Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 2 Corinthians 13:5 ¶ 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? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Corinthians 13:5 ¶ Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit? |
Subject: Examine yourselves! |
Bible Note: Dear Hank, It's not easy to answer without sounding like a religious feely-guy with no content. So "lend me you ear" and I promise not to yell in it and return it deaf. I can't agree because of my personal experience, which I do not believe is unique. I came to faith in Jesus without a knowledge of the Bible. I'm not going to say I never heard the Bible or that what I had heard was not seed that gave life to me. But I honestly do not believe the Scriptures led me to Christ. I had an encounter which utterly changed me. No need to go on, you know what I mean. Now I came to correct faith (yes I had and have a lot to learn) when I met Jesus. Then when I read the Bible I was jumping around and saying Right! The Bible gave me objective confirmation of my experience, and I'm confident if the Bible were in error I would have rejected it then and there. I am NOT saying to trust deepest feelings (I do not) I'm saying our relationship with God is more real than our objective confirmations (just like my relationship with my wife is more real that our marriage lisence--which by the way is without error). The Jesus in the Bible is the Jesus in my life. Jesus is not a concept that can get cloudy and needs redefinition, He is the definition of all things. I just can't see it any other way, and I really don't believe I have some special revelation. In fact if I did believe it, I would be in error. You've probably seen many people go off in the wrong direction and disregard the direction of Scipture (if not you must be living on a desert island), but I still contend that error starts by turning from God. We've all met people who are intellectually orthodox, but could pass for an empty church. That's not Christianity. It's error every bit as poison as the most famous cults. Jesus is the Christian faith, and the Bible exists because He lives, and it actually scares me to get close to any thought which could lead to The Faith exists because of the Bible. Here's your ear back Hank. mrk |