Philippians 1:29;3:10; I Peter 1:7-9
AS two of my fellow Christians and I sat in an ICU waiting room recently, the comment arose that faith, as it is propagated by modern heretics, is too easy. It is a faith that can make every rough highway smooth, that turns every tragedy into a triumph, and that attributes every disease or misfortune to Satan. With enough faith, they claim, all disease can be healed and every difficulty in life can be resolved.
But it seems to me that a greater faith is a faith that is steadfast even in difficult times. It is a faith that perseveres, trusting in Christ, though difficulties come, though diseases are not healed, though distresses are not relieved, though death does not remove its shadow.
To suggest that faith is merely decisional—merely mental and volitional assent to Christ—makes faith a kind of magical wish. This erroneous faith takes the passage “with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5) and asserts that the atonement of Christ has provided our healing, if only we have enough faith to appropriate the atonement to heal every disease.
Not of God. I am thoroughly convinced that much of the “healing” we see on the Christian TV media is either the result of psychosomatic suggestion, which medical doctors tell us occurs almost every day, or a demonic phenomenon. Healing in and of itself is no verification of the activity of the Spirit of God. Let me repeat: The phenomenon of healing, just because it occurs, proves nothing about the work of the Spirit of God.
The emergence of these heretics during these end-time days should not be a surprise to serious Bible students. Christ warns, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matt. 24:24).
He also says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (7:22,23).
Just because someone can demonstrate apparently miraculous gifts does not, therefore, verify that he or the “miracle” he performs as being from God. He could well be from Satan.
Fellowship of Jesus’ Sufferings
So let us proceed with a slightly fuller discussion of the faith that endures through bad as well as good times. Let’s begin by considering two passages in Philippians. First, verse 29 of Chapter 1:
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.
According to some, suffering by believers is never in the will of God. Yet here, God declares flatly that suffering certainly is “given” to all Christians.
Next, verse 10 of Chapter 3:
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.
Remember how Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane? “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).
If the cup of suffering did not pass from Christ, the Son of God, except He drink it to its most bitter dreg, and if we are predestined to be conformed unto His image inclusive of suffering, who are we to claim a faith that makes the journey to the Jerusalem above smooth and laden with roses, instead of going through rocky places ridden with thorns?
Helplessness. Biblical faith is faith on a crucible. The crucible, as you know, is a cross—a place where one is nailed. And thus, being nailed, one is helpless to do anything but suffer. This “doctrine of helplessness”— whether it is the helplessness of the person who is on the crucible, or the helplessness of others who stand around to look at that person, as the disciples stood around helplessly to look upon Christ, or the helplessness of the prophet whose words have no power in such difficult circumstances—is critical to a proper understanding of faith.
Who of us would not fly immediately to a sick child if we could indeed heal that child? Who of us would not hasten to as many places as we could to heal as many people as we could for the sake and glory of Christ? But not even Jesus Christ healed every leper or every blind man.
There are multiple crucibles to which Christians are nailed; the crucible of doubt; the crucibles of difficulty, disease, despair; and even the crucible of death. The sovereign providence of God nails us upon life’s crucibles so that we might bear in our bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto us it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.
Severe testing. In I Peter 1:7, the Bible states:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
The metaphor given is one of gold put into a refiner’s fire, the best gold being that which is most purified by the greatest heat. The longer and hotter the process of purification, the purer the gold. Thus also it is with faith. The longer and hotter the trial, the harder the nail, the more helpless we are in adverse circumstances, the more precious is our faith.
Some believe that the greatest faith resolves all disease, suffering, distress, and death, but this verse says the faith that is purest, even purer than the purest gold, is the faith tried in the hottest fire and thus made purer than purest gold, to the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Of the Lord Jesus, we read in the next two verses:
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Notice what it says is the end of our faith. The healing of our sickness? The solving of our financial problems? The working out of our difficulties on the job? Two of you agreeing on something and having it happen? Nay! Ten thousand times, Nay!
It says, “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” The primary and ultimate purpose of faith is the salvation of the soul, even as we are conformed to Christ’s image by suffering.
Not unusual. Peter exhorts us Christians not to think that anything unusual has happened to us if we suffer. But the modern misconception of faith says that, if we suffer, then we are out of God’s will. The modern view of faith says that, if we suffer, we somehow have violated God’s will by the sin of omission (not doing what God wants) and therefore God is punishing us); or the sin of commission (doing those things which God forbids) and therefore affliction comes upon us.
No, to the contrary! It is the norm for Christians to suffer. When we are faced with difficulties in life, we should remember that those difficulties are with a purpose of refinement. Adversity is the fire of refinement whereby God tests and purifies our faith. And in testing us, His desire is to purify us. Suffering for Christ is healthier than health. Financial adversity for Christian ministries is wealthier than wealth. Persecution for Christ’s sake is better than being popular. We need suffering more than we need external, temporal, and physical well-being.
Elaborating on this subject, I Peter 4:12,13 says:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
Notice the theological explanation of suffering given here is identical to that presented in Philippians 3:10, which we looked at earlier. Suffering for the Christian is inevitable because it is a means whereby he is conformed to image of Christ. Don’t think it strange when you are challenged with adversity, for in this you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.
Highest glory. Rejoice in your trials, therefore, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, that you may rejoice in exultation at the revelation of His glory. If you are defamed in the name of Christ, be happy, because the glory of God and the Spirit of God have come to rest upon you.
When was the Lord Jesus Christ most glorious? Was it in the high glory of His birth when the stars of heaven sang and the angels of God shouted for joy? Was it in the triumph of His temptation when the angels came and ministered to Him, having triumphed over Satan? Was the highest glory and great power of Christ manifested in the Mount of Transfiguration where His radiance became white as light and Elijah and Moses stood beside Him? Was the highest glory and power of Christ most manifested when He healed the blind, cleansed the leper, or raised the dead?
Or was the glory of Christ at its highest when, bowed low in Gethsemane, He wept, pleading with Almighty God that the cup of suffering might pass from Him? Yea, the highest glory of Christ and the Spirit of God rested upon the thorn-pierced brow of the Son of God, upon the nail-pierced hands and feet, and upon the sword-pierced side. God forbid that we should glory save but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. A faith that has been refined by the fire of Almighty God on the crucible of testing is the most excellent, healthiest, and purest faith revealed in the Word of God.