Lessons #457 and 458
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Excellency of love in church of Christ (1 Cor 13:1-3)
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
In our last study, we stated that the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is concerned with the subject of love. Consequently, we stated its message is: A life characterized by love is more important in the church of Christ than temporary exercise of spiritual gifts. We stated that the message is to be expounded through three assertions of the apostle that conveyed the importance of love. The first assertion derived from the section of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 is that the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues without a life characterized by love is meaningless in that it gives a confusing message. This assertion is derived from the sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. Because the word “love” appears nine times in the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians and because it is the primary concern of the chapter, we spent considerable time examining the Greek word (agapē) translated “love.” After our consideration we conclude that the word as used in the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians has the sense of “strong affection and interest in the affairs of another.” With this meaning we stated that we were ready to consider what the apostle meant in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 13:1 but have not love but we ran out of time with the promise that we will continue with it in today’s study. So, it is with this verbal phrase we begin our study this morning.
What does it mean not to have love? It is to live a lifestyle that is not characterized by love, not an occasional love for some people. This answer, however, is too a general statement so we need to reduce it to a level that is easy to identify with or to get a handle on. We know that the opposite of love is hatred. All things being equal, a believer would not live a life characterized by hatred since a believer who does so lives in sin, not in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit as He would not be controlling such a person, and the person does not understand that the spiritual life is a life that should reflect that a person is going to be in heaven where nothing sinful exists. What we have said is basically what the Holy Spirit stated through the pen of Apostle John in 1 John 2:11:
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Based on this passage, a believer could claim that because the person does not hate a fellow believer that that means the person is living a life of love so that what Apostle Paul wrote of not having love does not apply to the individual. It is to help us be truthful in examining ourselves that we want to explore the things that imply that a person does not have love.
Exercising one’s spiritual freedom in Christ regarding debatable matters in such a way that will cause spiritual problem to a weak believer or a believer who does not yet know much of the Scripture is an action that implies not having love. The example I often use to illustrate this is the drinking of alcoholic beverages since the Scripture nowhere explicitly prohibits it for believers. Suppose you live in an area where many Christians think that it is wrong to drink such drinks, but you go ahead anyway to do so, your action though not sinful will cause spiritual problem for such believers and so you do not have love for such believers although you may think that you do. It is this kind of not having love that is conveyed in what the Holy Spirit wrote through Apostle Paul in Romans 14:15:
If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
The word “distressed” is translated from a Greek word (lypeō) that refers to causing mental or emotional distress so means “to irritate, offend, insult.” In the context of what the apostle wrote, the issue was concerned with dietary law in which some object to eating certain foods because they are not aware that by Jesus’ coming to the world all foods are now clean to be eaten. The believer who eats everything may cause problems to the one who does not or cause such a person to go against the individual’s conscience. The implication would be that such a believer is distressed. Anyway, the point is that if a believer forms the habit of doing things that though not sinful would cause spiritual problems for other believers that such action implies that the person does not have love. We should, of course, be careful here to differentiate doing what the Bible commands from that which is not directly commanded. Love does not mean to go against God’s word to accommodate another believer since love for God should trump over love for humans. I am saying that if you do what the Scripture requires but a fellow believer is offended that does not mean that you do not have love. For example, someone may want you to lie to cover the person’s sin and you refuse, that does not mean you do not have love for the person. If anything, you have love because doing what God requires is how to demonstrate you love Him. Hence, it should be clear that when we caution about our use of freedom in Christ in such a way not to cause distress to another believer, we do not mean using freedom in anything that is clearly required in the word of God but only in debatable matters because there is no passage in the Scripture that commands or prohibits a given action. Anyhow, the point remains that exercising one’s spiritual freedom in Christ regarding debatable matters in such a way that will cause spiritual problem to a weak believer or a believer who does not yet know much of the Scripture is an action that implies not having love.
To fail to be understanding towards the failures of fellow believers or to fail to be patient with each other is an act that means that one who does so does not have love. It is this failure to show understanding or tolerate each other’s failure that caused the Holy Spirit to provide the instruction through Apostle Paul that is recorded in Ephesians 4:2:
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Tolerating one another is an essence of having love. So, when there is a failure to be patient or to tolerate each other’s failures that affect us personally, we do not have love. Because we are prone to misapplying the word of God in certain matters, it is important to be careful to recognize that being patient or tolerable of others’ failures does not extend to certain sins that are habitually committed by a believer that should cause others to excommunicate such a person. I am saying that while you may be patient with a believer that failed, it does not mean that you should ignore the clear instruction of the Holy Spirit the apostle had already written to the Corinthians about how to handle as we read in 1 Corinthians 5:9–11:
9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
So, while you should be kind in your treatment of the believer so described that does not mean you are to tolerate such a person’s failure.
Another thing that one could do that implies that one does not have love is if there is no genuine interest in the affairs of other believers in a way to be helpful to them. We are a society that is self-centered so that very few believers actually think about the interest or affairs of others in the sense of being very helpful. I also realize that we live in a society where people treasure their privacy to the point of being idolatrous, probably making it difficult for others to know about the problems of their fellow believers. This notwithstanding, believers should genuinely take interest in the affairs of fellow believers as commanded in Philippians 2:4:
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
This passage does not say that you should not be concerned with your own interests but that you should also be concerned about the interests of others. Hence, if a believer forms the habit of not showing concern for the interests of others that is an indication that the individual does not have love as we are expounding.
Still another thing that implies not having love that is related to the previous is shutting one’s eyes to the needs of others. If a person has love, that individual would demonstrate it through rendering help to those who are in need. It is because love in action is manifested through helping others that the Holy Spirit through the human author of Hebrews commended the recipients of the epistle for demonstrating love to fellow believers as we read in Hebrews 6:10:
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
The Holy Spirit clarifies to us that when we do not have love then we ignore to help those who are in need since love would imply coming to the aid of one that is in need as we read in 1 John 3:17:
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Anyhow, these four things that we have identified help us to examine ourselves to know if we have love or not. In other words, we should examine ourselves in light of these four things to help us understand if we can be described as not having love, that is, that our lifestyle is not characterized by love that is the focus of the apostle in this thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians.
In any case, we insist that when the apostle wrote in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 13:1 but have not love he was concerned with love, that is, the quality of warm regard for and interest in another that characterizes the lifestyle of a believer and not something that occurs intermittently. We say this because the apostle had indicated that it is possible for a person to exercise the gift of speaking in tongues or languages unlearned, without love. It is inconceivable that a person could genuinely exercise such a gift without being controlled by the Holy Spirit. If a person genuinely speaks in tongues, the person is of necessity filled of the Holy Spirit. A person who is filled of the Holy Spirit by implication has love because we know that love is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, as stated in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.
This being the case, it is difficult to see how the apostle could say that a person who exercises the spiritual gift of speaking in tongue does not inwardly possess love. Consequently, the way to avoid this implied conflict is that the apostle is concerned not with a momentary possession of love as part of the fruit of the Spirit but the love that characterizes the lifestyle of a believer who is habitually filled of the Holy Spirit.
All the same, the apostle’s first assertion is that the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues without a life characterized by love is meaningless in that it gives a confusing message. The idea of meaninglessness that gives confusing message is communicated in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:1 I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
The apostle used two words in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:1 that appear only here in the Greek NT and two words that appear at least twice in the Greek NT. The first word that appears only once in the Greek NT is the word “resounding” that is translated from a Greek word (ēcheō) that means “to produce a sound or noise not involving human speech,” that is, “to make a noise, ring out.” Of course, the Greek word is used in the Septuagint with the meaning “to sound, to ring, to roar”; nonetheless, it is in the sense of “to give off a certain sound or sounds” that the word is used in our passage. The second word that appears only once in the Greek NT is the word “cymbal” that is translated from a Greek word (kymbalon) that means “cymbal,” that is, a metal basin, also used in ritual observances that makes a shrill sound or loud crashing sound when two of them were struck against each other. It is used in the Septuagint in Psalm 150:5:
praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
According to the authorities, the function of the cymbals was less musical than liturgical, being used as signals for the singing to begin and between the sections of the psalms. Anyhow, it is a musical instrument of some sort.
The first word that appears at least twice in the Greek NT used in 1 Corinthians 13:1 is the word “gong” that is translated from a Greek word (chalkos) that may refer to a metal of various types, such as copper, brass, or bronze involved in commerce as it is used in Revelation 18:12:
cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;
The word may refer to anything made of the kind of metal we mentioned previously, so it may mean “money” as it is used to describe what people gave in the temple that caused the Lord Jesus to eventually commend a widow for her giving as we read in Mark 12:41:
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:1, it has the meaning of “gong,” that is, “a metal disc with a turned rim, giving a resonant note when struck.” Authorities are not in agreement with what it is. Some take the view that it is a musical instrument while others tell us that “a gong” placed at the rear of a Greek amphitheaters served as a kind of “acoustic amplification.” So, according to this interpretation, it is not really an object that is intended as a musical instrument to give tunes that may be consistently recognized. The various interpretations notwithstanding, it seems that the apostle meant a “gong” as some kind of musical instrument because of its association with cymbal that is for the most part a musical instrument. The second word that appears at least twice in the Greek NT used in 1 Corinthians 13:1 is “clanging” that is translated from a Greek word (alalazō) that may mean means “to cry out loudly in wail by people over one that died” hence means “to wail loudly” as it is used to describe what people were doing in the house of a synagogue leader whose daughter died but was raised to life by the Lord Jesus as we read in Mark 5:38:
When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:1, it is used in the sense of “to clang,” that is, “to make a loud, resonant, repeating noise or metallic sound.”
The metaphors that involve objects that make sounds that are meaningless, and confusing, the apostle used to describe one who exercises the gift of speaking in tongues but does not operate in the lifestyle characterized by love are intended to convey a specific message. Therefore, the apostle implies that a person who exercises the gift of speaking in tongues but does not live a life characterized by love sends a confusing message to others.
How is that? You may ask. It is that there is the assumption that a person who speaks in tongues in a local church during worship is under the control of the Holy Spirit. So, if such a person does not live a life that is characterized by love, the person sends a mixed message that implies that it is permissible to live a life without love and still be controlled by the Holy Spirit as evident in the exercise of the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues. People may wonder how a person who supposedly is controlled by the Holy Spirit functions in a way that does not reflect a facet of the fruit of the Spirit, that is, love. The point is that if a person’s lifestyle does not reflect what the individual claims, that is sending a confusing message to others. Apostle Paul had already communicated to the Corinthians that his lifestyle or way of life is consistent with what he teaches as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:17:
For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
Some take the phrase my way of life of 1 Corinthians 4:17 as a reference only to Apostle Paul’s conduct since the phrase “my way” is a Semitic expression indicating a person’s conduct. Others take the phrase my way of life as a reference only to the doctrine taught by the apostle. The truth is that the apostle meant both, that is, his doctrine and his conduct. The apostle is aware that if a person’s teaching does not agree with the individual’s lifestyle, the person sends a confusing message to those who hear the individual. It is because the apostle recognized that it is not proper to teach one way and live contrary to what one teaches that he under the directive of the Holy Spirit instructed Timothy regarding the importance of ensuring that one’s lifestyle agrees with what the individual teaches as we read in 1 Timothy 4:16:
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
The instruction to Timothy implies that those who teach the word of God should be careful that their lifestyle reflects what they teach. Of course, some of us may say that they are not teachers or pastors therefore this does not apply to them but that will be incorrect. Every believer is called upon to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Being a witness for Jesus Christ involves not only verbally telling people about Jesus Christ and the salvation that is in Him but also demonstrating the impact of the salvation He brings in the life of a person. I think that here is where most of us Christians find ourselves. We tell the world about the love of Jesus Christ, but our conduct often does not reflect it. When this happens, we send a confusing message to the world of unbelievers. They would not see the need for salvation if our lifestyles do not reflect what we claim about salvation in Christ. Anyway, what we are saying is that a person who exercises such gift as speaking in tongues but fails to live a life characterized by love sends a confused message to those who know the person’s lifestyle that does not agree with being controlled by the Holy Spirit. Thus, we emphasize that the first assertion of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul is that the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues without a life characterized by love is meaningless in that it gives a confusing message. This brings us to the second assertion.
The second assertion of Apostle Paul in the passage of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 that we are considering is that the exercise of the spiritual gifts of prophecy and faith without a life characterized by love renders the believer ineffective. This assertion is based on two conditional statements of the apostle in 1 Corinthians 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
The apostle goes from the gift of speaking in tongues to that of prophecy since it is another gift that he mentioned in the fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians. The translators of the NIV correctly assumed that the apostle had in mind the gift of prophecy in the conditional clause If I have the gift of prophecy that literally reads if I have prophecy. This is because the word “prophecy” is translated from a Greek word (prophēteia) that may mean “the capacity or ability to utter inspired message” or “gift of prophesying,” that is, to have the ability to declare divine will as the word is used by Apostle Paul in Romans 12:6:
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
The clause If a man’s gift is prophesying is more literally if it is prophecy. The word may mean “prophecy,” that is, an utterance inspired by God as in Apostle Paul’s description regarding Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:18:
Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,
The word may mean “prophetic activity” as the word is used to describe an activity of the two-witness described in the eleventh chapter of Revelation, specifically in Revelation 11:6:
These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
The clause during the time they are prophesying of the NIV is more literally during the days of their prophecy. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:2, the word is used with the meaning “prophecy,” that is, the ability to deliver representative declarations of the mind, will, or knowledge of God.
The apostle having mentioned prophecy, refers to two things that would result from gift of prophecy. We say this because of the verbal phrase and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge. The word “and” is translated from a Greek particle (kai) that is often translated “and” in our English versions as reflected in the NIV and majority of our English versions of this verse we are considering. The meaning “and” may have the sense of being used for additional information that instead of “and” it may be translated “also.” Nonetheless, the Greek conjunction has several other usages. For example, it may be used to introduce a result that comes from what precedes and so may be translated “and then, and so.” It may be used to mark an explanation so that what follows explains what goes before it, leading to the translation “that is, namely, and so.” It may be used to emphasize a fact as surprising or unexpected or noteworthy with the meaning “and yet” or “and in spite of that” or “nevertheless.” Of course, it could be used simply for emphasis with the meaning “even.” The word may be used for introducing something new, with loose connection to what preceded, in which case it may be translated “now” or left untranslated. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:1, it is probably used to convey that what follows results from the possession of the gift of prophecy. Using this meaning the verbal phrase can fathom all mysteries will read and so can fathom all mysteries. Thus, the first possible result of gift of prophecy is possession of knowledge concerning God’s revealed truth that was previously unknown as in the verbal phrase can fathom all mysteries.
The expression “can fathom” is translated from a Greek word (oida) with a range of meanings, but we will briefly consider those that are possible candidates in our context. The word may mean to grasp the meaning of something or to comprehend, that is, “to understand, recognize, come to know, experience” as the word is used in the acknowledgment of some of Jesus’ disciples about His assertion of returning to the Father in John 16:18:
They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
The sentence We don’t understand what he is saying is literally we don’t know what he is saying. The Greek word may mean “to remember, recollect” as Apostle Paul used it to state of him not recollecting baptizing anyone else in Corinth than those he mentioned in the context as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:16:
(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of having information about someone or something as Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that the Galatians, prior to their salvation, did not know the supreme God, the creator, in Galatians 4:8:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:2, the word means “to know” or “to possess knowledge” in the sense of being aware or cognizant of a fact or a specific piece of information. The thing that is to be possessed is given in the phrase all mysteries.
The word “mysteries” is translated from a Greek noun (mystērion) that was used in ancient Greece for secret religious ceremonies that were only known to those who were initiated into a given cult who were not at liberty to disclose them to others. Whatever these ceremonies were, they were unknown to the initiates until they became members of the given group. Thus, the word does not mean something that is difficult or impossible to explain as people often think of the word “mystery.” No, the word refers to the content of that which has not been known before, but which has been revealed to a restricted group of persons because they belong to a unique group of people. It is a word that was used frequently in Jewish apocalyptic literature for the secrets made known to God’s elect but hidden from others. A typical example of such a secret is the messianic kingdom or final judgment. So, the word as used in the NT means divine secret that was previously undisclosed so that there was no way any person could know it apart from divine revelation, but it has now been revealed to some individuals. The secret of God revealed is now in the NT Scripture as an open secret that only those who are spiritually enlightened and know the Scripture would become aware. For example, the apostle used our word to describe the fact revealed to him that not all believers will die at the time of the second coming of Christ but that all would be transformed as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:51:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
That the Greek word refers to secrets disclosed to a select few but hidden from others is reflected in Jesus’ use of the word in answering the questions of the disciples in Matthew 13:11:
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Here our Greek word is translated “secrets” so that it refers to truths that were then revealed to the disciples and not to the crowd. The phrase the secrets of the kingdom refers to Jesus’ teaching about the various aspects of the kingdom of God that were only revealed to the disciples. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:2, the word refers to “a secret whose concerned party is a deity alone and those to whom he chooses to share the information; especially concerning the method and history of God’s redemption or other supernatural information” and so means “divine secret.” It is this that the apostle said he possessed certainly as a result of his gift of prophecy. We will say more about this but let us consider the second thing the apostle indicated he possessed that we contend is a result of the gift of prophecy.
Another thing the apsotle possessed is given in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 13:2 all knowledge. The word “knowledge” is translated from a Greek word (gnōsis) that may mean the content of what is known, as the word is used in 2 Corinthians 2:14:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
The word may mean “knowledge” in the sense of comprehension or intellectual grasp of something as the word is used in 1 Corinthians 8:1:
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:2, the word means “knowledge,” in the sense of a special kind of comprehension or intellectual grasp of something or information endowered by God as part of spiritual gift mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12: 8
To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
This knowledge the apostle referenced in 1 Corinthians 13:2 is one that results from the gift of prophecy as implied by the fact he associates it with revelation or prophecy when he argues that prophecy is more beneficial than speaking in tongues without an interpreter in 1 Corinthians 14:6:
Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?
It is not difficult to accept that the special knowledge that the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:2 is a result of the gift of prophecy since knowledge is associated with prophecy as implied in what the apostle asserted as he referenced knowledge of OT prophets in Romans 16:25–26:
25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—
The verbal phrase made known through the prophetic writings indicates knowledge that the prophets received as a result of the gift of prophecy. With this understanding of what knowledge is, we return to consider the conditional clauses the apostle used in the assertion that the exercise of the spiritual gifts of prophecy and faith without a life characterized by love renders the believer ineffective.
The first conditional clause of 1 Corinthians 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge the apostle used is one in which he recognized his limitation even as an apostle of Jesus Christ. We say this first because of the kind of conditional word “if” he used in the Greek. The word “if” the apostle used is translated from a Greek particle (ean) that may be used as a marker of condition of a reduced likelihood of occurrence of an activity referenced with the meaning “if.” However, the apostle stated things that have the greater likelihood of occurring with him or things that are true of him. The apostle has the gift of prophecy as he, for example, demonstrated when he predicted the shipwreck of the ship taking him to Rome to stand trial, with the assurance that none of the passengers would die as we read in Acts 27:21–26:
21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
The apostle claimed to have knowledge as we read in 2 Corinthians 11:6:
I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.
The apostle also stated he received revelation of divine secrets or mysteries from God as we read, for example, in Ephesians 3:3:
that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
So, if the apostle possesses the gift of prophecy and is a recipient of mysteries and knowledge, we should not expect him to use a condition that may indicate something that is less likely to occur. The fact he did this is not merely to set up a situation that may or may not occur but to recognize his limitation. Another reason for stating that the first conditional clause of 1 Corinthians 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries is an indicator that the apostle recognizes his limitation is the word “all” used in the phrase all mysteries and all knowledge. The word “all” is translated from a Greek word (pas) that means “all, every, each, whole.” However, the word is used in various ways. For example, it may be used to describe any entity out of a totality and so may be translated “any and every” but in our passage it is used to describe completeness or totality of something so that it may be translate “whole, all.” Thus, the apostle recognized that he does not have in absolute sense, all mysteries and knowledge. This being the case, the apostle showed his limitation by the Greek word translated “if” in the first conditional clause of 1 Corinthians 13:2. Anyhow, the apostle states in the first conditional clause If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries something that is true with him but he did so with the apprehension not only to indicate something that may or may not be true of others but in a way to recognize his limitation.
The second conditional clause of the apostle is given next in 1 Corinthians 13:2. and if I have a faith that can move mountains. The translators of the NIV omitted in their translation the word “all” that appears in the Greek since literally the Greek read if I have all faith so as to remove mountains. The word "all" is important in qualifying faith since the apostle recognized that it is not possible for him or anyone one to have faith in its totality. In effect there are several aspects to faith that it is impossible for anyone to claim to have all its aspects or to exercise it completely.
The word “faith” is translated from a Greek word (pistis) although often translated “faith” has several other meanings. The word may mean faithfulness and or commitment. It is in the sense of faithfulness that the word is used by our Lord Jesus to rebuke the Jews of focusing on the practice of tithing as authorized in the OT while ignoring the more important aspect of the law such as justice and mercy in Matthew 23:23:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
It is in the sense of commitment that the word is used of God in Romans 3:3:
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
The verbal phrase nullify God’s faithfulness can also be translated nullify the commitment of God so it is clear that the Greek word translated faith can mean “faithfulness” or “commitment.”
The Greek word translated “faith” can mean faith in the active sense of believing or trusting in someone; the kind of believing that brings salvation. It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it to describe “faith righteousness” instead of “law righteousness” in Romans 3:22:
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
Here the apostle indicates that there is a righteousness that comes by trusting Jesus Christ or believing in Him. It is in the sense of “confidence” that the word “faith” is used in 1 Peter 1:21:
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Apostle Peter indicates that the recipients of his epistle have confidence in God.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated faith is true piety or genuine devotion or even firm commitment. Stephen was described as one who had a genuine devotion or firm commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ in that he did not waver in what he believed but was fully devoted to the Lord. This is the sense of the word “faith” in Acts 6:5:
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
It is in this sense of true piety or genuine devotion or firm commitment that Apostle Paul used our Greek word in his thanksgiving on behalf of the Roman Christians in Romans 1:8:
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
The apostle was not thanking God on behalf of the Romans for the fact that they have faith in Christ as believers but for the quality of their faith in which case it was their genuine devotion to Christ that caused him to thank God on their behalf.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is as an important virtue that Christians should have, or they have as a result of believing in Christ or as a result of the Holy Spirit operating in them. So, it is used to describe “faithfulness” that is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit given in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
That faith refers to an important Christian virtue is evident in the fact that it is often associated with the virtue of love and so the apostle used it in his epistle to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:13:
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
This sense of Christian virtue in the Greek word translated “faith” is also evident in the apostle’s commendation of Philemon in Philemon 5:
because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” in our primary passage of study is a reference to a religious movement such as the Christian faith, which is essentially the same as “the Christian religion.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it in Galatians 1:23:
They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
Paul’s former effort was focused on exterminating Christians and so the Christian movement. Thus, what he tried to destroy is not so much the preaching of the gospel but the Christian movement since if he stopped the movement then he would have destroyed the Christian religion. Of course, that was not to be the case as he was converted and became one of the most fervent advocates of the Christian movement.
Still another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is “body of teaching” or “doctrine.” It is in this way that the word “faith” is used by Apostle Paul to describe what will happen at later times in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
It is possible that “faith” here can also be interpreted as the Christian faith, but it is more likely the apostle meant Christian doctrine especially because of the expression things taught by demons. It is the sense of doctrine or body of teaching of the Christian faith that “faith” is used in Jude 3:
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
We have considered various meanings of the Greek word translated faith but in our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:2, faith refers to “that state of strong confidence in, and reliance upon God that is a gift from God that may lead to the miraculous.” There is more to consider in the second conditional clause we are considering and that is where we begin our next study. But let me end by reminding you of the second assertion which is the exercise of the spiritual gifts of prophecy and faith without a life characterized by love renders the believer ineffective.
10/07//22