19.  Spiritual gifts III: Pre-eminence of love (1Co 13:1-13)

Explanation

Context: Because of its sheer beauty and power, this is one of most loved passages in the Bible. Yet, it is also read regularly apart from its context. Paul in ch.12 discusses spiritual gifts with an intention to address the problem of tongues in ch.14. Before doing that, Paul tries to give a context to all spiritual gifts, that is, love for others over against self-interest.

• 13:1-3    Absolute necessity of love: Here is the description of a super-saint: with eloquence (charismatic eloquence), with giftedness (prophesy, knowledge, faith), with benevolence (personal sacrifices). But God measures by the internals, not externals. God matters "why", not "what" I do. If that person's life is not characterized by love, all these are similar to three zeros before God; only love gives them value (1000). Spiritual gifts must function through love.
• 13:4-7    Character of love: Love is not an idea, not even a "motivating factor" for behaviour. It is behaviour. To love is to act and to walk in love. The passage is also a manual to manage conflict and is the guideline to genuine Christian brotherhood.
• 13:8-13    Permanence of love: Love is both for now and forever. The eternal existence of love is contrasted with the transitory or temporal character of spiritual gifts in 3 analogies: part vs complete, childhood vs adulthood, indirect vs face to face. 

13:1
tongues of men and of angels -- possibly referring to two kinds of tongues:

(a) human speech inspired by the Spirit but unknown to the speaker, Ac 2:6-8;
(b) dialects of heaven in communicating with God.

gong or cymbal (used in pagan worship): sound like the empty, hollow noises of pagan worship

13:2
all mysteries, all knowledge, all faith: the whole range of spiritual gifts (from 12:8-10)

13:3
"so that I might be burned", possibly martyrdom; alternative reading: "hand over my body that I might boast" may refer to the bodily sufferings which Paul boasts in 2Co 11:23-29,12:10

NIV	NKJV	NRSV	GNB	NEB	NASB
patient	suffers long	patient	patient	patient	patient
kind	kind	kind	kind	kind	kind
not envy	not envy	not envious	not jealous	envies no one	not jealous
not boast	not parade itself	not boastful	not conceited	never boastful	not brag
not proud	not puffed up	not arrogant	not proud	never conceited	not arrogant
not rude	not bahave rudely	not rude	not ill-mannered	not rude	not act unbecomingly
not self-seeking	not seek its own	not insist on its own way	not selfish	never selfish	not seek its own
not easily angered	not provoked	not irritable	not irritable	not quick to take offence	not provoked
keep no record of wrongs	think no evil	not resentful	not keep a record of wrongs	keep no score of wrongs	not take into account a wrong suffered
not delight in evil	not rejoice in iniquity	not rejoice in wrongdoing	not happy with evil	not gloat over other men's sins	not rejoice in unrighteousness
rejoice with the truth	rejoice in the truth	rejoice in the truth	happy with the truth	delight in the truth	rejoice with the truth
always protects	bears all things	bears all things	never gives up	nothing it cannot face	bears all things
always trusts	believes all things	believes all things	its faith never fail	no limit to faith	believes all things
always hopes	hopes all things	hopes all things	its hope never fail	no limit to hope	hopes all things
always perseveres	endures all things	endures all things	its patience never fail	no limit to endurance	endures all things

13:4
patient and kind: passive and active responses toward others

not envy: no rivalry (like the Corinthians' divisions in the name of their teachers)

not boast: no desire to call attention to oneself (like their boasts of having wisdom in 3:18)

not proud: not puffed up or arrogant (like their stand against apostle Paul)

13:5
not rude: not behave shamefully or disgracefully (like their humiliating the poor)

not self-seeking: not selfish, not insisting on self-gain, self-justification, or self-worth

not easily angered: not easily provoked to anger because of forebearance

keeps no record of wrongs: does not take notice of the evil done against oneself

13:6
not delight in evil: such as avoid gossipping about the misdeeds of others

rejoices with the truth: joins in rejoicing when witnessing behaviour that reflects truth (the gospel, Jn 8:32)--for every victory gained, every forgiveness offered, every act of kindness

13:7
always protects: put up with everything, do not gossip, keep confidential matters confidential

always trusts: never ceases to have faith, trusts God in behalf of the one loved

always hopes: never ceases to have hope, hopes that God will show mercy to the one loved

always perseveres: endures in all circumstances because of absolute confidence in the future

13:8
Love never comes to an end; in contrast, prophecies, tongues and knowledge (utterance of revealing mysteries) will pass away because they belongs merely to the present age.

13:9
Our knowledge, even the revelatory knowledge from the Holy Spirit, is only partial.

13:10
At the coming of Christ, those gifts now necessary for the building up of the church in the present age will disappear, because "the complete" (final destiny in Christ) will have come.

13:11
The analogy says that behaviour from one period in one's life is not appropriate to the other period. The gifts, appropriate for the present church, are inappropriate for the church in glory.

13:12
Our present vision of God, as great as it is, is as nothing when compared to the real thing that is yet to be; it is like the difference between seeing a reflected image in a mirror (or in a photograph) and seeing a person face to face.

"As I am fully known" refers to God's way of knowing; we shall know the Lord to the fullest extent possible for a finite being.

13:13
The 3 cardinal Christian virtues are familiar to the early church (Ro 5:1-5; Col 1:4-5; 1Th 1:3; Heb 6:10-12; 1Pe 1:3-8, 1:21-22): faith toward God, hope for the future, love for one another. Together they characterize the whole of Christian existence. They are also the characteristics to look for in a church.

Love is the greatest of these three because it continues on into the final glory, while the other two are not. Faith will no longer be needed when what is believed is in sight (Heb 11:1). Hope will no longer be needed when what is hoped for is realized. Love outlasts the other two.

Discussion

• Is love everything when we decide what is the right behaviour?

There is a danger of putting love above God. Situation ethics is unbiblical yet it is based on a single norm (moral rule) of love. Of course, all our actions should be in the context of love, but moral behaviour must be grounded in absolute moral rules of God as specified in the Bible.

• What do we learn about love from Jn 13:34-35 (Jesus’ new command of love)?

• To love is a command, not a choice.
• Love is an attitude not a feeling, volition not emotion.
• Love is without condition, irrespective of our differences.
• Our love is motivated by God's love for us.
• Like God's love, it is not only for what is worthy but even for the unworthy.
• Love has a purpose of proving to the world that we are of God.

Application

• The description of love (v.4-7) is a portrait of the life and ministry of Jesus; one could substitute his name for the noun "love". Can I put my own name in place of the noun "love"? Similarly, we can substitute v.1-3 by real life situations: If I preach with the brilliance of Paul, but have not love.... If I have many spiritual gifts and am recognized as an excellent church leader, but have not love....

• Love is the greatest thing in the world, the most effective evangelism, the greatest apologetic. It transcends all barriers. (quote by Drummond)