DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

2 Corinthians 13:3-13        (9/9)         Epistle for Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week after Pentecost

 

Is Christ in You?  2 Corinthians 13:3-13, especially vss. 3, 5: “...you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me....Test yourselves.  Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?...”  False apostles came to Corinth undermining the character and ministry of the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 11:5-12).  They were enough successful in eroding the confidence among the members of the congregation that Saint Paul was pressed to counter the challenge.  The Gospel and salvation were at stake.

The question Paul asked is an appropriate challenge for any of us who number ourselves among the Faithful.  Therefore, as Saint Paul urged the Corinthians, let us “Examine [ourselves] as to whether [we] are in the Faith” (v. 5).  Take the challenge: “Test yourselves” (vs. 5).

The issue of “Christ within” is the essential question.  More important, it is the litmus test of genuine commitment in Christ.  Stated as three questions, here are Saint Paul’s means for determining whether Christ is truly within: 1) Is the Inner Voice who motivates you Christ?  This is the issue of Lordship.  Test the voice to see if it is He Who was crucified in weakness but now lives in you by the power of God.  Above all, who is the governing Truth in you?

Through the Holy Spirit, Christ Jesus indwells all who have received the Mystery of Holy Baptism, for He shares His life, death and Resurrection with His own, speaking to the heart.  As the Baptismal hymn declares, “...as many of you as were Baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27).  But, Archimandrite Sophrony adds, “Unless the connection is a personal one, there can be no conception of sin, no love between man and God, no existential knowledge of God; and all is swallowed up by death, obliterated in a very literal non-existence.”

The possibility of obliteration by death leads Saint Paul to ask rhetorically another arresting question: 2)  “Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Cor. 13:5).  The one Voice within us is Christ our God.  He speaks up when sin looms.  He confronts rationalizing and does not accept excuses.  Christ is gentle but firm, truthful yet ready to forgive.  Do we hear this Christ, our God and our King?

Christ Jesus our Lord confronts all our wrong thinking and acting as no one else can or will ever do.  He moves in love past our defenses and calls us to acknowledge, “Yes, Lord, I have sinned.  Have mercy upon me and save me.”  Christ within points to the confessional.  As we are kneeling, He fills us with loving assurance of forgiveness.  He awakens love in us by loving us despite our sin: “Bring me into the house of wine; Set love before me” (SS. 2:4).  He cultivates and encourages relationship with Himself to grow and blossom: “My beloved is mine, and I am His, He who shepherds His flock among the lilies” (SS. 2:16).

3) Are you able to say, 'I know Him'?  That knowledge needs testing, “For Satan transforms himself into an angel of light” and greatly deceives many (2 Cor. 11:14).  Is He Who speaks within you Christ crucified in weakness and now alive by the power of God?  He uses weakness not to force Himself on you.  Domination is not the way of the Divine Lover.  He allows love and truth alone to be the power that draws to purity of life.  Only a Living Lord is able to raise from the death of sin to newness of life (Rom. 6:6-8).  Christ’s love is the greatest power to enable and support.  He can enable everyone to yield themselves as “...instruments of righteousness to God,” but does not permit sin to “...have dominion over [us]...” (Rom. 6:13,14).

Be sure Christ lives in you if He is governing truth in your life, if He is shaping your decisions and choices with His light and love.  If you find His presence growing dim, light the lamp, sweep the house, search diligently until you have found the coin again (Lk. 15:8).

O Jesus Christ, enlighten my mind with the imperishable light of knowledge of Thee.

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