Objection: You Should Not Try to Hurry out of Trials (Like Sickness), Because They Are More Precious than Gold (1 Peter 1:7)
1 Peter 1:7 does not say that trials are more precious than gold, despite old traditions arising from a less-than-careful reading of the verse. Let’s consider that verse along with the one right before it:
1 Peter 1:6-7:
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
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:
It is your FAITH, not the TRIAL, that is more precious than gold! The verse talks about the trying of your faith that is much more precious than gold.
There is no way that this verse can possibly state that a TRIAL is more precious than gold! If so, this verse says that a trial can be tried with fire! “That the trial of your faith…though it be tried with fire…” That makes no sense. It’s your faith that is on trial.
It should also be clear that “being much more precious than gold” cannot refer to the trial because the use of the phrase “though it be tried” would make no sense if the trial is the subject. How can a trial be tried?
Neither is gold “tried” by fire – gold is purified by fire but not tested by it, and the verse just said that gold perishes. If the gold perishes, it isn’t tried by fire – it’s wiped out. That won’t happen until the elements melt with fervent heat before the new earth arrives. And we know that heaven’s streets are gold. No one will be praising or honoring gold! So again, it’s not the gold being found unto praise and honor and glory. It is your faith that you exercised during the trial that brings the honor.
Therefore, the only proper understanding of 1 Peter 1:7 is:
“That the trial of your faith, your faith being more precious than gold that perishes, though your faith be tried with fire, will be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ because you exercised faith and overcame the trial.”
Thus, Peter said that your faith is more precious than perishing gold and that your faith will be tried with fire. The only sense that the trial will be found to praise and honor is that you overcame it with your faith! It is your faith that will be honored, not the trial. Why would God ever honor something the devil did? Besides, you’ll still have your faith at that point, but the trial will be long over with.
If anything, this exhortation should encourage you to use your faith to get out of the trial, not sit there passively thinking that your trial is more precious than gold, hoping that the trial will go away on its own soon or that God will sovereignly remove it without your involvement.
People have been wrongly taught that God sends trials to teach them something. But God does not use bad things to try your faith. First, He already knows where your faith stands. Second, the way He proves your faith is through your obedience to Him. Abraham proved his faith when he obeyed God and offered Isaac. It is the devil who tries your faith with bad things. You are not a threat to Satan apart from your faith in God’s Word. He wants you to stop trusting God’s Word so that you fail.
Trials are a good chance for you to locate your faith. But they don’t come from God! Want proof? There won’t be any trials in heaven where God is and the devil isn’t! That should show you where your many trials come from in this life. If trials were more precious than gold, heaven would have more trials than streets!