2 Corinthians 13 Lesson

THE RETURN OF JESUS

1. Are you prepared for Jesus’ return?
2. Have you done everything the Bible says needs to be done to go to Heaven?
3. When the Day of Judgment comes, will you pass the test?   

Today’s lesson will help us answer these three questions.

We will begin with a look at what the Bible says needs to be done to go the Heaven.

FIVE MATTERS OF SALVATION

There are five things that the  Bible teaches must be done to be saved. 

1. Believe in Jesus. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” – Acts 16:31, 
2. Confess our belief in Him. “For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” – Romans 10:10, 
3. Repent (turn away from) of our sins. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” – Luke 13:3, 
4. Be baptized. “Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ .” – 1 Peter 3:21 and “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” – Mark 16:16, 
5. Obey God’s commandments. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” – Mathew 7:21. 

Once we understand what God wants us to do, it is up to us to do it!

And the time for us to do it is right now!

With respect to our salvation, we should not put off until tomorrow what we can do today, for none of us are promised another day:

• “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” – Proverbs 27:1.

JUDGMENT DAY

There are only two possibilities on the Day of Judgment.

1. Either we pass the test and go to Heaven,
2. Or we fail the test and go to Hell.

With so much at stake, it is imperative for all of us to make sure that we are right with God.

One of the best ways to do this is to take a Spiritual inventory.

TAKING A SPIRITUAL INVENTORY

As Paul concludes his second letter to the Corinthians, he asks the Corinthians to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith.  (2 Corinthians 13:5) 

This type of self-examination is something that all of us should do.

Why?

Because we do not want to find ourselves being unprepared on the Day of Judgment.

The consequences are simply too great to let that happen! 

But how should we examine ourselves?   

One of the things that we can do is to take a “Spiritual inventory.”

In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Galatians, he listed nine “fruits” that one should possess if the Holy Spirit is active in their life. 

Paul wrote:

• “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

A practical way for us to take a Spiritual inventory is to see which of the fruits are present in our lives, and which are lacking.

If we are honest in our assessment, for example, we may find that we have a lot of love in our lives, but not much joy.

Or maybe we are strong on patience but need to work on self-control.

As you go through each of these fruits of the Spirit, make a note of those that are strongly present in your lives, as well as those that need attention. 

1. Love,
2. Joy,
3. Peace,
4. Patience,
5. Kindness,
6. Goodness,
7. Faithfulness,
8. Gentleness,
9. And self-control.

And as we reflect on our lives, we need to ask ourselves the following question:

• “If we were judged today, would the fruit of the Spirit be present in our lives?” 

And as we consider this question, we need to take heed of the following words spoken by Jesus:

• “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” – Mathew 7:21-23.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

We gain valuable perspective when we reflect on our lives to assess what is going well, and where we can improve. 

Taking a Spiritual inventory can be a soul-saving exercise!

It is important, for example, to recognize that maybe we have not been very patient lately. 

There is a wise saying, “You cannot manage a secret.” 

Once we identify the area or areas that need work, we need to ask ourselves how we can improve. 

This is something we should pray about and ask others to pray for on our behalf.

And whatever areas we are struggling with, Jesus can help! 

Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Philippians:

• “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13.

CONCLUSION 

All of us need to prepare for the final exam that we will be given on the Day of judgment.

One of the best ways to do this is to take a Spiritual inventory! 

A great place to start is by comparing our lives against these two things:

1. The five matters of salvation,
2. The fruit of the Spirit. 

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture from the Gospel of Mathew:

• “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” - Mathew 24:32-44.