James 1:2-4; 1:12 - Standing Firm in Trial

3/1/12

James 1:2-4; 1:12 – Standing Firm
James 1:3 states that the testing of one's faith produces steadfastness. Whereas in 1:12 James states that steadfastness results in the realization of our blessed hope. Standing firm in our faith gives us the hope we long for – seeing Christ face to face. When we are steadfast in trials, God forms Christ in us who equips us to handle any adversity that might come our way. These trials are designed to make us complete, lacking nothing that might come our way to destroy us. But we must understand that the equipping part is not something that is other than Christ himself. He does not give us tools to win the battle. God is forming Christ in our hearts who wins the battle for himself. The glory is always to and for him. The Lord our God is a jealous God who will not share his glory with any other. Bad theology is adhering to the false notion that God gives us the ability to fight our battles and win. But never do we read that in scripture. What we read is that God himself wins the battle. We read of the account of Joshua standing before the commander of the Lord's army giving instruction how the city was to be taken; we read about how the Lord went out before Barak's army and routed Sisera the general of Jabin the Canaanite king. If this does not convince then a short perusal of the Song of Deborah and Barak in Judges 5 should settle any doubts. The glory for the war always goes to the Lord and no credit is given to the armies of Israel. They acknowledged that the Lord was the reason for their success. The spies who gave a bad report to Moses admitted that they were grasshoppers next to the people of Canaan. They reported the land being densely populated and that they were few compared to them. Therefore it was not because of Israel's prowess in war that they soundly defeated every adversary but because of the Lord's will and his “going out before them”. We read this specifically in 2 Kings 19 where the Lord fought against Sennacherib, the king of Assyria and destroyed his army without Israel toeing the line against him. We read about what the Lord did to Ahaziah's men of arms when he sent them out to capture Elijah; how he sent fire from heaven and consumed them on two separate accounts. Or the great account how Elisha captured the entire Syrian army by striking them with blindness. Here we read the famous words spoken to his servant when he saw the city circumvented by the Syrian forces: “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see” and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. These accounts demonstrate without doubt that the battle always belongs to the Lord. Finally we read about God's instruction to David in 2 Samuel 5:24 when to march out to battle: “ And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” All this then said, we are instructed to persevere under all hardship. As Hebrews chapter 12 says God is treating us as sons and daughters when we undergo such hardship. Hebrews tells us that we should consider hardships as training sessions (12:11). I spoke in detail about this in my essay on Hebrews 12:1-13 and should be considered along with this essay in James. For if hardship is designed as a means to share in God's holiness (Hebrews 12:10) and that if our faith is not tested we will not ever learn to be steadfast (James 1:3;12) and, in the end, complete not lacking anything (James 1:4). Remember that it is in Jesus Christ that our faith is made whole, complete and perfect according to Hebrews 12:2. So as the author of Hebrews focuses on being steadfast, enduring trials in order that we might share in God's holiness; or the process of being disciplined and its concluding chapter seeing, at last, the face of God when we are made perfect, James focuses on the trial as a test. The author of Hebrews want to draw our focus on the difficulty of training. It is a painful process getting in shape. He wants us to understand this process as a great privilege because not everyone gets to be trained by God. The training signifies our acceptance into God's kingdom; that one day we will be able to see God face to face. We are in preparation to be admitted into God's holy presence. James want us to see trials as a test like taking an exam. The period leading up to the exam is difficult and hard. We must know the material in order to pass the exam. If we do not, we are not fit to go on. The blame rests on our own lack of discipline and determination. James points out we have no excuse because all we need to do is ask God (James 1:5) We have free access to go to Jesus Christ for help and assistance to pass the test. Each test we take we grow in steadfastness and so are strengthened and assured that God is with us walking us through what we need to know. James talks about receiving the crown of life as our reward for finishing. There are two kinds of tests James talks about. There is a series of tests meant to develop steadfastness or perseverance. There is also the final test or exam which will signify our completion of the class. Upon finishing our course study we receive a reward – a crown of life. In conclusion we are made to understand that it is the Father of lights who “brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creature”. This is confirmation of the Hebrews 12 passage about Christ being the “perfecter of our faith”. This is not of our own but is according to the will of God to work these things in the children he has chosen to bring him glory. Amen.

-Joe