To view our lives biblically (which is to view our lives accurately), we must perceive the spiritual realities. Circumstances and events are only the surface; James tells his readers to look for the deeper meaning. This is especially important in facing the trials of many kinds. James wants his readers to see a progression of events in the following pattern.

TRIAL => TESTING => PERSEVERANCE => MATURITY

1. The trials. The term peirasmos can refer to internal temptations, but here James probably has in mind the other primary meaning for the word: the external trials of adversity which his readers are experiencing. With this meaning, the term is used especially to refer to trials of persecution, as in 1 Peter 4:12.

Do not think that joy is appropriate only within a narrow range of circumstances. James calls them trials of many kinds to encompass the range of his readers' hardships. Shall we consider it joy when we receive unjust treatment? Is there any realistic reason for joy when I am seriously ill? In the midst of a financial crisis, or even a life of poverty without hope of improvement, does James mean for people to rejoice? If pressures in my job weigh upon me day after day, is this trial as well to be considered a time for joy? Or the huge sorrow of a family burden, perhaps a bleak marriage or a child in trouble—is even this trial included? Some of these examples will be specifically mentioned by James; all of them and more are indeed the circumstances in which to perceive the spiritual realities that give reason for pure joy.

Do not be robbed of your joy by supposing that your trial is not a suitable context for applying this passage. Instead, look for the spiritual dynamics of trials. In particular, look for the testing in the trial.

2. The testing. The trial is to become a testing (dokimion). This term in adjective form means "genuine" or "without alloy"; so the noun refers to a "test to prove genuine." The object of this testing is specifically the Christian's faith. But the biblical concept of a testing goes beyond what we have come to expect from our school experiences. Most of our school tests are designed primarily to reveal what knowledge the students already have in them. The biblical concept of a testing, as James uses it here, is one that does reveal the genuineness of the person's faith; but James says the test is also designed to develop something that is not yet present in full measure in the person.

This is why, for the one who wants to live by faith, the trial can be a time for rejoicing. How many people today suffer in trials of many kinds, thinking that the issue is whether they have the faith to pass the test? The spiritual reality is that God will use the trial to develop something that they admittedly do not yet possess. James says, "Rejoice in that prospect!"

3. The perseverance. What specific quality of faith will be developed through the trial that becomes a testing? James's answer is perseverance. This means, first, that God will give the ability to endure patiently. The Christian with this quality of faith does not give up trusting and praying even when the need continues for a long time. Second, the term carries the idea of discipline. The Christian with this quality of faith continues in a disciplined obedience to Christ as Lord even when it requires "a long obedience in the same direction" (Peterson 1980). Third, the term means steadfast faithfulness. The Christian with this quality of faith is not a part-time servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Making the same point, in fact using the same terms, Paul wrote, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance" (Rom 5:3).

That the testing develops, or "produces," perseverance is emphatic. It may be compared to 1:20, where human anger does not "bring about" the righteous life that God desires. The root verb ergazomai is the same in 1:3 and 1:20, but in 1:3 it carries the prefix kata, making it emphatic with the image of producing or creating. Human anger will not bring about righteousness, but the testing of genuine faith will certainly produce perseverance.

James's earnestness needs to be heard, with the very direct questions this raises. Don't you desire this quality of faith in yourself? Isn't it the desire of your heart to learn to live by faith and to be "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" in a patient, disciplined, steadfast, faithful way? Now you have the reason to rejoice in the midst of trials! These trials provide the opportunity for the testing that will develop this quality of faith. To stop trusting and start worrying, to cease ministering and start withdrawing, to interrupt godliness and start selfishness, just because of one's anxiety over the current trials, would be precisely the wrong course to take. The spiritual realities call for joy in the opportunity to learn perseverance.

4. The maturity. Why would perseverance be so valuable? It is because there is a fourth stage in the spiritual progression: "that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Perseverance turns out to be not the end in itself, but rather the lifestyle by which the servant of Jesus Christ attains maturity.

The terms James uses in this last clause of 1:4 give a picture of wholeness and completeness. Moo's good paraphrase of James's term teleios is "perfection and wholeness of Christian character" (1985:61). Laws describes it as being "a complete person, having integrity, unlike the divided man of vv. 6-8" (1980:54). In other words, James is holding before his readers a vision for becoming everything the Lord desires them to become.

James invites you to envision yourself in the state of spiritual maturity, rid of the jealousy or laziness or impulsiveness or impatience or bitterness or self-pity or selfishness that now mars the wholeness of your fellowship with God and the completeness of your spirituality. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you long to be fully the person God desires you to be? If so, then you now have the full reason for considering it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds. The trials can be opportunities for testing to develop in you the perseverance which, when it finishes its work, will leave you mature in Christ! For those who have set their hearts on becoming Christlike, this is wonderful reason for pure joy.