2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.

[Tirian]

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?; unless indeed you are disqualified.

By what rule is Paul telling the Corinthians to test themselves to know whether they are in the faith? Is he advising themselves to ensure their lives are in parity with the teaching of the Apostles in general, or something more specific such as the decalogue?

Matthew

 

[Contra_Mundum]

These are "concluding exhortations". Paul is coming to judge (see vv. 1,2), in full show of apostolic authority. He is giving them notice! He wants them all to engage in serious soul-searching. They do this, not by checking out their Mystic Experience Meter, but by James 1:25 (cf. 23&24). James is perhaps the NT writing that deals with self-examination. Note how often the reader is exhorted to compare his behavior to that which is approved.

The Bible never separates the faith (what one believes) from actions. Instead it always assumes the two are part and parcel. So checking one's doctrine and practice are part of the same exam. The apostolic teaching and example would be the natural starting point for this exam (see 2 Thess. 2:7-13). But it was never divorced from the OT Scriptures, as if they had ever ceased to be part of the Christian canon. The decalog figures prominently in several places in Pauls letters (e.g. Rom. 1:28-32 & 2:14, 15; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Tim. 1:7-11).

The question would be: what other "moral standard" would Paul and the other apostles have used as an index of unrighteousness (note that the use of the law is mainly negative--to convict of sin). And positively, they were to check for Christ's presence within (not the "law's"), 2 Cor. 13:5, 6. Again, this is not mystical in any "ethereal" sense. Indeed it is Spiritual, but it is inescapably doctrinal. Did they accept and believe the truth taught them concerning Jesus--his person, his works, his doctrine--and did that knowledge of his Person animate them to love, honor and obey?