osas - deception in the church - simpson - examine yyourselves (2011)

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  • 7/30/2019 OSAS - Deception in the Church - Simpson - Examine Yyourselves (2011)

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    "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith"by Sandy Simpson, 3/2/11

    2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you unless, of course, you fail the test?

    People who call themselves followers of Christ o r "Christians" and claim they are born again must believe certain things. If t hey do not thenthey fail the test of faith. They can claim they are born again all they want and "once saved, always saved" but if t hey fail the test of faiththere is no eternal security. Only God knows who will be saved, from beginning to end, because of His foreknowledge and omniscience

    (Rom. 8:29, 1 Pet. 1:2). God did not make an arbitrary judgment about who wo uld be saved and who would not. His Spirit is given to t hoseHe foreknew, when convicted of sin by His Holy Spirit, would choo se to believe and commit t hemselves to Jesus Christ . We are not God andwe do not have His omniscience. Theref ore, according to Paul, we must be sure our belief system is in the right place once our eyes havebeen opened to t he Truth. I am not saying we do not have assurance of salvation, but o ur assurance comes not o nly because of HisAtonement and promises of salvat ion but f rom our cont inuing in the Faith, which is always the Biblical criteria. Tho se who would be Bibleteachers must teach according to the whole counsel of God's Word.

    Let me be clear. There is only one way to salvation. That is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. I will deal with a few o fthose issues fo llowing, but it is important to recognize that being saved is not just a matter of believing that Jesus lived, or that He was aman, or simply giving mental ascent t o His existence in whatever fo rm. The Bible gives this as the only criteria to be saved:

    Ac 16:31 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (KJV)

    This seems like such a simple verse but it implies much. The f irst word word of import is "believe" which ispisteuo in Greek, it's f irst meaningin Strongs being to "commit" . So believing is not just giving mental ascent but committ ing to f ollow the Lord Jesus Christ. The secondimportant fact you must believe is that Jesus Christ is God kurios meaning Lord and Master. There is only One Lord and Master and t hat isYHWH. The t hird fact you need to believe and commit to is that t he Son of God became a man, became flesh, added humanity on t o HisDeity t o become the God-man for all eternity, 100% God and 100% man. The fourth fact you have to accept is that Jesus is Christ, t heMessiah. He is Yeshua ha Meshiach. He is the promised One who died fo r the sins of the world and the promised King and Deliverer ofIsrael. The gift of salvatioin is free but t he understanding must be taught correctly. So what seems simple on the surface is full of meaning

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    and that meaning has to be preached or it is a false gospel. Upon acceptance and commitment to t his Gospel a person will recognize,confess and repent of his/her sins and accept that Jesus Christ paid the full price by his death, burial and resurrection for our sins and toguarantee us a glorif ied body at the resurrection and eternal life.

    There are a number of permutat ions of "belief" according to t he Bible. We can either (1) believe and be saved (2) believe for a while then fallaway (having never been truly saved) or hear the Word but never mature (3) never truly believe.

    Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

    Lu 8:13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. Theybelieve for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.Lu 8:14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by lifesworries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.2Co 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of theglory of Christ, who is the image of God. Re 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practise magic arts, theidolaters and all liarstheir place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death."

    This is why it is critical for us to test ourselves to see if we are in the Faith. God will put believers to the t est in ordere to build up their faithbut we also must make sure we have not come to accept another Jesus, a different Spirit or a different Gospel.

    2Co 11:4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive adifferent spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

    It is only those who hold to the true Jesus, the t rue Spirit and the true Gospel who are saved, and they don't just hold fo r awhile but musthold t ill the end.

    Joh 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Heb 3:14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

    God does ho ld those who are born again in His Hand and no one can snatch them out (John 10:28). That is His promise of eternal life and

    eternal security. But t he Bible is also clear that some who say they are born again can wander away, shrink back or have what f aith t hey haddestroyed by false teachers. This fact has to be taught along with t he promise of eternal security o r else eternal security teaching becomesjust another false teaching, taking one verse from here and there out of the context o f t he whole counsel of God's Word.

    There are many who say they believe but the Bible states that it is entirely possible to believe in vain.

    1Co 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed invain.

    Truly born again believers don't just believe that God is faithf ul and that Christians need do not hing to prove t heir faith by what they do

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    (James 2:14). True believers are not subscribers to "easy believism" or a "license for immorality" (Jude 1:4) but realize we have a lot toovercome in this world.

    Re 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eatfrom the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.Re 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by thesecond death.Re 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the

    hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.Re 2:26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations Re 3:5 He who overcomes will , like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but willacknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.Re 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pi llar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him thename of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; andI will also write on him my new name.Re 3:21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit wi th me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Fatheron his throne.Re 21:7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

    The danger is so severe, with regards to the schemes of the enemy to decieve, that even those who are born again are in danger.

    Mt 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the electifthat were possible. (NIV)

    This verse is actually badly translated due to people injecting their own doctrines into the Word, such as Calvinism. I am not a f ull subscriberto either Calvinism or Arminianism. You can read my posit ion paper on that here. The only words used at t he end of this verse are dunatospossible kai and ho the eklektos elect. So it should read possible and the elect. If possible even is a stretch in the NKJV. If t hat werepossible in the KVJ and the NIV is not even in the original at all. The stress is not on whet her or not t he actual elect can be deceived. OnlyGod knows who t he elect are. For the t ime being we have to make a commitment (pisteuo) to f ollow and obey the Lord. So the Lordsemphasis is not on the argument as to whether the elect can be deceived, but on the fact t hat t he deception due to false prophets who

    claim Divine signs and wonders is so severe that even the elect might be foo led. Best to take the warnings of God's Word fo r what t hey are.

    The only correct way to t each sound doctrine is by exegeting the Word of God in context and bearing in mind the whole counsel ofGod's Word rather than just picking out favorite passages that f it what one has already decided ahead of t ime to be lieve andte ach due to t he constructs of men.

    So how should we test ourselves to see if we are in the Faith?

    (1) Do you believe that God came in the f lesh, Jesus Christ?

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    1 Tim. 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, wasseen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.1 John 4:2 This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come inthe flesh is from God,

    This means that if you believe that Jesus Christ was merely human, or was human till he received the Spirit as Word of Faith teachers claim,or was never human but only Spirit as the Gnostics such as Christian Science teach, or that we can be everything that Jesus Christ was,

    then you need to test yourself to see if you are in the Faith.

    (2) Do you believe that God is One God et ernally existing in Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

    Mt. 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of theHoly Spirit,Gal. 4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

    Further reading on t he subject o f the core doctrines is here. Below is a pretty good illustrat ion of t he concept of the Trinity.

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    If you believe that there is no Triune nature of God, or that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are simply manifestat ions of God, or that t here is

    Jesus-only as the Oneness Pentecostals and ot hers teach, or you believe that there are three separate gods (Tritheism) as the WorldChristian Gathering of Indigenous People end up promot ing in ot her cultures, then you need to t est yourself t o see if you are in the Faith. Ifone denies that there are Three Persons, one is left with t he two sides of Full Equality and One God, resulting in t he "Oneness" teaching ofthe United Pentecostal Church and others. If one denies Fully Equality, one is left with Three Persons and One God, result ing in"subordinationism" as seen in Jehovah's Witnesses, the Way International, etc. Below is a diagram to illustrate t hat .

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    The doctrine of the Trinity is essential to understand God and to understand that Jesus Christ added humanity to Himself at the Incarnation,thus becoming the God-man for all eternity which then hinges on believing that God came in the f lesh. That is part o f the info rmationnecessary to believe and be saved. Only God can save. We must believe when the Holy Spirit gives us a chance by convict ing us of our sins(John 16:8) and accept t he free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

    (3) Do you believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone?

    Eph. 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of Godnot by

    works, so that no-one can boast.Rom. 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the gloryof God.Ac 4:12 Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must besaved."

    If you believe that salvation is by works, as the Catholics teach their adherents t o perform certain rituals for slavation or t he SDA teachingbringing their adherents back under part of the Mosaic Law, then you need to test yourself t o see if you are in the Faith. The New Covenant

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    (Heb. 9:15) and new Law of Christ (Gal. 6:2), which is love for God and love for our neighbor, fulfills and does away with the Law of Moses,the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). If you subscribe to works salvat ion then you need to test yourself as to t he Faith. If you believe thatGod gives us our faith as the Calvinists teach instead of Him being the Object and Author of our Faith t hen you need to t est yourself t o seeif you are in the Faith.

    Heb 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross,scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.Heb 12:2 Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith , who went through the pains of the cross, not caring

    for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of Gods seat ofpower. (BBE)Heb 12:2 our eyes fixed on Jesus the source and the goal of our faith . For he himself endured a cross and thought nothingof its shame because of the joy he knew would follow his suffering; and he is now seated at the right hand of Gods throne. (Phil)Heb 12:2 looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith : who, in view of the joy lying before him, endured thecross, having despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Darby)Heb 12:2 Looking away unto our faiths Princelyleader and perfecter, Jesus, who, in consideration of the joy lying beforehim, endured a cross, shame, despising! And, on the right hand of the throne of God, hath taken his seat. (Rotherham)Heb 12:2 simply fixing our gaze upon Jesus, our Prince Leader in the faith, who will also award us the prize. He, for the sakeof the joy which lay before Him, patiently endured the cross, looking with contempt upon its shame, and afterwards seatedHimself where He still sitsat the right hand of the throne of God. (Wey)

    It is good to cross reference other t ranslations on this verse because you will see a depth of meaning. The t ranslation of words used in theNIV and elsewhere, translated as "author" and "finisher" is also rendered as "guide and end", "source and goal", "leader and completer","leader and perfect er" and "leader who will award us the prize". Jesus is the "Object" or "source" of our Faith archegos or "prince, leaderauthor, pioneer" and "goal" or "example" teleiotes meaning "f inisher, perfector, prime example". So the true meaning of this passage is notthat God gives us a gif t o f faith, but t hat Jesus Christ is the Object of our faith and the goal of our Faith as the prime example of theconcept o f f aith. The ot her verse used by Calvinists to say that bo th grace and faith are a gif t o f God is this one:

    Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

    But this is an example of pulling one verse out that t hey like and not looking to see that elsewhere the gift is talking about t he gif t of grace,

    not a gift of f aith.

    Eph 3:7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of Gods grace given me through the working of his power. Ro 5:15 Butthe gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did Godsgrace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

    Nowhere does the Bible use the words "gift of faith". When you teach that God gives you the gif t o f f aith then the next conclusion is that aperson does not have to believe to be saved because God gives him/her the gift of belief, which is what hyper-Calvinists t each. Then f inallyyou end up with the t eaching that we can be faithless yet st ill be saved because God is faithf ul. If you believe that then you need to t est

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    yourself to see if you are in the Faith. It is true that God is always faithf ul and we are not (2 Tim. 2:13), but we cannot pract ice sin and say weknow God.

    1 John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. 1 John 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.1 John 3:7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He isrighteous;1 John 3:8the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared

    for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

    Are you st ill "pract icing" sin, or living a lifestyle of sin? Then your god is not the Son of God.

    1 John 3:9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he isborn of God.1 John 3:10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practicerighteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. (NASB)

    I like the NASB translation because it translates "commits sin" to "practices sin". What John is talking about in context is continuing inpracticed, lifestyle sin as opposed to sinning somet imes. That is exactly what peo ple do ... they are either practicing to be sinners or

    practicing to be righteous. If your practice is not going the direction of righteousness, then you need to t est yourself to see if you are in theFaith. By the way, t rue Christians do sin but t hey do not practice sin. When they sin they have a Savior to whom they will conf ess their sinsWho is faithful and just to f orgive their sins. The following verses were writt en to Christians.

    1Jo 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

    If you believe that we can have faith in God because we can believe in Him without the convicting of the Holy Spirit because there is enoughgood in us to do so , as the Arminians teach, if you believe that you can be made right with God by worshipping Him in the names of thesupreme beings of the nations as the World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People and Emerging Church teach, then you need to testyourself to see if you are in the Faith.

    (4) Do you believe t hat the Bible is our highest authority in all matt ers of faith and practice?

    Though this is not required to be saved, it is an evidence that you are saved. Also if you cannot believe the Bible to be true as our authorityto know what God is like and what He requires of us, then on what basis have you believed the Gospel?

    Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge youto contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.2 Tim. 1:14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

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    Rom. 6:17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching towhich you were entrusted.Tit. 1:9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught , so that he can encourage others by sounddoctrine and refute those who oppose it.

    The t rue teaching of God comes to us in the Bible in the writt en account o f what Jesus Christ, the Apost les and prophets wrote as theywere led by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16). We are to hold to those teachings in the Writ ten Word, not fo llow t he new teachings of f alseteachers and false prophets. Those who go after new revelat ion that is not consistent with the Word of God then you need to test

    yourself t o see if you are in the Faith. Be careful because many popular teachers today like to belitt le the Bible and t rue believers who st illobey it.

    (5) Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again?

    1 Cor. 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to theScriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

    This was and is the criteria fo r salvation ... to cont inue in the belief t hat Christ died fo r our sins, was buried, and rose from t he dead that waspassed on as a mystery (Rom. 16:25) to those who would believe by the Apost les. If you belitt le the sacrifice of Christ by believing inUniversalism, or the teaching by the WCGIP and Emerging Church that there are many ways to God, other gods who are God, that the

    Gospel is in the stars and/or there is salvific truth in all religions, then you need to test yourself t o see if you are in the Faith. Christ is theonly sacrifice for sin.

    Joh 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. Ac 4:12 Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must besaved

    Since the Bible talks about worshipping YHWH and Yeshua (Jesus) in their names, which is why we of ten end our prayers as believers with "inthe name of the Lord Jesus Christ", why would He accept worship under the name of Baal, Ammon, Hadad, Osirus, Marduk, Allah, Vishnu,Krishna, Amenominakanushi, Io, Wakan Tanka or any o ther "supreme being"?

    (6) Do you display the fruit of the Spirit in increasing measure?

    Again, this is not the criteria to be saved but is the evidence of being saved. If you have the Holy Spirit in you as a result of the second birth,then He will cause you to grow to maturity and the f ruit of the Spirit will become increasingly evident in your life.

    Gal. 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.Against such things there is no law. 2 Pet 1:5-9 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and toknowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly

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    kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep youfrom being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, heis short-sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

    If you do not see these qualit ies increasing in your life, then you need to test yourself t o see if you are in the Faith, because if you are in theFaith you will be eff ective and product ive in your knowledge of o ur Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not growing in these things then you areblind, and though you claim you are cleansed f rom your past sins, you are effect ively just like an unbeliever ... wretched, pitiful, poor, blind andnaked.

    2Co 4:4 The god of this age has blindedthe minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory ofChrist, who is the image of God.1Jo 2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he isgoing, because the darkness has blinded him.

    Those who claim to be Christians but are really lukewarm and blind need to repent and be saved.

    Rev. 3:16-19 So, because you are lukewarmneither hot nor cold I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, I amrich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. Butyou do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind andnaked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you

    can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke anddiscipline. So be earnest, and repent

    Those who claim to be Christians but do no t display the fruit o f the Spirit need to repent so that t hey will be truly born again and begin tosee the f ruit of the Spirit operative in their lives. Those who say they are Christians yet do no t have the f ruit of the spirit also do no havewhite clothes to wear and without those you cannot enter heaven. Also those churches that claim to love the Lord yet are full of falseteachings and blasphemous practices have already had or will have their candlest icks removed in heaven, just as Laodicea did, which isevident historically and prophesied to happen in the end times.

    (7) Have you increasingly grown in maturity and not floated away with every wave of doctrine?

    Growing to mat urity is not a criteria to be saved but a result o f it . You will see increased maturity in the Lord if you are t ruly born again. I seemany who claim to be saved today who remain as babies spiritually. If the wind and the waves get rough (the world and the powers of thedemonic world) and you throw a baby into t hat he/she will drown. That is why God will bring us to maturity as we submit to t he Spirit as ourteacher and the written Word as God's way to speak to us.

    Eph. 4:11-14 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors andteachers, to prepare Gods people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity inthe faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness ofChrist. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of

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    teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.Heb. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

    We are to move from baby food to solid foo d. If you are still eating baby food and have not moved on to solid fo od, better examineyourself to see if you are in the Faith.

    (8) Do you increasingly live in the law of Christ, which is love?

    No one who is not spiritually reborn can fo llow t he law of Christ.

    Eph. 4:15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Gal. 6:1-3 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you alsomay be tempted. Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he issomething when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

    When you see preachers on TV and elsewhere who are full of themselves, proud, greedy and scheming, you are likely not seeing aregenerate person. I am not the final judge of them, but I can tell if they are walking in the law of Christ current ly now, just as the Bible tellsus we can. We are to balance the concepts o f truth and love equally. Some end up erring on either side of t hat equat ion, but it is just asimportant to know t he Truth, speak it and live it as it is to do so o ut o f Love. If you find that you are not growing in love and compassion forot hers, and are not able to stand up fo r the Truth of the writt en Word, sometimes against persecution, then you need to check yourrelationship to the Lord.

    2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is inyou unless, of course, you fail the test?

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