The following verses validate this doctrine. The scriptures teach that God knows us personally and even more amazing is that he knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. This doctrine should prod us to faithfulness and give us great comfort.
1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
1 Chronicles 28:9
And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
Psalm 44:20-21
If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Psalm 139:1-6
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
John 2:23-25Charnock in the following quote explains why one of the comforts of God's intimate knowledge of ourselves is we can go to God to help us with our self-examination: our soul searching.
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Stephen CharnockAs we read Charnock, we need to remember that self-examination is not for self-recrimination. We are not to beat ourselves up over our sin. We are to identify it, repent of it, confess it, and press on to know Jesus. Here are some of the reasons to practice prayerful self-examination with the help of the Holy Spirit.
In particular, it is our comfort that we can, and our necessity that we must address particularly to this, when we engage solemnly in a work of self examination; that we may have a clearer eye to direct us than our own, that we may not mistake brass for gold, or counterfeit graces for true; that nothing that is filthy and fit to be cast out may escape our sight, and preserve its stations. And we need not question the laying at the door of this neglect (viz., not calling in this attribute to our aid, whose proper office it is as I may so say, to search and inquire) all the mistakes, ill success, and fruitlessness of our endeavours in self examination, because we would engage in it in the pitiful strength of our own dimness, and not in the light of God's countenance, and the assistance of his eye, which can discern what we cannot see, and discover that to us which we cannot manifest to ourselves. It is a comfort to a learner of an art, to have a skilful eye to overlook his work, and inform him of the defects. Beg the help of the eye of God in all your searches and self examinations. (p. 254, The Existence and Attributes of God, Volume 7 of 50 Greatest Christian Classics, 2 Volumes in 1)
First, sin is a roadblocks in our relationship with God. The Psalmist models the appropriate way to identify sin in our lives. We need to trust God to reveal our sin. Sin will distort our view of God and move us off the path to righteousness.
Psalm 26:2-3
Prove me, O LORD, and try me;
test my heart and my mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.
Psalm 139:23-24The apostle John writes we should not delude ourselves that we have no sin. Once we identify the sin, confession is key.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
1 John 1:8-10Second, self-examination is key to our relationship with others. Sin injures our relationships with both God and others. When we go to reconcile with others, we must first prayerfully identify, through the Holy Spirit's help, the areas of sin in our own lives.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Matthew 7:1-5Third, sin is not the only reason for self-examination. The apostle Paul teaches in Romans that we need to assess our abilities and our ministries. When we function within the body of Christ, we must soberly judge how we are gifted, both naturally and spiritually, to fit into different ministries.
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Romans 12:3-4Fourth, when we celebrate communion together, we should examine ourselves to see if we are prepared spiritually to worship with others and understand the purpose of communion.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
1 Corinthians 11:27-32Charles Hodge, the great Princeton theologian from the 1800s, elaborates from his commentary on this passage.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Charles Hodge on 1 Corinthians 11Fifth, Paul exhorted the carnal Corinthians to "examine yourselves." We should routinely ask ourselves. Do we still love Jesus or are we just going to church? Is our faith an empty faith? Or is our faith producing fruit??
Let a man examine himself. In other words, let him ascertain whether he has correct views of the nature and design of the ordinance, and whether he has the proper state of mind. That is, whether he desires thankfully to commemorate the Lord's death, renewedly to partake of the benefits of that death as a sacrifice for his sins, publicly to accept to accept the covenant of grace with all its promises and obligations, and to signify his fellowship with his brethren as joint members with himself to the body of Christ. (p. 233, 1 & 2 Corinthians (Geneva Series of Commentaries))
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
Charles Hodge on 2 Corinthians 13In conclusion, although we will struggle with sin our entire lives, the book of Romans teaches us that Christ has won the battle for us.
To examine and to prove mean the same thing. Both express the idea of trying or putting to the test to ascertain the nature or character of the person or thing tried. Whether ye be in the faith, that is, whether you really have faith, or are Christians only in name. This exhortation to self-examination supposes, on the one hand, that faith is self-manifesting, that it reveals itself in the consciousness and by its fruits; and, on the other hand, that it may exist and be genuine and yet not be known as true faith by the himself. Only what is doubtful needs to be determined by examination. The fact, therefore, that we are commanded to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith, proves that the a true believer may doubt of his good estate. In other words, it proves that assurance is not essential to faith.(ibid. p. 681)
Romans 7:21-25Christ has won the battle, but sin encumbers our walk with God. We need to put away our old selves as it says in Ephesians 4:22. Let us lay aside every encumbrance and race toward Jesus.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Hebrews 12:1-2John Owen, a Puritan theologian, explains what "lay aside" or "throw off" means.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
John OwenOur goal is not a self-maintained purity, but our goal is to pursue Christ. Our transformation rests in fixing our eyes on our Lord.
Let us throw off. The Greek word is used once in the New Testament to refer to natural things: "The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul" (Acts 7:58). The people about to stone Stephen laid down, or took off, their clothes, which sheds light on how we are to understand this metaphor. In other places it is used of vicious habits, or causes of them, which we are to part from and cast away, since they hinder us (see Ephesians 4:22, 25; Colossians 3:8; James 1:21,; 1 Peter 2:1). The word concerns our duty to all vicious habits, especially those that hinder our Christian life. Unless these things are disposed of, laid aside, thrown off, we cannot run successfully the race we are called to. (p. 242, Hebrews (Crossway Classic Commentaries))
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
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