Saved When I Was 13? (Part 1)

God Is Not Interested in Your Comfort; He Commands Your Examination

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

Human nature craves comfort. We want certainty without scrutiny, peace without holiness, assurance without obedience. And nowhere is this craving more dangerous than in matters of the soul. Scripture does not indulge this desire. It confronts it.

Paul does not say, “Reassure yourselves.” He says, “Examine yourselves.” The command is not gentle. It is searching. And it is written to people who already believe they are Christians.

That alone should alarm us!

The Bible assumes something modern Christianity rarely acknowledges: it is possible to believe you are saved and be wrong. Not hypothetically. Not rarely. Frequently. Jesus said many will discover this too late.

Yet we resist examination because it is uncomfortable. It disrupts the narrative we have told ourselves, often for decades. It threatens memories, family traditions, childhood experiences, and religious milestones. But Scripture is not sentimental. It is surgical.

Paul’s warning concerning the Lord’s Supper intensifies this. To eat and drink “unworthily” is not merely to come with unresolved sin, but to come assuming a relationship with Christ that does not exist. That is not neutral worship—it is judgment-inviting presumption (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).

Comfort says, Surely God wouldn’t want me to question this. Scripture says, Examine yourself before it is too late.

False assurance is comfortable. It allows people to sit quietly under sermons, participate in worship, and face death calmly, without ever being reconciled to God. True faith, by contrast, is often uncomfortable. It exposes sin. It shatters pride. It demands repentance.

David prayed for examination because he feared false peace more than divine scrutiny: “Search me, O God.” Most people pray the opposite: Don’t disturb me.

But Scripture is relentless. It never points you backward to a moment. It points you inward and forward. Present faith. Present repentance. Present obedience.

If your assurance depends on remembering something you did, rather than on Christ’s present reign over your life, Scripture gives you no comfort; only warning.

So the question is not whether the examination feels harsh. The question is this:

Would you rather be disturbed now; or condemned later?