Test Yourself Against Jesus

(Galatians 6:4-5)

There are a few scriptures in the New Testament that encourage Christians and churches to test themselves for the purpose of ensuring they are following the truth of the gospel.

This testing is not like a “pop quiz” and neither is it like a show of strength between two competitors, as is typical of events in the sporting world.

But in Jesus Christ, if we are to enter the kingdom of God and if we are to ensure we are walking in the knowledge of the truth, then it is important to check and weigh ourselves. It is necessary to test ourselves and examine our beliefs from time to time to ensure we are following the truth.

The Testing Yardstick

To test anything requires a framework against which the test can be conducted.

When we measure anything, whether it be the length, width, weight, time take or any other measurement you cna think of, it is essential that there be a standard measure against which we test the item being measured to see if it meets a certain requirement.

Testing ourselves, as recommended in these verses in Galatians 6:4-5 also requires a yardstick of some type.

The yardstick by which we will be measured and by which we need to test ourselves is the word of God. And there are a range of measures within God’s word that we can use as tests and measures to ascertain if we are holding to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Space and time do not permit me to cover all of the possible tests in this post, but I will cover several of the key ones to give you an idea of the types of tests that exist in the Bible. They should be used to point the way to identify whether you are following the word of the truth or not.

Test of Truth

One of the tests that Jesus gave us was in a scripture that all Christians seem to know and use from time to time.

31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

The test of truth is in the freedom it brings. And the truth is found by continuing in the word of Jesus.

When we continue in following and applying the words of Jesus in our life, then we can be truly free. Jesus came to set us free from sin, free from the law and to provide the way of escape that we can be freed from the passions, lusts and desires of the flesh that lead all mankind astray.

If we do not continue in the words of Jesus, then we are not His disciples. This is common sense because if we are not following the words of Jesus, then we must be following the words of someone else, either man or the devil. And the Bible warns us in many places of false teachers and false prophets going out into the churches to lead the people of the Lord astray.

Note that the false teachers and false prophets are not out to lead the world astray as they are already astray from the Lord. These false teachers and false prophets who teach strange and diverse teachings that are not founded on the scriptures or the truth of Jesus Christ are trying to lead Christians astray.

So what is the test of truth? The simple answer is in the words Jesus spoke: “The truth will make you free.”

Where there is a teaching that is leading you into bondage, it is not a teaching of the truth. There are indeed many teachers in the modern church who are teaching bondage and not truth. They try to tie Christians down with great burdens and weights. Often they do this for the purposes of submission and power and even for personal gain, but these teachings are not teachings of truth.

The truth will make you free. The truth will not bind and weigh heavy upon you but instead will give you release.

As I mentioned earlier, Jesus came to set us free from sin, from the law and from the bondage of the flesh, so that we could learn to walk in the ways of the Lord and enter the kingdom of God. There is no sin, there is no law and there are no lusts, desires and evil passions in the kingdom of God, and if we are to enter the kingdom, we must learn to overcome these things in Jesus and in the truth.

So if the truth is freedom, does it make sense that teachings that bind Christians could be part of the truth? No, it does not make sense.

Teachings that bind Christians to things like purgatory, forced giving, tithing, confession, worship of saints, indulgences, and so on are all teachings that bind. Church teachers who threaten to throw people out of the church because they do not follow the teachings of that church, rather than the teachings of Jesus are similarly enforcing bondage and slavery. These things are not teachings of the truth but are the doctrines of men, and they have no place in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tests of Faith, Hope and Love

Some other tests worth considering are the tests of faith, hope and love. These three are closely linked as we see in 1 Corinthians 13:13

”So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

These three work hand in hand together and we can use these as tests against which we can test ourselves.

I often look at these three in terms of what, why and how. Love is the “what,” hope is the “why” and faith is the “how.”

Let me explain this a little further.

Love is our aim. We know from the scripture that God is love (1 John 4:8) and in 1 Corinthians 13:8 we see that “Love never end.” This makes sense because God is eternal and God is love, so that is why love never ends.

We are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, who is in the image of God the Father who is love. So WHAT we are aiming at is to be able to walk, live and act in the love of God. Love is the “what.”

Hope is the “why.” The reason why we follow Jesus is because we are living in the hope of salvation. We are hoping in Jesus that we will see Him on His return and that we will be saved into eternal life with Him when He establishes His kingdom on earth. We further hope that He will release us from the bondages of this world and this life as promised in the gospel of salvation that is in Jesus Christ. That is why hope is our “why.”

And finally, faith is the “how.”

There is nothing we can do to receive the promises of God and there is nothing we can do to receive salvation. It all depends on faith.

What we believe is what will enable us to walk with Christ here and show us the pathway into the kingdom of God.

This is why it is important to test yourselves, especially against these three things and especially regarding your faith.

What do you believe? If you have fallen victim to a false teacher or false prophet, then you may not be believing the truth of the gospel. There may be times when your conscience pricks you over something that you have heard and you may question if it is truth or error.

So how do you test your faith and what it is you are believing?

The first thing is to look it up in your Bible, and with the advent of the Internet this is easier now than ever before. There are many sites where you can look up specific scriptures or do a word search across the Bible when you are looking for something. You can also take the matter to someone you trust in the Lord, be it a knowledgeable friend or a pastor or teacher whom you trust. You should go to the person who made the claim in the first place to back up their assertions from scripture, but beware they are not twisting scripture to their own ends.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that we do need to test ourselves from time to time to see that we are holding to the truth and have not drifted from the ways of the Lord.

One more thing I would add to this far from exhaustive list, is to pray. Seek the Lord in prayer and ask Him about anything you have doubts about. Ask Him to bring along the teachers and the insights that will help you understand fully.

This is especially important if you are feeling bound in some way or the religious leaders in your church are putting pressure on you in some way. Remember, the truth of the gospel is freedom, not bondage.

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