The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 13:5-6, “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?

6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.”

The last letter I wrote to you dealt with “transcripts” –spiritual transcripts. This letter deals with the test that led to that transcript. .At first thought, it may seem to you that I have things backwards. Normally, the test comes first; then, if we pass the test, we get the transcript. But, in defense of myself I must call to your attention that I am following Paul’s own order. The transcript is found in chapter 11, the test in chapter 13.

If you’re “normal,” –and I’m sure that you are! – there are times that you wonder if you’re really and truly saved. Such feelings are normal, because Paul himself said “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith…” The Corinthian Church had innumerable problems! There were a lot of false teachers that had led to their confusion. There are a lot of false teachers today that cause the same kind of confusion. Barnes says, “Faith in Jesus Christ, and in the promises of God through Him, is one of the distinguishing characteristics of a true Christian; and to ascertain whether we have any true faith, therefore, is to ascertain whether we are sincere Christians.”

What we need is to recognize that upon our repentance of our sin against God, and our belief and trust in His saving grace, Christ comes to live within us in the Person of the Holy Spirit. “But, how do I know He lives in me?” you ask.

Barnes has a method that should kick-starts the test for us all. He says, “The best way to prove our (life is in Christ) is to subject it to actual trials in the various duties and responsibilites of life. A man who wishes to prove an axe to see whether it is good or not, does not sit down and look at it, or read all the treatises which he can find on axe-making, and on the properties of iron and steel, valuable as such information would be; but he shoulders his axe and goes into the woods, and puts it to the trial there. If it cuts well; if it does not break; if it is not soon made dull, he understands the quality of his axe better than he could in any other way. So if a man wishes to know what his (faith) is worth, let him try it in the places where (faith) is of value.”

So, I conclude this letter by saying with Paul, “I trust that you will realize that I have not failed the test.” And I trust that you have not failed it, either. Be alert that the Holy Spirit is in you and with you at all times. The LORD will allow you to be tested, and He will exert His power through you in the midst of the test. God bless you! You will not fail because He never fails!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”