2 Coríntios 13
John Piper · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Coríntios 13:5
Piper writes that… We Should Examine Our Own Hearts and Lives First, since religion is a common cover for not being born again (Matthew 7:21), each of us churchgoers should examine ourselves to see if we are truly born of God (2Corinthians 13:5). The New Testament gives us many tests to apply to ourselves. Here are five: 1. Romans 8:7, 8, 9, “The mind of the flesh does not submit to God’s law … but you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit if the Spirit dwells in you.” The test: Do you have a submissive spirit to God’s commands or are you rebellious? 2. 1Corinthians 12:3, “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” The test: Is Jesus really your Lord? Do you key off of Him each day? Do you seek His will in all things and subordinate your will to His? 3. Romans 8:15, 16, “You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear but you have received the Spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” The test: D o you have a humble confidence before God that casts out fear and fills you with a childlike delight in knowing God as your loving Father? Do you cry out, “Abba! Father!”? 4. 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural man does not welcome the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.” The test: Do the things of the Spirit attract you? Are you hungry for His truth and His fellowship and His power in your life? Or do they seem silly and unattractive compared to other things. (Cf. 1 Peter 2:2.) 5. 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves has been born of God.” The test: Do you love people? Do you have good will toward them in your heart? Do you find fulfillment in working for the joy of their faith? (Cf. Galatians 5:22.) (From his sermon Creation, Fall, Redemption, and the Holy Spirit)
2 Coríntios 13:5
Piper asks… What shall we do? How shall we know and enjoy and be assured of our eternal security? He 3:12, 13 give two answers: one more general and the other more specific. First the general answer in He 3:12: “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God.” The general answer is, “Take care!” or “Take heed!” or “Look!” In other words, don’t be careless or nonchalant or inattentive about the condition of your heart. Look at it. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Or like Peter says in 2 Peter 1:10, “Be diligent to confirm your election and your calling.” Don’t coast or drift and take your perseverance in faith for granted. All kinds of alternative passions are making war on your soul every day to steal your faith and replace Christ with other treasures. Take care! Be on the look out! Be earnest! Be watchful over your heart. As Proverbs 4:23 says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” That’s the answer of verse 12. Take heed! Someone may ask, “Well, if I am a true partaker of Christ, as I believe I am, why do I have to take heed and be so vigilant, when you have said that I am eternally secure and can’t lose my standing in Christ?” I think the question assumes something that the New Testament says is not true. It assumes that God’s way for his chosen ones to get to heaven is without vigilance and watchfulness and self-assessment and diligent use of means. But in fact Jesus says, in Luke 13:24. “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” And Peter says, “Be sober, be watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1Peter 5:8). The truth is not that true Christians don’t have to be vigilant and watchful over their hearts; but that you can know you are a true Christian if you are vigilant and watchful over your heart. It’s the cavalier Christians who need to be worried about their standing. It’s those who were baptized and walked an aisle or prayed a prayer and took communion and came to church, but do not love Jesus or count him their dearest treasure or bank their hope on him and look forward to seeing him and can say, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” These are the self-assured ones who need to feel insecure (see Dt 29:19). They are people, often in the church, who treat their salvation like a vaccination. They got the vaccination years ago and assume all is well without giving any thought to the dangers of unbelief around them. They say, “I got inoculated against hell when I was eight days old—or six years old.” And so getting to heaven is not a matter of vigilance over their heart to keep it from becoming hard and unbelieving. It’s simply a matter of making sure that the inoculation happened. These are the ones that are in tremendous danger. (Read the full message Eternal Security Is a Community Project) For another way we can test ourselves read Piper's sermon [especially toward the end of his message where he writes "Oh, what a warning to us all! Listen carefully and lay this to heart: Just as in the Old Testament you could be a circumcised, sacrifice-offering, outwardly law-abiding, physical child of Abraham and not a spiritual child of Abraham (Jn 8:39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44; Ro 9:8), so in the New Testament church—so in Bethlehem—you can be a baptized, communion-taking, worship-attending, tithe-giving, doctrine-affirming church member and not be a child of God." [Ed comment: Woe!] (Read Piper's full message You Stand Fast Through Faith, So Do Not Become Proud, But Fear) Piper adds that… Whenever the Word of God is faithfully preached, you are given a standard by which to test yourselves. It may affirm the reality of Christ’s work in your life and send you rejoicing with new power. Or it may prick your conscience and send you to prayer and repentance. But God forbid that you should pigeonhole a message from Galatians as applicable only to unbelievers or only to your degree of blessing in heaven. It is written for the church and the issue is the continental divide between divine blessing and divine curse. (Read Christ Redeemed Us from the Curse of the Law) THAT JESUS CHRIST IS IN YOU: hoti Iesous Christos en humin: Jesus Christ: Jn 15:4 17:23,26 Gal 4:19 Eph 2:20, 21, 22 Eph 3:17 Col 1:27 Col 2:19 1Pe 2:4,5 Cross references on Christ in the believer… Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (2Corinthians 6:16+) “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (John 6:56) Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. (John 14:23) “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Gal 2:20-+) In Galatians Paul has a parallel passage… My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you (Ga 4:19+). In Romans Paul emphasizes that… If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. (Ro 8:10+) That Jesus Christ is in you - Stated another way -- "that you are believers" = Christ in believers and believers in Christ (see notes) reflects the union and oneness of covenant (the New Covenant in His blood - see topic The Oneness of Covenant and Why the New is Better).