The Ohio Independent Baptist, January 1972

THE PURPOSE OF TESTING The fact f te ting in the hristian life ha cau ed a great deal of concern t r man_ believer - even for some ,, ho e c perience i learned and ma– ture. J" me deal with the matter of te ting a a reality in the Christian life. in chapter I of his Epistle, and in . 2-12 point out the purpose of te ting in a unique and manifold \\ a)' . For example in vs . 2-3, he ex– plain that testing works patience in believers. This is a most significant and important aspect of the purpose of te ting in the life of believers, and needs to be thoroughly understood by the people of God. The Greek words in vs. 2-3 are of great interest and import, and enable us to compre– hend the meaning of the passage. Christi ans are instructed to do two things: ( 1) Consider testing as all JOY, v . 2; ( 2) Comprehend testing as producing patience, vs. 3. The appre– hension and discernment of these two es ential facts will bring an inward peace as regards the presence of test– ing in the life, and at the same time will serve as a providential means of strengthening our faith. Let us note then: 1 ... Believers are to consider test– lnf? as all joy, vs. 2. This consideration on the part of God's people involves two elements: ( l) Our estimate of the testing : "count it all joy' ' - the verb is eigeisasthe , from eigeomai, "take the lead, to be chief, lead the way." So we are to place this in the fore– front of our thinking, put this in the lead mentally, and make it our chief consideration, i.e. that the testing is all joy, and estimate it as such, count it to be that way True - this is difficult to do. One 10 JANUARY, 1972 general ly ees little that i joyous in testing. When one i pre sed by taggering circumstances, or when racked physically by pain - where i the joy? But sincere meditation in the Holy Scriptures will bring about mental adjustment to the ituation. The verb is an aorist tense which denotes the fact that the "counting ' is in character a definite and genuine counting, an estimating in which one wil l not change his mind. It describes the internal state and attitude of mind and heart toward the external pr es– sures and pain produced by the test– ing. The mind and heart definitely reach the point where they survey the testing and genuinely estimate it all joy. Note carefully the expression "al l joy' ' (pasan charan): the statement of Scr ipture here does not say that testing is all joy. But we are bound to place it so in our thinking, assess it to be so, place upon it the esti– mate of all joy as it affects us in our Christian experience. It is quite likely that the actual joy in the testing will be fully realized after the trial is over, or as it moves toward its consummation, when the power, mercy, and grace of God have been manifested to us in all their wonder, when we recognize the fulness and greatness of His providence and provision, His pro– tection and preservation, and when the lesson, or lessons, in the trial begin to appear . It should also be noted that "all joy" stands first in the sentence, for particular em– phasis, and thus strikes our atten– tion at once as we consider the statement: all joy count it, with all reality estimate it so. ( 2 ) Oitr experience of the test– ing: "when ye fall into divers test– ings ' - there are two a pects of tl1i cxpcric r1cc of testing which sl1ot1 l(l IJc carcfttll y considered. J ) T/1e t1atr1re <)/ t/1is experi– e,zce - as set forth by the word "when ye fall into',. The verb " f al I" is peripese, te, the aorist ubJunctive from a word com– posed of peri, "aro11n<l". and pipto, " fall ' '. The verb thu means ' ' fall around, on the ide, all around." The Holy Spirit chose this word for Jame to show us the pattern of things as our life develops before us, and as our experiences take shape. We walk on, and are suddenly plunged into a valley of circumstantial testing, where the trials fall all around us and envelop us. The; aorist tense of the verb shows the definite experience: we must expect this to come. It is in– e capable. The subjunctive mood denotes the full potential of all the testings. We will have more than one unwelcome encounter ,vith misfortt1ne, trouble, pres– sure, pain, difficulty of some kind . We will fall into places ,vhere there are trials all around us . We cannot get away from them. There they are! There we are! But the Lord is there too, and He will see us through. Just as ,ve are hemmed in by the test– ings, we shall be given a way out· of them. And we shall be able to count it all - the whole ex– perience - joy. These testings are such as are encountered with– out. They are not temptations in the evil sense, which are due to man·s inward lusts. James speaks · of this later on. 2) The variety of this experi– ence - is expressed by the words "divers testings". These are trials that are vari-coloured and mani– fold ( po ikilo is). There are many varieties of them, and different - like Joseph's coat of many · colors. Christians have been heard to exclaim: "What will happen to me next? I have just about had it all!" This is peculiar to the many varieties and forms of external testing. These trials are provings, tests ( peirasmois) that produce ex– perience. The word ' 'testings" is derived from peira, ' 'a trial , a tempt, experiment, which issues in our learning to know by ex– perience - hence, the "knowing that ..." of vs. 3. As we endure these testings, we acquire experi– ence and we get to know what pa– tience is. The Holy Spirit of God (Continued On Page 16) THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTI ST