Proving that Christ is in us

In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul declared, ‘For your obedience has become known to all … and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly’. Rom 16:19‑20. Satan is only bruised under our feet while we live and walk in obedience to the word of present truth. The apostle Paul, in his final address to the Corinthian church, spoke to them of an earlier letter that he had sent to them, addressing those among them who had sinned. Writing again, he said that he was coming a third time to address those among them who continued to sin. 2Co 13:1‑2.

The apostle defined their carnality as sin. He described it as contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults, uncleanness, fornication and lewdness. 2Co 12:20‑21. Paul had already taught them that those who practise these things do not have eternal life. Rom 1:32. He then urged the Corinthians to examine themselves to see if they were, indeed, in the faith. In this regard, he was asking whether they were Christians at all. They needed to test themselves to see if Christ was in them. If they could not prove, by demonstration, that the life of Christ was in them, then they were reprobate and lost. 2Co 13:5.

We demonstrate that Christ is in us by manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self‑control. Gal 5:22‑23. This fruit belongs to those who are crucifying the flesh, with its passions and desires, through fellowship in the offering and sufferings of Christ as members of His body. This reveals the faith of those who are being made worthy of the kingdom. A worthy house is a part of the agape fellowship of a local church, participating in the house‑to‑house fellowship and care of the local community.