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Scripture focus
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
James 1:2-3 KJV
At a glance
What is wrong with a style of gospel preaching that emphasizes only freedom, victory and blessing?
Packer argues that such preaching, however well meant, quietly minimizes the seriousness of sin and sets up false expectations of an easy Christian life — leaving believers unprepared for, and even ashamed of, the ordinary trials Scripture actually promises them.
Summary of the chapter
Packer names a style of ministry he considers, in its effects, unintentionally cruel: one that is doctrinally sound on grace, justification and new birth, yet misapplies those truths by overselling the ease of the Christian life. Its intentions are good — magnifying grace — but its result is a gospel that quietly minimizes sin's seriousness and God's larger purposes in a believer's life.
He traces the damage this does in two directions. Overpromising freedom from struggle sets up believers for disillusionment the moment real difficulty arrives, since they were never told to expect it. Overcorrecting toward hardship alone, on the other hand, paints Christian life as unrelieved gloom. Both distortions fail the person who actually needs a truthful account of what following Christ involves.
Against both, Packer commends an honest gospel: one that expects inward trials as part of ordinary sanctification, not as signs of failure or divine displeasure, and trusts that God uses them purposefully rather than pointlessly. A faith prepared in advance for struggle, he argues, is sturdier than one promised an ease Scripture never actually offers.
Key points
- A theologically sound ministry can still do real harm if it misapplies grace by overselling an easy Christian life.
- Promising freedom from struggle sets believers up for disillusionment when real hardship inevitably arrives.
- Overemphasizing hardship alone, without hope, is an equal and opposite distortion of the gospel.
- An honest gospel expects inward trials as part of normal sanctification, not as evidence of God's displeasure.
- A faith realistically prepared for struggle proves sturdier than one built on promises Scripture never made.
Related Scripture
- 1 Peter 4:12-13
- 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
- Romans 5:3-4
- John 16:33
For reflection and discussion
- Have you ever felt ashamed of struggling, as though it meant something had gone wrong with your faith? Where did that expectation come from?
- How does expecting trials as normal, rather than exceptional, change how you interpret a hard season?
- What would an honest, balanced account of the Christian life sound like if you had to explain it to a new believer?
These notes are an original UECF.NET study companion and are not a reproduction of the book. Read the full chapter — chapter 21, “These Inward Trials” — in Knowing God by J. I. Packer (InterVarsity Press / Hodder & Stoughton, 1973).