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1st Corinthians 13 Part II
October 14th 2018
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So, we left off last week having covered the hyperbolic examples Paul gives to show the importance of Christians choosing to exercise Agape love in their lives.
His approach was to take some really valuable spiritual gifts that God gives to individuals in the body – gifts of tongues, and faith and prophecy (which include possessing the gifts of knowledge and mysteries) and blows them up in himself, saying things like if I have all knowledge but then drops the bomb by adding, “and have not Godly love, I am nothing.”
Specifically, this was the text we read:
1st Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
I would not be any kind of teacher if we skip over the power of the statement Paul makes here when he says this in verse 2 because we have the tendency to make faith the single most important trait of the Christian on earth – and for good reason.
The scripture holds faith up as the pillar of Christianity. I mean the Father of Christianity, and Judaism, and Islam – Abraham – was made so because of His faith.
And scripture goes so far as to say In Hebrews chapter 11, the Hall of Fame of Faith chapter
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
So what are we to do with this statement from Paul that says even if we have “ALL FAITH” enough to move mountains and have not Godly love we are nothing?”
It is hyperbole, and it has its place in showing the value of Godly love over everything else – we can say this because of its eternality – love will always be – faith will not.
But even in this statement we cannot allow ourselves to suggest that the truest expresssions of Godly love can exist in the absence of faith.
They are two sides of the same coin – with Faith being the Heads side and Godly love being the tails or the cart after the horse and the coin being CHRISTIANITY.
On board Illustration of a coin rimmed with CHRISTIANITY and on the heads side it being FAITH and on the TAILS side it being GODLY LOVE.
Remember the six elements I posted last week in describing Agape or Godly love?
They were:
Goodwill
Selfless never selfish
Action or verb
Choice of the Will (not feeling)
Exists in opposition
Because it is a choice, and because it exists in the opposition to what a person would naturally do, this LOVE is the decision to act based on trusting or believing in something (principles or promises) that cause them to CHOOSE to show Godly Love.
Because Godly Love is NOT a feeling, and is more a product of the minds choosing, it automatically is tied to something (in this case promises and commands from God) that a person believes and therefore acts in accordance to this belief or faith.
Let me explain:
God says forgive – all people all the time.
Our natural inclination is to hold a grudge.
But we have been given a command (“Forgive”) and a promise (“If you forgive others I will forgive you”) and if we BELIEVE OR TRUST OR HAVE FAITH IN THE SOURCE OF THE COMMAND (God) and in the Promise (That we will be forgiven if we forgive) we make the decision to actively Choose to Forgive others of every trespass.
If we do not have such faith or trust, or believe that God is serious or that He even said such a thing, we may CHOOSE to following our own natural inclinations (feelings, by the way) and NOT forgive – thereby failing to love the way God loves.
Without knowing the principles (which are located in scripture) a human being will have a very hard time CHOOSING to do the will of God (which is to love like He loves) because their natural feelings and inclinations will override what the Spirit prompts them to always do.
Because of this FAITH, the head side of the coin of Christianity, is almost always requisite for a human being to truly choose to love with Godly love.
And so the general rule (there are always exceptions to every general rule) but the general rule is
Hear/learn/know the promises or commands of God.
Believe or place faith in them (or Him who gives them)
And then make the CHOICE to LOVE as God loves.
This formula, if you will, is not required when it comes to expressing love in the other ways we discussed last week. Those are more feelings based types of love.
Not Agape love. Not being a feeling, it is a love based first on facts, and then is exhibited by CHOOSING to show faith in the FACTS by CHOOSING to show love.
So, lets work backward for just a minute and return to the Head-side of Christianity, faith.
It is said that faith is the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. Behind it is a primary idea of trust. We say, I believe that this thing is true and therefore it is worthy of my trust.
This trust ought to rely on the evidence on which the assertion rests. In other words, we might call faith bad if it rests on assertions that have no evidentiary basis and we might call faith good if it has a substantiated basis of evidence undergirding its claim.
To say I have faith in a planet full of blue aliens that is actually called Bluton is, based on the lack of evidence for its assertions, bad faith – no matter how good it makes me feel or how many others place their trust in the assertion.
Good faith then, can be so labeled when it is substantiated by reliable evidence.
It is interesting because God does NOT, contrary to what many critics maintain, leave us in a void of evidence when it comes to many biblical claims.
Also interesting is the fact that where some biblical assertions may lack evidence, the assertions that are not lacking often lead us to placing faith and trust in things that are supported less.
For example, God has given us an abundance of evidence for His existence as a supremely powerful being in and through the orchestration of many things in nature, science, and other multi-faceted and complex realities.
Accepting His existence based on these supports also lends many people to accept other faith claims that are not so supported – like a six day literal creation, a world-wide flood with all the worlds animals on an ark, and things like that.
I am personally bent on laying claim to good faith, as we have defined it, and am willing to resist trusting some things by association.
In other words, I would prefer to hold back on generally trusting some assertions IF God Himself has not given us the evidence to support them. NOT that He is not capable of accomplishing them, but I truly believe Good Faith is a virtue and bad faith is not.
Intrinsic to the possession of Good faith (and as I pointed out, Godly Love) is knowledge.
Interestingly enough, faith is sometimes equated or likened to knowledge but there is a difference between them – knowledge requires no assent – faith does.
When we know something, we know it, and faith is not part of the knowledge. But when we know some facts, but not all of them, faith steps in an plays a role in making up the difference.
So where we might have knowledge that there is a created world, and that it is part of a grand system, and it is inhabited by an enormous network of creatures and creations, we make an assent, based on these facts and evidences, and place our faith in the notion that God is the creator of it all.
That is an assent based in faith because NONE of us were watching God when He put it all together.
So, when people say that they KNOW something that is really a matter of faith it does not benefit the subject. Better to say, based on the evidence and knowledge I possess surrounding the subject, I have faith that . . .(fill in the blank).
Because knowledge and evidence is important to the establishment of faith, scripture tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word.
Remember Romans 10:14-17?
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Bringing it all full circle, we see the relationship between it all like this:
Knowledge gives us evidences.
Spiritual Evidences come from the Word of God.
Evidences are required for Good Faith.
Good faith in the promises, principles and commands of God lend to
Godly love –
Which is a choice of the will.
There are a number of categories that men have created around faith –
“Historical faith”
“Temporary faith”
“Saving faith”
I prefer to say there is Good Faith and there is Bad Faith, and you can’t have any of the above with bad faith and you can have all of the above with Good.
So, while Paul clearly states that he could have all faith, enough to move mountains, and if he lacks Godly love he has nothing, the point cannot be taken that Godly love is possible in the absence of faith, even though the import of Godly love is highlighted here.
And then Paul gives us another example of hyperbole, saying in verse 3
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not God’s love, it profiteth me nothing.
The Greek word here used means to break off in small quantities and/or to distribute in the same.
Why does Paul put it this way? Because this is the way to evidence the GREATEST good.
See, if someone takes all that they possess and give it to one needy person, there’s no show in that, is there – at least not much of one.
But if you bestow all your worldly goods out in small quantities you will in all probability be surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of needy people with outstretched arms – and that is the equivalent (in giving to the poor) of being a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol.
In Paul’s day distributing to the poor in this manner was seen as a great virtue and it makes me think of Pablo Escobar who, at the height of his earning years where he was bringing in close to a billion dollars a day, would go to the poorest villages where he came from and hand out several thousand one dollar bills.
This desire of the opulent and wealthy to be seen as benevolent in Paul’s day, who would let the poor gather around their homes for meager distributions, was not appreciated by the Lord and He said in Matthew 6:1-4
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
In any case, to make the case as strong as possible, Paul says that if ALL that a man had were dealt out in this way, in small portions, so as to benefit as many as possible, and yet were not attended with true love towards God and towards man, it would be all false, hollow, hypocritical, and really of no value in regard to his own salvation or standing with God. Or as he says, it would profit nothing.
Finally, he gives us one more example and says
“And though I give my body to be burned and have not God’s love, it profiteth me nothing.
.”
From what scholars of the Apostolic Age suggest this seems to be referring to someone submitting to martyrdom or offering themselves up to the fires that might be applied to a Christian martyr.
Though I should be willing to lay down my life in the most painful manner, in the name and cause of Christ, and have not charity, it would profit me nothing.
Many ancient prophets suffered martyrdom, and while though there is no evidence that any of them were burned to death, we know that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were indeed and willingly thrown into a fiery furnace, because they refused to follow a false God – so Paul may have been referencing this.
And while there is no evidence that the earliest Christian martyrs were put to death by flame Nero is the first who is believed to have committed this horrible act as Christians were covered with pitch and set on fire to illuminate his gardens.
So, it is thought that perhaps Paul knew that this form of death was happening or possible during his life. We know it was a form of death for Christians in subsequent centuries – at the hand of other Christians, by the way.
But this is all besides the point. Paul has once again taken us to an extreme – because martyrdom by flame is extreme, but if such a death did in fact occur, and the person who submitted themselves to it was without Godly love, it would PROFIT THEM NOTHING.
And by this point we know what this means. Also at this point, Paul now launches into a new approach to Godly love – he describes it for us.
Let’s read beginning at verse four where he says:
4 Godly love suffereth long, and is kind; Godly love envieth not; Godly love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth:
Sixteen descriptions of Godly Love.
Not one of them include –
Being insulting
Being rash
Being angry
Yelling
Hurting feelings or flesh
Pointing out faults
Laughing and mocking others
Judging other people
Excluding others
Being impatient
Unforgiving
Condemning people to hell
Criticizing
Instead . . . listen to the sixteen . . . Godly Love . . .
suffereth long,
is kind;
envieth not;
vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up.
Doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil;
rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth
beareth all things,
believeth all things,
hopeth all things,
endureth all things, and
it never fails:
So, Paul begins to illustrate for us the nature of Godly love and/or to show how it is exemplified.
His illustrations are all drawn from how Godly love is seen in our conduct towards others and/or situations related to others.
Did you notice this? The description of Agape Love that Paul gives to us is not only what it looks like but by what it really is.
It is NOT . . . it is NOT . . . it IS . . . it IS . . .
Therefore true Agape does what is described here and BY doing it (this love is a verb) is what makes it what it IS!
It does not have to feel (longsuffering or kind in our hearts) its what it IS . . . longsuffering and kind.
Are you getting the difference? Consider the word Longsuffering itself. The word is not LongJuyfulling, is it? Longhappiness, is it? It’s longSUFFERING!
Agape Love is long SUFFERING.
So the feeling inside of the person is not in harmony with the action. The feeling, the experience, the heart is suffering, but the action is they are willing to suffer LONG in these situations!
That is the doing or the verb of Agape Love! And it is in contradistinction from the feelings associated with the doing.
Nobody on earth, for instance, wants to go to the DMV with a difficult teenager and repeatedly stand in lines with them to fix tickets and help them with license problems, right?
Nobody.
But Agape love, while suffering in the activity, suffers LONG for that teenager.
And we could apply this and all the rest of these attributes to ANY insufferable thing we are faced with in our engagements with others.
In other words, along the way of our Christian lives, and our engagements with others, whatever they may be
An angry encounter . . .
An injustice . . .
A long line . . .
A confrontation . . .
An attack . . .
An inconvenience . . .
A difficult person . . .
(Because remember, Agape love exists only in the opposition of what we would choose . . .)
WHATEVER CONFRONTS US . . .
Agape love
suffereth long,
is kind;
envieth not;
vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up.
Doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil;
rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth
beareth all things,
believeth all things,
hopeth all things,
endureth all things, and
it never fails:
Sick of the list yet? It’s important that when we describe this form of Love that we include all of the list because all of them are necessary to the description of it.
In other words, if a person expressed 15 of the list but not 16 then the love would fail the test and could not be considered true Agape.
Heavy huh? And it goes to show how difficult truly possessing this love is for others in the situations of this world.
That God for His grace and His longsuffering and kindness, right?
However, that being said, when a human being is willing and then able to actually choose to live God’s love, what a victory, eh? A victory for themselves and more importantly a victory for Christ who made such love possible in and through Him.
And this is the end result or objective of God so loving the World, that He gave His only Son, who made the Spirit of God accessible to the World, so that through His Children of the Spirit, love can prevail – at least in part.
So Godly love can prevail over the fallen darkness and self-centered ways of Man.
Remembering the context of the Chapter, Paul probably thought these expressions were necessary to give them in the face of the contentions and strife among them where they had allowed suspicions, and jealousies, and unkind judgements, and total selfishness to abide – all of which were inconsistent with Godly love.
So, Paul begins with our English Word,
Longsuffering, (which we have touched on already):
The word here used (MAK-ROTH-OO-MAYO) means patient endurance, slowness and forbearance and stands in contrast to haste; to passionate expressions and thoughts that come with irritability.
It can be assigned to attitudes, words, even state of mind (since that is where everything begins) and is again in contrast to the reactions we may normally have when we are oppressed, provoked, or threatened with insult or injury.
1st Timothy 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
In another place where the Fruit of the Spirit is described we note the presence of longsuffering as Paul writes:
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
We might add these to our descriptions of Agape Love and would not be wrong.
In another Pauline Epistle we read the following exhortation, which beautifully describes the Christian way of life and of course includes longsuffering when it says in Colossians 3
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Number 2 – Agape love is Kind.
The word here used denotes to be good-natured, gentle, tender, affectionate, friendly, courteous, as Tindale specifically translated the word.
The idea is, that under all provocations and ill-usage it is gentle and mild.
Note that contempt and even hatred prompts harshness, severity, mean expression, violence, and a desire for revenge.
But love is the reverse of all these and therefore in addition (everything here is an addition) but in addition to longsuffering when we truly love others will be kind to them, courteous, gentile and will refrain from severe or harsh treatment in word or deed.
The Apostle Peter wrote in his first epistle chapter 3:
8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
And then number three:
Godly love “envieth not.”
Interestingly enough, the Greek here (Dzayloo-oo) means a warm feeling toward or a warm feeling against.
We remember that in the last chapter that Paul instructed the Saints at Corinth to earnestly covet the best of Spiritual gifts – that would be Dzlay-oo-oo in a positive way where the term in a negative way would mean to be jealous or negatively and zealously desiring to possess something that another person has that you don’t.
So on the one hand, it is good to envy something that is good in another person as a means to also be or do good but it is all together bad if we envy something negatively, meaning we hate the possessor because they possess the thing we desire.
It all comes down to the heart when it comes to envy.
It seems that Paul is using envy here – in the sense that agape love DOES NOT ENVY in that agape love is happy in the things others possess and do not wish them ill-will but instead delights in their welfare.
Someone is gifted in some way, blessed with characteristics, or has had some sort of success – agape love is happy for them, rejoices in their welfare, rank, reputation, wealth, health, education, advancements – you get it. And it seems that in addition to not being negatively envious of them they would treat them kindly and happily for such successes.
Negative envy is present when we feel personal slight in the face of someone’s success or happiness.
The thing about this form of negative envy is it is SO tied to the natural Man and is almost always felt by almost all people somewhere or sometime in their lives.
To not possess negative envy for others is a grand miracle of God in the heart of human beings as it truly reflects a disposition of Goodwill toward all others – the beautiful, the holy, those who have it all together, those who succeed in this world, even those who are able to love as God loves.
For some reason we feel lesser in their presence, and therefore feel threatened or angry or darkly envious.
Godly love will not allow for such responses – and it is a tough one all the way around.
The Great Reformed theologican Spurgeon once said something to the effect that it is natural for human beings to
Engrave their problems in stone and to write their blessings in sand.
I mention this because one way that we are able to overcome envy is to take a gander at our blessings in the face of the rest of the world.
Susan might be gorgeous, but we live better than 85% of the world population.
John might be a successful businessman, but we have healthy children. When we really examine things, would we REALLY truly want to change places with anyone?
Not me. No way. Nobody – ever.
So whatever pulls our lever toward envy – genuine gratitude for what God has given to each of us helps overcome and manage the natural propensity toward negative envy.
This leads us right into the last one for today –
“Vaunteth not itself.”
And of course, this seems to speak to the idea of boasting and bragging. Because the word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament some have thought that it is talking about actions that are thoughtless and that throw caution to the wind – and some have suggested that it means, “NOT rash.”
I’m not so sure. I tend to think of it as,
Not boasting or vaunting one’s own excellences or endowments before the world.
In this Paul seems to reverse the take on negative envy because in that he says not to look on others who are superior in some way and here he says for those who may possess traits that are good to not boast about them.
And bottom line, genuine Godly love would make this possible in part because possessing goodwill for others we would not want them to be envious, right?
That is love!
Who would, filled with Goodwill and the desire to not serve themselves, ever boast of a gift, or talent, or success relative to themselves or their life?
To do so would only inflame the natural negative envy all people possess and seek to overcome.
So don’t throw fuel on the flame! Be humble and satisfied with the blessings God has given you – and work to alleviate envy, not inflame it.
It seems that geunine Godly love produces a state of mind that is just the opposite of a disposition to boast.
And from this we might be able to say that the person who does the most good in the world is the one who is least accustomed to boasting.
And we will continue with this study of 1st Corinthians 13 neck-week.
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