The Hypocrite’s Gain vs. The Christian’s Proof

We tend to think the mark of a Christian is gain: a good life, a nice house, blessings piling up. If God is pleased with you, surely it shows, right?

Job asks a much scarier question.

What Is the Hypocrite’s Hope?

"For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?" — Job 27:8 (KJV)

A hypocrite can gain. He can gain a lot. But all of it stays behind the moment God takes away his soul. Whatever he piled up in this life can’t follow him into the next one.

That’s why worldly gain is never proof of God’s favor. A person can have everything this world offers and still stand before God with nothing.

Tribulation Worketh Patience

So if gain isn’t the proof, what is? Paul points somewhere most of us would rather not look:

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:" — Romans 5:3–4 (KJV)

Tribulation isn’t a sign that God has forgotten you. In the life of a believer, it’s the very thing God uses to produce something that can’t be faked.

Patience Is Not Passive

When we hear “patience,” we usually picture sitting quietly in a waiting room. That’s not what Paul means.

The Greek word is hupomone. It comes from two parts meaning “under” and “to remain.” It’s the picture of someone remaining under the load instead of running out from under it.

This kind of patience is a settled refusal to move off your high calling, because you trust what is true. Paul described that same determination:

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 3:14 (KJV)

Experience: Faith That’s Been Proven

Next, Paul says patience works “experience.” That word is dokime. It means proof, or the character that comes from being tested and approved. It comes from a word family that was used for testing metals and coins to prove they were genuine.

Peter uses the same imagery:

"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:" — 1 Peter 1:7 (KJV)

Gold goes into the fire, and what comes out is proven real. Faith goes through tribulation, and what comes out is proven genuine.

Who Runs, and Who Remains

Here’s the difference between the hypocrite and the believer. The hypocrite wants the gain but not the load. When the fire comes, he runs. Jesus described exactly that kind of hearer:

"Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." — Matthew 13:21 (KJV)

The Bible believer, on the other hand, may lose this world’s favor, its pleasures, and its comforts, and face suffering instead. But in the process, his faith gets proven.

• The Hypocrite RunsHe wants the gain but not the load. When the fire comes, he runs.
• The Believer RemainsHe remains under the load, and that endurance produces proof, and that proof produces hope.

The Question That Matters

So here’s the question: will you still follow Jesus if it costs you everything?

"And patience, experience; and experience, hope:" — Romans 5:4 (KJV)