II Corinthians 13:5—“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith …”

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (II Cor. 13:5).

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Rev. Martyn McGeown

[Source: “Paul Washer’s Miserable Doctrine of Assurance,” in British Reformed Journal, no. 66 (Spring/Summer 2017), pp. 6-9]

The text to which Washer frequently appeals is II Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Washer offers no exegesis of the text, but concludes,

[Paul] tells them to test themselves and examine themselves with regard to the authenticity of their profession … Paul [admonishes] professing Christians in Corinth to examine themselves and look for evidences of conversion.[7]

Washer’s understanding of II Corinthians 13:5 is seriously flawed and pastorally disastrous. Paul is not writing to “professing Christians.” He is writing to beloved saints. The apostle does not call the Corinthians to look for evidences of conversion. He calls them to examine themselves, “whether [they are] in the faith.” Those two propositions are not the same, as we shall demonstrate.

In II Corinthians 13, Paul issues a challenge to his critics who “seek a proof of Christ speaking in [him]” (v. 3). The proof that Christ has spoken through Paul is the Corinthians themselves. The fact that they believe in Jesus Christ, that they are “in the faith,” is the evidence that Paul has preached the truth to them. If they are not true believers, then Paul is not a true preacher and did not bring them the true gospel. If Paul is not a true preacher but the purveyor of a false Christ (as Paul’s enemies alleged), then they are not true believers. Therefore, the issue is not, “What proof is there that Christ has spoken through Paul?” but “What proof is there that you Corinthians are in the faith?”

In verse 5, Paul writes, “Examine yourselves … prove your own selves.” Two verbs are used in the text. The first is “examine,” the Greek verb peirazoo, which is often rendered “tempt” or “test” in the New Testament; the second is “prove,” the Greek verb dokimazoo, which is rendered “prove,” “try,” “examine” or “discern.” That Paul uses both verbs here is significant because it tells us something important about the test that he expects the Corinthians to undergo.

The object of this examination is personal: “yourselves” or “your own selves.” Paul does not call the Corinthians to examine or prove one another, but themselves. Each person must do this privately for himself or herself. The goal of the examination is to see “whether ye be in the faith.” This does not mean, “Test yourselves to see if you are believers. Test yourselves to see if you truly believe.” (That is evidently what Washer understands the text to teach, for he presupposes it throughout the book.) Instead, the meaning is, “Test yourselves whether you are in the faith, that is, whether you believe the truth of the apostolic faith (and are walking and living in the sphere of it).”

The expectation of this examination comes out in the use of the two verbs. If Paul had written only peirazoo, he would be expressing a negative expectation, for the general meaning of the verb is to test with some expectation of failure. When Paul uses this verb, therefore, he shows that he expects that, when the Corinthians examine themselves with respect to the faith, they will find something negative: they will find weaknesses in their faith and sinful patterns in their walk. From these weaknesses and sins, the Corinthians must repent. Concerning these weaknesses, they must cry, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

However, by adding the verb dokimazoo, Paul expresses another expectation. Greek scholar, Richard Trench, explains the nuance of the Greek verb:

… there follows for the most part not merely a victorious coming out of the trial, but it is further implied that the trial was itself made in the expectation and hope that the issue would be such; at all events, with no contrary hope or expectation. The ore is not thrown into the fining pot … except in the expectation and belief that, whatever of dross may be found mingled with it, yet it is not all dross, but that some good metal, and better now than before, will come forth from the fiery trial.[8]

In other words, Paul expects that the Corinthians, while finding weaknesses, imperfections and sins in their lives, will nevertheless confirm, by means of the test, examination or “proof,” that they are actually “in the faith,” holding fast to the objective truth of Jesus Christ. He does not expect them to discover that they are unbelievers, hypocrites or reprobates. The word “reprobates” in II Corinthians 13:5-7 is not a reference to eternal, unconditional reprobation. A reprobate in that sense is one eternally hated and rejected by God and ordained to everlasting destruction in the way of his sins (Rom. 9:22). While the doctrine of reprobation is clearly biblical, the word “reprobate” in Scripture simply refers to one who, having undergone a test, is not approved. Paul’s conclusion is that the Corinthians have not failed the test. They will not fail the test, for Paul has confidence that they are truly “in the faith” and that “Jesus Christ is in [them].”

John Calvin remarks on this text,

They [i.e., the papists] bid us be satisfied with a “moral conjecture,” as they call it—that is, with a mere opinion, so that our consciences remain constantly in suspense, and in a state of perplexity. But what does Paul say here? He declares, that all are reprobates, who doubt whether they profess Christ and are a part of His body. Let us, therefore, reckon that alone to be right faith, which leads us to repose in safety in the favour of God, with no wavering opinion, but with a firm and steadfast assurance.[9]

Calvin does not mean, of course, that all sincere Christians who, to one degree or another, struggle with doubts, are reprobates. Rather, he strongly expresses the view that assurance is of the essence of faith, and that doubts are abnormal, unhealthy, and to be condemned in a Christian. This is the teaching of the Reformation, which delivered the church from “the doubts of the papist” (Canons V:R:5).

Indeed, it is actually impossible for an unbeliever to examine himself whether he is in the faith. The unbeliever knows he is not in the faith. His conscience accuses him that he is not in Christ. Therefore, there is nothing for him to examine. Even the hypocrite knows that he is not in the faith, although he may deceive others around him. It is not the calling of the Christian to engage in the spiritually damaging activity of anxiously wondering whether he is a true believer. Instead, the believer must be assured of his faith. Certainly, he ought to examine his life, not to determine if he is a believer (he must know that), but whether his life is as it ought to be. Having examined himself, he must repent of those things in his life that “failed the test.” This, of course, is especially necessary prior to partaking of the Lord’s Supper: “But let a man examine [dokimazoo­] himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup” (I Cor. 11:28). Paul does not write, “Let a man examine himself and then, crippled with doubt, self-loathing and fear, let him stay away from the table of the Lord.” Examine yourself and then come!

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FOOTNOTES:

7. Washer, Gospel Assurance and Warnings (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2014), p. 134; italics mine.

8. Richard C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, repr. 1969), p. 279.

9. John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, trans. John Pringle (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, repr. 2009), 2.397; italics in the original.

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More to come! (DV)