Excerpt from "Signs of the Spirit" by Sam Storms

I'm reading "Signs of the Spirit, an Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections" by Sam Storms. Here's an excerpt from chapter 1 I want to share with you:

..."what are the distinguishing qualifications of those that are in favor with God, and entitled to His eternal rewards?"

..."The answer is found in the immediately preceding context. (discussing 1 Peter 1:8 and referring to 1 Peter 1:6 & 7 as the preceding context), in which Peter describes the trials and suffering of the believer. Such experiences have a unique capacity to highlight the differences between what is true and sincere in the heart of a person over and against what is false and hypocritical. Hardship in its many forms and the testing of our faith cause the genuine beauty and amiableness of true spirituality to appear more clearly. Indeed, true virtue never appears so lovely, as when it is most oppressed.

Perhaps most important of all is that trials and pains purify and increase true spirituality. The not only enable us to see and discern what is true from what is false, but also tend to refine it, and deliver it fom those mixtures of that which is false, which encumber and impede it, so that nothing may be left but that which is true. From the comparison Peter draws in verse 7, we see that "as gold is tried in the fire, is purged from its alloy and all remainders of dross, and comes forth more solid and beautiful; so true faith being tried as gold is tried in the fire, becomes more precious; and thus also is found unto praise, honor, and glory."