‘WHEN HE HAS BEEN APPROVED’
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 10, 2024 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: April 10, 2024 from James 1:12
Theme: The eternal reward for faithful endurance in a time of testing is immeasurably worth any temporary suffering.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Some things in life that are certain. And one of them is that we will all experience trials.
The type of trials that come upon us—and the nature of the particular temptations they may involve—will most likely be different for each of us. After all, what may be a great cause for temptation to one individual believer may not be a particularly strong test of the faith of another. But the thing that we all have in common is that we will all be tested and tried—in one way or another. Pastor James has already hinted at this to us. At the beginning of his letter, he wrote to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials …” (James 1:2). He didn’t say “if”; but rather “when”.
As Pastor James wrote this letter to Jewish Christians who were suffering under the difficult trial of persecution for their faith in Jesus, he wanted to encourage them to endure through their particular trial faithfully. It would have been very tempting for them to give up their faith and return to their former Judaistic ways. It would have felt as if it made life easier. But only ’easier’ in the short term. It would have involved a terrible loss in the long term. And so, in writing to these scattered and troubled brothers and sisters, he made sure to include a section in his letter in which he told them some of the things they need to know about endurance.
In James 1:12—in a section of his letter that is devoted to the subject of trials, temptations, and tests—he told them something that we all need to hear:
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12).
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Now; there’s a kind of ’spiritual arithmetic’ that occurs when we experience trials. We’ve already alluded to it somewhat, and we find it expressed very clearly in this verse. Temptation always results in both a loss and a gain—and either in the short-term or the long-term. And the consequence of the experience of our time of testing—that is, which side of the ledger the loss or the gain appears—will depend on whether we put our efforts into the ’yield to temptation’ side, or put them into the ’endure the temptation’ side.
For example, every time we yield to temptation, we experience two consequences: (1) we gain the short-term pay-off that comes from yielding to that temptation, but (2) we also suffer the long-term loss that comes from unfaithfulness to God’s will. By contrast, every time we resist that temptation, we experience the inverse of those two consequences: (1) we suffer the short-term loss of the gratification of our desires, but (2) we also gain the long-term pay-off of God’s blessing.
In both cases, a pay-off and a cost are involved. But in the first case—that is, when we yield to temptation—the pay-off is short-lived and the cost is long-term and very undesirable; while in the second case—that is, when we endure through the test and resist temptation—then the cost is short-lived and the pay-off is long-term and very desirable.
One characteristic of spiritual maturity is that—with the help of the Holy Spirit—we learn to ’do the math’. We learn to recognize these two different outcomes in our response to temptation; and with dependency on Jesus, develop the practice of forfeiting the short-term pleasures of sin for the long-term blessings of obedience. In James 1:12, James was exhorting his readers to forfeit the short-lived payoff that comes from yielding to temptation, and to look instead to the long-term payoff that comes from enduring temptation.
This verse, then, encourages us with the promise that the eternal reward for faithful endurance in a time of testing is immeasurably worth any temporary suffering.
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Now; James wrote this letter to stir up the hearts of these persecuted believers by telling them, ”Blessed is the man who endures temptation …” The word ”blessed” (makarios) means ”happy”. It’s the same word that the Lord Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount when He introduced the Beatitudes. True ”happiness” in the long term is what James is calling his brothers and sisters to seek. And he’s letting them know that happiness results from enduring times of temptation faithfully, and by refusing to yield to sin.
It’s important to remember this—especially when we, as James put it earlier—’fall into various trials’. Very often, people defend the way that they yield to temptation through the argument that they just ’want to be happy’. ”After all,” they say, ”doesn’t God want me to be happy?” In reality, they don’t realize how happy God truly wants them to be. Eternal bliss is held out to them in the form of ’the crown of life’ from the Lord; but they settle for a cheap form of temporary pleasure instead—a short-lived ’happiness’ that comes from gratifying their desires in times of temptation.
In reality, their problem isn’t that they want to be happy. Rather, it’s that they don’t want to be happy enough!
So; let’s begin by considering …
1. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO ENDURE TEMPTATION.
The blessedness, or ”happiness” that God offers is—specifically—for the individual believer who faithfully ”endures temptation”. It’s not simply the fact that they undergo trials that makes them blessed—because there’s certainly no happiness to be found in just that alone! Rather, it’s the fact that, as they go through those trials, they endure in their obedience and faithfulness to God’s call on their lives—looking ahead to the reward.
It helps to remember that the word that’s used for trial (peiramos)—the same word that we find in verse 2—can be translated either as a trial, or a temptation, or as a test. The context in which it’s found is what helps us to choose which translation is best. In this case, the word refers to the ”putting to the test” of a thing—much like passing precious metal through the fire to test its true value and worth.
The Bible teaches us that our sovereign God is in perfect control of the temptations—that is, the fiery trials—that come into the lives of His people. As the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:13;
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
He sovereignly regulates and permits those temptations in order to try us and perfect us. As Romans 8:28 says,
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So; we should always remember that any trial that comes into our lives must first pass the approval of our Father; and that it is only permitted to come upon us for the accomplishment of His good purpose in us. James tells us that the intended result of endurance is that the believer will have gotten through to the other side of the trial and ”been approved” or ”proven” (dokimos). Peter used both of these words for ”trials” and ”proven” when he wrote to suffering Christians about their glorious prospect in Christ; saying,
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials [peiramos], that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested [dokimos] by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7).
So; when James writes, ”Blessed is the man who endures temptation …” he’s reminding us that the testing that comes upon us through temptation is never pointless but always purposeful. It’s intended to result in our progress toward true and lasting happiness. As he wrote in verses 2-4;
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).
So; that’s the blessedness of those who endure temptation. Now; let’s go on to consider …
2. THE REASON FOR THE BLESSEDNESS.
James writes that, when that individual believer has been ”tested and approved” by their endurance—that is, after they have been shown to be a genuine man or woman of faith who truly loves the Lord Jesus more than the temporal pleasures of sin—”he will receive the crown of life …”
The word translated as “crown” (stephanon) is a fascinating one. It isn’t speaking of the typical ’crown’ we think of on the head of a king. Instead, it refers to the wreath that the winner of a contest received in the Greek games. In the ancient athletic games, that ”wreath” was set on display at the end of the finish line in a race. It served as a motivation for the runner to endure through the hardship of the contest and win. We may, in times of weakness, look at our trials and think of them as pointless suffering. But God does not see them that way. He calls us to look at our trials as the kind of testing that an athlete endures in order to win the prize at the end of the race. As it says in Hebrews 12:1-2;
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Note that this is called ”the crown of life”. The Bible speaks of our eternal reward in the figure of ”a crown”. We’re probably not meant to understand them as different ’crowns’; but rather the same ’crown’ with different aspects. Peter urged pastors to be faithful to their work;
and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Peter 5:4).
Paul, when he knew that he would lay down his life soon, wrote,
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
Paul wrote to his fellow Christians,
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).
Even the Lord Jesus Himself told suffering Christians,
“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
In the original language, this phrase ”the crown of life” may be understood as describing ”the living crown” (as opposed to the deadness that results from sin), or ”the crown of life” (that is, the glorious reward of eternal life). We shouldn’t understand this to mean, however, that eternal life is the reward of endurance; but rather that endurance is the proof of the eternal life that was already there; and ”the crown” being the recognition and display and joy of it.
This glorious ”crown of life” is sure and certain; because it’s the crown of life which, James tells us, ”the Lord has promised to those who love Him”. And because it is based on the unfailing promise of our Lord, it can never be lost to the genuine believer. Jesus told His disciples of the tribulations they would experience for Him; saying,
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:21-22)
And that leads us to consider one more thing, and that’s …
3. THE MOTIVATION FOR THE ENDURANCE.
It’s expressed to us in how we’re told that we will ”receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” The crown itself is a great honor to receive. But the crown should not be our ultimate motivation; because we’re destined—as it suggests to us in Revelation 4:10—to give all glory to the Lord Jesus and cast our crowns before His feet. Rather, the ultimate motivation should be that we love Him who first loved us.
If we keep our eyes on the cross of the Lord Jesus, and love Him who endured the cross for us in order to gain us for Himself forever, then we’ll have the highest motivation of all to endure temptation.
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So; it is certain that we will experience times of trial and testing. And in such times, the temptation to yield to sin will become strong. It feels at times as if it would give a temporary relief to the pressure. Or it feels at times as if it would produce a temporary sense of the gratification of desire. But any of the gains that yielding may produce for us are very short-lived … and will absolutely result in eternal loss.
May God help us to remember that—because of what our Lord holds out to us as His promised reward—the eternal reward for faithful endurance in a time of testing is immeasurably greater than any temporary suffering we may have to experience. Truly;
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
AE
