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And what do these words mean?
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Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!
Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ
is in you--unless indeed you fail the test? (NASB) 2 Corinthians
13:5 |
Yes, only God knows who are really His children, but there are
times we need to evaluate ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
We should at least inspect our own "fruit." The Holy Spirit in
1 John 5:13 tells us the book of 1 John was written that," . .
. may know that you have eternal life." That is for comfort as
well as for conviction.
Four Fruits. Let's review four key types of fruit that should be present in
Christian's life. The first one is that we admit we are sinners.
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If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His
word is not in us. (NASB) 1 John 1:10 |
The second one is that we not only desire to obey to God, but we have an increasing pattern of obedience in our life. Yes, we may fail once in a while, but we are seeing victory
more and more.
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And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep
His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him,"
and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him . . . By this we know that we are in Him. (NASB) 1
John 2:3-5 |
The Greek word for "know" is a perfect tense. It has the idea
of continuing to know. Have you ever wondered if you were a Christian?
This verse tells us why we wonder. It is because of disobedience.
True Christians will also love others.
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The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is
no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother
is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know
where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (NASB)
1 John 2:10-11 |
This one requires us to look at our heart and ask, "Do I love
this person?" We will stop at the fourth one which says a Christian
is growing in his or her knowledge of the Word of Truth.
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I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and
the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil
one. (NASB) 1 John 2:14 |
Yes, fruit inspection is subjective, but God provides evidences
of fruit to encourage us that we are in the faith.
Conclusion: Only God knows for sure who are the real Christians. Yet, God
does expect us to inspect the fruit in our lives. We are responsible! |
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