James 1:2-4 teaches us a different way to think about the adversities in our lives. James explains that God allows adversity to come upon us at various times and that when He does, it is an occasion for pure joy. The reason we can joyfully embrace adversity is that we understand God’s purpose for it and that purpose is to purify the content of what we believe. The final phrases of these verses will teach us that this process of facing adversity by faith in the promises of God is intended to produce Christian virtues and take us to maturity in the spiritual life. Let us recap what we have studied and then examine these final phrases.
We have studied so far this expanded translation from the Greek:
Vs 2-3 Count it pure joy fellow believers whenever you are suddenly surrounded by various kinds of adversity, because you understand that the purifying of your faith….
The final phrase reads:
develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
The word develops is the Present Middle Indicative of katergazomai which means to produce something under pressure. It means to hammer out a product like a blacksmith hammers out steel. Katergazomai paints a vivid picture of God hammering out Christian virtue in us by purifying our beliefs. The present tense indicates an ongoing process not a one-time event. Spiritual growth begins at salvation and continues throughout our lives until we pass into the prescence of the Lord. The first principles we should note:
Adversity in the life of a believer is a joyful event because of what it produces.
God hammers out spiritual growth and virtue in us through intense pressure.
The next word, perseverance is the Greek hupomone meaning endurance. Literally it means to remain under the weight. To stand your ground under pressure. It gives us a picture of a weight lifter who lifts increasing levels of weight in order to build greater strength. Adversity is the weight under which we stand firm by continuing to trust God’s promise to deal with it. When we remain faithful under pressure our capacity to trust Him grows and we gain the ability to stand firm under anything the devil’s world can produce. As we try to deal with the pressure with our own strength, our failure to do so motivates us to exchange our belief in human methods and strength for God’s.
Principles:
The virtue of endurance is critical to the spiritual life in that it enables us to finish the race in spite of the increasing difficulties we will face as we grow.
Endurance is one of the first steps the believer must achieve because it is necessary for us to be able hang with God as He uses us to overcome all the devices of the devil.
Let’s list some of the ways this noun is used:
Col 1:11 comes from the Omnipotence of God; 1Tim 6:11 endurance is to be pursued; Heb 10:36 necessary to do God’s will; Lk 8:15 characteristic of the good soil; those who endure in good works will be rewarded; 2Cor 1:6 those who endure will overcome suffering; 2Thes 1:4 those who endure are worthy of praise; Heb 12:1 – how we win the race; and many other verses describe its worthiness.
The next phrase reads and Perseverance must finish its work which is actually the Present Imperative of the Greek echo. Echo means to let, to allow and the phrase should read, and “allow endurance to have its complete work.” Endurance as we have noted is the way we run the long distance race of the Christian life. Both Paul and the writer of Hebrews enjoyed using athletic metaphors to describe the Christian life after salvation. The writers indicate that salvation occurred as a permanent, one time event at a point in time and after that the Christian life where we live out our lives as God’s children.
As we build spiritual strength by purifying our hearts and continuing to trust the Lord under greater levels of responsibility, God creates in us greater wisdom and capacity for all the fruits of the Spirit. We gain the capacity to love one another in spite of even the most difficult of situations. Like Christ Himself (Lk 23:34), Stephen shows that we can gain the ability to forgive others even as they murder us.
Acts 7:60 Then he (Stephen) fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
The work of endurance in the life of the believer is described as perfect, complete and lacking nothing. The word perfect is the Greek telios which means mature. This word is used many times to describe the adult phases of the Christian life. While we are born as newborn babes (1Pet 2:2), the goal of the baby believer is to grow to adult status and beyond. A human is considered an adult at 21 years of age but few 21 year olds are considered mature. As we grow into our spiritual adulthood, God builds us into spiritual warriors (Eph 6:10-17). He gives us the complete armor of God that we use to fight in the spiritual war against the forces of evil. This word complete means literally to have all its parts and for all the parts to be working well together. An engine may have all its parts but it must be tuned properly to run well. A soldier can have all the standard issue but know little about how to use it in the field. As his training increases, the spiritual warrior becomes an expert at using his weapons and defenses. Finally as we endure this joyful process of growth, we will be lacking nothing that we need to enjoy total victory as Christians in this life. The word lacking is actually referring to wisdom as James explains in the next verse. Those who lack wisdom should ask God for it and He will generously supply all the wisdom we need.
In conclusion to this series about God’s way of thinking about adversity in the life of a believer, a few more principles and a summary:
Endurance keeps us in God’s training so that we can reach spiritual adulthood and maturity.
The mature spiritual soldier requires consistent practice under pressure to attain expert status with his weapons and defenses.
This process will provide us all that we need to build the spiritual strength to win over the forces of evil in the spiritual war.
Finally, the greatest blessing God can give us in this life is not to keep us from facing difficulties. Jesus told his disciples that they would face tribulation in this world but to be courageous because He had overcome the world (Jn16:33). The great blessing is to have the strength to face anything the evil one can produce and come out the winner. The process that produces this kind of strength is tough, a hammering out, but it is worth every bit of suffering involved in it. Paul taught this same idea:
Rom 5:3-5 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
In Chapter 8, discussing the suffering of this process he said the following:
Romans 8:16-18 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs– heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Joyfully embrace the adversity that God allows, knowing that as you grow spiritually, you will honor Christ with your life and in the next life, He will reward you for your faithful service.
Thanks Al