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1 Corinthians | Chapter 13

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

“Have Not Love?”

I. Intro

The 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians has been called the “hymn of love,” and from a literary viewpoint, it is one of the greatest chapters ever written. But with that said, it must not be taken out of its context of Paul’s correction of the Corinthians’ misuse of spiritual gifts. In the 12th chapter, Paul spoke of the “power, purpose, and point of the gifts.” In the 14th chapter, he will speak of their proper use within the church. It is here in the 13th chapter that Paul deals with perhaps the most important part of the gifts as they relate to us as individuals—“the right attitude in which they are to operate within our lives.”

The apostle John described God at His very being as “love” (1 John 4:6). It is perhaps His most visible attribute, and therefore it ought to be ours as well! Yet in this church at Corinth, “love” was missing. Oh, they did not lack any spiritual gift, nor were they in error in any major doctrine, neither were they lazy in their efforts to reach the world, but love was absent! Why is this so difficult for us Christians? We are not alone in our failure to live a life of love. Jesus rebuked the Church at Ephesus, which He first approved of for their:

  • Labor under extreme trial
  • Their purity
  • The fact that they weren’t complainers

Then He said that they left their first love! They had become so busy maintaining separation that they neglected their adoration of Him. Paul is going to set us straight on “love,” but it is going to be God’s love, not what the world calls love. This love is going to be defined for us, and we shall see that it is not mere “attraction” or “affection” that Paul is speaking of here, but rather he is speaking of “commitment”! You will recall Paul said in his last sentence of chapter 12 that he would show us a “more excellent way.” Well, he is going to, but don’t expect a warm and fuzzy message just because we are speaking about love, as I have discovered this may be the most convicting section of Scripture in all the Bible!

II. Vs. 1-3 Greatest Attribute

In this section, Paul speaks on the preeminence of love over every other gift. By doing so, he elevates the “fruit of the Spirit” above that of the “gifts of the Spirit,” because “love” is the motive or goal of the gifts, and it was what was missing in Corinth. Someone has well said that agape love is the “circulatory system” of the body of Christ.

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he wrote of the fruit of the Spirit as “love,” which manifests itself in eight ways:

  • Joy is love enjoying itself
  • Peace is love resting
  • Longsuffering is love waiting
  • Kindness is love’s reaction
  • Goodness is love’s choice
  • Faithfulness is love keeping its word
  • Gentleness is love’s empathy
  • Self-control is love resisting temptation

Notice that throughout these three verses, Paul uses the first-person pronoun “I,” as he wanted his readers to understand that what he was about to say on love was for him as well. In these three verses, Paul compares certain gifts of the Spirit against the spiritual fruit of the Spirit—“Love.” I think, again, it is important to first understand that Paul is not speaking of “love” the way many today think of it. He is not using the word in the Greek that means romantic feeling or attraction. Neither is he using the Greek word that speaks of strong affection or friendship. As valid as these types of human love are when dealing with others, they can often slip into an “I love me and only want you” conditional love. Instead, Paul is speaking of agape or God’s love, best understood in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” A love that is best described as self-sacrifice for another’s benefit without any personal reward.

There are four things we humans prize in ourselves and others, and Paul lists them here next to love to show how they cannot operate apart from love’s motivation behind them:

  1. Vs. 1 Communication: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels.” Oh, how we value the ability to communicate. Paul seems to suggest two forms of communication here:
    • The “tongues of men”: Why, with the right words and speech, men have been motivated to do all sorts of things. The eloquence of a good speaker who can not only get his point across but do so in a manner worth listening to. I suppose all of us at times have been frustrated with our inability to say what we wanted to say and wished that we could just speak better.
    • The “tongues of angels”: Whether or not this is meant to suggest, as some think, that angels have their own language, as many of the Jewish Rabbis believed, is doubtful. What is the language of angels? Well, I rather think that it is praise, as that seems to be what you always hear them saying. Or perhaps it is prayer? Again, it is a beautiful thing to be able to praise the Lord in song or word.

    Yet Paul says as great as it is to be able to communicate, whether to men or the Lord, without love all we do is make noise. The greatest words spoken without love fall short of any use. Why, even reading aloud the “love book,” the Bible, apart from love is just noise. It is love that puts healing in words and joy in praise!

  2. Vs. 2a Knowledge: “Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge.” We all desire to learn, to understand things, especially the things of God. At times, we have all wished that we could just understand something better, believing it would make everything right. Prophecy is the gift of speaking forth the heart and mind of God, coupled with understanding all mysteries and all knowledge. Why, that would be great, you say. Yes, it would be, but without love, without God’s actions to go with such knowledge, what would the value be? Balaam had such knowledge and chose to make a profit instead of being a prophet. Yet Jeremiah wept over the nation’s problems as if they were his own, as did Jesus in His ministry. Their love abounded all the more in knowledge and understanding. Truth without love is brutality!
  3. Vs. 2b Strength: “Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains.” I look at faith, or “trust,” as the best definition of what strength is. I have discovered that perhaps this, next to love, may be my weakest area of my spiritual life. Oh, to live life with an optimism that truly understands that nothing is impossible with God. Jonah had great faith; it was for this very reason that he sailed in the opposite direction from sinful Nineveh, as he knew that if they trusted God, they would be saved. And after the reluctant prophet walked the city, even the animals were covered with the sign of repentance, and God did spare the city, much to Jonah’s disgust. For all his faith that God would save such a wicked city, where was the love for the lost in it? His strength without love profited him nothing.
  4. Vs. 3 Passion: “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned.” Here we see self-sacrifice, or as I like to say, passion! Giving all worldly goods away to help the needy, where the Jews were taught you never needed to give more than 20%, but here Paul says someone gives all they had. Or how about the ultimate sacrifice of giving your life away? Some see this as the branding with an iron, which meant becoming a slave; others see it as dying for a cause. Either way, the idea is the same. We humans admire those who live with great passion, don’t we? Who sacrifice for the cause. Yet Paul says that such sacrifice without the right motive profits nothing.

Now, take those things that we humans prize—communication, knowledge, strength, and passion. Great as they are of human traits, without God’s love they amount to nothing in our lives. To live our lives without learning to love is to waste our lives and time, no matter how impressive our accomplishments may be! Value is determined not by the gift but rather by the motive behind the giving, Paul says. It is the motive of love that sets a person apart; it is the motive of love that will cause them to make music instead of noise, become something instead of nothing, and gain value. The littlest done in God’s love is greater than the greatest done without!

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“Have Not Love? (Part 2)”

I. Intro

In the first three verses of chapter 13, Paul shows the value of love when compared to gifts of the Spirit that humans prize:

  • Communication: The power of speech, the eloquence of conversation of man or of angel. Yet without love, we are just big noisemakers. People say things like, “They just like the sound of their own voice!” Why? Because love is not the motive behind the words!
  • Knowledge: The ability to understand mysteries. Education, we humans have long thought, holds the key to our behavior, but it doesn’t. Understanding things does not make a person understanding, does it? So, what is it that makes a person useful in their education? Well, it is when the motive of their knowledge is love.
  • Strength: The power, yes, the strength to stand fast when others run is another gift we prize. Yet this type of faith, apart from love, can quickly become stubbornness and inflexibility. How so, you ask? Well, take Elijah, whose faith caused him to stand against Jezebel in one chapter, but in the next chapter, that same faith caused him to see himself as the only one doing so.
  • Passion: The heart of passion that is willing to make any and every sacrifice for that which it believes. Yet it is not the act of sacrifice alone that causes us such awe; it is rather only the motive of love, which lies behind it. People selfishly sacrifice their lives every day for that which they are passionate about, but all that leaves behind are broken hearts.

Oh, how we humans value these gifts in others and ourselves, but the truth is, apart from agape love, these gifts, these qualities, are nothing!

III. Vs. 4-7 What Love Is and Is Not

Now, in these verses 4-7, we are given the most complete biblical description of love, or if you will, the virtues of love. Here is what we see:

  • This definition is really not a definition in the Greek at all. The Greek forms of these words are not adjectives, which would describe something, but rather they are all verbs, which tell what something does! Agape love can only truly be understood not by what it IS, but rather by what it DOES! Unless God’s love acts, it is not God’s love!
  • Vs. 4-6: Look at these verses carefully and you will discover that love IS really only three positive traits found in verses 4 and 6:
    • Vs. 4a Patient: “Love suffers long.” The word describes a person wronged who easily has the power to get even but will never do so. Love’s primary action is towards others for their benefit, not hurt, even when hurt.
    • Vs. 4b Kind: The word here only appears here in the New Testament and has prompted some to think that Paul coined this word by combining two Greek words—“gracious” and “useful.” Do you see what love does? It is graciously useful, and the context would suggest that this action was towards those whom you could have taken vengeance upon but hadn’t.
    • Vs. 6 Honest: “Rejoices in the truth.” Finally, love is always on the side of truth but more than on the side, rejoicing in that side. Yes, love acts graciously useful but not at the expense of truth. Love is always consistent with truth, and in action towards others, to act untruthfully would be an act of unkindness. Love cannot rejoice in any wrong; it looks for good, hopes for good, and may even emphasize good, but all that is good will be found in truth and not falsehood.

We Christians do not have to produce agape love; in fact, we cannot, as Paul wrote in Romans 5:5 that “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

It is interesting to note that in chapter 12:8-10, Paul listed nine gifts of the Spirit, even though it was not a complete list. Now, if we combine tongues and interpretation, as some do, you have eight. Here in these verses, we have the opposite, as we see not the gifts of the Spirit, but rather the eight “curses” of the flesh. These eight things in our hearts will always hinder God’s love from acting “patiently, kindly, and honestly” towards others. These eight qualities seen in our flesh are things that love never has anything to do with. In fact, agape love will withhold us from behaving in such a way. Love holds us back from acting the old way while moving us towards behaving like Christ. So what we have here is a complete portrait of what Jesus looked like by seeing what He did and did not do!

  • Vs. 4a: “Love does not envy: Love and envy are mutually exclusive of each other. You cannot be lovingly envious. Love can see the inequalities of life and remain content with the place given to it by God. Envy has two ugly forms:
    • I want what someone else has: If they have something that we don’t have, then we want it. If someone has been rewarded or praised for something and we haven’t, then we want to get praise as well.
    • The second is worse, as it does not care to have what the other has; it just hates to see the other person have something at all.

    In either of the forms, envy will hinder agape love that is patient, kind, and honest from being manifest. Think of how many times envy has hindered God’s agape love from being visible in your life. Love does not envy!

  • Vs. 4b: “Love does not parade itself: This word is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. It means to flatter with the hope of gaining a reward. Love never seeks the praise or applause of others; it does not put on a parade or seek to be a spectacle to be admired. Don’t you just love this about the Lord? When He healed folks, He told them not to tell anyone. Jesus’ greatness was displayed not just in what He displayed but in the things He suppressed as well! There is no swagger in love; love is too big for that. You see, love is not about self at all; instead, it is all about others!
  • Vs. 4c: “Is not puffed up: The word in the Greek means to be filled with air; perhaps today we would say “full of oneself.” Love is never arrogant or disrespectful towards others; instead, love is always humble. If being full of hot air describes arrogance, then it would be safe to say that love is self-deflated! To think of oneself as being better than another is a surefire way to quench love. Paul wrote an amazing thing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:15: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Paul wrote to the Romans in 12:3 that “everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
  • Vs. 5a: “Does not behave rudely: Love is never ill-mannered or impolite; instead, it is courteous. Love looks out over the rights and feelings of others before self. Love never wants to do anything that would cause shame; instead, it seeks to be gracious. I have been on missionary trips where those who were there to serve expected the folks to wait on them. Many a Christian, in their zeal to share their faith, have acted without love and behaved rudely, and what was rejected was their attitude and not the gospel. Love may be far more than being polite and considerate, but it is never less.
  • Vs. 5b: “Does not seek its own: Literally, love is disinterested in self. Wow, what an incredible world we would live in if the world was just disinterested in self! Love is not selfish; instead, it is selfless! That is, it is not interested in its own interests, neither is it stubborn or inflexible when it comes to its interests. Love adjusts as far as its own discomfort is concerned. One person wrote, “If you could just cure self-interest, you would have just replanted the garden of Eden!”
  • Vs. 5c: “Is not provoked: Love is not aroused to anger; love guards against getting upset. Or, as some say, love is never bad-tempered or thin-skinned. Some versions have placed the word “easily” before the word provoked, but that is not in the Greek. I often use the phrase that someone has made me mad, and the truth is I have made myself mad, being aroused to anger. Love is not, and agape will douse the flames of wrath! People are preoccupied with their rights; love seeks others before their own.
  • Vs. 5d: “Thinks no evil: Love has an amazing memory, doesn’t it? You see, the word in the Greek is a term for bookkeeping and means keeping no ledger of wrongs. Yet love does keep a record, but not of the wrongs, only of the rights. Paul wrote in Romans 13:8 to “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Love keeps no record of wrongs, unless it is to repay with gracious usefulness!
  • Vs. 6a: “Does not rejoice in iniquity: Finally, love is never glad when wrong wins, no matter who it has victory over. Love only rejoices in goodness, and that too, no matter who that goodness has been shed on. Love does not delight in exposing the weaknesses of others; yes, it will condemn the sin all the while protecting the sinner. Love does not tolerate evil in any form, even when done to those who have harmed us! Love, like Jesus, will weep over human sin and failure, not rejoice in it.

So we see the eight manifestations of the flesh that will hinder the love of God that has been shed abroad in your heart from being manifested in your everyday life. In Jude’s letter (1:21), we read his exhortation concerning love and the Holy Spirit. As he says, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Vs. 7: Finally, Paul leaves us with four things love continues to do every single moment of the day:

  • Bears all things: Literally, the word is “covers,” the idea that comes to mind is like that of an umbrella that shelters from the beating storm. Oh, I like that; “Love puts up an umbrella and invites others under its protection!” Yes, when love sees or hears things, true or untrue, it keeps silent and does not spread it, but more than that, we are told that love covers a multitude of sins! Interestingly, love covers what sin reveals! Not only does love not seek retaliation, it offers instead protection by getting under the attack and bearing the brunt of it for others. Oh, the depth of His love for us is past our comprehension.
  • Believes all things: This does not mean that love is easily deceived or naïve; rather, it means that love lacks suspicion when dealing with people. Love just always seems to be able to trust the best in others and will believe so until proven otherwise, then start all over again. Love is not cynical; it believes someone is innocent until proven guilty. When one has blown it, love will consider not the failure but the struggle that led to it and what they must have gone through before they fell. Oh, we can all do with a little more of this love, can we not?
  • Hopes all things: When love has been disappointed in the one it has trusted, it will yet hope for better things. That is the optimism of love in spite of all appearances to the contrary. Even when trust has been broken, love comes back again and hopes that there will be a turnaround later. No person or situation in this life is totally hopeless as long as there is breath, says love. There is always a place to begin again, and love will find that place of restoration. Barnabas found Paul, and love continues to find each and every one of us.
  • Endures all things: Love cannot be conquered; it never quits, never gives up on anyone. The term is a military one that means to hold a vital position at all costs. Love holds fast to those it loves and will stand against overwhelming opposition, refusing to stop covering, trusting, and hoping because love will not stop loving. Love will not even wither or fade through time; it is still as fresh as the day it started.

Simply put, “Love covers what is otherwise unbearable; it believes what otherwise is unbelievable; it hopes in what otherwise is hopeless, and endures when everything else other than love would give up!” That, my fellow Christians, is the portrait of Jesus, and it ought to be the portrait of you and me. Let’s pray the Holy Spirit keeps us in the love of God.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

“Love Outlasting Never”

I. Intro

In the first three verses of this chapter, Paul spoke of the value of love and how it is superior even to the gifts of the Spirit, which the Corinthians prized. Then in verses 4-7, we were treated to the virtues of love as we saw what love does and does not do. Paul now concludes this chapter on love’s longevity, which he will show in two ways:

  • Vs. 8-10: First, Paul measures love’s longevity based on time, making a remarkable statement: “it has no end.”
  • Vs. 11-13: Second, Paul measures love not on mere time but on its quality throughout time, making an equally remarkable statement that love will never evolve or mature into a new state—it is pure perfection.

That is what makes this section so completely remarkable—there is only one thing that needs no tweaking; instead, it tweaks those who are fortunate enough to allow it to have its perfect work. Love does not need to change. I’m very much like this church in Corinth, I’m afraid—indwelt by the Spirit of God, sent by the Lord to reveal His love to a community enslaved by the flesh and the world’s system. But instead of being a huge contrast between the community, which is full of self-centered and self-willed people, and Christ’s character of love, I look far more like the city than I do Jesus. It is His love in action that ought to set me apart from the world, not just what I say I believe, but rather how I live in love!

Where is the conquest of Christ’s love through my life? All too often, I look to some “new thing” to cause people to want to leave the old life behind. I have prayed for a “new encounter” with the Lord, but it is not something new that I need—rather, it is to be mastered by His love, which has already been shed abroad in my heart! It is so simple, yet so profound: “Jesus will impact the world where He has placed me to the degree that His cross has mastered me!” It is the life mastered by His cross that I will be “patient, gracefully useful, and honest” towards all. It is this life mastered by His cross that I will not display envy or parade myself, inflating my own importance. Neither will there be seen any rude or self-seeking behavior, nor temperamental attitude that takes a record of wrongs or rejoices in others’ misfortunes. No, there will only be His love displayed to a world that, with all its technology, gadgets, and gizmos, cannot compete with the love of Christ!

II. Vs. 8-10 The Permanence of Love

Vs. 8a: The three words of this phrase could fill volumes of books as to the depth of their meaning and impact upon lives. What a bold statement just on its own: “agape love never fails.” Having already seen Paul define agape love not by what it is but rather by what it does, we will not go further. Instead, let’s look at the other rich words of this phrase:

  • Never: The word in the Greek refers to time, not frequency. What’s the difference? Well, if something never failed but was very seldom used, then we may say that it “never has failed,” but we could not say it “has never failed.” You see, it all depends on where you place the “has”! Paul’s point then is that agape love, in reference to time, will not end. You could use it every moment of every day past time, and it will not end! Agape love, like whose character it represents, is eternal. Just how long is “never,” anyway? I mean, is there another side of never? Think of all the things we now trust in, hope in, and find our security in that are not even close to “never.” Yet Paul says agape love has no end—we cannot exhaust agape love; it just keeps on going, doing what Paul had already said, “trusting, hoping, and enduring” all things!
  • Fails: The Greek word carries several ideas that the English word is very weak in defining.
    • The first idea is that of decay, such as a leaf or a flower that falls to the ground. As glorious as those are in their season, when they serve their purpose, they cease being useful. Paul says love has no decay; it never ceases being useful—it will never fall to the ground!
    • Second, it carries the idea of losing one’s strength, like a person who has worked hard all day and has become exhausted because of exertion. Paul says agape love never grows tired, never loses any of its strength. Agape love is as strong at the end of being used as it was when it was first started being used. So often, we may think that we need to pace ourselves so as to have enough at the end as we do in the beginning. Not so with agape love—in fact, we will not have any if we don’t at first use what we already have!
    • Finally, the word carries the idea of immovability. There is nothing that can dislodge love’s permanence. Paul wrote of this in Romans 8:38-39 when he said, “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Remarkable, isn’t it, the things here that cannot dislodge agape love, which is in Christ!

Put all these together, and you come up with a clear picture of this three-word statement: “Love’s eternal nature is always useful, never tires, and is completely immovable!” Speaking of Jesus’ love, John wrote in his gospel (13:1), “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” That is to say, Jesus loved His disciples past never!

Vs. 8b: Having made that most remarkable statement, Paul now contrasts that against the gifts of the Spirit, which are useful in the present but one day will cease to be. His point is that their design was not “always” to be useful, tire in the sense of need, or be immovable. The gifts that the Corinthians prized—”prophecy, tongues, and knowledge”—were only for time and will no longer be needed in eternity.

  • “Prophecies, they will fail”: Not so much the gift of predicting the future as it is revealing the meaning of the present. The word “fail” means “done away with,” and thus we will one day no longer need the understanding of the present nor the future. As much as it is necessary to have this gift now, it will outlive its usefulness and strength, thus being moved out of the way. The present and the future will one day merge, and we will no longer need this gift.
  • “Whether there are tongues, they will cease”: The gift of speaking praise beyond what we have been taught will come to an end. This will come to a close, as we will no longer be hindered by life in this world. Now, it may be pointed out that in the words dealing with the limited scope of need for “prophecies and knowledge,” the words “fail and vanish” are the same, where Paul uses a word for tongues ending that means “cease of its own accord.” Some have used this to argue that “tongues” was just a novelty and stopped on its own at the end of the apostolic age, but that is not what Paul says. He never says that it would stop on its own at a different time as the other two gifts. Instead, he speaks to the manner in which it will cease, which will be a different way, not the time in which it does so.
  • “Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away”: The knowledge spoken of here is the gift to apprehend spiritual truth, which will be done away with. So this, too, will be done away with.

Vs. 9-10: Here Paul explains why these glorious useful gifts will one day cease to be so: “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” The words “in part” simply mean imperfect or partial. God just gives us glimpses now, as it is all we can handle until that which is perfect has come. The word “perfect” is rendered mature in the Greek elsewhere. So Paul speaks of a time of “perfection of maturation” when the gifts which are needed for maturing will no longer be needed. The question is, when will this be?

  • Some suggest that this refers to the completion of the Bible, and as such, we no longer need the gifts. Well, as much as we might like to believe that, I can say that having the completed Bible has not made me perfect. In fact, it has shown me how imperfect I am.
  • I believe that Paul gives us the interpretation of “that which is perfect has come” in verse 12, where he says, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” When will we see “face to face and know just as I also am known”? Well, only when we are in eternity. So yes, “prophecies and knowledge will be done away with” as well as “tongues will cease on its own,” but that will be only when we are in eternity!

So Paul has spoken on the “longevity” of agape love, showing that its longevity is due to the fact that it will never:

  • Cease to be useful
  • Lose its strength
  • Or become dislodged

III. Vs. 11-13 The Perfection of Love

Vs. 11-12: Paul now moves to the second aspect that shows agape love’s longevity, and that is seen in its quality. To do so, Paul uses two illustrations that reveal the perfection of love:

  • Vs. 11: This illustration deals with the difference between childhood and adulthood. As a Jewish male, Paul could well understand “becoming a man” as it happened during their bar mitzvah (son of the law). Prior to that, their conversation, feelings, thoughts, and actions were all childlike, but suddenly they were to be a son of the law, an adult, and put away such things. Things that were perfectly fine were instantly changed. Children are supposed to act as children, but when you see a full-grown man acting as a child, it is a tragedy. It is not that the speech, understanding, and thoughts of a child are wrong—they are just inadequate for an adult. There is a natural growth and development that ought to take place, and so too in our spiritual development. The gifts are designed to lead us to operate in love—to not do so is, as Paul already stated, “nothing.” So Paul says that he made the childish ways inoperative in his life. Yet, with that said, the most mature Christian is just a child when compared to what we will be like in eternity. Only when we are in the presence of Jesus will maturity be reached. It is for this reason that we make heaven our goal, growing in His grace and knowledge our aim, until “mortality may be swallowed up by life.”
  • Vs. 12: This illustration deals with the difference in vision between looking through something opaque and looking at something directly. The ancient world did not have windows as we have, and their mirrors were polished brass, neither of which gave an accurate image. All of our vision is that of imperfection, which one day will be swallowed up by perfection. We do not see things as they truly are—we see imperfectly—but the quality of love is what gives us perfect vision. Love offers a clarity that will not change even in heaven; it is perfection!

Vs. 13: Notice that these three virtues all “abide”—that is, they remain and will pass on into eternity.

  • Faith: This is the deliberate response to the provision of God; it is trust in evidence that has led to action. Now mark this—faith will abide (remain) in heaven. Oh, it will be different inasmuch as faith will no longer lack sight, but faith will always respond to God’s glorious provision as we will always have someone in front of us too glorious to behold as to cause us to respond in trust. Faith will go on possessing Him more fully!
  • Hope: Yes, this too will remain in eternity, as hope is that confidence in the future. It is that expectation of yet more to come, and this too will not end once eternity comes. Our eyes will be opened, seeing all there is, but with the vastness of God’s glory, we will be constantly amazed and expectant of more of Him. Hope will continue catching new glimpses of His glory!
  • Love: Of the three graces, Paul says that this is greatest—not more durable or longer lasting, but greater. How so? Well, it is God’s very nature! God is not faith, nor is He hope; instead, He is Love. God cannot believe because He knows everything. He cannot hope because He possesses everything, but He can and does Love because He is love. Love is greater also because it alone is sacrificial, as we can only give love to others. Love at once is the strength of faith and the inspiration of hope.
  • Exclude love from faith, and all you have is a cold intellectual conviction with no power.
  • Exclude love from hope, and all you have is a dream filled with emotion but no foundation.
  • Oh, but add love to these and see into eternity! No wonder Paul starts chapter 14 with the admonition to pursue love! All we need is love, Christians—the world cannot compete; it is what our lives are to be all about: to become more loving, patient, kind, and honest! Everything must move to that end or be regarded as a waste of our time!