1 Peter 1:7-9

These have come 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 honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ;v.8. whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; v.9. receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Appearances, in this case, are very deceiving; for the apostle continues: That the testing of your faith may (show it to) be much more precious than perishable gold, which is also proved by fire, found unto praise and honor and glory in the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Those very trials which a Christian must undergo are at bottom not a cause of sorrow to him, since they redound to his advantage. For if his faith stands the test to which it is subjected, it is thereby proved to be more precious and valuable than any corruptible gold, whose quality is likewise tested by fire, just as faith is tested in trials.

And the result, if the believer stand the test properly, will be that he attains to praise and glory and honor. Through the fiery trial of suffering we not only realize the vanity and evanescence of all earthly things and our own helplessness in spiritual matters, but we are also prepared for the final acknowledgment of our faith, for its crowning and glorifying in the bliss of eternal salvation. On the day of the final revelation of Christ’s glory He will, out of His boundless mercy, permit us to share in this glory and to live and triumph with Him throughout eternity.

This happiness is pictured by the apostle: Whom, without seeing, you love, in whom you now, although you do not see Him, yet believing, you exult with unspeakable and glorious joy, obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. The readers, just like the Christians of the present time, had not seen Christ in the flesh, had not been witnesses of His miracles nor heard His wonderful parables and discourses. And yet their love, growing out of the faith in the Gospel-message, had taken root and was firmly established. Even now, when they expect His return to Judgment, their faith in Him is unmoved, although they are still without sight of Him.

And with their faith their joy, their happiness, their exultation over their redemption and over their final deliverance, continues. In this way the present joy of the believers leads up to its future culmination, when, in the enjoyment of the heavenly glories, their joy will transcend all human language, the most glowing description which human tongue could give, being beyond the conception of even the most daring speculation on glory which human beings have ever succeeded in bringing forward. Thus will the believers obtain, carry off as a prize, the end, the goal, of their faith; they will go from believing to possessing; they will have and hold forever the salvation of their souls. Thus justifying faith is also saving faith, and by the fact of its having accepted the promises of the Gospel it works deliverance from this earthly life with its misery and affliction, and will finally seal to us this deliverance, world without end.