{"id":19128,"date":"2016-10-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-30T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-037\/"},"modified":"2016-10-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-10-30T05:00:00","slug":"soteriology-037","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-037\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 037"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[92],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19128","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-corinthians","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 037","sermon_date":"20161030","sermon_month":"10","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":4028,"sermon_slides":4027,"sermon_mp3":4032,"sermon_id":"1030161139508","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":92,"chapter_and_verse":"13:5","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 37, 2 Corinthians 13:5\n\nOctober 30, 2016\n\nI\u2019m going to go ahead and open in prayer because the clock up there says quarter till.\u00a0 So let\u2019s pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for this morning, grateful for another day, and You never promise us another day but we have it today and we\u2019re grateful for those in Your grace.\u00a0 I pray that You\u2019ll be with us during the Sunday School hour as we take a look again at the doctrine of eternal security, and in particular one of the most abused passages probably in the whole Bible.\u00a0 And be with us in the main service, Father, as we start the book of Daniel and help the Word of God speak to us today, first help us to understand what it means and then we ask that\u00a0 You would apply it to our hearts.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus name.\u00a0 Amen.\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 If you could open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5, so just find Romans and then go two books to the right and you should hit 2 Corinthians.\u00a0 And we\u2019re in the middle of an ongoing series of studies on the doctrine of eternal security.\u00a0 We\u2019re in that section of the study where we\u2019re not just going over verses that favor eternal security; I\u2019m trying to expose you to verses that people typically use to deny eternal security.\u00a0 And basically what I\u2019m trying to do is to show you that the whole Bible does not contradict itself on this topic or any other topic.\u00a0 So all of the verses that seemingly deny eternal security can be explained when you put the verses back in their context.\n\nHere\u2019s the Pauline verses that we\u2019ve gone over and now we come to one that is quoted\u2026 in fact, what surprises me is not when people quote this and explain it; it\u2019s when people quote it and explain it correctly, that\u2019s the shock because people grab this verse outside of its context all the time and they try to make it sound like it says something that it\u2019s not saying.\u00a0 And that verse says this: \u201cTest\u00a0 yourself to see if you are in the faith, examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?\u201d\u00a0 The best way to do this is just give you some quotes on how people wrongly use this verse.\n\nFirst of all, people that are Arminian, that believe you can lose your salvation believe this verse means test to see if you\u2019re a Christian because, you know, you could have had salvation one day and lost it the next day.\u00a0 And the Calvinist camp, Reformed camp, loves this verse because to them it means if you\u2019re really a Christian you\u2019re going to persevere in works so to determine if you\u2019re really one of those persevering Christians, because if you\u2019re not a persevering Christian you\u2019re not a Christian (in their minds) so the test is to determine if you\u2019re really saved to begin with.\n\nSo both camps, Arminianism and Calvinism are applying this to justification, the first tense of your salvation.\u00a0 And quite frankly when you look at it, it reads that way, \u201cTest yourself to see if you are in the faith\u2014examine yourselves.\u201d\u00a0 So here\u2019s some examples of people I think wrongly using the verse.\u00a0 It really starts at the highest levels of Christian academia.\n\nJames Oliver Buswell, a long time professor I think at Wheaton College if I remember right, puts it this way.\u00a0 \u201cBut my point is that so long as a professing Christian is in the state of carnality, no pastor, no Christian friend, has the slightest ground for holding that this carnal person has ever been regenerated...it is a pastor\u2019s duty<\/strong><\/u> to counsel such a person. You do not give evidence of being in a regenerate state. You must remember Paul\u2019s warning, \u2018Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? You are not reprobate, are you?\u2019\u201d \u00a0(2 Corinthians 13:5).\u201d\u00a0 [A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion<\/em>, 2 vols., vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1962), 147.]\u00a0 So he\u2019s using this as a test to figure out if you\u2019re a Christian.\n\nJohn MacArthur quotes this verse constantly in his speaking and in his writing.\u00a0 John MacArthur,\u00a0 of course, who has good things to say in different areas, comes from a very strong Calvinistic Reformed teaching which is basically this idea that if you\u2019re really one the elect you\u2019re going to persevere in works.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not persevering in works you\u2019re not one of the elect.\u00a0 So people that get heavily into John MacArthur\u2019s teaching suffer from a lack of assurance of salvation.\u00a0 I think most of them don\u2019t even know from week to week whether they\u2019re Christians.\n\nSo John MacArthur, in his book called The Gospel According to Jesus<\/em> says, \u201cDoubts about one\u2019s salvation are not wrong...Scripture encourages self-examination...\u201d\u00a0 Then notice what he\u2019s quoting here, 2 Corinthians 13:5 which I\u2019ve already read.\u00a0 That admonition is largely ignored\u2014and often explained away\u2014in the contemporary church.\u201d\u00a0 [The Gospel According to Jesus: What Does Jesus Mean When He Says, \"Follow Me\"?<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 190.]\n\nThis is a quote on 2 Corinthians 13:5 from the New Geneva Study Bible, which is heavily Reformed.\u00a0 R. C. Sproul was very much involved in the putting together of this study Bible.\u00a0 And The New Geneva Study Bible<\/em> says, \u201cPaul\u2019s words\u201d now he\u2019s commenting on 2 Corinthians 13:5, \u201cPaul\u2019s words help clarify the doctrine of assurance of faith. Paul asks the Corinthians to examine their own lives for evidence of salvation. Such evidence would include trust in Christ [Heb. 3:6], obedience to God [Matt. 7:21],\u201d by the way, has anybody ever fulfilled that perfectly in your Christian life?\u00a0 Have you 100% obeyed God?\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s just such a subjective test, I don\u2019t even know what that means.\u00a0 And how much disobedience can there be before I\u2019m disqualified from being a Christian.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 growth in holiness, the fruit of the Spirit, love for other Christians, positive influence on others, adhering to the apostolic teaching,\u201d and notice the subjective nature, \u201cand the testimony of the Holy Spirit within them.\u201d\u00a0 So unless these things are happening in your life you\u2019re not saved is basically what The Geneva Study Bible<\/em> says.\u00a0 [Luder Whitlock and Bruce Waltke R.C. Sproul, Moises Silva, et al, eds., The New Geneva Study Bible: Bringing the Light of the Reformation to Scripture<\/em> (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1844.]\n\nAnd then it even hits\u2026 this mindset hits some really good teachers; one of my favorite teaches is Warren Wiersbe but this quote just kind of shows you you can\u2019t just believe someone because a person has a brand name.\u00a0 You should screen everything according to the truth of God\u2019s Word, including the things that I say.\n\nSo Warren Wiersbe in his book, in his commentary, commenting on 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPaul told the Corinthians that they should examine their hearts to see if they were really born again and members of the family of God. Do you have the witness of the Holy Spirit in your heart? [Rom. 8:9, 16) Do you love the brethren? (1Jn 3:14)\u201d\u00a0 I guess he\u2019s never been cut off in the church parking lot.\u00a0 I\u2019m not against, obviously I\u2019m not against loving the brethren but what I\u2019m saying is we all fail at this test from time to time if we\u2019re honest.\u00a0 \u201cDo you practice righteousness? [1John 2:29; 3:9] Have you overcome the world so that you are living a life of godly separation? [1John 5:4] These are just a few of the tests we can apply to our own lives to be certain that we are the children of God. In one of the churches I pastored, we had a teenager who was at the center of every problem in the youth group\u2026\u201d\u00a0 So obviously that teenager was unsaved, right?\n\n\u201cOne summer when he went off to our church youth camp... At one of the meetings, he got up and announced that he had been saved that week! \u00a0His Christian profession up to that time had been counterfeit. \u00a0He experienced a dramatic change in his life, and today he is serving the Lord faithfully. \u00a0No doubt many of the problems in the church at Corinth were caused by people who professed to be saved, but who had never repented and trusted Jesus Christ. Our churches are filled with such people today. \u00a0Paul called such people reprobate, which means \u2018counterfeit, or discredited after a test.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [The Wiersbe Bible Commentary<\/em> (Colorado Springs, CO: David Cook, 2007), 542.]\n\nSo in this way of thinking there\u2019s only two types of people, saved and unsaved.\u00a0 They don\u2019t have in their thinking something that we explained in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 where Paul divides the saved world into three camps: spiritual, carnal, and infant.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s unsaved people.\u00a0 So if someone is behaving like the devil maybe it means they\u2019re unsaved, that\u2019s a possibility, but it could also mean that they need to grow in Christ, because they\u2019re in a state of carnality.\u00a0 And the Reformed camp doesn\u2019t allow that second option; it\u2019s just saved or unsaved.\u00a0 \u00a0And they have what is called the doctrine of the two faiths; there\u2019s the faith that saves and the faith that doesn\u2019t save.\u00a0 Now if you believe that you\u2019re going to spend\u00a0 your whole life wondering if you\u2019ve got the right faith because William Hendriksen, a very strong Calvinist says \u201cNot all faith is saving faith.\u201d\u00a0 So there has to be fruit or contrition or they name all these categories you have to have to have the real kind of faith.\n\nSo what is happening with all of these interpreters is they\u2019re applying the test, 2 Corinthians 13:5, test yourself to see if you\u2019re in the faith, \u201cTest yourselves to see if you are in the faith;\u201d they\u2019re applying it to the first tense of salvation.\u00a0 You all recall the three tenses of salvation; justification, the past tense of salvation, progressive sanctification, the present tense of salvation, and glorification, the future tense of salvation.\u00a0 So we get saved in a nanosecond by trusting in Christ as Savior; that\u2019s what saves us from sin\u2019s penalty.\u00a0 And then what hopefully is happening to us, although this isn\u2019t guaranteed for every child of God, we\u2019re growing in the present tense of our salvation where we\u2019re gradually being delivered from sin\u2019s power as we learn of our divine resources and avail ourselves to them moment by moment by moment.\u00a0 And then in glorification I will be out of this body completely, I won\u2019t have any temptation to return to the sin nature, and so I\u2019ll be delivered from sin\u2019s presence.\n\nSo what is happening with all of these quotes I just read is they\u2019re all applying the verse to the first tense of our salvation.\u00a0 Are you really a Christian or are you not a Christian?\u00a0 And I am convinced the more I\u2019ve studied this that that\u2019s not what Paul is saying at all; it looks that way if you cherry pick it and remove it from its context but when you look at the whole context it becomes very clear that Paul is not saying examine yourselves to figure out if you\u2019ve been justified; he\u2019s saying examine yourself to see if you\u2019re growing in Christ the way you should.\u00a0 So he\u2019s not applying this at all to the first tense of salvation; he\u2019s applying this to the second tense of salvation.\n\nAnd I have nine reasons why\u00a0 I think that\u2019s true, which I\u2019m going to try to walk you through this morning.\u00a0 If you want to do more reading on it I wrote a chapter in a book called 21 Tough Questions About Grace, edited by a guy named Grant Hawley, you can find that book easy online and I think we have a copy of it in our bookstore, if I\u2019m not mistaken.\u00a0 So I\u2019m going to go through these nine points pretty quick, if you wanted to drill down and get deeper into it I\u2019d recommend the chapter I wrote in addition to the other chapters in the book which deal with other related topics.\n\nSo here we go: why am I convinced that this verse has nothing to do with the first tense of salvation but rather it\u2019s a test to determine if we\u2019re making progress in the second tense of our salvation?\u00a0 Number 1 is the Corinthians assumed believing status.\u00a0 All the way through the book of 1 Corin\u00adthians and 2 Corinthians Paul assumes that these people are saved, they\u2019re regenerated, their salvation is authentic, their salvation is not in doubt.\u00a0 Now if that\u2019s true why would Paul at the end of the book say you know what, I\u2019m having second thoughts here, I don\u2019t think some of you guys are saved, so you\u2019d better test\u00a0 yourself.\u00a0 That interpretation doesn\u2019t fit with the totality of everything Paul has said in the initial parts of the Corinthians letters.\u00a0 So when you study 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 2 Paul says \u201cTo the church of God which is at Corinth, to those\u201d what? \u201cwho have been sanctified,\u201d now there it\u2019s talking about positional separation so these are obviously people that have been regenerated, what does he call them here, \u201csaints, together with those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d look at this, \u201cboth their Lord and ours.\u201d\u00a0 So right at the beginning of the book he\u2019s acknowledge that Jesus is their Lord just like Jesus is the Lord of myself and the rest of the apostles.\n\nAnd really a good Bible study method is when Paul is revealing things at the beginning of a book you really pay attention to that because that sets the tone for the rest of the book and Paul is not necessarily going to repeat himself.\u00a0 He does the same thing in 2 Corinthians 1:1, at the beginning of 2 Corinthians when he says, \u201cPaul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s no hint here that maybe some of\u00a0 you guys aren\u2019t saved.\u00a0 They\u2019ve all been justified; he never second guesses whether these people are justified.\u00a0 And I wish I had time to go through every verse but if you were to read the rest of the verses I have on the screen, 1 Corinthians 3:1, and 5; 6:11, 19-20, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 24, 3:2-3, 6:14-16, 8:9, 10:15 and you just were stranded on a desert island and you didn\u2019t know anything about the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints then you would never think that Paul is addressing anybody but believers whose salvation is authentic and not questioned.\n\nSo if that is true why would Paul switch horses in midstream; in fact, he wouldn\u2019t even be switching horses in midstream, he\u2019d be switching horses at the end of the stream.\u00a0 And after saying all of that why would he say oh, you know what, you know some of you guys might not be Christians, so you\u2019d better test yourself to figure out if you\u2019re a Christian.\n\nThe late Zane Hodges writes this: \u201cRegrettably...these forceful words\u201d he\u2019s speaking of 2 Corinthians 13:5, \u201chave been sadly misconstrued. They have been read by some interpreters as though they were a challenge to the Corinthians to find out whether they were really saved or not! This is unthinkable. After twelve chapters in which Paul takes their Christianity for granted, can he only now be asking them to make sure they are born again?...Let the readers of this book examine \u00a0\u00a02 Corinthians on their own.\u201d\u00a0 Which I would encourage you to do. \u00a0\u201cThey will see clearly how often the apostle affirms in one way or another his conviction that his readers are genuinely Christian.\u201d [Absolutely Free! A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 200]\n\nSo that really is my first reason is it\u2019s the Corinthians assumed status as regenerated people.\u00a0 So when Paul says test yourself he\u2019s not saying test yourself to see if\u00a0 you\u2019re a Christian, he\u2019s saying test yourself to see if you\u2019re growing as a Christian, is his point.\n\nThe second of the nine reasons is this whole phrase \u201cproving yourself.\u201d\u00a0 The concept of \u201cproving yourself\u201d can easily apply to the Christian whose salvation is authentic and not in doubt.\u00a0 So let\u2019s go back to 2 Corinthians 13:5, [\u201cTest yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?\u201d]\u00a0 you see that word \u201cexamine yourselves\u201d?\u00a0 That\u2019s the word dokimaz\u014d<\/em> which is translated as test in the ESV, examine in the NASB, and prove yourself the way the KGB translates it.\u00a0 Now that word, dokimaz\u014d<\/em> is a verb and a verb comes from a root so you can take the root of a word and use it as a verb, you can sometimes use it as a noun, you can sometimes use it as an adjective.. the same root, test yourself.\u00a0 And what you discover is Paul applied that same root in adjectival form to Timothy.\n\nNow is there any doubt Timothy is saved?\u00a0 I doubt there\u2019s any doubt that Timothy is saved in Paul\u2019s mind because why would Paul install Timothy as pastor of the church at Ephesus if maybe this guy is saved and maybe he\u2019s not?\u00a0 \u00a0Paul calls Timothy in the Timothy letters \u201cmy son in the faith.\u201d\u00a0 So there isn\u2019t any doubt that Timothy is going to heaven.\u00a0 But what does Paul say; he takes the word, the adjective form of the word and he says this: \u201cBe diligent to present yourselves\u201d what\u2019s the next word? \u201capproved to God,\u201d\u00a0 that\u2019s our root, \u201cas a workman that does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of Truth.\u201d\u00a0 So the approval is not whether Timothy is a Christian or not a Christian; the approval is are you, as a pastor-teacher accurately handling God\u2019s Word?\n\nSo God puts all of us through certain approvals or test; many times a test has nothing to do with whether our name is in the book of life; it has to do with roles that He wants us to operate in, husband, wife, father, in Timothy\u2019s case a handler of God\u2019s Word, and are we measuring up under God\u2019s power to God\u2019s standard?\u00a0 So it has nothing to do with, you know, maybe Timothy\u2019s a Christian, maybe he\u2019s not.\u00a0 So proving one\u2019s self applies to the believer whose salvation is not in doubt.\u00a0 That\u2019s my second reason why I think Paul is using the test with the middle tense of salvation.\n\nNow what about number three, what about this expression \u201cdisqualification?\u201d\u00a0 Actually the concept of disqualification can apply to the Christian whose salvation is not in doubt.\u00a0 We look at the word disqualification and we think automatically it means disqualified from going to heaven.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what that word always means.\u00a0 Notice at the end of the verse, 2 Corinthians 13:5, that \u201cJesus Christ is in you unless \u2026 you fail the test.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s an adjective there a<\/em>dokim\u014ds<\/em> in chapter 13, verse 5; it\u2019s translated \u201cfail to meet the test\u201d in the ESV; \u201cdisqualified\u201d in the KJV and what I want you to see is failing the test can easily apply to a Christian whose salvation is authentic and not in doubt.\u00a0 Why do I say that?\u00a0 Because Paul takes that same word and applies it to who?\u00a0 Himself!\u00a0 Is there any doubt Paul is saved?\u00a0 Does anybody here have any doubts that Paul was saved.\u00a0 I hope not; we know Paul was saved.\n\nPaul wrote 13 letters of the New Testament.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s the guy that says, \u201cI know in whom I have believed.\u201d\u00a0 And what does Paul do here in 1 Corinthians 9:27?\u00a0 He takes a<\/em>dokim\u014ds<\/em>, same word translated fail or disqualification and he applies it to himself as a possibility.\u00a0 So he says in 1 Corinthians 9:27, \u201cBut I discipline my body and I make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be\u201d what? \u201cdisqualified.\u201d\u00a0 So that\u2019s the same Greek word translated \u201cdisqualified\u201d or fail in 2 Corinthians 13:5.\u00a0 Paul is, in the exact same corpus of material because remember Paul didn\u2019t just write 2 Corinthians, he wrote 1 Corinthians and one of the ways to solve these issues is to figure out the way that Paul uses the identical word elsewhere in the books that he\u2019s writing to the same audience.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice what Paul is doing here; he\u2019s applying it to himself.\u00a0 He says I too could be potentially disqualified.\n\nNow when Paul talks about himself being potentially disqualified he\u2019s not talking about disqualification from heaven; he\u2019s talking about a disqualification from a what?\u00a0 A reward.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he says, \u201cI discipline my body and make it my slave lest I have preached to others I might be disqualified for\u201d some translate it \u201cthe prize.\u201d\u00a0 He can\u2019t be talking about justification here because how do we receive justification?\u00a0 By faith alone as a free gift.\u00a0 Here he\u2019s talking about receiving something from the Lord as a result of disciplining his body under God\u2019s power. So if you think this is a justification verse you just taught works salvation.\u00a0 He\u2019s not talking about initial justification at all; what he\u2019s dealing with is becoming qualified or disqualified from a prize or a reward.\u00a0 And I like the way Joseph Dillow, in his book, Final Destiny<\/em>, and I don\u2019t endorse every nook and cranny of Joseph Dillow\u2019s book Final Destiny<\/em> but I think he makes a very good point here.\u00a0 He says, \u201cif adokimos<\/em> or disqualified here\u201d in 2 Corinthians 13:5 \u201cmeans that \u2018...the apostle Paul was not certain that he would go to heaven...one wonders...how any Christian<\/u> in the history of the church could ever know for certain that God was his Father!\u201d\n\nI mean, if Paul didn\u2019t know he was going to heaven what hope do I have?\u00a0 What hope do you have?\u00a0 And he\u2019s trying to get us to see the logical fallacy of applying that phrase to the first tense of salvation.\n\nWe know from the rest of the Scripture, Revelation 4:10, Revelation 3:11, 2 John 8, that at the future Judgment Seat of rewards there are going to be crowns given or not given.\u00a0 Paul here is talking about the first crown; it\u2019s an incorruptible crown for the one who gains mastery over the flesh, not by your own power but by dialing into God\u2019s resources.\u00a0 [Revelation 4:10, \u201cthe twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,\u00a0 Revelation 3:11, \u201c'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.\u201d]\n\nAnd the Christian that is not sinless but sins less as they walk out the second tense of their salvation is going to be rewarded and THAT is what Paul is fearful of being disqualified from.\u00a0 I\u2019ve told others to gain mastery over their flesh through God\u2019s power, what if I myself were to go back into the sin nature and not gain mastery over the flesh myself and become like a carnal Christian, like I described earlier in this book, then I myself will be disqualified for the prize.\u00a0 So the concept of disqualification, you know, people can see that it can clearly apply to the middle tense of one\u2019s salvation to a Christian whose salvation is authentic and not in doubt.\n\nThis takes us to number 4, the expression \u201cin the faith;.\u201d \u201cin the faith\u201d can refer to the experience of the Christian rather than the position of the Christian, because people, when they see that expression \u201cin the faith\u201d \u201ctest yourself to see if you are in the faith\u201d they look at that prepositional phrase \u201cin the faith\u201d and they say wow, that means I\u2019m saved or not saved.\u00a0 But you see, the expression \u201cin the faith\u201d can easily apply to testing our progress in the middle tense of our salvation as that expression is applied to believers whose salvation is not in doubt.\n\nNow how do I know this?\u00a0 Paul didn\u2019t just write 2 Corinthians; he wrote 1 Corinthians, didn\u2019t he.\u00a0 And did you catch what he says at the end of 1 Corinthians in chapter 16, verses 13-15, he says, \u201cBe on the alert, stand firm in\u201d what? \u201cin the faith,\u201d that\u2019s the same prepositional phrase that he uses in 2 Corinthians 13:5.\u00a0 \u201cBe on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. [14] Let all that you do be done in love.\u201d\u00a0 Now what\u2019s the next sentence, [15] \u201cNow I urge you\u201d what, \u201cbrethren,\u201d when he uses the expression \u201cbrethren\u201d he\u2019s acknowledging that he\u2019s talking to a fellow believer.\u00a0 So what he\u2019s saying to these fellow believers is to stand firm in the faith because as a Christian there are times when I am standing firm in the faith and there are other times when I\u2019m not standing firm in the faith.\u00a0 And when I\u2019m not standing firm in the faith that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m not saved; what it means is I\u2019m not experiencing God to the fullness, the way He would have me experience Him.\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice that this little preposition \u201cin the faith\u201d can easily apply to the believer, to the Christian, whose salvation is authentic and whose salvation is not in doubt.\u00a0 And again, it\u2019s in the same body of material, what we would call the Corinthians corpus, if you want a fancy name for it, referring to the body of truth that has been revealed to the Corinthians.\u00a0 So when you run into these troubling phrases try to track how the same author uses the same phrase either in the same book or the same body of material.\n\nSo this takes us to number 5.\u00a0 Now this is what disturbs people, \u201cChrist in you,\u201d test yourself to see if Christ is in you and people look at that and they say well, if I fail the test Christ is not in me.\u00a0 Well why is Christ not in you?\u00a0 Well, Christ is not in you because I\u2019m Arminian and I lost my salvation or I\u2019m a Calvinist, an aggressive Calvinist and maybe I never had salvation.\u00a0 So \u201cin you\u201d is used constantly in that way as those two camps are arguing their theological system.\u00a0 But what I want you to see is the expression \u201ctest yourself to see if Jesus Christ is in you\u201d is an expression that can easily apply to the experience of the believer as they\u2019re walking out the middle tense of their salvation, to a believer whose salvation is authentic and not in doubt.\n\nHow does Paul use the same expression in the book of Galatians, which was the first book that he wrote?\u00a0 Galatians 4:19, \u201cmy\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cchildren\u201d.\u00a0 Are the Galatians saved or unsaved?\u00a0 They look saved to me; \u00a0\u00a0\u201cwith whom,\u201d look at this, \u201cI am again in labor.\u201d\u00a0 Well, wait a minute, I thought once a woman gave birth that was it.\u00a0 I mean,\u00a0 think about (you ladies) what you go through to give birth, what if you had to do it a second time.\u00a0 And some of you have done it like ten times you have so many kids, but what if you had to do it again for the same\u2026 and we\u2019re pro kids here by the way, what if you had to do it again for the same child?\u00a0 So Paul here is building this spiritual analogy, he\u2019s saying to the Galatians I am again in labor, I birthed you through the gospel into justification, you\u2019re saved, but the problem with you all is you\u2019re not growing the way you should in progressive sanctification.\u00a0 So now I\u2019ve got a second duty, I\u2019ve got to see that you grow right; I was\u00a0 your obstetrician spiritually, now I\u2019m your pediatrician.\n\nAnd then as he\u2019s describing their progress into the second tense of their salvation he says \u201cuntil Christ is formed\u201d where? \u201cin you.\u201d\u00a0 So \u201cMy little children,\u201d Christ is not in you yet, not in the sense that they don\u2019t have the Holy Spirit but in the sense that Christ-like character, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, those things are not a reality yet in their lives.\u00a0 And as he\u2019s describing their lack of growth into the second tense of their salvation he uses the expression, Christ in you\u00a0 which is the exact same expression that he used in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Jesus Christ in\u00a0 you.\u00a0 So the expression \u201cin you\u201d can clearly apply to a believer who is struggling in the middle tense of their salvation.\n\nWe know that the Galatians were saved because they had begun in the Spirit, Galatians 3:3.\u00a0 [Galatians 3:3, \u201cAre you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?\u201d]\u00a0 In fact the Galatians are called \u201csons of God\u201d the Spirit is in, not just your hearts, our hearts, the same Spirit that\u2019s in me Paul says is the same Spirit that\u2019s in you Galatians, but Christ has not yet been formed in you.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because I birthed you into justification and you\u2019re short-circuiting in the area of progressive sanctification.\u00a0 Of course the Galatians are saved, why would he tell them to walk by the Spirit; an unbeliever doesn\u2019t have the Spirit.\u00a0 See that.\n\nNow when he says \u201cChrist in you,\u201d see if Christ is in you, there\u2019s a parallel passage in John 15:4 where\u00a0 he talked about branches in the vine that bear fruit, branches outside of the vine that don\u2019t bear fruit.\u00a0 And people look at that and they say well, that\u2019s the difference between a believer and an unbeliever.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make any sense because when Jesus gave this teaching He was talking to eleven people, Judas had already left the Upper Room by this point (back in chapter 13), whose salvation obviously is authentic and not in doubt.\u00a0 And so what does Jesus say?\u00a0 \u201cAbide\u201d what? \u201cin Me,\u201d which means I as a believer have the potential of not abiding in Christ.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m going to hell.\u00a0 What it means is I\u2019m not becoming what God wants me to become in the second tense of my salvation.\n\n\u201cAbide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.\u201d So you have Christians that are abiding in Christ and other Christians that are not abiding in Christ, which helps explain why Paul says test yourself to see if Jesus Christ is in you, not whether you\u2019re saved in the first place but whether you are abiding in Christ by way of fellowship so that the fruit that God wants to bring forth in your life can come forward.\n\nNow this expression, \u201cabide in Me\u201d the word \u201cabide\u201d is the Greek verb men\u014d<\/em>, men\u014d<\/em>, whether someone abides (men\u014d<\/em>) or not abides is an expression that is used many times, in fact, every time, of a believer to determine if they\u2019re really abiding in Christ, whose salvation is not in doubt.\u00a0 That\u2019s how Jesus uses the identical verb in John 8:31, \u201cSo Jesus was saying to those Jews who had\u201d what? \u201cbelieved Him,\u201d so as Jesus is talking is He talking to believers or unbelievers?\u00a0 Believers because He\u2019s talking to Jews who have believed in Him.\u00a0 But then He gives a condition, \u201cIf you continue\u201d the word \u201ccontinue\u201d is a translation of the Greek verb men\u014d<\/em>, the exact same verb that\u2019s used in John 15:4 regarding the vine and the branches.\u00a0 \u201cIf\u00a0 you continue\u00a0 in My word, then<\/em> you are truly\u201d what does it say? \u201cdisciples,\u201d He doesn\u2019t say if you continue in My word then you\u2019re truly believers, we already know they are believers.\u00a0 We know they\u2019re believers because of the beginning of the verse.\u00a0 He says if you want to graduate into discipleship, if you want to grow in the middle tense of your salvation then you need to \u201cabide in Me,\u201d men\u014d<\/em>, which is the same verb that\u2019s used to describe the branches in the vine, branches outside of the vine.\n\nSo the expression, \u201cJesus Christ in you\u201d can easily relate to the Christian whose salvation is not in doubt.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a test to determine are you a Christian, are you not a Christian, it\u2019s a test to determine are you abiding.\n\nSo this takes us to number six, and this is probably the area that is very disturbing to me, of all the Reform doctrines out there this is the part of it that really gets under my skin.\u00a0 Number six, the Reformed view, well, actually not number six, the one that gets under my skin is number nine, so when we get to number nine just remember that\u2019s the one that gets under Andy\u2019s skin. Number six, the Reformed view destroys the passage\u2019s symmetry.\u00a0 What you have to understand about Paul\u2019s dialogue, if\u00a0 you can call it that with the Corinthians, is he\u2019s dealing with a bunch of saved people that would not submit to his authority.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he\u2019s so heartbroken over it.\n\nAnd they are challenging him; we don\u2019t want to submit to your authority Paul.\u00a0 They are challenging him and he makes a reference to this earlier in the chapter, 2 Corinthians 13:3, \u201csince you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks\u201d what? \u201cin me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.\u201d\u00a0 So when he uses this expression \u201cproof\u201d it\u2019s dokimai<\/em>, it\u2019s the same word he uses in verse 5.\u00a0 The expression \u201cin me\u201d is almost the identical expression that he uses in verse 5.\u00a0 And then in verses 6 and 7 he goes on and rehearses the test that they had given him, \u201cBut I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.\u00a0 [7] Now we pray to God that you do not wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved.\u201d\n\nSo when he uses this expression \u201cunapproved\u201d and \u201cfail the test\u201d it\u2019s adokimos<\/em>, the same word that he\u00a0 uses related to them in 2 Corinthians 13:5.\u00a0 So what I have here in our passage, 2 Corinthians 13:5 is the words underlined and the phrases underlined that were the same phrases that they were applying to Paul.\u00a0 So I want you to start seeing the symmetry of the passage.\u00a0 Paul says you\u2019re challenging me; Paul turns the tables on them and he says now I\u2019m challenging you, which is sort of like Paul.\u00a0 Paul had a tendency to move into sarcasm, I don\u2019t know if that gives us permission to be sarcastic, because we\u2019re not apostles, but he got very sarcastic with these people which is easy to do when you\u2019re an apostle and you\u2019ve got a bunch of people that don\u2019t want to submit to your authority because they think they know better.\n\nIn 1 Corinthians 4:8 Paul lets his sarcasm work out as he\u2019s dealing with these people.\u00a0 He says, \u201cYou are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us;\u201d \u201cus\u201d meaning the apostles, \u201cand indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we\u201d us little poor apostles over here, might \u201calso might reign with you.\u201d\u00a0 So what he\u2019s critiquing them on is a know-it-all mindset.\u00a0 Do you see the symmetry?\u00a0 The symmetry of the passage is this: they challenged him, he turns right around and he does what? sarcastically challenges them.\n\nSo if you can figure out on what basis they were challenging him you can figure out on what basis he was challenging them.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 And what were they challenging in Paul?\u00a0 They weren\u2019t challenging whether Paul was saved; they didn\u2019t have any doubts that Paul was saved.\u00a0 What they were challenging him on is his apostolic mantle, his apostolic authority.\u00a0 I mean, was this guy who wasn\u2019t even one of the original twelve, is he really in a position to correct us, you know, mighty Corinthians?\u00a0 So the challenge that came his direction was not a challenge to say you\u2019re not saved; it\u2019s a challenge of his maturity.\u00a0 It\u2019s a challenge to his growth; it\u2019s a challenge to his apostolic authority, so therefore Paul, using sarcasm turns right around and says I\u2019m going to challenge you.\u00a0 And when he challenges them in return he\u2019s offering the same challenge.\u00a0 He\u2019s not trying to ascertain are these people believers or not; he\u2019s trying to ascertain are you mature enough to the point where you don\u2019t even think you need correction from an apostle?\n\nSo if you think this passage means they are challenging him on his experience as a Christian and he\u2019s turning around and challenging them on whether they\u2019re saved you wreck the whole symmetry of the passage; he\u2019s offering a challenge to them that would be disproportionate to the challenge that was initially aimed at him.\n\nSo this takes us to number 7, only believers experience discipline because if you go back to 2 Corinthians 13:1 how does Paul threaten these people if they fail the test?\u00a0 If they fail the test and they\u2019re not growing in the middle tense of their salvation the way they should what is Paul going to do?\u00a0 What threat is he going to carry out against them?\u00a0 And that\u2019s what he explains in verse 1, which is in our same context, 2 Corinthians 13:1, \u201cThis is the third time I am coming to you.\u201d\u00a0 So he\u2019s been dealing with these people for a number of years.\n\nAnd then he makes this statement here, it\u2019s a citation, I believe this comes from the book of Deuteronomy, \u201cEvery fact is to be\u00a0 confirmed by the testimony of two to three witnesses.\u201d\u00a0 [Deuteronomy 17:6, \u201cOn the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s talking about capital punishment and basically you couldn\u2019t just execute people under the Mosaic Law unless there were two to three witnesses to a capital crime.\n\nNow who else used this exact same expression, every fact is to be confirmed by two to three witnesses?\u00a0 Anybody know?\u00a0 Jesus, in the context of church discipline.\u00a0 Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus says, \u201cIf your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. [16] But if he does not listen to you,<\/em> take one or two more with you,\u201d watch this, \u201cso that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. [17] \u201cIf he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.\u201d \u00a0Jesus, when He uses the expression \u201ctwo or three witnesses\u201d is using the expression in the context of church discipline.\n\nThat is how Paul is using the expression in chapter 13, verse 1, just a few verses before our context in verse 5.\u00a0 This is the third time I am coming to you; every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two to three witnesses.\u00a0 In other words, if you fail the test, you Corinthians, and you\u2019re not making progress in the middle tense of your salvation, and\u00a0 you\u2019re still hooking up with temple prostitutes and things like that, then I\u2019m going to show up on your doorstep and when I show up on your doorstep it\u2019s not going to be a pretty picture because I\u2019m going to start exercising church discipline on you.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he\u2019s getting at.\n\nNow let me ask you a question: who do you exercise church discipline on?\u00a0 A believer or an unbeliever?\u00a0 You don\u2019t exercise church discipline on an unbeliever, they don\u2019t know any different.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to get unbelievers to become believers.\u00a0 You exercise church discipline on the fleshly, carnal Christian.\u00a0 The only people that discipline are: number 1, God, and number 2, the church.\u00a0 \u201cWhom the Lord loves the Lord\u201d what? \u201cchastens.\u201d\u00a0 Hebrews 12:7 says \u201cGod deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?\u201d\u00a0 My father, when I was growing up never disciplined the neighbor\u2019s kids. I think he was tempted to on a number of occasions but he never did.\u00a0 But when his own, and I am a witness to it, stepped out of line we came under severe discipline because I belonged to him, my earthly father.\n\nSo when Paul threatens them with church discipline he\u2019s making an obvious statement here that these people are saved, their salvation is not in doubt at all.\u00a0 If their salvation had been in doubt he wouldn\u2019t have moved with this threat of church discipline if they\u2019re not growing or maturing the way they\u2019re supposed to.\u00a0 Revelation 3:19, Jesus says, \u201cThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline;\u201d discipline is not, whether it\u2019s from God or the church it\u2019s not for unbelievers; it\u2019s only for believers.\n\nWhich takes us to number 8, the eighth reason why I think 2 Corinthians 13:5 is a test to determine our growth in Christ and not whether we\u2019re Christians in the first place, has to do with this: Scripture\u2026 and don\u2019t take my word for it, search it out yourself, I think you\u2019ll find it to be true, Scripture nowhere tells believers to test the authenticity of their faith.\u00a0 Of all the commands in the Bible never a single time are we told to look inside ourselves to see if we\u2019re really a Christian.\u00a0 Well, wait a minute, Matthew 7:15 says, \u201cBeware of the false prophets<\/u>, who come to you in sheep\u2019s clothing, but Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep\u2019s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.\u00a0 [16] You will know them by their fruits. \u00a0Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?\u00a0 [17] So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.\u00a0 [18] A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.\u00a0 [20] So then, you will know them by their fruits.\u201d\n\nWell, that\u2019s a test, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 But who\u2019s that test aimed at.\u00a0 Look at the underlined portion there, \u201cBeware of the false prophets.\u201d\u00a0 See, the test that we are to examine, if it\u2019s to ourselves it\u2019s whether we\u2019re growing in Christ; we\u2019re never called to test whether we\u2019re saved and when we are called to test things we\u2019re called to test false teachers.\n\nJoseph Dillow writes this: \u201cNowhere in the Bible is a Christian asked to examine either his faith or his life to find out if he is a Christian. He is told only to look outside of himself to Christ alone for his assurance<\/u> that he is a Christian. The Christian is, however, often told to examine his walk of faith<\/em> and life to see if he is walking in fellowship and in conformity to God's commands.\u201d\n\nDo you know why there are so many people today that do not think they\u2019re saved because they\u2019re looking at themselves.\u00a0 What a depressing subject.\u00a0 I mean, if I spent my whole life examining my own spiritual inventory I\u2019d probably think I wasn\u2019t saved 75% of the time because I know that my walk with God can be successful, I know that it can be a total failure.\u00a0 What I\u2019m looking to, to ascertain whether I\u2019m a Christian is not my own faithfulness but the faithfulness of who?\u00a0 Christ\u2019s promise.\u00a0 And if we got more people looking at Christ\u2019s promises to them rather than their own performance this epidemic that we have of people not thinking they\u2019re saved I think would radically disappear.\u00a0 Now if\u00a0 you want to test something you can test the spirits, that\u2019s the same Greek word there for \u201ctest,\u201d not to one\u2019s self but again testing false teaching.\n\nRevelation 2:2 uses the same word for \u201ctest\u201d when Jesus says, \u201cI know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test\u201d<\/u> who? \u201cthose who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be<\/em> false.\u201d\u00a0 You test teaching, you test false teachers, you can test yourself to determine\u00a0 your growth, but never does the Bible tell us to test ourselves to see if we are justified before God.\u00a0 So if Paul is saying here look at your life to see if you\u2019re a Christian he\u2019d be teaching a doctrine that\u2019s taught nowhere else in the Bible.\n\nWhich takes us to number 9, and this is the one that gets under my skin as I mentioned before.\u00a0 The Reformed view (and the Arminian view for that matter) making this a test for initial salvation damages the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 It destroys it.\u00a0 And the more influence that these Reformed teachers have in media and in pulpits and on the Christian printed page the more you have this epidemic of Christians that listen to this thinking they\u2019re not really Christians.\n\nJohn Piper, very popular, says, \u201cNo Christian can be sure that he is a true believer.\u201d\u00a0 You guys see that?\u00a0 \u201cNo Christian can be sure that he is a true believer. Hence, there is an ongoing need\u201d here come the works, you ready\u2026 \u201cto be dedicated to the Lord and to deny ourselves so that we might\u201d what? \u201cmake it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [John Piper and Pastoral Staff, TULIP: What We Believe about the Five Points of Calvinism: Position Paper of the Pastoral Staff (Desiring God Ministries, 1997), 25, cited in Dave Hunt, What Love is This?<\/em>, 379.]\n\nIs that not works salvation?\u00a0 \u00a0My salvation does not come from me, beloved, denying myself and me being dedicated to the Lord.\u00a0 My salvation comes from receiving, by faith, a free gift from my Savior.\u00a0 Well, Andy, are you against people denying themselves and being dedicated to the Lord?\u00a0 Of course I\u2019m not against that if it\u2019s done for the right motive.\u00a0 You deny yourself and you dedicate yourself to the Lord as an act of worship and gratitude for what God has done for you.\u00a0 It\u2019s a response of graciousness; you don\u2019t do it because you\u2019re trying to earn something.\u00a0 You don\u2019t do it because you\u2019re trying to keep something.\u00a0 And so many people are serving the Lord because they are afraid to death that God is going to somehow rip the carpet out from under them.\u00a0 And I would say that\u2019s not much of a motivation.\n\nFear is a terrible motivator.\u00a0 Your productivity in the Christian life will be enhanced when we come to the Lord and serve Him with the right motives rather than a works mentality.\u00a0 My salvation is not based on my own faithfulness; it is based on the faithfulness of Jesus.\u00a0 And once I get that and grasp it what else can I do but offer myself to Him as a living sacrifice. I\u2019m just blown away by what I have, I offer it to Him as a living sacrifice, I\u2019m not serving the Lord because if I don\u2019t do X, Y and Z I\u2019m in a lot of trouble, I\u2019m going to hell.\u00a0 That\u2019s how practical this doctrine is.\u00a0 This is not just pie in the sky stuff; you need to start coming down, you need to start thinking about this, coming down where you stand on it because it goes right to your motivation for service.\n\nJesus said, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him<\/u> who sent Me, has<\/u>\u201d present tense, \u201ceternal life<\/u>, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out<\/u> of death into life.\u201d\u00a0 Does that sound like there\u2019s any doubt about one\u2019s salvation there, once you\u2019ve trusted in Christ?\u00a0 You have eternal life.\u00a0 How long does eternal life last for?\u00a0 Forever.\u00a0 Now you\u2019re not crossing out of death unto life, it\u2019s already happened.\u00a0 So if it\u2019s already happened am I going to make a U-turn and turn around and go from life to death?\u00a0 No, we\u2019re saved based on the promises of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s called the assurance of salvation, which is annihilated under Reformed teaching and Arminian teaching.\n\nWell where is the pastor getting these strange doctrines from?\u00a0 They seem strange because hardly anybody talks about them anymore but what I want you to see is what I teach on this\u00a0 used to be the majority opinion at one time.\u00a0 This is Dallas Seminary\u2019s doctrinal statement.\u00a0 It says, Article XI, Dallas Seminary, founded in 1929, \u201cWe believe it is the privilege, not only of some, but of all<\/u> by the Spirit through faith who are born again in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured<\/u> of their salvation\u201d when?\u00a0 Till they get to the very end of their lives, right?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that; \u201cfrom the very\u201d what? \u201cday\u201d if I was writing this I wouldn\u2019t say the very day, I would say the very nanosecond, I don\u2019t know if they used the expression nanosecond in 1929, \u201cto be assured of their salvation from the very day they take Him to be their Savior\u201d watch this, \u201cand that this assurance is not<\/u> founded upon any fancied discovery of their own worthiness<\/u>\u201d thank God for that, I can have the assurance of salvation because it\u2019s not based on my faithfulness, it\u2019s based on His. \u201cbut wholly upon the testimony of God in His\u201d what? \u201cwritten Word<\/u>,\u201d you believe it because it\u2019s objectively true.\u00a0 But my emotions tell me something else.\u00a0 Don\u2019t listen to your emotions.\u00a0 Listen to the objective truth of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 That\u2019s where your assurance of salvation comes from.\n\nSo putting all of this together, examine yourself to see if you are in the faith is not a test for justification; it\u2019s a test for sanctification based on nine reasons:\u00a0 Number 1, \u201cThe Corinthians\u2019 Assumed Believing Status.\u00a0 Number 2, The concept of Proving Oneself Applies to the Believer.\u00a0 Number 3, Disqualification Applies to the Believer.\u00a0 Number 4, The expression \u201cIn the Faith\u201d can refer to the experience of the Christian rather than the position of the Christian.\u00a0 Number 5, Christ in You can easily relate to one\u2019s sanctification.\u00a0 Number 6, The Reformed View destroys the passages symmetry.\u00a0 Number 7, Only believers experience discipline.\u00a0 Number 8, Scripture nowhere tells believers to test the authenticity of their faith.\u00a0 And number 9, If you go for another doctrine the Reformed view destroys the assurance of salvation.\n\nSo have I convinced the ladies and gentlemen of the jury?\u00a0 Any questions on that.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t