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Guest (Male): Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust him to save you. And the reason that you trust him to save you is because you have come to believe that he is the Son of God, and that he died and that he rose again. So faith involves these two dimensions. It involves believing and it involves trusting, and these are two sides of the same coin.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I'm Steve Hiller, glad you've joined us today. Colin, when things are going well in life and we seem to have answers to our questions, faith and belief feel easy, they seem easy. But sometimes it seems like it's a real struggle to believe.

Colin Smith: Yes, and I think that's where the distinction between faith as believing and faith as trusting is really important. Of course, both of these belong together. They're both part of what faith really is. Faith involves believing God in what he has revealed. So he's revealed that Jesus is his Son. We're to believe that. That Jesus rose from the dead, that's been revealed, we're to believe that.

So faith involves believing God in what he's revealed, but it also involves trusting God in what he's kept secret. What has he kept secret? Well, why am I suffering as I am? Why am I enduring this particular difficulty? Why did God not intervene in a different way in that circumstance? These are things that God has kept secret, and because they've not been revealed, as perhaps they will be one day when we're in his presence in heaven, until then, we've got to trust him. We've got to walk by faith and not by sight. So both of these dimensions are really important and they're especially important when our faith is tested.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's continue to look at tested faith. That's the name of today's message and we're going to be in the book of First Peter chapter one, looking at verses three to nine. So hope you'll join us there. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Now, I want to begin today with a very simple definition of faith. Faith involves two elements: the first is belief and the second is trust. They're really two sides of the same coin. Someone asked me just last week if believing is the same as faith, and that's a very good question. The answer to it is, well, sometimes.

You see, sometimes the word "believe" is used in the Bible simply of knowing that something is true. For example, James tells us that even the demons believe and they shudder. In other words, the demons know that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. They have no doubt about it whatsoever. They believe it, and because they know it to be true, they even tremble in the light of it. Now the demons believe, but they do not trust. Despite what they know to be true, they remain in rebellion against God.

So faith is more than believing that certain things are true. Faith involves trusting the one we have come to believe. And sometimes the Bible uses the word "believe" in a way that includes trust. For example, when Paul said to the Philippian jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved," he's saying more there than simply that the jailer should believe that Jesus died and rose. Yes, he must believe this, but more than that, he must trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save him.

That's what the Apostle Paul is saying: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust him to save you." And the reason that you trust him to save you is because you have come to believe that he is the Son of God, and that he died and that he rose again. So faith involves these two dimensions: it involves believing and it involves trusting, and these are two sides of the same coin.

Now, I've found it helpful to put these two dimensions of faith alongside a distinction that God makes in Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse 29. The scripture says, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever." So there are some things that God has revealed and there are other things that God has kept hidden.

Very simply, faith then is believing God in what he has revealed and trusting God in what he has kept secret. God has revealed his Son. God has revealed his promises, and faith believes what God has revealed. But there are many things that God has kept secret. I mean, for example, none of us knows what tomorrow holds. God has not revealed it, so we have to trust him.

Faith trusts God in what he has kept hidden, and we trust him in what he's kept hidden because we believe him in what he has revealed. God has said, "I will never leave you and I will never forsake you." So faith says, "Now I can trust God for tomorrow because I believe the promise that God has given to me today."

So faith involves believing God in what he has revealed and trusting God in regards to what he has kept hidden. So when we pray, as we were looking at the disciples' prayer last week, "Lord, increase my faith," well, then what we are asking is, "Lord, help me to believe you in what you have promised and help me to trust you in what I do not understand." That's faith.

Now, today we're going to look together at how faith is tested. Every believer knows what it is for our faith to be tested. If we were to have a sign-up sheet and pass it all the way around the congregation for folks to sign up for faith to be tested, well, I don't suppose we would have many folks who were immediately volunteering. But the reality is that all of us experience what it is for our faith to be tested.

We're going to see today that tested faith is more precious than gold. And we're going to see that the same trials that cause you grief and sorrow right now will one day bring praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Right now you are grieved by the trials of your life, but a day is coming when you will rejoice in what God has accomplished through them.

Now, I hope you have the Bible open at First Peter and chapter one, and you will see in verse three that Peter begins by reminding us of the blessing that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has given us new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." We have new birth. We have living hope. These gifts are ours through the mercy of God, and they have come to us because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And then Peter goes on to say we have an inheritance that is kept in heaven, can't ever spoil or fade, and God keeps the inheritance for you. And then on the other hand, Peter says God keeps you for the inheritance so that you will actually arrive in heaven and receive what he has prepared for you. So it is as it were God keeps the inheritance for you in one hand, he keeps you for the inheritance in the other, and one day he will bring these two marvelously together. And Peter says, "In this you rejoice." Look at what is yours in Christ: new birth, living hope, an inheritance kept for you, you kept for the inheritance, a God who one day will bring the two together when his salvation is revealed at the last time. In this you rejoice.

Then Peter says, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials." Why would God, who has blessed his children so richly in the Lord Jesus Christ, allow his own dearly loved children to be grieved? Why would God do that? This is the great enigma of the Christian life. If God really loves me so much, why is my life so hard?

How can it be that if you are truly a child of God and an heir of heaven, that you would be grieved by various trials? That's what Peter is about to address. "You have been grieved," he says. Now, grief is what we feel when we experience loss. Dr. Jim Packer says very helpfully that grief is the inward desolation that follows the losing of something or someone we loved: a child, a relative, an actual or anticipated life partner, a pet, a job, one's house, one's hopes, one's health, or whatever.

Now, notice that Peter says here, "You have been grieved by various trials." There's a broad range of what this looks like in Christian experience. Some are tried with physical pain, others are tried with mental anguish. Some live with the stress of responsibility that they carry, others grieve the loss of responsibilities that they once enjoyed. Some would wish that they could have and enjoy the gift of marriage, and others endure a marriage from which they would gladly be free. Some live with great anxiety over a loved one, and others grieve with great pain because a loved one has been taken away from them.

Everyone has something in their life that they wish was different. Peter says, covering the whole range, "You have been grieved by various trials." And you can fill in the detail of what that means for you. Now, here's the question: why? What purpose could God have in these trials? What good might we hope would come out of them? Peter says, "You have been grieved by various trials so that..." Now you see, he's going to tell us something good will come out of the trials that cause you to grieve. Peter's going to tell us what that is.

Steve Hiller: Well, we'll find out what that is in just a moment. Stay with us here on Open the Bible. Pastor Colin Smith is in a message called Tested Faith, part of our series called Grow in Faith. If you ever miss a broadcast in this series, come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen through the Open the Bible app, which you'll find for free at your app store. Simply look for Open the Bible, or again, come and listen online at openthebible.org.

Open the Bible is listener-supported. We're able to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching because of your generosity. As you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a copy of Pastor Colin's new 30-day devotional book called Grow in Faith. Colin, who is this book for?

Colin Smith: Well, it's for everyone who wants to grow in their faith, and hopefully that's every Christian believer. You know, the disciples at one point said to Jesus, "Lord, increase our faith." And they'd been following Jesus for some time when they said it. They'd left everything in order to follow him, but they came to a place at one point where they realized we're going to need to grow in faith. I think every Christian comes to a place like that. I've been trusting Jesus for some time, but now I'm facing circumstances where I'm really going to have to trust him. Lord, increase my faith.

So this 30-day devotional book is designed to help and encourage growing in faith. I have loved working on this and am very excited about the opportunity of sharing it with you.

Steve Hiller: We'd love to share a copy with you as our thanks for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365 or openthebible.org. Let's go back to the message. Again, here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Now we're going to see three things today. First, that tested faith is genuine faith. Second, that tested faith is more precious than gold. And third, that tested faith will result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

First then, tested faith is genuine faith. Look at what he says: "You have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." I love these words: "tested genuineness." Faith that has been proved genuine by testing. That's what he's talking about here.

So the question then that's before us is how do you know that your faith is genuine? And that is a real question because there are many people who at one time profess some kind of faith and then turned back. Jesus speaks about this very clearly in the parable of the sower. Remember he says, "Now some people, they're just like rocky soil, and when the seed of the word is sown in them, they receive it immediately and they receive it with great joy. But," Jesus says, "they have no root in themselves but endure for a while." Just for a while. "And then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away." They're gone. They turn their back on what they once professed.

And then Jesus says, "There are others who are like ones sown among thorns. They are those," says Jesus, who hear the word, but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. Now we all know someone who at one time professed faith and then has turned back. So how do you know that your faith is genuine?

Well, Peter has the answer. He tells us that when you are grieved by various trials and, despite them, you continue to love and to trust and to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have decisive proof that your faith is genuine. And here's why: if your faith was simply a human decision, if it was simply a religious interest, if it was simply a passing phase, then you would renounce your faith as soon as it became too costly.

If God did not do what you wanted, if he did not give you what you asked, if your faith was simply a human decision, you would turn away from worship, you would turn away from the Word of God, you would give up on prayer, you would no longer believe, and you would no longer obey the Lord Jesus Christ. The natural response when Jesus Christ leads a person into hard places would be to turn back and no longer follow him.

But you see, Peter is writing here to people who have endured great trials and they did not turn back. And he's saying to them, "Well, there can only be one explanation. You have been born of God. You have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The life of God is in you. The spirit of God indwells you. Your faith has been proved genuine. You belong to Jesus Christ and he is yours forever."

Tested faith is genuine faith. And now Peter goes on to tell us why that is so important, because tested faith is more precious than gold. "The tested genuineness of your faith," he says, "more precious than gold that perishes."

Now, do you see that Peter is talking here about the value of a genuine faith? Now, the world looks on with condescending disdain in regards to faith. "Well, faith is a good thing, especially for those who feel that they need it." That's the way in which the world views faith. It's something of very little value indeed. The world sees faith as a kind of crutch for weak people.

But you see, Peter tells us here that far from being a crutch, genuine faith is a gift of infinite value. And to press home how valuable it really is, he makes this comparison. He puts it alongside money—not just a little money, but a lot of money. He talks about pure gold. Suppose a man has millions of dollars. Millions. He is blessed. There are many joys of life that he can savor because of his money, but only for a short time. Very soon he will have to kiss his money goodbye. Gold is a finite value.

But genuine faith, Peter is telling us, is of greater value by far. It is more precious than gold. Gold will give you access to many pleasures for a short while. Genuine faith will give you access to the presence of God where there is fullness of joy and pleasures at his right hand forevermore. So faith that is tested and proved genuine is more precious, Peter says, than gold.

Spurgeon says, "If you have faith, you don't need to ask for much more, except that your faith will grow." And then Peter takes this comparison between faith and gold a step further. Notice that he speaks here about gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire. He's talking, of course, about the way in which gold is purified or refined in the fire. And he's saying in the same way, faith is strengthened, faith grows, faith is refined when it is tested and when it is tried.

Steve Hiller: Pastor Colin Smith with part of a message called Tested Faith, part of our series called Grow in Faith. And we're going to continue this message on our next broadcast. If you ever miss a program, come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org. You can stream the program or you can download an MP3 for free. You can also listen if you have the Open the Bible app. That's free, you're going to find it at your app store, and that's a great way to stay connected with Pastor Colin's teaching on demand. Not only can you listen to this daily radio program, but our weekend broadcast, you can check out our daily devotional that you can both read and listen to, and a lot more. So again, look for Open the Bible at your app store or connect with us and listen online at openthebible.org.

Well Colin, it's Friday and the weekend's coming.

Colin Smith: Yeah, and I want to encourage you to get to church on Sunday. You know, across the country, people who love Jesus will be gathering to praise him, and if you love Jesus, that's something you'll want to be part of. So find a church where the Bible is opened. And if you live in the Chicago area and you don't have a church home, I'd love for you to join us at The Orchard. There are six locations in the northwest suburbs. For more information, go to theorchard.church. That's theorchard.church.

Steve Hiller: Well thank you, Colin, and thanks for listening. I'm Steve Hiller and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported ministry of Open the Bible.

Guest (Male): At Open the Bible, we're grateful for like-minded organizations committed to sharing the gospel around the world. And to that end, I'd like to commend the work of Global Fingerprints. You know, in the book of James, God calls us to help orphans in their distress. That's a clear command, but it's not always clear how we should obey it. And this is where Global Fingerprints comes in.

Through Global Fingerprints, you can sponsor a vulnerable child to help meet their physical needs and ensure they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to commend Global Fingerprints to you. They're focused on equipping the local church to care for children, and where there is no church, they help to plant one. If you'd like to help a vulnerable child, you can find more information on Global Fingerprints at our website, openthebible.org/gf. That's openthebible.org/gf.