Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12).
Blessed — makarios — is the same word Jesus used in the beatitudes — Blessed are the merciful (Matt. 5:7). Makarios refers to happiness, joy, a state of being which only God can bestow and is not dependent on the world or our circumstances. It is God’s gift to His children, to those who love Him and are faithful. Makarios, blessedness, is in stark contrast to the world’s definition of happiness which is based on power, fame, riches, pleasure, all of which are temporary, easily diminished and eventually lost.
True blessedness is celebrated in the realization that we were born for a high purpose designed by God from eternity; in the realization that though we once were separated from God by our sin and spiritually dead in sin, this wise, loving God chose us, called us, entered time to awaken us to His mercy and by His grace redeemed us and called us into the reality of a living relationship in which we may know Him and enjoy Him forever. Blessedness is celebrated in the confidence that the same God who saved us by grace will also keep us by grace.
Blessed is a man who perseveres. Perseveres — hupomeno — means to withstand, endure, abide, bear up courageously. It is the same word Jesus used in Matt. 10:22, You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. Endurance, perseverance, doesn’t earn our salvation; rather, it proves the reality of our salvation.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial. Trial — peirasmos — proof, temptation, test. The related verb peirazo, has to do not only with temptation but also trial and testing, examining, proving or assaying (assaying is the process by which we determine the worth or purity of metal).
In Matthew 4:1 we read, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This immediately followed the baptism of Jesus, at which the Holy Spirit descended on Him. Luke describes this wilderness confrontation in this way, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1,2). Mark is even more emphatic, Immediately the Spirit impelled Him (KJ, drove Him) to go out into the wilderness (1:12)
Why would the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? The word tempted is peirazo from peirasmos which, as we have said, may be translated test, examine, prove. Satan intended to draw Jesus away from His mission. God allowed the test to confirm Jesus in His mission. What Satan intended as a temptation to corrupt Jesus, God allowed as a test to prove the purity of Jesus. What Satan intended for destruction, God allowed for confirmation.
It is not that God the Father needed for Jesus to confirm anything to Him nor did Jesus need to prove anything to Himself. Rather, this was to confirm to Satan the true identity and mission of Jesus.
It is the same in our lives. God does not create temptation in our lives but He does allow tests (same word, peirasmos). God allows tests / trials to reveal the reality of our faith. It’s not that God needs to learn anything about our faith but so that we, in the test / trial, can prove the reality of our faith to ourselves and to the world around us.
This is why James says, Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved — approved by passing the test — the result then is that he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12). The word crown is stephanos, the wreath given to the victorious athlete at the Olympic games.
Crown of life could be translated, the crown which is life — eternal life, sharing the life of God. When our faith is tested and proven through endurance / perseverance, we demonstrate, we prove that our faith is true, saving faith which meets with God’s approval and proves that eternal life is our possession. Blessed indeed are all who persevere under trial.
Therefore James exhorts us, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials (peirasmos), knowing that the testing (dokimion, trying) of your faith produces endurance (hupomone). And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).
We should rejoice when we encounter the test / trial because when we respond by persevering, enduring, pressing on in faith, we not only prove the reality of our faith but also the result is greater endurance and a new level of maturity, completeness. We are strengthened, more deeply established in our faith and our character.
The process of testing also serves as a crucible for the burning off of aspects of our character that are contrary to the character of Jesus. Like a runner in a marathon or a soldier on a long march, as the race or the march becomes more challenging, they begin to throw off excess baggage. So do we, in times of testing and trial, throw off patterns of behavior which weigh us down. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us, 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 (perseverance, hupomone) the race that is set before us (Hebr. 12:1). This process results in blessedness, greater maturity, approval by God and demonstrates that we are truly crowned with eternal life.
Satan will attempt to turn that trial / test / peirasmos into a corrupting temptation (same word, peirasmos) as he did with Jesus. Our response will cause the trial / test to become either a proving of faith and purifying of character or a temptation resulting in failure of faith and corrupting of character. The determining factor is our response.
It is important that we not be confused about the source of the peirasmos — the test or the temptation. James reminds us, Let no one say when he is tempted (peirazo), ‘I am being tempted by God’, for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13). But as we have said, God allows tests in our lives, and Satan will try to turn the test into a temptation to corrupt our faith, to discredit our witness or even destroy our life. How does a test become a temptation?
But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust (strong desire). Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death (James 1:14,15).
1. Sin begins with a sensory stimulus which arouses our strong desire for something. Desire is not sin but it can become sin if it is so great that it motivates us to violate moral law. Desire is often initiated by sensory stimuli from outside of us, something we see or hear or smell. Desire may also be stimulated by our imagination but that too is based on what we have experienced in the past. The stimuli arouses our desire and hooks, attaches to the desire within us. In Eve’s life, it was the sight of the fruit. Looking at the fruit, it hooked into her imagination: When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate (Gen. 3:6). The fruit aroused, energized her desire. She was being carried away, enticed by desire.
2. Desire conceives reasons to satisfy the desire.
Eve began to reason, to explain to herself, to justify, to rationalize why it would be good to eat the fruit: “I will be like God. I’ll be really wise.” Any prohibitions are being pushed aside by her desire. She justifies eating the fruit no matter what it may cost her or how it might harm her. Never mind that she was created in the image of God and has access to the wisdom of God. She wants to be God and she believes that eating this fruit is the means to achieve this desire.
3. Rationalized desire begins to conceive an action.
Eve begins to formulate a plan to act on what she has desired and rationalized. Her will is involved now. She does not merely desire the fruit. Because she has justified having it, she now wills to have it. It is no longer a matter of being tempted by the sight or thought of it. She is now drawn to it by her own will. It is internal motivation — she wants it.
4. Finally, she exercised her will.
Eve takes the fruit and eats it. The fact that it is illegal and harmful means that she has violated the law of God, the love of God and her own personhood. She has sinned. Adam also took and ate and shared in the sin. But the sin did not begin with the action. It began with out of control desire.
5. Sin always results in the death of something.
When Adam and Eve sinned, death immediately entered their relationship with God, with each other, with creation and death began to impact their own emotional and physical being. Sin always conceives and gives birth to death. The result, Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death (James 1:15).
The remedy is what James has been emphasizing — perseverance, endurance in the trial / test lest it become a temptation. We are able to endure as we lean into the Lord who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). God will give us grace to endure, to persevere in the test. He did not only lavish saving grace upon us — He also lavished persevering grace. Those who are truly saved by grace will endure by grace, persevere — press on, will not fall away.
Paul reminds us, 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 (I Cor. 10:13). God will always provide grace to persevere. Therefore, true saints will always endure under trials and tests. As we have said, perseverance does not earn or achieve salvation but proves the true reality of our salvation.
Perseverance tested demonstrates:
1. The keeping power of grace.
God not only gifted us with grace to believe (saving grace). He also gifted us with grace to endure the trials, tests, temptations of life. Perseverance tested demonstrates the keeping power of God — we are secure because of the promise and keeping power of God.
Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 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 (John 10:27-29).
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phlp. 1:6). Paul wrote those words from his imprisonment in Rome to a church which was undergoing persecution but he had no doubt as to the keeping power of God’s grace in his life and in the lives of the church members.
We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Christ meets us in time to bring us to salvation and promises to perfect what He has begun. How could we lose in time that which was ordained in eternity past and is promised to be perfected in eternity future? When we persevere, when we endure and press on, we demonstrate the keeping power of grace.
2. Perseverance tested demonstrates the grace released through the prayers of Jesus.
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (Hebr. 7:25). Jesus, in His infinite capacity as the Son of God, is praying for all of His holy church, hour by hour but also prays for each of us personally. He is able to do this because He is infinite, eternal, unbounded by time.
In John 17 we read an example of His prayer for the corporate church, that the Father would keep us in His name, keep us from the evil one, sanctify us in the truth, that we would be one, in union with the Trinity, perfect in unity, that the Father impart His love for the Son into the hearts of believers, (17:11,15,17,21-23,26).
But in Luke 22:31,32 we read of His prayer more specifically for the apostles and for Peter. As the last supper was concluding, only hours before His arrest, Jesus said to Simon 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.
The first use of the pronoun you is plural — Satan has demanded permission to sift you (all) — all of the remaining eleven disciples. But Jesus says, I have prayed for you (singular, Simon) that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Notice the absolute confidence of Jesus — when once you have turned again. Jesus was certain that through His ministry of intercession, though Peter would fail before the night was over, he would not lose his faith, he would persevere, he would endure. A terrible test was coming upon Peter and all the disciples but Jesus prayed for them and they endured.
John reminds us, And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (I Jn. 2:1). Jesus, our Advocate is always praying for us. The Father always hears and answers the prayers of His Son because the Son always prays in perfect harmony with the Father. When we persevere in a trial, we demonstrate the grace released through the prayers of Jesus.
Also, lets’s remember that the Holy Spirit also prays for us, In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). In some expression of non-verbal communication within the Trinity, the Spirit is also interceding for us.
3. Perseverance tested demonstrates the covenant faithfulness of God.
Through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus we have entered into a covenant relationship with God and He is a faithful, covenant keeping God. The Apostle Paul reminds us, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass (I Thes. 5:23,24).
It is the covenant faithfulness of God that preserves us when we stumble, when we are weak, when we are persecuted, when we experience adversity, trial, temptation and testing. As we saw in the life of Peter, so with us. God is faithful to preserve His covenant partners.
It is the covenant faithfulness of God that preserves us from damning deception. We may at times be misled but we will not fall into deception that results in loss of salvation. The Apostle John warns the church about deceivers who manifest the spirit of antichrist (those who deny the truth of Jesus). And he says, But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know (I Jn. 2:20). Know what? You know the truth, you recognize truth and you recognize damnable error.
What is the anointing that John refers to? It is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. So John says, These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him (I John 2:26,27).
John doesn’t mean that we don’t need teachers but we don’t need anyone to teach us the difference between truth and damning deception. We don’t need anyone to help us discern the difference between someone manifesting an antichrist spirit of deception and a teacher of Scripturally based truth who is led and inspired by the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit is faithful to give us discernment and we will persevere in the truth.
Perseverance tested reveals the covenant faithfulness of God. Therefore Paul says, 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). Those words were written during Paul’s second imprisonment as he awaited imminent execution. But Paul was confident that the life he had entrusted to Christ would be preserved through time into eternity. In that same epistle, Paul testified, The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen (2 Tim 4:18).
Perseverance tested reveals:
1. The keeping power of grace.
2. The grace released through the prayers of Jesus (and the Holy Spirit).
3. The covenant faithfulness of God
God has gifted us not only with saving faith but also with faith to endure, to press on, to persevere through the tests and trials of this life. This does not mean that we can live any way we choose. There is a human element to perseverance. God gives us grace to endure but we must exercise persevering grace by continually confessing our sins and receiving God’s restoring grace and enablement to walk before Him with pure hearts.
The Apostle Paul exhorts us, Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phlpns. 2:12,13). We work out our salvation as God works in us. That is a partnership.
Peter said, For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God (I Peter 1:23). But he also exhorts us, Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation (2:2). We were saved when the Lord sovereignly pierced our hearts with the word of salvation. But we must continue to grow through that word. It is a partnership.
Paul urged the church at Corinth, Hold fast the word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain (I Cor 15:2). God plants His word in our hearts but we must hold it fast by reading it, studying it, thinking on it and living it. It is a partnership.
The writer to the Hebrews reminds us, For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end (Hebr 3:14). It is God who saved us in and through Christ and we prove this by holding fast to our salvation.
How do we hold fast? By the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus said, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit empowers us, energizes us to persevere through the tests and trials of life. Just as we were saved by grace, we persevere through the energizing grace of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul prayed for the church, That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know … the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Eph.1:18-20).
Paul says that he wants us to understand the surpassing greatness of His power (God’s power, dunamis). Dunamis is miraculous power, mighty work, abundance, strength, the ability to accomplish God’s purpose.
Which are in accordance with the working (energeia, from which we derive the English word energy). Energeia is power at work, used here to describe the power of God in the resurrection of Jesus, the power of God enabling Paul’s ministry (Eph 3:7); and the power of God building the church (Eph 4:16).
These are in accordance with the working (energeia) of the strength (kratos), power that conquers, used to describe the everlasting dominion of God and the work of Jesus, who, through death, rendered powerless him who had the power of death (Hebr. 2:14).
These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might (ischus) — forcefulness, endowed power which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the Father’s right hand — that power is working in us who believe. We hold fast through the indwelling Holy Spirit who powerfully energizes us with His strength and might to overcome and press on. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts the church to not be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebr 6:12).
Peter exhorts us, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:3-7).
If saving grace is God’s gift and if this gift is an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God, then how can it ever be lost? If the Holy Spirit empowers us to press on, how could we not?
Yes, there are trials but we are protected by the power of God through faith and faith itself is God’s gift. We take hold of God’s power by faith, as the Psalmist said, My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me (Ps. 63:8). Just as you hold to a little baby whose tiny hand is clinging to your finger, so we cling to the God who upholds us.
Paul exhorted Timothy, Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called (I Tim. 6:12). We take hold of … eternal life in the everlasting embrace of the Lord who holds us. It is God who calls us by His grace, holds us by grace. We take hold of grace by faith. And faith itself is a gift of grace.
During times of trial or test, we may stumble and fall into sin
1. because of corruption remaining in our unsubdued humanity
2. because of temptation rising from the fallen world around us
3. because we neglect the means of grace whereby we are strengthened.
These stumbles may result in loss of blessing and God’s chastisement but not loss of salvation. Instead, there will be genuine repentance and a renewed pressing on if our faith is genuine. As Jesus said, But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved (Matt. 24:13).
Eternal life is not earned by endurance. However, eternal life is the reward for endurance which proves the genuineness of true, saving faith. There are trials, tests, temptations, crises which challenge us to the core of our being. But God is faithful and it is to His faithfulness that we cling.
The Apostle Paul said, And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified (Rom. 8:30). The Lord chose in eternity past to awaken us to His saving grace, called us to Himself and granted us saving faith by which we are declared to be justified. And these whom He justified, He also glorified. Glorified refers to the perfection of God’s saving grace in our lives in heaven. But Paul is so absolutely confident of this someday event, he uses a past tense verb — glorified. It is done. It is already accomplished.
This is why Jude is able to declare, Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 1:24,25).
Study Questions
1. Why does God allow tests and trials?
2. When perseverance is tested, what does it demonstrate?
3. If our salvation is real, will we persevere?