Godly Examination of Our Faith

I have a follow up on yesterday’s post, Freedom, to add clarity. When I speak about doubts being a sin, I do not mean to discourage a godly examination of one’s faith before the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 13: 5, the Lord tells us we should examine our faith before him. “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” We should go before the Lord prayerfully when examining our faith. When we examine our faith before the Lord, our faith is strengthened. Sinful doubts occur when we look to ourselves or circumstances around us to assess our faith. This is what happened in my case. In dealing with a personal struggle, I became doubtful. I was very focused on the struggle and in looking at the struggle, I began wondering if God’s promise truly applied to me. I knew the doubt was there but didn't fully recognize the sinfulness of my doubt. In reading Psalm 19, I felt in my soul something was amiss. I asked the Lord to show me my secret faults and by grace, I was able to see the offensiveness of my doubt to him. On the flip side of this, we can have false assurance if we look to ourselves or circumstances around us to assess our faith. He alone can assure us we are his. See the Westminster Confession chapter XVIII, for more information on false assurance in unbelievers and limited assurance at times in believers. “For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” Proverbs 3:26

God’s grace was showcased in the life of David. David saw who he was before God and trusted in the promise of Christ as his redeemer. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, David wrote many of the Psalms. The Bible, though penned by the hands of men, was breathed out by the Holy Spirit and is the complete, true, living, and eternal word of God. The Lord teaches us through his holy word. The Bible, through the power of the Holy Spirit, sheds light into our dark souls and reveals to us who we are before him. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3:16

In Psalm 7, we see that in the Lord, David has assurance of salvation:

The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; Psalm 7:8-12

David was a man who committed great sin, (as is true of all mankind.) Among other sins, David committed adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11.) Yet, he was able to claim righteousness, integrity, and an upright heart before the Lord. By grace, David trusted the Lord in faith. Even though David lived before Christ came to earth, he trusted in God for redemption from his sins. David saw God’s righteousness and justice in imputing God’s holy righteousness upon him. Although David deserved God’s wrath, he was justified before God by Christ’s death and resurrection. All of God’s wrath was poured out on Christ rather than on David. David knew that God saw his heart, and each and every one of his sins. Each and every one of his sins was forgiven as his defense was in the Lord. Christ imputed his righteousness to David. It is a great gift to be able to claim Christ’s righteousness as our own!

We can see that David trusted wholly in the Lord in Psalm 31:

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me; Psalm 31:1-3

As believers, we should examine ourselves before God on an ongoing bases, asking God to show us our secret sins so that we may mortify them through the Spirit. Because our hearts are deceitful, often we can be blind to the sin in our own life.  We can neglect to go before God, in a holy examination of our heart. On an outing to the beach, a friend of mine pointed out some zebra mussels. I had not heard of them and did not know they were an invasive species. They looked harmless. My friend made a wise analogy of how sin in our lives can be like that. It can look harmless to us but the reality is that sin is destructive.  David did not initially recognize the sin in his life when he committed adultery and murder. It took the godly counsel of Nathan to point it out (2 Samuel 12.) Although David did not seek to examine himself before the Lord, the Lord sought his wandering child and showed him his sin through Nathan. David wisely accepted the counsel of Nathan and repented of his sin. In Psalm 51, the Lord shows us David's plea for the Lord's mercy. He who is faithful, heard David's cry.

The truth is, none of us seek to examine ourselves before the Lord in our flesh. The Good Shepherd finds and keeps his sheep. He restores them when they wander. We are naturally prone to look at ourselves and our circumstances to discern our standing before the Lord. When we do this, we are telling him who we are before him, rather than trusting him to tell us the condition of our heart before him. The Lord alone, the Physician of sick souls (Matthew 9:12,) gives us the grace to come before him in a godly examination of our heart before him. Without the Holy Spirit working in our lives we would have no desire to come before him in such a manner. Even if the desire to turn a blind eye to our sins is strong within us, if we beseech him for help in coming before him to examine our faith, we can have confidence that he will hear us. He promises to answer prayers made according to his will. It his will that sinners see themselves as he sees them and come to repentance, trusting in the blood of Christ.  He promises not to cast out any who come to him (John 6:37)

In Psalm 139 and Psalm 19, we see how the Lord led David in prayer. David prayed for God to examine him for secret sins and heal him of those sins. May we pray like David, a sinner made righteous by the precious atoning blood of Christ.

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Psalm 19:12-13

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. ”The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:5-10