Self-Examination – The Grace of Testing Ourselves (Part 7)

Self-Examination – The Grace of Testing Ourselves (Part 7)

We’ve walked a measured path through Scripture’s sobering portrayals of proving and reprobation—a journey that began at the Scale of the Mind, where we saw the internal tension between approval and rejection playing out in the believer’s thought life. We paused to explore the Greek foundations of these terms in dokimazō and adokimos, finding that our spiritual health hinges on whether we’re proven true or found wanting. We then entered the Season of Probation, that God-given window where we are weighed—not for condemnation, but for correction.

The study led us next into the vital nature of Love That Discerns—a love that shields against deception by rooting itself in truth. From there, we heard God’s call to Be Renewed and Be Disciplined, recognizing that both renewal and loving chastening are God’s tools to prevent spiritual collapse. Then came the chilling descent traced in The Downward Spiral, where unchecked drift leads from disinterest to depravity. All of it has led here—not to a checkpoint, but to a conclusion, a call to pause, reflect, and weigh ourselves. Self-examination, then, is not an optional devotional practice, but the very grace that helps us avoid becoming reprobate.

But what is self-examination, really? It’s not morbid introspection or an exercise in self-loathing. It is the Spirit-led act of looking into the Word—God’s mirror—and inviting it to shine into our affections, convictions, and conduct. It is where conscience meets revelation, where we test not only our beliefs but the spiritual fruit that results from them.

The Apostle Paul summons us to this sacred duty in 2 Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” This is the proving ground—not external validation, not comparison—but the quiet searching of the heart before the Lord.

Why must this be done? Because Scripture warns repeatedly of the ease with which we can deceive ourselves. Jesus Himself said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven...” (Matthew 7:21). The tragedy is not just being lost—but being certain we’re saved while walking the road to disqualification. Self-examination functions as a guardrail—it keeps us from slow drift and subtle spiritual decay. And most importantly, it is God’s own invitation. He doesn’t ask us to test ourselves to shame us, but to heal us.

Its purpose, then, is restorative and preventive. It affirms spiritual authenticity, recalibrates our walk, and renews intimacy with the Father. It exposes the creeping sins we often overlook and allows correction before collapse. It’s not the kind of test one fears, but the kind one welcomes if eternity matters.

James speaks of the Word as a mirror—“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass...” (James 1:23). But this mirror doesn’t flatter—it reveals. To examine oneself rightly is to reject the mirror of feelings, opinions, or popularity, and to face the divine reflection.

And that mirror leads to clarifying questions. Are we walking by the Spirit or feeding the flesh (Galatians 5:16)? Are the fruits of grace—love, purity, patience—increasing in us? Is the discipline of God evident, producing peaceable fruit (Hebrews 12:11)? These are not checklist items, they are gospel metrics. They do not condemn, they reveal.

Paul’s own words in 1 Corinthians 9:27 emphasize the seriousness: “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.” Here is the man who, by inspiration, wrote our doctrine, and we see how he subjected himself to the very proving he preached, not out of fear, but out of obedience and reverence.

David’s prayer seals it with a posture of submission: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts...” (Psalm 139:23). Self-examination opens the door to divine restoration—not shame, but transformation.

So let it be said: self-examination is not a cold audit—it is a grace rhythm that preserves the soul. It’s where the light of Scripture meets the raw honesty of heart, and where grace builds what pride would rather hide. As this series closes, we find ourselves not at the end of thought, but at the beginning of response. All that remains now is for each of us to step into this mirror and ask with hope—“Am I in the faith?”