Trying of Faith

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Posted by Michael Bunker
editor@lazarusunbound.com

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:2-5).

August 9, 2005 – The Apostle James parallels “divers temptations” with “the trying of your faith”, and he declares that there is a work being done in the beloved through the means of suffering, a means which most men either revile or neglect.  The term “divers temptations” literally means “various and different types of trials”.  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines a trial as:

“Experience; suffering that puts strength, patience of faith to the test; afflictions or temptations that exercise and prove the graces or virtues of men” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary).

Before a man will come freely to the physician, he must have a sense of his own sickness, and likewise unless we are seriously tried we can have no sense of our weakness and of our need.  The modernist charismatic gospel fails in that not only does it misidentify the True Christ, but it also encourages a false faith in that false Christ by means of encouraging the deceived to believe that no trial will come upon the faithful, or rather that all trials and tribulations are the result of a lack of faith.  But the Bible teaches that trials and tribulations come to test faith, to ascertain whether it is real or not and whether God’s grace has surely been given or not.  God does not test his work to show off the work, rather He tests the work to make evident the qualities and glory of the Workman.  Your trials and tribulations, if you are His elect, come about so that He will be glorified according to His work in and through you.  A gospel of comfort and prosperity, being antithetical to that which we have showed to be true, therefore must be a false gospel in whatever form it is found.

The Apostle Peter states that Faith is much more precious than gold.  Gold, tried in the fire, is proved to be true gold and its impurities are burned away.  This is all to the glory of the divine metallurgist.  John Gill said, “for not only as gold being tried in the fire is purged from its dross, and is proved to be genuine and shines the brighter, so faith, being tried in the fire of afflictions, is purged from unbelief; and the believer is purged from his dross and tin, and his iniquity is purged, and the fruit of all is to take away sin; and he is tried and proved to be a true believer, and his faith shines the more illustriously” (John Gill Commentary).

Faith is a gift, but we must always remember that faith has an object.  There is a false “faith” and there are also false Christ’s.  Discerning (in ourselves or in others) that faith which is true faith in the true Christ is much harder than most can imagine.  True faith must be not only true in and of itself, having God as its author and finisher (Heb. 12:2), but it must have Jesus Christ as its object (Acts 20:21, Gal. 2:15, Gal. 3:26).  True faith must be faith IN Christ and the faith OF Christ, wherein God is shown forth to be both its author and finisher.  God’s glory is being made evident, according to the divine decree, by the trying of faith.  No faith that is not tried can be known in the world to be true faith.  Without true faith, it impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6) because only that which proceeds from the Father; that which has the divine stamp of Jesus Christ upon it; that which is motivated by God’s Spirit; and that which brings glory to the Godhead, will ever please God.  It is by faith that we are enabled to approach the Throne of Grace in order to “obtain mercy, and to find grace to help in time of need”, but it is inadvisable that we should ever seek to approach the divine throne on the wheels of untried faith.

"Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of; they just turn up some of the ill weeds on to the surface." (Charles Spurgeon)

Attending to our righteous duties, both spiritual and carnal, naturally brings forth trials.  There is a law built into this present dispensation that declares that all those who will live worthily and who will live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12).  We know that this term “persecution” does not relate solely to religious persecution by unbelievers or governmental entities because the Apostle, in the previous verse, couples persecution with “afflictions” in his dissertation on why such sufferings are necessary for the perfection of God’s beloved Saints.  Now, the carnal man cannot receive this truth, because the natural biology of the carnal man is to satisfy and satiate self while doing whatever is necessary to avoid pain and suffering.  Modernist “christians” are convinced by their false shepherds that suffering is always a result of a lack of faith and/or personal active sin, and while it is true that the creature conspires to punish all sin, it is also true that God has decreed suffering and affliction for those who love Him and who seek to follow and serve Him.  Whether a particular affliction is the result of rebuke and chastisement or whether it is a trial and testing of faith is a difficult study to be embarked upon by mature Christians.  Failure to rightly recognize a trial of faith can lead to despair and confusion.

By studying the book of Job, and the many other instances of trials in the scriptures, we can come up with a fairly simple test to determine if a particular affliction is a chastisement or if it is a trial.  In short, if an affliction cannot be directly and biblically tied to our behavior or a particular sin or pattern of sin – then it is to be considered a trial.  When we suffer for well doing or in our attempts at obedience, we are to glorify God in that suffering.  Job suffered that God may be glorified before His enemies.

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:15-16).

Why are we to expect suffering as Christians?  Don’t the pseudo-Christian media whores claim that Christians are all supposed to be rich, powerful and healthy?  Peter explains why suffering should not be a surprise, but should be expected.  The next verses reads:

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:17-19).

The time was then come (just beginning) that judgment (a trial resulting in the ultimate disposition of a case) would begin at the house of God (those claiming to belong to the true God).  From that time on, Christians (the ‘house of God’ defined for us in the previous verse) could expect that if they do obey the gospel of God, they will likely suffer in such a way that they would barely (scarcely) be saved (pass successfully through the trial).  If the righteous are scarcely approved then what can we say of the ungodly and the sinners? 

The trial of faith for true Christians is a complete and utter war against our natural sense of entitlement and position.  The Jews failed miserably because of this same sense of entitlement, and the true house of God is to have this sense stripped from them in the most brutal ways imaginable.  Tribulation for a true believer will be such that the disciples are exhorted that their souls would be confirmed that we might “continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).  Tribulation, suffering and trials are not just “likely” for God’s elect, but they are both absolutely prophesied and absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of God’s decreed purposes concerning the Church.

A friend asked me recently why God allowed the Apostles to be so horribly treated and why He let most of them be murdered.  I responded:

“For His own Glory”

A reasonable artist does not paint a work of art in order to hang it in a closet.  A worthy craftsman does not build a magnificent work and then bury it underground so that no one can test it.  The Divine Artist and Craftsman has determined to see His work put to the most severe tests.  The devil does not win when he kills one of God’s servants; rather, it is the ultimate form of loss when you have to kill what you cannot conquer.

It is sad that persecution, estrangement, ridicule, isolation, hardship, troubles, difficulties, pain, suffering and such are considered a strange thing to professing Christians.  It is a grand sign of the great apostasy of our time that “christians” do not expect or embrace these things as a necessary part of our re-birthright here on earth.  Peter said that we are not to be ashamed, but we are to glorify God on this behalf.  We are not supposed to be strangers to suffering.  Only a few verses earlier, Peter wrote:

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

For some the question should not be, “I suffer… why?”  The question should be, “I suffer not… why not?”

It seems quite confusing for people to hear that they suffer because of their own sin and offenses against God’s law, then, at the same time, they will suffer if they are God’s children and if they follow Him in obedience and Godliness.  Now, both of these things are true – and quite often they are both true in the same person.  I tell you this so that you do not automatically assume that, because you believe yourself to be a Christian, you are suffering for righteousness sake.  Not all suffering is for righteousness sake.  Just as we are to “try the spirits” (1 John 4:1), we should also try our own trials.  We should ask ourselves if our own sin has brought our situation upon us, or if it is likely that we are suffering for our obedience to the commandments and decrees of God.  Are we in want because we have made bad decisions without seeking God?  Or, are we in want because God has seen fit to keep us lean and hungry in the fight of our lives?  Are we suffering because we are operating outside of God’s commandments and according to our own will?  Or, are we suffering because we have subjected our own will to the will of the Father and because we have forgone comfort and ample supply in favor of obedience?  Find out and you will discover whether you should be at peace in your circumstances or not.

This issue is a bigger one than we might imagine.  We can have peace in affliction and trial, and even more, we can see afflictions and trials as a sign of Sonship if indeed we rightly interpret the source of our trial.  Our entry verse does not encourage us to merely stand fast through our trials and bear them honorably – though we should do both of those things.  The Apostle encourages us to “count it all joy” when our faith is tried.  Having our minds freed from bad doctrines and wrong interpretations is one of the first steps in actually experiencing this joy.

Part of being real Christians and experiencing and following the will of God in the Kingdom of God, is rightly seeing events in the temporal timeline as the come to pass, and glorifying God before all men for His mighty works and His unsearchable ways.  While His ways are past finding out (Rom. 11:33), He has promised to give us wisdom concerning our afflictions (James 1:5).

May the Lord help us bring this area of our lives under His government, and may we receive great joy and God receive glory in our tribulations and trials.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

 
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