5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.

Paul encourages us to examine, or test, ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. This means that it is possible to fail that test – to think we are in the faith and discover that we are not.

We make using the word “Christian” pretty easy, don’t we? We ask if someone believes – or worse yet, “do you go to church?” – and if so, that means they are Christians. We ask people to repeat a standard confession of faith and then dunk them in the water, then we consider them Christians without being a part of their daily walks, guiding them in submitting every action and every decision they make in life to God’s sovereignty.

Effective teachers always give tests. I was never much of a test taker in school, for the most part. I hated tests in most classes, except for the very types of test that most people didn’t like – math and essay questions. Those I loved, because I could demonstrate my true understanding of a topic by applying it (rather than demonstrate my poor memory of individual facts).

Fortunately God asks us to give those kinds of tests to ourselves regarding our faith. He’s not saying here “examine yourselves to show how many scriptures you can recite with book, chapter, and verse” or “test your knowledge of the Old Testament genealogies.” He is saying “test whether you are in the faith by whether you actually apply your faith.”

In these verses we are administering our own tests. Really good students (I wasn’t one) regularly review and quiz themselves on the material they are studying before the teacher gives the exam. Do you ever do that – sit back, and with an open mind and heart evaluate the way you are living and look for signs that you are truly giving God total control over your life?

We don’t want to wait for God to examine us. When He does test us, we want to be prepared, and that is done by examining ourselves regularly. I love the way The Message renders this verse: "Give yourself regular check-ups." Often, until we test ourselves we don’t realize how far we’ve drifted.

7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. 10 This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority--the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down. 11 Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

“Aim for perfection.” That’s a tough one for us. We like to excuse ourselves by our circumstances.

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints send their greetings. 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

“The fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” Fellowship means “sharing.” In our study of 1 Corinthians 5 (which discusses disfellowshipping), we learned that the Greek word translated “fellowship” (koinonia) means “working as partners to achieve a shared purpose.”

The fellowship of the Holy Spirit here means sharing in the Holy Spirit’s purpose together. It is incredibly awesome, and carries with it a great responsibility, that my brothers and sisters in Christ can participate in the exercise and growth of my faith, and I in theirs!

Finally, here are a few other passages that came to mind as I pondered this study:

Hebrews 3:13: “But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”

Galatians 1:10: “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Isaiah 1:10-17: “10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.”