James 1:3 Commentary
"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." (James 1:3)
James 1:3 supplies the reason behind the command of verse 2 to "count it all joy." The joy is not groundless — it rests on something the believer knows: the proving of faith produces endurance.
The Proving of Faith
The word translated "trying" or "proving" is not trial in general but the testing specifically directed at faith. This distinction is crucial.
W. Kelly writes:
W. Kelly"Here, too, the ground of joy in sorrow is explained, knowing that the proving of our faith worketh out endurance, as the apostle in Rom. 5:4 speaks of the saints 'knowing that tribulation worketh out endurance.' Both are equally true; but it is plain that tribulation could produce no such effect unless there was the faith that stood the test."
Kelly insists that tribulation alone is not enough — it is only when faith receives the trial that endurance is wrought out. Without faith, trial produces nothing but bitterness or despair. He develops this further:
"In this world of sin and ruin, God not only works in grace but carries on a discipline of souls, and turns trials of all sorts into an occasion of blessing for all that own Him and seek His guidance. Selfwill hardens itself against each trial, or yields to discouragement and even despair. Faith recognises the love that never changes, and judges the self that resists His will or despises His word; and, as faith bows submissively, it reaps profit, and grows by the knowledge of Him."
F. B. Hole underscores the same point in his exposition:
F. B. Hole"These temptations were permitted of God for the testing of their faith and they resulted in the development of endurance. But endurance in its turn became operative in them, and if allowed to have its perfect work it would carry to completion the work of God in their hearts."
Hole sees the testing of faith as the beginning of a chain: testing produces endurance, and endurance in turn carries the whole work of God forward in the believer's heart.
Patience (Endurance) as the Fruit
The word "patience" carries the force of endurance — not passive resignation but active, sustained dependence on God through suffering.
J. N. Darby explains:
J. N. Darby"The trial of faith works patience; the will of man is broken; he has to wait for the operation of God; he feels his dependence on God, and that he lives in a scene where God alone can produce the result desired, overcoming and arresting the power of Satan."
For Darby, patience is the fruit of broken self-will. The believer learns through trial that he cannot produce results on his own but must wait upon God. He draws a sharp further contrast:
"When the love of God is known, and the will broken, there is confidence in God. We know that all comes from Him, and that He makes all work together for our greatest blessing. Thus the trying of our faith works patience. But patience must have her perfect work: otherwise the will revives, also confidence in self, instead of having it in God."
In his Notes on the Epistle of James, Darby further develops the thought:
"From the outset James lowers man, he puts him in a place of dependence upon God, he sees him submitted to the trial of faith. But trial works its results; it bears the fruit of patience; it leads to the prayer of faith; it causes us to value a low degree, and lastly, makes us worthy of the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him."
And in the Synopsis:
"Patience then must have its perfect work; thus self-will is subdued, and the whole of God's will is accepted; consequently nothing is wanting to the practical life of the soul. The believer may suffer; but he patiently waits on the Lord. This Christ did; it was His perfection."
Hamilton Smith: Three Purposes of Trial
Hamilton Smith treats verses 2–4 as a unit with three distinct purposes:
Hamilton Smith"The Apostle commences by encouraging us to rejoice in the trials that become the occasion of developing the practical life of godliness. Firstly, he tells us that trials test and prove the reality of our faith. Secondly, they are a means used by God to develop patience, or endurance. Thirdly, if patience is allowed to do its work, it will lead to a well-balanced Christian life, in which our own wills are refused and God's will is accomplished."
He further explains what the "work of patience" actually does in the soul:
"The work of patience is to break down our self-confidence and self-will and teach us that, apart from God, we can do nothing. When patience has had her perfect work, the soul will show its submission to God in trial by bowing to what God allows and waiting for the Lord."
F. B. Hole's Kite Illustration
In his address Hearkening to James, F. B. Hole gives a particularly vivid treatment. He first states the principle:
F. B. Hole"It is the testing of your faith that works endurance. God permits the trials to come upon us in order that we may be tested, and patience having worked her perfect work we may be perfect — that is, carried to completion — and entire, wanting nothing. The common notion is that temptations and testings and trials are merely dreadful weights. We say, if only I were not tied down by these difficulties what a good kind Christian I could be."
He then offers his kite illustration — the string the kite thinks is holding it down is actually holding it up — and draws this conclusion:
"It is the trials, the testings, the awkward circumstances you and I have to face that are God's education for us. We are learning what God can do for us in the midst of those temptations. We have an opportunity of gaining an experience we are never going to get in all the golden days of heaven."
The Apostolic Consensus
Hole also draws attention to the fact that James 1:3 is not an isolated teaching but part of a threefold apostolic witness:
"Hence when the trials came instead of being depressed by them they were to count it an occasion of joy. What a word this is for us today! A word amply corroborated by the apostles Paul and Peter: see Romans 5:3-5, and 1 Peter 1:7."
Paul speaks of tribulations, Peter of sufferings, James of temptations — yet all three testify that these things work endurance, maturity, and hope in the believer.
Kelly on Christ as the Pattern
W. Kelly traces the connection to Christ's own path:
W. Kelly"It is not that Christians are exempt from sorrow — far from it, or that we should not feel the sorrow, any more than forget God's grace. Thus the trial throws us back on Him without Whom not a sparrow falls on the ground and by Whom the very hairs of our head are all numbered. Affliction comes not forth of the dust, nor does trouble spring out of the ground. All is under His hand Who has made us His for glory, and meanwhile puts our faith to the test in this present evil age, habituating us not only to patience but to endurance."
Synthesis
James 1:3 reveals the divine logic behind the command to "count it all joy." The reason believers can rejoice in trial is that they know — a settled conviction, not a guess — that the testing of their faith produces endurance. This endurance is not stoicism; it is the fruit of broken self-will and deepened dependence on God. As Darby puts it, the will is broken and the believer learns to wait upon God. As Kelly insists, it is specifically faith that must stand the test — tribulation alone would produce no such fruit. And as Hole memorably illustrates, the very trials we think are holding us down are the means God uses to keep us aloft and educate us in ways that eternity itself cannot replicate.