“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him”
Blessed is the man
The word “blessed” carries more than the idea happy. The idea is that a “blessed” person is a privileged recipient of God’s favor. The Christian will enjoy a certain favorable situation if he meets God’s condition for receiving that blessedness. He is a fortunate person indeed.
This word for “blessed” is the same as in the beatitudes (Matthew 5). Blessedness is a state that outside circumstances cannot affect. It is something that we carry within. It is a quality that we receive from God and that we cannot acquire apart from Him. It is the state whereby we enjoy God.
The New Testament calls God Himself “blessed.”
“…according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust” (1 Timothy 1:11).
“…which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:15-16).
Principle:
Our sense of satisfaction comes from the source of God.
Application:
We can carry blessedness within because of our association with God. Many Christians do not carry that sense of blessedness. They do not have what God has because they live apart from God.
Blessed people are those who need nothing. They are independent of the world. They don’t depend on luck or a windfall coming their way but upon divine resources within.
Thank you for you insightful comments.
I am wondering about your thoughts on the “crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
Is this crown referring to eternal life? And if so this would mean eternal life is granted to those who love God (TNIV), which leads me to wonder about saving faith in Jesus Christ. I know there are many references about Jesus being the only way to the Father and that to be saved we are called to believe in the Lord Jesus.
Romans also says that, “God works for the good of those who love him.” It does not say He works for the good of Christians, or for the good of those who believe Jesus is Lord.
How does one harmonize these ideas?
-Kylagh
Kylagh, if you would have advanced to 1:12c you would see that this crown refers to reward for the believer. "Those who love him" is a synonym term for believers.
Grant,
Thank you. I realized this as I continued to to the next part of the verse.
Blessings.
my wife has been saved for 16 years and for the past 4 years has battled unbelief, blaspheme of the holy spirit and whatever else the devil can through at her. she wants to know that she belongs to god but feels she's been cast out because of these thoughts
Steven, it is crucial for the believer, when it comes to guilt, not to operate on feelings or subjective opinion. God does not cast off his own–"no one [Greek says “nothing”] will be able to pluck them out of my hand." In other words, assurance rests on believing the promises in the Word of God. It is important for your wife to claim the promises of God about her salvation. Another point is for her to get a good grasp of the grace of God. God does not give us what we deserve but provides for us in our sin/s. As the end of Romans 5 says, God has super-grace for the believer than transcends any problem we might have.