the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
2 Corinthians 13:5
‘Whether ye be in the faith’
Read 2 Peter 1:1-11
Paul admonishes all of us to make our calling and election sure. He says, ‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?’ He does not admonish us to examine one another, but he does tell us to examine ourselves. Here are three points by which I examine my own faith. I urge you to do the same.
1. Is my faith based upon the Word of God? I know this: ‘Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God’ (Romans 10:17). If my faith is genuine, it is born in my heart by the Word of truth. True faith arises from a proper knowledge of God, as he is revealed in Christ, in his holy and sovereign character (John 17:3). True faith arises from a proper knowledge of Christ, the incarnate God, in the glory of his efficacious, sin-atoning sacrifice as our Substitute. And true faith arises from a proper knowledge of ourselves, our guilt, our depravity and our inability. Until a man knows what the Bible says about God, about Christ and about himself, he cannot exercise saving faith.
2. Does my faith cause me to have a well-grounded hope of a saving interest in Christ? True faith causes a man to have a good hope through grace. Trusting the merits of Christ’s righteousness and shed blood, the true believer has a confident, assured hope of eternal salvation and acceptance with God in Christ. True faith does not depend upon feelings, works or desires. True faith trusts Christ alone and enjoys peaceful hope of eternal glory in him.
3. Does my faith produce a principle of love in my heart for Christ and his people? Faith causes a man to love Christ as he is and love the people of God as they are in Christ. This love is a self-denying, self-sacrificing commitment to Christ and his people. Any faith that lacks this love is a false faith.
