But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.
Parallel translations
- WEB For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.
- KJV For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
- BSB Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment.
- NKJV For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
- NASB But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If believers honestly judged themselves, they would not come under the Lord's judgment. Self-examination forestalls divine discipline.
Overview
Paul teaches that genuine self-judgment and repentance would spare believers the corrective judgment God otherwise sends. The discipline of examining oneself before the Supper is thus a means of grace. This underscores personal responsibility and the value of repentance in maintaining right fellowship with God and his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Jn 1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Ps 32:3–5When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
- Rev 2:5Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lamp stand out of its place, unless you repent.
- 1 Cor 11:28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
- Luke 15:18–20I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
- Rev 3:2–3Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God.
- Jer 31:18–20“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are Yahweh my God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 11:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.