As believers, you and I have passed from death unto life. The Bible says this same thing in 1 John 3:14. Therefore, if we have raised and been made new from an old life of bad habits, vices, and sins, there should be some sort of evidence of it wouldn't you say? There should be some evidence of change. That said, the Bible instructs us to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). Why? To see if you and I are in the faith. To examine ones self seems to be an interesting concept. The simple truth is, when a person comes to the Lord in faith, over time changes take place within our hearts which in turn rule our actions. If one is a true born again Christian, you wouldn't expect him to continue embezzling money from his company, or a politician to cheat to acquire votes, nor would you ever imagine a true follower to participate in an adulterous affair. Somewhere along the line in your Christian journey sin should become offensive and your life should begin to produce fruit; specifically the FRUITS of the spirit ...love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These then, as "fruit," begin to grow within us replacing hate, impatience, lust, greed, envy, pride. wrath, laziness, etc. As we mature in Christ we should be producing these fruits and it is WHY the Bible instructs us to examine ourselves. Are you producing fruit?
If you were to go skydiving, how carefully would you examine the parachute you'd be using? I don't know about you but I'd probably check it 10 times or more: the cords, the canopy, stabilizers, ripcord, etc. When we examine ourselves spiritually, one of the most important things we should do is make sure we have repentance which I like to equate to the "rip-cord" of our faith. For without true repentance, all the other characteristics of a risen life will mean nothing. You can jump from a plane with an acceptable weight, the canopy in tact, cords healthy and strong, but if the ripcord is defective your shoot is not going to open and you're going to die!
We must first repent of our sin (having a change of mind) that continues throughout our walk with Christ BECAUSE we are not perfect people. I have never read in scripture nor have I ever understood any disciple to teach that sinless perfection is possible, nor does it deny that some sins are harder to overcome than others. What it does say is that those who are truly repentant do what they can do to resist the devil (James 4:7) and flee from temptation. The truly repentant will lapse into sin on occasion, but they always return to the narrow path of righteousness. And might I add, with a contrite heart! When we sin and desire forgiveness, a broken heart and a contrite spirit mean to experience “godly sorrow [that] worketh repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:10). This comes when our desire to be cleansed from sin is so consuming that our hearts ache with sorrow and we yearn to feel at peace with our Father in Heaven. Repentance yields its fruit in a changed life. We do not repent only once at the start of the Christian life and then go on our merry way, confession of sin is needed until life's end (1John 1: 8-9).
If you have not experienced a change in your life, if sin is not offensive, if you are not sorrowful for an occasional lapse into sin then I urge you to examine yourself today and often in your walk with Christ, call on God and plead with Him to help you make "your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10)
Until He comes,
-Pat-
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