2 From Trouble to Triumph—Part 1
(James 1:2–3)
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (1:2–3)
To test the genuineness of a diamond, jewelers often place it in clear water, which causes a real diamond to sparkle with special brilliance. An imitation stone, on the other hand, will have almost no sparkle at all. When the two are placed side by side, even an untrained eye can easily tell the difference.
In a similar way, even the world can often notice the marked differences between genuine Christians and those who merely profess faith in Christ. As with jewels, there is a noticeable difference in radiance, especially when people are undergoing difficult times. Many people have great confidence in their faith until it is severely tested by hardships and disappointments. How a person handles trouble will reveal whether his faith is living or dead, genuine or imitation, saving or nonsaving.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus explained that “those [seeds that fell] on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation [testing] fall away,” and that “the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance” (Luke 8:13, 15).
Everyone who lives in this world endures some measure of trouble. That is the consequence of the Fall, the natural result of sinful human nature and of a world and society corrupted by iniquity. Job’s friend Eliphaz well understood that truth, saying, “For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). In reply to another friend, Job himself said, “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil” (14:1). David cried out to the Lord, “Be not far from me, for trouble is near” (Ps. 22:11), and Isaiah declared, “Look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish” (Isa. 8:22). Solomon wrote despairingly, “I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind…. Because all of [a man’s] days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest” (Eccles. 2:17, 23).
God’s own children are not exempt from trouble, and there will be trouble related even to the best of things that He gives us. In marriage and family life (the best gift He has given for earthly happiness), trouble is inevitable (1 Cor. 7:28). Jesus assured His disciples that “in the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33). Though sinless Himself, He was deeply troubled and wept when He saw Mary and the friends of her brother Lazarus grieving over his death (John 11:33). He grieved because of Judas’s betrayal (John 13:21), and was “deeply grieved, to the point of death” over the prospect of taking the sin of the world upon Himself (Matt. 26:38; cf. John 12:27). Paul testified that he was “afflicted in every way” (2 Cor. 4:8); and to varying degrees and for various reasons, that is the experience of everyone. We expect occasional trouble in our job, in school, in society, even in our family and in our church. We know that we cannot escape criticism, frustration, disappointment, physical pain, emotional pain, disease, injury, and eventually death.
Christians also can expect trouble because of their faith. Jesus said, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). Paul reminded Timothy that “indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”(2 Tim. 3: 12).
As mentioned in the Introduction, James’s major emphasis in this present text, and in the entire letter, is that if a person’s faith is genuine, it will prove itself during times of trouble, whatever the nature or source of the trouble may be. For that reason, this epistle is valuable for unbelievers as well as believers. That is especially true for unbelievers who consider themselves to be Christians and need to recognize that faith that is reliable only when things are going well is not saving faith and is worth nothing. It is, in fact, worth less than nothing, because it deceives those who trust in it. Not only will it fail them when they need help the most but, immeasurably worse, it will lead them to think they are headed for heaven when, in reality, they are headed for hell.
James shows that when faith is but an empty profession or mere sentiment not based on firm and intelligent convictions of divine truth, the fire of trouble will burn it up. But where there is true faith, affliction naturally leads to deeper thought on one’s true condition than under other circumstances and thereby frees the heart from deception and self-righteousness. The source of weakness leads to earnest wrestling with God in prayer; and the experience of the sustaining grace thus obtained strengthens and exhilarates hope.
Scripture mentions at least eight purposes for the Lord’s allowing trials to come into the lives of His people. First, is to test the strength of our faith. In many ways the Lord assists us in taking spiritual inventory by bringing trials into our lives to demonstrate to us the strength or weakness of our faith. A person who becomes resentful, bitter, and self-pitying when troubles come plainly exposes weak faith. On the other hand, a person who turns more and more to the Lord as troubles get worse and asks His help in carrying the burden just as plainly demonstrates a faith that is strong.
God told Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction” (Ex. 16:4; cf. Deut. 13:3–4). We are told of King Hezekiah that “God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart” (2 Chron. 32:31). In His omniscience God already knew what was in Hezekiah’s heart, but He wanted the king to discover that truth for himself. Jesus mentioned many tests of true faith, which included a caution to would-be disciples: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).
Habakkuk, pondering God’s devastating warning that He was sending the Chaldeans to conquer and all but decimate His people, testified, “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3: 17–18). After questioning God’s wisdom and justice in allowing him to experience such unbelievably terrible afflictions, Job confessed to his Lord, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5–6).
Second, trials are given to humble us, to remind us not to let our trust in the Lord turn into presumption and spiritual self-satisfaction. The greater our blessings, the more Satan will tempt us to look on them as our own accomplishments rather than the Lord’s, or as our rightful due, and to become proud rather than humble. Paul testifies that, “because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (2 Cor. 12:7).
Third, God allows us to suffer trials in order to wean us from our dependence on worldly things. The more we accumulate material possessions and worldly knowledge, experience, and recognition, the more we are tempted to rely on them instead of the Lord. These things can include education, work success, important people we know, honors we may have been given, and many other types of worldly benefits that often are not wrong in themselves but can easily become the focus of our concern and the basis of our trust.
On one occasion when a large crowd followed Jesus and the disciples to a mountain, Jesus asked Philip, “‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?’ This He was saying to test him; for He Himself knew what He was intending to do” (John 6:5–6). Philip failed the test, replying, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little” (v. 7). Instead of trusting the Lord to provide, Philip looked only at their material resources, which obviously were far short of being able to meet the need.
Moses had been raised in Pharaoh’s house, brought up as a prince of Egypt, trained in the highest Egyptian learning, and had reached the apex of Egyptian society and personal success. Then, after forty years in Midian as a shepherd (Ex. 2:11–25), the Lord called him to take his people out of Egypt. And, although he resisted and argued at first, obedience to the Lord and concern for the plight of the Lord’s chosen people eventually became his devotion. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “by faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward”(Heb. 11:24–26).
A fourth purpose of trials is to call us to eternal and heavenly hope. The harder our trials become and the longer they last, the more we look forward to being with the Lord. Although Paul knew that his ministry was not finished, and that it was important for him to continue his work on earth for Christ’s sake and the sake of the church, his personal longing, nevertheless, was “to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Phil. 1:23–24). In his letter to the church at Rome, he testified:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Rom. 8:18–25; cf. 5:3–4)
After reminding the immature believers in Corinth of the many afflictions, persecutions, dangers, and betrayals he had experienced, Paul wrote the encouraging words, “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you…. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4: 14, 16–18; cf. vv. 8–12).
A fifth purpose of trials is to reveal what we really love. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac not only proved his faith, as discussed later in this chapter, but also his supreme love for the Lord. Nothing and no one else should be dearer to us than the Lord.
In Deuteronomy, the Lord told His people, “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (10:12; cf. 13:3). That, Jesus said, is the first and greatest commandment (Matt. 22:38). He also said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not, of course, commanding hatred of others, which would clearly contradict countless other Scriptures, including the second greatest commandment, to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). He used a figurative expression to teach that our love of God should exceed all other loves, including love of our families.
Sixth, trials are given to teach us to value God’s blessings. Our reason tells us to value the world and the things of the world, and our senses tell us to value pleasure and ease. But through trials, faith tells us to value the spiritual things of God with which He has blessed us abundantly-including His Word, His care, His provision, His strength, and, of course, His salvation.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. (Ps. 63:3–7)
All the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 rejected the world for the goodness of God’s gifts, and so must we by “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
Seventh, the Lord uses trials to develop in His saints enduring strength for greater usefulness. The Puritan Thomas Manton perceptively observed that “while all things are quiet and comfortable, we live by sense rather than faith. But the worth of a soldier is never known in times of peace.” Paul confessed, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). The writer of Hebrews speaks of the godly men and women “who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong” (Heb. 11:33–34; cf. Is a. 41: 10).
Eighth, and finally, the Lord uses trials to enable us to better help others in their trials. Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31–32). Peter’s sufferings were given not only to strengthen him for greater usefulness but also to prepare him to strengthen others. That is true of every believer’s sufferings and testings, and was true of our Lord in His humanity. “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:18; cf. 4: 15).
Paul sums up this principle in his words to the Corinthians:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. (2 Cor. 1:3–6)
Since trials are so productive, it is essential for us to respond rightly to them. James helps us greatly in this in 1:2–12 by giving five key means for persevering through trials: a joyful attitude (v. 2), an understanding mind (v. 3), a submissive will (v. 4), a believing heart (vv. 5–8), and a humble spirit (vv. 9–1 1). He then tells us of the reward for perseverance (v. 12).
THE MEANS FOR PERSEVERANCE
A JOYFUL ATTITUDE
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, (1:2)
The Greek verb hēgeomai (consider) is an imperative because joy is not the natural human response to trouble. Christians are under divine command not simply to be somewhat joyful in their trials but to look upon them with all joy. That phrase is variously interpreted by commentators as meaning pure joy, unmixed joy, complete and total joy or sheer joy, From the context, it seems that all of those meanings are fitting. James is speaking of a unique fullness of joy that the Lord graciously provides His children when they willingly and uncomplainingly endure troubles while trusting in Him—regardless of the cause, type, or severity of the distress. He will always use them for our benefit and for His own glory. It is not because of some sort of religious masochism, but rather a sincere trust in the promise and goodness of our Lord, that we can look on trials as a welcome friend, knowing with Joseph that what may have been meant for evil against us, God means for good (Gen. 50:20; cf. Rom. 8: 28).
We are not just to act joyful, in reluctant pretense, but to be genuinely joyful. It is a matter of will, not of feelings, and should be the conscious, determined commitment of every faithful believer. And because God commands it, it is within the ability, under the Spirit’s provision, of every true Christian. When faith in Jesus Christ is genuine, James assures us, even the worst of troubles can and should be cause for thanksgiving and rejoicing.
The more we rejoice in our testings, the more we realize that they are not liabilities but privileges, ultimately beneficial and not harmful, no matter how destructive and painful the immediate experience of them might appear. When we face trials with the attitude that James admonishes, we discover that the greatest part of the joy is drawing closer to the Lord—the Source of all joy—by becoming more sensitive to His presence, His goodness, His love, and His grace. Our prayer life increases, as does our interest in and study of the Word, and in each of those ways our joy increases all the more.
As already noted, our Lord Himself, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2). He looked beyond the trial to the joy that He knew would be His when the trial was over and it had accomplished the glorious work it was divinely ordained to accomplish. “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart,” the writer of Hebrews goes on to say (v. 3). “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin” (v. 4). A few verses later he explains in regard to parental discipline: “For the moment [it] seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (v. 11). If our perfectly holy Lord could endure the unimaginable agony of undeservedly taking the world’s sin upon Himself, how can we not endure-willingly and with thanksgiving—the immeasurably lesser and deserved sufferings that test us from time to time?
Although he was writing from prison and enduring great discomfort, frustration, and pain, Paul could say with complete sincerity, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (Phil. 4:11–12). After they were cast into the inner prison in Philippi and had their legs stretched far apart in extremely painful stocks, “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God” (Acts 16:24–25). Paul was afflicted with “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment [him]” (2 Cor. 12:7). Because he “implored the Lord three times that it might leave [him]” (v. 8), we can be sure that it was painful beyond measure, since he had endured many other painful situations of every sort without complaint or request for alleviation. But when the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness,” Paul stopped asking for relief and immediately began rejoicing for the very trial that already had caused him, and would continue to cause him, so much grief (v. 9). Trials became as much a cause for Paul’s joy as his blessings. He knew they drew him closer to the Lord, allowed him the privilege of having fellowship in the Lord’s own suffering (Phil. 3:10), and were a divine means for keeping him humble (2 Cor. 12:7).
“What credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?” Peter asks rhetorically. “But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God” (1 Pet. 2:20). Jesus reminded the disciples, “‘Remember the word that I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you’” (John 15:20; cf. Matt. 5:10–11; Luke 6:22). How wonderful one day to hear the Lord say to us what He said to the disciples just before He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane: “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom” (Luke 22:28–30). He promises all of His true followers what He promised them: “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy” (John 16:20). To give the point a more tangible meaning, Jesus gave an illustration from childbirth. “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world” (v. 21).
As already noted, all suffering is not physical. Some of the worst is mental and emotional. While Paul was imprisoned, probably in Caesarea or Rome, he lamented that some of the preachers in Philippi “proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment” (Phil. 1:17). He was deeply hurt that certain fellow ministers, some of whom he had trained and befriended, were maligning him from envy and wicked jealousy. Nevertheless, he rejoiced that the true gospel was being preached and that ultimately he would be vindicated (vv. 19–20). He also had the satisfaction of knowing “that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear” (v. 14). “Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith,” he went on to say
I rejoice and share my joy with you all…. Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. (2:17; 3:7–8)
Near the end of the letter, he proclaimed again, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (4:4). Paul was a man of continual great joy.
In his commentary on James, Warren Wiersbe writes, “Our values determine our evaluations. If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to ‘count it all joy!’ If we live only for the present and forget the future, the trials will make us bitter, not better” (The Bible Exposition Commentary [Wheaton, Ill.: Victor, 1989], 2:338).
If a Christian cannot rejoice in his trials, his values are not godly and biblical.
Amy Carmichael, a longtime missionary in South India and no stranger to hardships of every sort, wrote:
Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,
Hast thou no scar?
Hast thou no wound?
Yet, I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned me against the tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?
No wound? No scar?
Yes, as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?(Gold Cord [Fort Washington, Pa.:
Christian Literature Crusade, 1996], 80).
Although he knew much less of God’s revelation than did Paul, Job trusted the Lord implicitly, testifying to his critical friends with utter confidence, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him,” and, “He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 13:15; 23:10). Even in that ancient day, he understood with Paul that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).
By addressing his readers as my brethren, James makes clear that he is speaking primarily to Jewish believers, as he does throughout the letter (see also 1:16, 19; 2:1, 5, 14; 3:1, 10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19). As noted in the Introduction and earlier in this chapter, the tests of true faith obviously have value for unbelievers (non-Christians and those who think they are Christians). But James’s primary audience is true believers, his brethren in Christ. Calling them my brethren adds a special note of personal identification and love. He uses the phrase “beloved brethren” three times (1:16, 19; 2:5).
Hotan (when) is in the subjunctive mood and carries the idea not just of possibility but inevitability. In other words, various trials are certain to come and should be expected as part of living life on this present earth. Peripiptö (encounter) has the literal meaning of falling into, usually unexpectedly. In the story of the Good Samaritan, it is used of the man who “fell among robbers” (Luke 10:30), and in Acts of Paul’s ship “falling into a place where two seas met” (27:41 KJV).
Trials is from peirasmos, which has the basic meaning of trying, testing, assaying, or proving. The word itself is neutral and can have negative or positive connotations, depending on the context, and is sometimes translated “temptation” (e.g., Matt. 6:13; 26:41; 2 Pet. 2:9). The verb form of the word, in fact, is rendered “tempted” or “tempt” in James 1:13, where the idea is clearly that of solicitation to evil. In the present text, however, James obviously has in mind the idea of testing through trouble that is caused by any sort of hardship, problem, or difficulty.
Various translates poikilos, which has the literal meaning of variegated, or many-colored, and came to be used figuratively of things that are diverse or varied. James’s point is that the trials we encounter will come in many shapes, shades, and degrees. It is not that every individual Christian will suffer every kind or degree of trouble, but that Christians in general are subject to troubles of every kind from every possible source. Whatever their nature or severity, these various trials are meant to test a believer’s faith.
James does not distinguish between internal and external trials, doubtless because they typically are indistinguishable. What begins as a purely external problem inevitably develops internal problems and testings. And, of course, it is the internal effect of trials, the way in which we respond to them, that involves our faith. Whether the trial begins as a financial problem or physical illness, as a disappointment, criticism, fear, or persecution, it is our attitude about it and response to it that reflect our spiritual condition.
AN UNDERSTANDING MIND
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (1:3)
A second means to triumphant perseverance in trials is an understanding mind. Ginōskō (knowing) carries the idea of full understanding of something that is beyond the merely factual and that often comes from personal experience. Jesus used this word in the parable of the fig tree, saying, “When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near” (Mark 13:28, emphasis added). Paul uses a form of the word twice in Romans 1 (“is known,” v. 19; “knew,” v. 21) when declaring that even ungodly pagans have a certain observable knowledge of God that He has revealed through His creation (Rom. 1:19–21).
As Christians, we know from our own experience, as well as from God’s Word, that the testing of [our] faith produces endurance. We have learned that His promise is indeed true, for, after we have endured suffering, affliction, or testings, we have discovered that our trust in the Lord is not only intact but is all the stronger for the testing.
Testing is from dokimion, a completely different term from peirasmos (trials), used in the previous verse, but one that carries much the same meaning. Both have the basic idea of testing something in order to prove or disprove its genuineness or validity.
Endurance is from hupomonē, which is frequently translated “patience,” but here connotes more the product, or consequence, of patience, which is endurance. Patiently enduring trials while trusting in the Lord develops endurance, which has a lasting quality. Patience is needed only as long as the affliction or trouble is present, for, when it is over, patience no longer has a purpose. But endurance is a permanent inner quality of strength, which increases each time a trial is patiently and trustingly endured.
David testified, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm” (Ps. 40: 1–2). Paul assures us that “no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The Lord will not allow His children to face anything that they cannot, in His power and provision, survive. A new believer, in fact most believers, could not endure many of the trials that the apostle Paul encountered. But we will never be called on to face such trials unless the Lord has prepared us as He prepared Paul.
When Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane, the soldiers were ready to arrest the disciples with Him, but He “asked them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ And they said, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way’” (John 18:7–8). John explains that Jesus said that to “fulfill the word which He spoke, Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one’” (v. 9; cf. 17:12). The Lord knew that the disciples were not yet strong enough to survive such an ordeal, and He graciously protected them from it.
Although we do not know all the particulars, when Paul wrote his first letter to the church at Thessalonica, he was greatly concerned about their faith (1 Thess. 3:5, 10). Less than a year later, however, he was able to tell them,
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged …; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure…. [And] may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thess. 1:3–4; 3:5)
It was because of their trials that their endurance was increased and strengthened, and that their faith in and love for God were increased and strengthened.
Hebrews 11 is but a long series of testimonies to men and women of God whose faith enabled them to endure afflictions for the Lord’s sake and was thereby increased and strengthened. “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these … gained approval through their faith” (vv. 37–39). The writer then admonishes: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”(12:1).
Those godly men and women dramatically manifested true saving faith by what is commonly called the perseverance of the saints. From a different perspective, it is called the security of believers. The first view is from man’s side, the second from God’s—and God’s part in this marvelous reality always precedes man’s. It is God’s provision of security that makes possible His people’s perseverance.
The Bible makes clear that no person who comes to God in saving faith will ever be separated from the Savior. First of all, we are secure because of the power of God. “I give eternal life to them,” Jesus says of His sheep, “and they shall never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28; cf. 6:39). As if His own divine assurance were not enough, He added, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand”(10:29).
Second, we are secure because of the promise and prayers of Christ. In His high priestly prayer shortly before His arrest, He said to His Father, “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled” (John 17:12; cf. 18:9). He told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31–32). Because Jesus intercedes for us in heaven today believers “have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”(l John 2: l), our Great High Priest, who “is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).
Third, we are secure because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. He is “the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory… [He is] the Holy Spirit of God, by whom [we] were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 1:13–14; 4:30). He is the other Helper, whom Christ sent to “be with [us] forever” (John 14:16) after His ascension to the Father.
The whole Trinity secures believers, so that no one who believes in the Lord will ever be lost. God preserves His people from apostasy, from defection from the faith. However serious the sin they may fall into, they will never sin themselves out of God’s kingdom. Even Old Testament saints had that assurance. David wrote, “The Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever” (Ps. 37:28); and, “The Lord will protect him and keep him alive” (41:2). Another psalmist said, “Hate evil, you who love the Lord, who preserves the souls of His godly ones” (97: 10; cf. 116:6).
Gladly and without shame Paul endured great suffering for his Lord, because, he said, “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed,”he testified in closing that letter, “and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom” (4:18; cf. 1 Pet. 1:5; Jude 1, 24).
As noted above, eternal security enables the endurance and perseverance of believers. “The one who endures to the end, he will be saved,” Jesus said (Matt. 24:13); and on another occasion, “ you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” (John 8:31). Paul explained to the church in Corinth, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:1–2). In other words, if their faith was not in vain, if it was genuine, it would be proven by their holding fast to the Lord. By its very nature and by God’s divine provision, saving faith is permanent faith. Endurance, or perseverance, is a means by which security is worked out and is a certain evidence of it.
On the other hand, if a person renounces faith in Christ, he simply proves he never had saving faith at all. Speaking of spurious Christians, whom he calls antichrists and who left the fellowship of God’s people, John explains, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). “We have become partakers of Christ,” the writer of Hebrews explains, “if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end”(Heb. 3: 14).
Perseverance is inseparable from holiness. A life that is consistently immoral and unspiritual cannot possibly persevere because it does not belong to God, does not have His divine protection, and has no real desire to persevere in the faith. It is for that reason that the writer of Hebrews not only says, as just cited, that true partakers of Christ will hold fast to the end but also that believers are to “pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification [holiness] without which no one will see the Lord” (12:14). Godly Job understood that “the righteous shall hold to his way, and he who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9). Pursuit of holiness is almost a synonym for perseverance.
The Westminster Confession of Faith includes these profound words:
They, whom God hath accepted in His beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God’s displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. (Chap. 12, pars. 1, 2, 3)