Constant Examination

There are times when I am reminded of my own sinfulness through the sinful actions and comments of others. I am greatly disheartened by those who proclaim Christianity but by their words and actions they completely deny our Lord and Savior.

Upon further scrutiny of my own character and because of the tremendous work that the Lord has been doing, I have to work extra hard at not adding to that sin by some distasteful thought or act of pride within myself. But I do know this, the more and more the Lord works with my heart the less that I want to satisfy my own flesh.

The difference is how quickly do we recognize the sin and what do we do about it?

This is why those who proclaim to be Christians and those that really are should be in a constant state of examination. Am I really a child of God? Am I sincerely portraying the character and holiness of Christ in my actions, words, thoughts and deeds? We may think that we own the ordinances of God but if we don't do them then we are no Christian indeed. Or, we lay out the excuses such as I know I'm filling my mind with this but it's okay I'm not actually doing any of it.

I am amazed how easily it can be for some "Christians" to change gears so quickly. They can talk about how they had a wonderful prayer group today and then in the next sentence describe a whole episode of Desperate Housewives. This kind of consistent behavior is not Christian. If we are not uniformly putting to death the deeds of the flesh and are not sickened by it then we are in need of examination of our ways. Consciously, we know that the items of the world and the items of living for the Lord do not belong together in the same bag. Yet, to our ultimate destruction we choose to ignore our conscience and continue in what satisfies our flesh.

M. Meade wrote in 1661 in his treatise titled Almost A Christian,

"Whatsoever a man’s state be, whether he be altogether a Christian or not, yet it is good to examine his own heart. If he finds his heart good, his principles right and sound, this will be a matter of rejoicing. If he finds his heart rotten, his principles false and unsound, the discovery may be in order to a renewing. If a man have a disease upon him and know it, he may send to the physician in time, but what a sad vexation it will be not to see the disease till it be past cure! So for a man to be graceless and not see till it be too late, to think himself a Christian when he is not; that he is in the right way to heaven when he is in the ready way to hell, and yet not know it till a death bed or a judgment day confute his confidence, this is the most irrecoverable misery. These are the grounds upon which I press this duty of examining our state. Oh, that God would help us in doing this necessary duty!"

How do we know then if we are the real deal? If we are truly conforming our lives to mirror that of Christ, if we loathe sin and things of the world and everything it represents, if we believe in the true gospel then so we will be living it. We make an effort to live in obedience. We know that the Lord's grace and sanctification is at work because there is tremendous change that grows daily and doesn't fade. We strive to obey all the commands and not just one or two and yet we understand that it is not the work of keeping the commandments that saves us but the grace of God who has done a supernatural work in us to change our hearts. This change compels us to live in holiness. We have a hunger and thirst after righteousness which reflects in our concern and compassion for the state of others; these are signs that we are living in true Christianity.

Meade concludes,

"Ah, my brethren, it is better to have a conscience never quiet than quieted any way but by the blood of sprinkling. A good conscience is the greatest affliction to the saints, and an evil conscience, quiet, is the greatest judgment to sinners."

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Let us not quench the conscience in our daily walk. Let us continually examine our lives and actions from top to bottom to make sure that we are remaining in the faith, or wanting no surprises on the day that we meet him face to face, that we are even walking in faith at all.