More Precious Than Gold

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-7 ESV)

I have, in times past, interpreted the words of Peter as meaning that God grieves us with trials in order to strengthen our faith; that faith is built in the crucible of pain. I thought that Peter was telling us that when we reached a time of trial in our lives we were to muster our faith so that we can prevail in the circumstances of the trial; that our response to our trials should be greater faith.

Now I see something different in these words. Knowing that faith is the gift of God, I understand that faith is not something that depends on my faithfulness. I realize that there is no way that I can build my faith by being more faithful, rather, it is the faith which God has given me that sustains me in times of trial. The trial is a test that shows me the genuineness of that gifted faith, not a means of forcing me to resign myself to some self-deluded hope that ‘everything is going to work out fine.’ To be specific, trials show us our need for the object of our faith – Jesus Christ.

This kind of approach to trials by Christians (at least in the west) is indicative of the fact that our faith is not really rooted in the savior, but is rooted in itself. We have faith in our faith rather than in Christ. As a result, when we face trials and our faith fails, we become defeated and fail the test.

The next time you face a trial, remember this scripture and think of it in terms of grace. Reading it according to the law will render it to you like this: God desires, through this test, that I prove my faithfulness to Him. Reading it according to grace renders it exactly the opposite: God desires, through this test, to show how faithful He is. In the midst of the trial, which would you rather rely upon, God’s faithfulness or your own? Test the faith He has given you, the faith that is your real connection to Him, and you will discover that it is more precious than gold because it will not perish even in the most fiery of trials. At the revelation of Jesus Christ that gift of faith, not your faith, will be found to result in praise and glory and honor. That is the gospel truth.

God Bless