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1In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
After talking about the hope we live with – the hope of living with God forever (eternal life), Peter then goes on to tell his readers (and us), that between now and the time that we possess that eternal life, we will be grieved with various kinds of trials. The first thing he encourages us to do during those tough times is to rejoice greatly in them. Now that’s not something most of us can relate with easily, or find ourselves doing when we are grieved by various trials. We hardly find ourselves rejoicing in trials, let alone rejoicing greatly in trials. Let’s see why and how Peter has this perspective of trials.
Before we look at his reasons to have this perspective of trials, let’s not forget that Peter is perhaps writing from his own experience of facing trials of various kinds, and rejoicing in them himself. Remember the time all the apostles were beaten for preaching Christ in Acts 5:40? In verse 41 it says, “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” He is preaching only what he has already practiced.
The reason he gives as to why we need to rejoice greatly in our trials has something to do with the perspective with which we look at our trials. Firstly, he says that trials serve as a test of the genuineness our faith. One can profess to have genuine faith in Jesus when everything’s going well in their lives, and there’s not even a glimpse of trials, but when the same person is faced with trials, and they can still greatly rejoice in it, then that’s evidence of genuine faith. There seems to be a difference between faith and genuine faith, and we are called to possess and live with genuine faith. Faith believes when life is free of any trials, but genuine faith believes, and goes further to rejoice greatly in trials. These trials don’t come to test our faith as much as they do to test the genuineness of our faith, and our response to trials proves whether or not our faith is genuine.
Abraham believed God even when God asked him to sacrifice his one and only son on the altar, and he proved beyond doubt that his faith was genuine. Read what the angel of the Lord said to Abraham just at the point when he was about to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” One of the best ways we can truly demonstrate our faith in Christ, is when we hold on to Him no matter what trials we face in life. God has an amazing way of turning things around in our lives, but until then, let’s hold on, and let our faith grow to become genuine and strong.
Peter goes on to compare the genuineness of our faith with gold. He says that it’s because gold is refined of all it’s impurities in the fire, that it comes out pure, and is therefore so precious. He then says that more precious than gold, is the genuineness of our faith. He’s not comparing gold with our faith, but rather with the genuineness of our faith. He seems to be saying that its trials can serve to transform our faith from mere faith to genuine faith. But for that process to take place, we need to remain faithful to the Lord in our trials, and not quit, just like gold needs to remain in the fire to be purified. Let’ not miss the point. He’s not talking about trials purifying us, as much as he’s talking about trials proving the genuineness of our faith.
He adds a small detail regarding gold – though it is refined in the fire, and is so precious, gold will eventually perish. But that’s not so with genuine faith. Nothing can destroy genuine faith – not the worst of trials in life. Fake faith will wear off at the slightest glimpse of trials, but not genuine faith.
Peter goes on to say that genuine faith will last right until the Lord Jesus returns, when He will praise us for our faith in Him, He will glorify us, and honor us in ways that no human could ever honor us, because despite all the trials we faced in life, we trusted in, and remained faithful to Him.
Regarding the trials we face Peter adds a couple of details that can go unnoticed. The first one being that the trials will last only for a little while. We are not going to undergo trials all of our lives – there will be an end to them. The second detail is found in the words, “If need be,” meaning that we don’t need to go searching for trials, and that we will go through them only if we need to, If we do go through trials, we need to rejoice greatly in them.
Regarding their faith in Jesus, Peter commends the believers who, though they had not seen Him, they loved Him. It’s not common for one to love someone they haven’t seen. In fact, Peter himself had seen Jesus, had walked with Him, talked with Him, ate with Him, ministered with Him and so he loved Him. But the believers he’s writing to (and we), have not seen Jesus and yet we love Him.
Not only do they love Jesus though they hadn’t seen Him, but their faith in Jesus is accompanied by joy that can’t be expressed in words, and by a glorious life in Christ. He tells them that the end result of such genuine faith in Jesus will be the ultimate salvation of their souls. Let’s remember that the process of salvation began when we put our faith in Christ. We were saved from our sin and its penalty, but as we live out our lives in Christ, God is perfecting that work in our lives, where we are being transformed daily into the image of Christ, and one day we will be fully transformed, and then the work of salvation of our souls will be compete. That’s why the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
1 Peter 1:10-12
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.
Peter goes on to say that this salvation that we have received was something that the prophets of the Old Testament did a lot of research about. They knew that God was going to save His people, but they were not sure of the details of this amazing work of God. So they searched intently, to try and figure out what this grace that we were going to receive, was all about. Until then God’s grace was evident to His people, but not in full measure as when Jesus came into the world. The Apostle John said in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The prophets of the Old Testament knew that the Holy Spirit was speaking through them about the coming of Jesus, and the grace that would be revealed through Him, but they were not sure exactly when this would happen. They had prophesied about the sufferings that Jesus would undergo while here on earth – a reference to His crucifixion. (Read Isaiah 53).
Not only did they prophesy about the sufferings that Jesus would endure, but they also prophesied about the glories that would follow His suffering – referring to His resurrection from the dead. (Psalm 16:10). Jonah being in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights was also a picture of Jesus being buried for three days and three nights, and then rising from the dead. Jesus Himself made reference to this in Matthew 12:40.
Why the prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament serve as a proof that Jesus was who He claimed to be, is because no one could foretell so much about a person’s birth, life, death, burial and resurrection so accurately, unless it was God revealing those things about the person long before they actually happened.
Peter says that these things were revealed to the prophets not just for their own benefit but they were actually serving us, who have now come to believe the Gospel of Jesus. This gospel was preached to us by the Holy Spirit through various people. We should remember that every time we heard the Gospel preached to us, it was the Holy Spirit preaching to us through whoever was preaching. Likewise, every time we preach the Gospel to someone, it is the Holy Spirit preaching to them through us. Peter adds that the Holy Spirit was sent down to us from heaven. What a privilege we have to have the Holy Spirit of God sent down to us from heaven, to live inside of us, and to use us to take the gospel to other people, so that they too might come to faith in Jesus just like we did.
This Gospel message about God’s plan to save the world from the penalty of, and the bondage to sin was so intricately planned by God for so many centuries, and implemented in His perfect time, that even the angels long to understand these things themselves.
