James 1:3-4

2. The end product of trials 1:3-4

Trials are the means God uses to make believers the kind of people that bring honor to His name, namely, mature Christians. "Testing" (Gr. dokimion) implies demonstrating the true quality of something when it undergoes a trial. The true nature of gold becomes evident when the refiner heats gold ore over a fire. Similarly the character of God within a Christian that is there because of the Holy Spirit’s presence becomes apparent through trials, if responded to properly.

These are trials of our "faith" in the sense that our trust in God and obedience to God are being stretched to the limit. Trials can result in endurance, steadfastness, and perseverance (rather than "patience" [AV]). The Greek word translated "endurance" (hypomonen) describes the quality that enables a person to stay on his or her feet when facing a storm. [Note: William Barclay, New Testament Words, pp. 144-45. Cf. Nigel Turner, Christian Words, pp. 318-19.] If we submit to them, they will eventually make us mature (fully developed, "perfect," cf. Matthew 5:48; Matthew 19:21) and complete (developed in every essential area of our lives). Consequently we should not try to escape from trials but submit to the maturing process with patient endurance and joy. We must learn patience or we will not learn much else.

God will bring every believer who endures trials, rather than running from them, to maturity as we persevere in them. James taught that in view of this fact we should rejoice in our trials rather than rebelling against them. They are God’s instruments for perfecting us.

"After over a quarter century of ministry, I am convinced that spiritual immaturity is the number one problem in our churches." [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Mature, p. 13.]

The concept of living by faith that James introduced here for the first time seems to be the theme that unites all the parts of this epistle. Another writer suggested a variation of this theme, namely, "tests of a living faith." [Note: D. Edmond Hiebert, "The Unifying Theme of the Epistle of James," Bibliotheca Sacra 135:529 (July-September 1978):224. See also the subtitle of the 1979 edition of his commentary on James.] The Christian who not only experienced justification by faith in the past but is presently living by faith (trusting in God and obeying Him) has what James calls a living faith. This use of live faith is very important to remember when we come to James’ discussion of faith and works in James 2:14-26.

"The root difficulty of the readers lies in a distorted conception of the nature of salvation by faith and its relation to daily life as the proving ground for the development of Christian character." [Note: Idem, James, p. 37.]