Testing of Faith and Inheritance
When you go through trials and testing of your faith, then always remember to be patient and not to give up, because the testing of your faith leads you to your inheritance. So wait patiently, so that you will mount up with wings like eagles and soar into your success.
1 Peter 1:7 tells us that “These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine Christ is revealed.”
Now, my question is why is your faith compared to gold? I believe there are many reasons for this analogy. I will enlighten a few important reasons as to why faith and gold both have to undergo testing of fire. It is because fire is the only element that proves the authenticity of both. Just like real gold comes out of the fire, so does true faith comes out of the fire of trials. So, when a person with real faith, i.e. firmness of heart, is allowed to go through a fire of difficulties then that person would come out a real winner.
The Bible says in James 1:2–4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
The word for patience and perseverance in Greek is ‘hypomene’, which is a combination of two words- ‘hypo’ meaning ‘under’ and ‘meno’ meaning ‘dwelling’. When we join the two parts together, then it means patience is the product of staying under testing of faith while not giving up under any circumstances and thus would be complete according to James 1:4.
The Greek word for ‘complete’ is ‘holokleros’, which is made up of two words ‘holo’ meaning ‘whole’ and ‘kleros’ meaning ‘inheritance’. So, the testing of faith makes us whole and we receive our inheritance. Although some of the gold lustre is lost when exposed to fire, but in every step of faith there is a hidden glory. Now, it is interesting that gold is compared with faith and the value of faith is way greater than the material gold. You can receive gold through faith, but can never receive faith through gold. i.e.the value of faith is much- higher than gold. That is why the patriarch of the Old Testament, Abraham was walking by faith even though he did not know where he was going, so he is called the father of faith.
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