Sam Cotten

some things are better the next day, after all…

Our church is doing a sermon series on 1 Corinthians. Our worship leader, Elliot Diaz, preached Sunday from chapter 13, popularly known as the “love chapter”. He did a great job with the message. Check it out on the church website: www.bethelife.com. He got me so excited about the chapter during the week that I spent a lot of time on it myself. It is such a wonderful chapter! Here are some thoughts, in no particular order. 1 Corinthians 13 [+/-]1 Corinthians 13 [13:1]If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2]And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3]If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. [4]Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5]or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6]it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7]Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [8]Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [9]For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10]but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. [11]When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12]For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. [13]So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (ESV)
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Noisy gongs and clanging cymbals

The “noisy gong and clanging cymbal” is probably a reference to the practices of the pagan temples in Corinth. Apparently, they used gongs and cymbals as a part of their unholy worship. Paul is probably saying that giftedness without a lifestyle of love is no better than paganism. Wow – better show some love, eh?

Down with “religion”

Why does Paul pick out the religious activities in verses 2-3? The list of spiritual activities in vs 2-3 is interesting. Prophecy is Paul’s preferred gift (see 14:1), “mystery” and “knowledge” are terms associated with the Corinthian church’s eschatology (end times theology). The Corinthians saw themselves as those who had already entered into the fullness of the age to come in some way, and who possessed knowledge and mystery. Thus, they were “the spiritual”. Have you ever known anybody like that? Ever been somebody like that?

To burn or to boast?

There is a climax in 1 Cor 13:3 [+/-]1 Corinthians 13:3 [3]If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (ESV)
. There is some question as to whether it should be “to be burned” or “to boast”. It is a complicated textual question, one of the few places in the NT where it really is not clear what the underlying Greek text is. The main point is just the idea of a great sacrifice; so either way, the meaning is basically the same. I lean towards the “to boast” option, b/c I think it sounds more Pauline. Paul wants to be able to “boast” in the sense of gaining a reward on judgment day. But, who knows. By the way, there are no places of theological significance where the underlying Greek text of the New Testament is in question.

The content of love & its recipients
Verses 4-7 are the content of love; they show what true love looks like. Who are we commanded to love here? Who should be the recipients of this love? Of course, God! BUT – that is not the point of this chapter. This chapter is sandwiched between two chapters on spiritual gifts, which are for edifying people. That is a hint – this chapter is about loving people. Kind of raises the bar, doesn’t it?

The foundation of love
Verses 8-12 are the foundation of love. They show that spiritual gifts are eschatological. We are living in the eschaton, the “last days”, and spiritual gifts are “end time gifts”. Spiritual gifts are important for the time of the eschaton, because they are “from part”. That is, they point towards the reality of age to come. While establishing their importance for this age, this idea also limits spiritual gifts, because they are not eternal in nature. They will be subsumed into the whole of which they are a part when we see “face to face”. This is when Christ returns. At that point, all partial knowledge, prophecy, etc., will be swallowed up by a greater revelation, characterized by “face to face”. Love, however, is different. It is eternal, and is the truest thing in our lives that is heavenly. Going back to verse 1, it is the things that transforms our “noise” (clanging cymbals) into music, turning our raw giftedness into a symphony of Christ-exalting, Spirit-filled expression.

What?!

1 Corinthian 13:13 is difficult to understand. Faith alone justifies. Hope is faith in future grace. It is difficult to understand why love is considered by Paul here to be greater than these. In reality, you can’t have one of these without the others. I think it is probably close to Paul’s understanding to say that love is the GOAL of faith. It is what our faith produces, and is greater than faith in the same way a finish line is greater than a starting line. Love fulfills faith, completes it. Faith alone justifies, but it does so to the end, towards the goal, of love.

Tidbits and conclusions:

The OT has 613 laws, which were designed by God to bring unity between he and his people. These laws are summarized in 10, which we call the Decalogue, or the “10 Commandments”. Jesus summarized these to 2: love the Lord… love your neighbor. The NT summarizes these in one, saying that love is the fulfillment of the Law. Ways to express this:

• Love unifies the law
  
• Love is the essence of the law, and the key to its fulfillment
  
• Love touches all the commandments
  
• Love is the great unifier
  
• Love, rightly understood, is the sum total of our duty to God and each other
  

I want to thank Elliot for a great sermon! Show your love!

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