self-examination is "are you in the faith" and are you fruitful. We should judge in three different areas. Doctrine, fruits and works. The spiritual man judges all things, so in those areas examine yourself; and in respect to knowledge, do you practice what you know?, in respect to fruits, genuinely look at the way in which you express your faith in trials and with prosperity. In respect to works, what are your motives and how do you see yourself depending upon Christ?
The ditches are introspective condemnation and apathy. Apathy kills passion, or rather has killed passion and your walk with Christ will show one major trait...boredom. Boring bible reading, boring prayers, boring fellowship, boring faith, safe easy going living. In short, a life that has no sacrifice and no interest in displaying a deep consecration to God's kingdom. Introspective condemnation is simply wallowing in the sins and failures of your carnal heart. Its a woe is me mentality that is defeated and ashamed. Not because of great conviction of sin, but because the person who does this is not using their faith to overcome, but rather is expressing pity and discouragement for their situation. In short they are waiting for God to do what they must do. God requires the exercise of faith in the power of God's word and Spirit. When these are ignored, self-condemnation will arise and the sins you fear will be constant companions to you. The victory is believing you have been justified, believe God has made you righteous and that God is ever willing to empower you to live daily in victory.
Micaiahsword
Thank you all for the comments. Some interesting points have been raised and will follow prayerfully some of them Psalm 139:23-24 in mind, ex. Reading Job, Psalms, Proverbs and excersing faith in God, His Word (promises etc) and Spirit more than I have so far.
Bibkaptein wrote:
How do I truly engage in self examination (2Cor.13:5; 2Pet.1:10 etc.), without any self-pity, or shying away from unpleasant results, and thinking "hey you are doing good by this"?There is probably no step by step guide.
Have downloaded a couple of sermons (Baxter, Whitefield, Edwards) on the topic from this site and will try to work through them.
Thank you for any help and prayers.
Can you share the sermons that you downloaded on this topic-for I would like to take a peek myself at what they had to say.
The Edwards sermon: Christian Cautions
Or
THE NECESSITY OF SELF-EXAMINATION
Baxter: The Title to the Saints' Rest
Whitefield: [apologies - for some reason I have misplaced this sermon, and can't find it again on Sermonindex.]
Thank you also for reminding me - to my shame, I have become way too busy with other stuff.
Here is a sermon that helped me. THE WARRANT OF FAITH 1 John 3:23. This is a sermon by spurgeon, and you can find it at spurgeon.org .
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