Examine Yourself: Are You in the Faith?
Self-examination is uncomfortable because it removes the shelter of comparison. It is easier to identify another person’s inconsistency, blame difficult circumstances, or criticize the failures of the church than to ask a more searching question: Does personal conduct agree with professed faith?
Scripture directs that question toward every believer:
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” — 2 Corinthians 13:5-14
This examination is not an invitation to endless anxiety or morbid introspection. It is a call to honest, Scripture-shaped evaluation. To be “in the faith” means more than agreeing with Christian teaching or identifying with a church. It describes a settled posture of trusting Christ, receiving his Word, and walking in obedience.
Rahab’s deliverance in Joshua provides a vivid picture of such faith. She confessed the true God, acted upon that confession, cared for her household, and remained within the refuge appointed for her. Jericho’s fall reveals divine judgment, while Rahab’s preservation displays sovereign mercy. Together, these truths help believers examine whether their faith is merely spoken or truly alive.
Examine Yourself Before Examining Others
Paul’s command is personal: “Examine yourselves.” The first question is not whether a neighbor, spouse, pastor, friend, or fellow church member is faithful. The first question is whether you are walking faithfully.
This does not mean that Christians may never discern error or address sin. It means that judgment must begin with humility. Scripture places the mirror of God’s Word before the individual before placing a magnifying glass over someone else.
James develops this pattern by calling believers to receive the Word humbly and obey it actively:
“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” — James 1:1-27
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” — James 1:1-27
Self-deception thrives where hearing is mistaken for obedience. A person may attend Bible studies, understand doctrine, and speak confidently about truth while remaining impatient, partial, bitter, dishonest, or uncontrolled in speech. Knowledge of Scripture is precious, but knowledge that never reaches conduct has not accomplished its intended work.
Biblical self-examination therefore asks concrete questions. Is the tongue governed by grace? Is anger submitted to God? Are the poor and overlooked treated with dignity? Is correction received humbly? Does private conduct match public confession?
Job’s encounter with God illustrates the right posture. When confronted with divine majesty, he did not defend himself or blame others. He humbled himself:
“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” — Job 42:1-6
True examination does not end in self-hatred or despair. It leads to repentance, renewed dependence upon God, and deeper obedience.
Living Faith Reveals Itself Through Obedience
James rejects the idea that a bare claim of belief is sufficient:
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” — James 2:1-25
“Shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” — James 2:1-25
Works do not purchase salvation, replace Christ, or give God a debt to repay. Salvation is an act of divine mercy. Yet the faith through which a sinner receives mercy is never content to remain barren. Genuine faith produces visible fruit because it rests upon the living God.
Even correct statements about God are not enough by themselves:
“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” — James 2:1-25
The spirit of divination encountered by Paul recognized true facts about God’s servants:
“These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” — Acts 16:16-17
Accurate recognition is not the same as saving trust. Biblical faith includes knowledge, but it also involves reliance, allegiance, and obedience. As Paul teaches, what counts is “faith which worketh by love”:
“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” — Galatians 5:6
Rahab demonstrates this kind of faith. She acknowledged that Israel’s God ruled heaven and earth, received the spies, protected them, followed their instructions, and sought mercy for her family. Her actions did not compete with her faith; they displayed its reality.
“Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?” — James 2:1-25
Her faith acted carefully. She did not merely express admiration for Israel’s God and then continue as though nothing had changed. Believing God’s warning changed her loyalties, choices, and future.
Rahab: Sovereign Mercy in the Midst of Judgment
Jericho stood under divine judgment. Its destruction was not presented as an accident of history or a triumph of human strength. God had given the city into Israel’s hand. Yet within that judged city, Rahab and her household were preserved.
“And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had.” — Joshua 6:16-25
Rahab’s rescue displays the sovereignty of God. Divine sovereignty means that God rules according to his holy wisdom and accomplishes his purposes without failure. Divine election means that salvation ultimately rests upon God’s gracious choice rather than human worthiness. Rahab had no social status, moral résumé, or national privilege that could demand deliverance. Mercy found her in a condemned city.
That sovereign mercy did not make obedience unnecessary. The spies gave definite instructions: her household was to gather within her house, the scarlet line was to remain in the window, and those seeking refuge were to stay inside. God’s appointed refuge had boundaries.
This is an important biblical balance. God alone deserves the glory for salvation, yet those who truly believe take his warnings and promises seriously. Rahab’s obedience did not control God’s sovereignty; it showed that she trusted the promise communicated to her.
Her deliverance also required separation. Rahab could not cling to Jericho’s doomed order while claiming refuge under Israel’s God. Likewise, Christians should apologize quickly when they wrong others, but they should not apologize for holiness or biblical separation from the world’s rebellion. Separation is not contempt for people. It is the refusal to participate in what God condemns.
Joshua’s warning concerning Jericho’s devoted things reinforces that distinction:
“And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed.” — Joshua 6:16-25
God’s people are called to mercy toward sinners without embracing sin.
Love for God Produces Love for Neighbor
Rahab did not seek safety only for herself. She pleaded for her father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belonged to them. Her concern reveals self-denying love: true faith looks beyond personal preservation.
Scripture calls this the royal law:
“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.” — James 2:1-25
“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” — Leviticus 19:18
Love is not sentimental approval of everything another person does. It seeks that person’s true good. It refuses partiality, vengeance, cruelty, and careless speech. It serves rather than exploits.
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” — Romans 13:8
Christian freedom must never become an excuse for selfishness:
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” — Galatians 5:13-14
Speech is included in this obedience. Leviticus records the seriousness of blaspheming God’s name, reminding readers that words are morally significant:
“And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death.” — Leviticus 24:10-16
Careless words can wound neighbors, dishonor God, and expose an ungoverned heart. Mature faith therefore listens carefully, speaks slowly, repents readily, and uses words to serve.
Key Takeaways
- Self-examination should precede criticism, blame, and judgment of others.
- Being “in the faith” involves a settled life of trust and obedience, not verbal profession alone.
- Works do not earn salvation; they reveal whether professed faith is living and sincere.
- Rahab’s preservation displays God’s sovereign mercy in the midst of righteous judgment.
- Biblical separation rejects sinful allegiance without rejecting compassionate love for people.
- Love for God becomes visible through humility, disciplined speech, neighbor love, and concern for others’ deliverance.
The practical response is simple but searching: place conduct beside Scripture and ask where repentance is needed. Examine speech, relationships, priorities, private habits, and responses to correction. Confess wrongdoing without excuse, seek reconciliation where harm has been done, and remain within the boundaries of God’s revealed will.
Self-examination is not meant to drive the believer away from Christ but toward him. The God who exposed Jericho’s guilt also showed mercy to Rahab. Therefore, take his warnings seriously, trust his promises fully, and pursue growth in faith, grace, consistency, holiness, and love.