Spiritual Nuggets

For 02-22-2009

141. A somewhat commonly known Scripture is 2 Cor. 13:5, but because the way Calvinists have frequently misused it, it seems that few know what it is saying:

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)

What is significant is: the words test and examine are both in the present tense, which means a continuous tense. Paul told those people, who had already been saved, to continuously test and continuously examine themselves to see if they are still Christians! What a blowout to once saved always saved.

The potential problem of those Christians no longer being in the faith would come from the false teachers mentioned in 11:3,4—those preaching another Jesus, another gospel and another Holy Spirit. Apparently those dangerous false teachers rejected the truth that Jesus dwells in Christians, among other things. The test in v. 5 was a doctrinal one, which could identify the one who fails as adokimos in the Greek, which means castaway, rejected and reprobate. The same word is also found in 1 Cor. 9:27, which Paul knew could happen to himself:

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Cor 9:27, KJV)

(BTW, the Jehovah’s Witnesses all fail this test too because they deny Jesus can dwell in Christians.)

142. Did you know serving God pays benefits? Psalm 103:2-5 says:

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

We are commanded not to forget those benefits. Ponder them and get blessed.

143. There are spiritual rulers behind the natural rulers of our world. That is why Paul wrote:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 6:12)

All of that is connected with 1 Cor. 2:8:

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor. 2:6-8)

144. The devil is very good at mind games. His ability to deceive is remarkably good. The following passage shows that even Paul had wondered at one point if he was running his race in vain:

Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. (Gal 2:1,2)

The best way to deal with the devil is to quote Scripture and remain firm on the word, as the Lord Jesus did when tempted.

145. In John 5:8 Jesus healed a 38 year invalid with these words:

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

NOTE the similarity to how Peter got an eight year paralytic man healed:

“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. (Acts 9:34)

There is no hint that Aeneas had any faith at all to get healed. In fact, we often see in Scripture that people were healed, even though they had no faith. Others clearly had faith, but not all. Peter spoke out the desired end result, just like the Lord Jesus, and a healing followed.

Return to Evangelical Outreach
www.evangelicaloutreach.org