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

Hebrews 11 & 12; Heroes of Faith?

I have had the pleasure of reading through Hebrews chapters 11 and 12 again these past few days with fresh eyes. I love it when scripture takes on fresh meaning!

Hebrews chapter 11, as most of us will know, is the hall of fame of faith.  The writer begins by telling us what faith is – “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Verse 1) He tells us that the people of old were commended (worthy of confidence or notice) by their faith. He tells us that by faith we believe all things were created by God. He then lists a number of saints by name and tells of the things they did by faith:

1.  Able offered God a more acceptable sacrifice
2. Enoch was taken up without dying
3. Noah built the ark
4. Abraham left his home and went to a place he did not know
5. Sarah conceived a child
6. Abraham offered up Isaac
7. Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
8. Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph
9. Moses’ parents defied pharaoh by keeping their son from death
10. Moses refused to live as one of Pharaoh’s house
11. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt
12. The Israelites passed through the Red Sea while the Egyptians were drowned
13. Joshua and the Israelites brought down the walls of Jericho
14. Rahab did not perish with the people of Jericho because she welcomed the Israelite spies

That’s a pretty handy early history of Israel that shows how individuals were involved in bringing about the plan of God. In the past, I always read this passage more as a list of heroes who had exercised great faith and accomplished great things. My problem was that I had weak faith compared to them. But this time through, my mind went back to the definition of faith that we find often in the New Testament – a belief in the promise of God that is birthed in us when we hear the promise of God. (Romans 10:14)

When we look at it that way two things happen. First, we stop idolizing the characters as heroes because they were just common people to whom God had presented a promise, and that promise created faith within them. They were no more able to muster up faith than we are. Their faith had the same source as ours – simply trusting the spoken word of God. Second, we see clearly that God brings about His will in this world through the faith which he gives. We can clearly trace the hand of God in the history of Israel, but here the writer takes us in close to see how God’s gift of faith to certain individuals was instrumental in directing the course of that history. They all failed in many ways, and yet because they trusted the promise which had been given they were able to accomplish much for God.

The writer then lists many others by name, and still other nameless ones who won incredible victories and endured unimaginable torture by faith. And he wraps it all up by saying that all of these were commended by God simply because they heard the promise in such a way that it created faith in their lives. Despite the fact that they lived according to the promise they were given, they never received what was promised. But they did receive the Word. The Word which was to become flesh, as John 1 explains.

Just about the time I thought I was interpreting all of this a little too loosely, I turned to chapter 12, and the interpretation was confirmed:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

The Word which became flesh, Jesus Christ, is both the founder (the originator) and the perfecter of our faith. In other words, faith doesn't begin and end with us. Faith comes by hearing the word about Christ. When we hear the promise, it creates the very same faith in us that it did in Able, Abraham, Moses, etc. Only better, because now the promise is perfected. The Logos has become flesh and fulfilled the promise, and we, by the faith of the promise, have Him. 

One last thing; when we read the history of Israel it is easy to see God’s hand moving – as it is always easy to see as we look back. But we forget that Abraham had no idea where he was going or what he was getting into when he left home for the Promised Land; Noah had never seen a raindrop when he built the ark, Jacob had no idea that he was blessing Jacob instead of Esau. These people did not plan out the course of history, but simply lived according to the promise they had been given as well as they could. They failed often, protested that they were ill-suited, and were given to sin the same as we are. But by faith – belief in the promise which the promise itself brought about – they were used to alter the course of history. That is something for us to consider as we seek to live lives which are pleasing to God. God doesn’t commend people for the things they have done or will do, but for their acceptance of His promise. That is the gospel truth.

God Bless