Lessons #463 and 464
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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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Some characteristics of love (1 Cor 13:4-7)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
We have been concerned with some characteristics of love Apostle Paul gave in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. We indicated that it is not easy to define love but that for application purposes, we provided a working definition of love as a thought-action phenomenon that involves a subject and an object whereby the object is benefited. This working definition notwithstanding, the fact remains that love as a concept is something abstract in that you could not hold it, but it is something that can be recognized or characterized in relation to how a subject acts towards the object of love. Subsequently, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul provides us features that are necessary in identifying presence or absence of love as it relates to the object of love. As we indicated in the introduction of this section, the apostle began with positive characterization of love then he moved to negative characterization in terms of what love never does and he ended with positive characterization in terms of responses associated with love. The characterization of love that we have in our passage is intended to help us prove the truthfulness of our claim to love someone. Hence, we stated that the message of this passage is that You should test your claim of love by comparing your love to the positive and negative characteristics of love the Holy Spirit provides in 1 Corinthians 13. We considered the two positive characteristics given in verse 4. We followed this with the negatives that are associated with love. In effect, we have considered four actions that do not characterize love. So, it is with fifth we begin our study this morning.
The fifth negative description of love is concerned with not being self-centered in the sense of being only concerned of self without due consideration of others as we read in the next sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it is not self-seeking. Our English versions have translated the Greek in different ways. For example, the REB reads love is never selfish which is that reflected in some other English versions such as the TEV. The NET reads it is not self-serving. The NLT reads It does not demand its own way. Even the English versions that are more often literal give different readings. The NASB reads it does not seek its own while the ESV reads It does not insist on its own way. These various translations are the ways the translators rendered the literal Greek that reads not seek the things of itself. The literal reading we have given, and the various ways it has been translated in our English versions are because of the Greek words used.
The word “seeking” of the NIV or literally “seek” is translated from a Greek verb (zēteō) that may mean “to seek, look for” in order to find. The word may mean “to request, demand, ask for” as it is used by Apostle Paul to justify his threat of punishing the offenders in Corinth during his visit to them, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 13:3:
since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you.
The word may mean “to devote serious effort to realize one’s desire or objective,” hence means “to strive for, try to obtain, aim” as the word is used in describing Timothy’s devotion to the affairs of the Philippians unlike many others as we read in Philippians 2:21:
For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:5, it is used with the meaning “to seek” in the sense of “to try seriously to reach something one desires.”
The thing that is to be sought is given literally in the Greek as the things of itself. The literal phrase the things is really one word in the Greek. It is the definite article in the Greek (ho) that is used in various ways depending on the context. When it is used in the form that it appears in the passage we are considering, it means “the things.” The word “itself” is translated from a Greek reflexive pronoun (heautou) that may mean “himself, herself, itself.” Thus, the Greek phrase used literally translates the things of itself. The question is to understand how to interpret the literal Greek in our passage. The translators of the NIV translated similar phrase in the sense of “one’s interest” as in the passage we cited previously, that is, Philippians 2:21:
For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
The phrase his own interests is more literally the things of themselves. The problem, as we have stated, is how to interpret the Greek phrase used in our verse. The standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG) suggests it should be translated its own advantage. This being the case, the apostle is concerned with advantage or something that is of great interest to love as if it is a person. The idea is that of personal concern of something that is used to describe love. That aside, the apostle wants us to understand that love is concerned with the interest and welfare of others. This interpretation is based on the context of this the epistle. The apostle had already encouraged believers to be concerned about the affairs of others as we read in 1 Corinthians 10:24:
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Furthermore, the apostle has conveyed that he followed the example he exhorts when he tells us how he functions in 1 Corinthians 10:33:
even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
So, one gets the idea that it is the interest or advantage of love that the apostle was thinking of when he wrote the literal phrase the things of itself or self-seeking of the NIV. It is for this reason that we indicated that love is not self-centered in the sense of the person who has love being consumed with the individual’s interest at the exclusion of that of the others. It is not that a person who loves should not be concerned about the individual’s interest, that is, the Holy Spirit is not saying that a person with love should not be concerned with the individual’s interest but that such a person should not be self-centered so that the individual is not concerned with the affairs of others. The point we are making is similar to what the apostle wrote to the Philippians, and so to all believers, concerning how they should be concerned about the affairs of others as we read in Philippians 2:4:
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Anyhow, we contend that the fifth negative description of love is concerned with not being self-centered in the sense of being only concerned of self without due consideration of others. Love that is free from being self-centered is concerned with pleasing others and not just self since the Lord Jesus, who is the epitome of love, did not please Himself but was concerned for us to die for our sins as we read in Romans 15:2–3:
2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
Therefore, when we think of what love cannot be, it should be clear that it cannot involve being self-centered or selfishness. A person who is self-centered or selfish manifests the characteristic of unbelievers in the time we live because that is what the Holy Spirit says about unbelieving world of our time that would be lovers of themselves in 2 Timothy 3:1–2:
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
No one that is characterized by selfishness or self-centeredness is filled of the Spirit. Since love is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit it is not difficult to see that a person who is controlled by self-centeredness could not possibly be filled of the Spirit and so exhibit love. Anyway, we insist that the fifth negative description of love is concerned with not being self-centered in the sense of being only concerned of self without due consideration of others. With this we proceed to the sixth negative description of love.
The sixth negative description of love is concerned with not being quick to respond negatively to provocation as we read in 1 Corinthians 13:5 it is not easily angered. The word “easily” of the NIV is not in the Greek since a literal translation of the Greek is not is irritable.
The expression “easily angered” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (paroxynō) that appears only twice in the Greek NT; its other occurrence is to describe the distress, or the agitation Apostle Paul felt because of idolatry he observed in Athens, so the word has the meaning “to be distressed, to be irritated” as we read in Acts 17:16:
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
The word is related to a Greek noun (paroxysmos) that may mean “encouragement,” that is, a causing of something by spurring on, or stirring up as the word is used in book of Hebrews to encourage believers to stir others towards good works and love as we read in Hebrews 10:24:
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
The verbal phrase spur one another on toward love is more literally for encouragement in love. The Greek noun may also refer to “a state of irritation expressed in argument,” that is, “sharp disagreement” as it is used to describe the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas regarding taking Mark for their second missionary journey as we read in Acts 15:39:
They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
Thus, the word when used negatively implies “irritation.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:5, it has the sense of “to be provoked/irritated”, that is, “to be stirred up or aroused to anger.”
That the Greek verb the apostle used has the sense of being aroused to anger or provoked presents a problem regarding what it is the apostle meant to convey about love. On a surface reading of the sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it is not easily angered or literal translation not is irritable, it appears that love is never angry but that could not possibly be what the Holy Spirit meant through the apostle. We say this because being angry is not in and of itself a sin. A person can be angry and still be filled of the Spirit, implying that it is not a sin. Some of you may be shocked that I said a person can be angry and be filled of the Spirit. If so, let me put you at ease from the Scripture. King Saul on hearing a report about the besiege of Jabesh Gilead by the Ammonites was said to be angry while he was filled of the Spirit although the filling of the Spirit was described primarily in terms of God’s power coming on him as we read in 1 Samuel 11:6:
When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger.
The Lord Jesus who was continuously filled of the Spirit was angry on several occasions while on this planet, as for example, the occasion He healed a man the religious groups watched to see if He would heal on a Sabbath as reported in Mark 3:5:
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
Of course, Jesus Christ never sinned as stated in Hebrews 4:15:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
The fact is that ‘anger” is not in and of itself a sin as implied with the instruction not to sin when one is angry as we read in Ephesians 4:26:
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Hence, the literal translation of the negative characteristic in describing love that reads not is irritable should be carefully interpreted to ensure that it does not imply that a person with love cannot exhibit anger. It is probably for this reason that the translators of the NIV added the word “easily” in their translation of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it is not easily angered. It is also probable that the apostle meant to convey that love is not carried away in anger. In effect, if a person with love is provoked or irritated such a person may become angry but the individual never crosses the line of being angry because of something sinful to actually committing a sin because one is angry. We are saying that the sixth negative characteristic of love is that a person with it does not react to provocation or irritation in such a way as to sin. Love leads to a measured reaction to any provocation by the object of love. This brings us to the seventh negative characteristic of love.
The seventh negative description of love is concerned with unforgiveness. It is this description that is given in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it keeps no record of wrongs. It does not seem that this sentence is concerned with unforgiveness, but it is. But before we get to the Greek words used in this sentence, we should remember what forgiveness is so we can understand what unforgiveness means.
The concept of forgiveness is simple yet difficult to fully comprehend in practice. Part of the difficulty in the practice of forgiveness is the popular saying of “forgive and forget” or its equivalent of “Not-being able to think about it anymore.” Many people recognize the difficulty in forgetting something done to them, so it confuses their understanding of what it means to forgive. For example, someone will say, “I have forgiven this person, but I cannot forget what he did to me, maybe I have not forgiven after all.” The problem of this thinking is with the old saying “Forgiven and Forgotten.” You see, once we get hold of ideas or concepts, it is very difficult to let go so it would not surprise me that even after the explanation that we are about to offer that some will still think of forgiveness in terms of “forgive and forget.” The concept of “forget about wrongdoing” is not a part of the vocabulary of the word “forgiveness,” but something someone came up with in an attempt to help people deal with the concept of forgiveness. In fact, it is probably because of what is said of God about forgiveness that gave rise to that saying. Take for example, Isaiah 43:25:
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
The word “remember” is translated from a Hebrew word (zāḵǎr) that means, “to recall information or events, with a focus on responding in an appropriate manner.” If God recalls sin, He will have to punish one that is guilty. So, when God says that He will not remember our sins that is a far cry from forgetting our sins. The prophet did not use the Hebrew word (šāḵǎḥ) that means, “to forget” or even “to ignore, overlook, be unmindful, i.e., not remember information and so lose sight of its significance, implying no proper response or an improper response in some contexts.” Certainly, God cannot ignore sin and so it makes sense that this Hebrew word is not used in Isaiah 43:25. Furthermore, God cannot forget but He only chooses not to recall our sins because of the payment for them by Jesus Christ on the cross. Anyway, the verbal phrase remembers your sins no more is parallel to the clause who blots out your transgressions and so the verbal phrase remembers your sins no more means that God will not hold His covenant people accountable for their sins. Hence, for us, as members of the new covenant, God assures us that this would be the case since Jesus Christ has already paid for our sins.
Forgiveness involves the concept of guilt. Guilt as concept in the Bible is that state of moral agent after an intentional or unintentional violation of God’s law or principle. Guilt carries with it the concept of deserved punishment or payment. In effect, when you are guilty there is a consequence attached to it. To further understand “guilt” we should differentiate it from “guilt feeling”. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines guilty feeling as “a painful conglomerate of emotions that usually includes anxiety in anticipation of punishment; shame, with its sense of humiliation, dirtiness, and the need to hide; and grief, or depression, for the diminished sense of worthy, dignity, and self-esteem.” Guilt is a state that exists ones one does something wrong whether accompanied with guilty feeling or not. The point to emphasize is that once guilt exists then punishment is inseparably united with it. In effect, you cannot have guilt without punishment. Consequently, to forgive means to remove the guilt resulting from the wrongdoing or to set a person free from all obligations of the negative consequences of the individual’s actions. If we may put it another way, when you forgive someone, it means that you do not hold that person responsible for what the individual had done to you nor do you tally the number of times the individual has wronged you. You do not treat the individual according to the penalty that the person’s wrongdoing demands. Instead, you let go the penalty that the person’s offense demands from you. Therefore, forgiveness does not mean that you would ever erase or blot out from your memory the offense but whenever the offense gets in your mind you push it aside and treat the person without regard to that past offense and without keeping score of how many times the individual has wronged you. This is what forgiveness is all about. This is what God does when He forgives us on the basis of Christ’s death on the cross. We are no longer held liable to the punishment of sin, which is eternal separation from God. Thus, unforgiveness is the opposite of everything we have said about forgiveness in that unforgiveness implies not setting free the one guilty and also keeping scores of how many times that person has wronged another. With this explanation, it will be easier to understand our reason for stating that the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it keeps no record of wrongs is concerned with unforgiveness as we examine the Greek words the apostle used.
The expression “keep ... record” is translated from a Greek word (logizomai) that may mean “to determine by mathematical process” and so may mean “to count, take into account” as the word is used to describe a blessed individual as one that God does not hold the individual’s sin against the person as per the quotation from the OT Scripture by Apostle Paul that is recorded in Romans 4:8:
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.
Under the concept of determining by mathematical process is the meaning of “to evaluate, estimate, look upon as, consider” as a result of a calculation. It is in the sense of “to consider” that Apostle Paul used it in his quotation from OT Scripture in support of his teaching that the love of God for us cannot be changed as we read in Romans 8:36:
As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
The word may mean “to hold a view about something,” that is, “to think, believe, be of the opinion” as the apostle used it to describe himself to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:5
But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”
The word may mean “to give careful thought to a matter” and so may mean “to consider, to ponder, think about, let one’s mind dwell on something” as the apostle used it to caution those who are superficial in spiritual matters to recognize that he and his apostolic team belong to Christ as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:7:
You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:5, it has the sense of “to tally,” that is, “to keep count of something in order to determine the sum or total.”
The thing that is tallied is described 1 Corinthians 13:5 with the word “wrongs” that is translated from a Greek adjective (kakos) that refers to that which is socially or morally reprehensible hence means “evil, bad” but it also refers to that which is harmful or injurious. When the word is used as a noun, it refers to what is contrary to custom or law hence means “evil, wrong” as the word is used by some of the Pharisees who heard the defense of Apostle Paul regarding the charge brought against him before the Sanhedrin as we read in Acts 23:9:
There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:5, the word is used with the sense of “morally objectionable behavior,” that is, “evil” or “wrong.”
Be that as it may, when Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:5 it keeps no record of wrongs, he meant that love does not hold unforgiven the person who does it evil. Of course, there are those who understand the apostle to be saying that love does not think about how to harm others. This is possible because of the meaning of the Greek verb used. Nonetheless, because this interpretation is subsumed in the interpretation we gave, it is better to understand the apostle to be saying that love does not hold unforgiven the person who does it evil. This means the apostle conveyed that if a person has love then the person who has it does not go on tallying the wrongs done to the individual by failing to forgive. You know that there are people who harbor thoughts of how they have been wronged by someone for a long time, such individuals could not possibly love the offender. Furthermore, there are those who actually write in their personal journals when and where a person has wronged them. Such individuals do not have love for those that wronged them. Love will mean that when a person wrongs you, you forgive but that does not mean that you have erased the wrong in your memory. However, when the individual wrongs you at another time you will not dredge the previous wrong done to you so as to act in a way that does not indicate forgiveness of wrongdoing. If you do, then you are guilty of keeping records of wrongs done to you. Anyhow, the seventh negative description of love is concerned with unforgiveness. It is this description that is given in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it keeps no record of wrongs.
The eighth negative description of love is concerned with response towards unrighteousness. It is this description that is given in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:6 Love does not delight in evil. The word “love” does not appear in the Greek of this verse, but it is understood that the apostle is still dealing with “love” that he introduced in verse 4. Therefore, the use of the word “love” here is a way to help the reader to remember the apostle is still dealing with love. Again, we should emphasize that the apostle continued to indicate that what he states is absolute in that love could not in any way do what is stated in the sentence since he used a Greek negative (ou) that is an objective negative, denying the reality of alleged fact fully and absolutely in contrast to another Greek negative (mē) that is a subjective negative, implying a conditional and hypothetical negation. The negative the apostle used here shuts the door to the possibility that a person who has love is characterized by a positive response to what the NIV described as “evil.”
The positive response the apostle says it is impossible to what the NIV described as “evil” is given in the word delight. The word “delight” is translated from a Greek word (chairō) that may mean “to rejoice, be glad,” that is, “to be in a state of happiness and well-being.” It may refer to the opposite of weeping or mourning as it is used in Romans 12:15:
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
The word means “to be glad” as Apostle Paul used it to describe his confidence regarding the Corinthians as we read in 2 Corinthians 7:16:
I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.
The word may mean “to delight” as Apostle Paul used it to express his state because of the experience of Titus as stated in 2 Corinthians 7:13:
By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.
The word may be used for a formalized greeting, wishing one well. Thus, the word may mean “to hail” as it is used in the greetings of the soldiers who mocked Jesus before His crucifixion as recorded in Mark 15:18:
And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
In the same usage, the word may mean “to welcome” as in giving full acceptance to those who promote false teaching as we read in 2 John 10–11:
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
The word may mean “to gloat” as it is used to describe the response of people in the future regarding the death of the two witness that God will send on earth to preach His word as we read in Revelation 11:10:
The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
In 1 Corinthians 13:6, the word means “to rejoice,” that is, “to feel happiness or joy, take pleasure.”
The thing that a person that has love does not feel happy or take pleasure is given in the NIV with the word evil. The word “evil” is translated from a Greek word (adikia) that may mean “an act that violates standards of right conduct,” that is, “wrong, wrongdoing” as the apostle used it sarcastically with the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:13:
How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
The word may mean “harm” as it is used by Apostle Peter to, in effect, apply the spiritual law of sowing and reaping to false teachers as we read in 2 Peter 2:13:
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
The word may mean “unrighteousness” as that which the believer is cleansed from upon confession of sin as we read in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:6, the word refers to “the quality of injustice” and so means “unrighteousness,” that is, “failure to adhere to moral principles, commands, or laws.”
In any case, when the apostle wrote in the words of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 13:6 Love does not delight in evil he meant that anyone who has love will not take pleasure in any kind of unrighteousness such as injustice or wickedness. The person does not share the joy of those who gloat regarding injustice done to another person. It is usually when a person does not love that the individual takes pleasure in any kind of unrighteousness or injustice. This we can learn from the pleasure or the delight of the Jewish chief priests on learning that Judas Iscariot was willing to betray Jesus Christ as we read in Mark 14:10–11:
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
It is because the chief priests hated Jesus that they were delighted that one of His disciples would betray Him. It is also because of hatred that many rejoiced when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross as He predicted would be the case when He indicated that the world would rejoice while His disciples would be gripped by grief as recorded in John 16:20:
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
Since we indicated that the descriptions the apostle gave about love are to enable us test if we love someone, we could use the simple test of how we react to injustice or wickedness, or harm brought on others. If we are not appalled by injustice or wickedness shown to another person, then that should be a clear indication of lack of love. If you love someone, you will not want anything that would harm the individual including, as we have stated, injustice. Anyway, the eighth negative description of love is concerned with response towards unrighteousness given in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:6 Love does not delight in evil.
The apostle, having stated the eighth negative description associated with love, signaled to us that he was about to change from the negatives to the positives. This he did with the conjunction but that begins the next clause of 1 Corinthians 13:6. The word “but” is translated from Greek conjunction (de) that may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation but in certain occurrences the marker may be left untranslated. Although it is often translated “but” in the English when there is a perceived contrast between two clauses, it has other meanings such as “now,” “then,” “and,” “so” when it is used to link segments of a narrative. It can also be used to indicate transition to something new or even to provide explanation to what precedes its use. Nonetheless, in our verse, the Greek conjunction is used as a marker of contrast to indicate that what follow are contrasted with the previous descriptions. Up to this point in the apostle’s descriptions of love, he had not used any connectives even when he moved from positive descriptions in 1 Corinthians 13:4 to negative. The only indicator that the apostle was moving from positive to negative descriptions is the Greek word (ou) translated “not” that began the third sentence of verse 4. So, why did the apostle introduce the conjunction “but” at this point in his descriptions of love? There are two possible reasons. First, it is probably because there is a connection between the two verbs he used in the previous clause and the clause that follows. He used the word “delight” in the first clause and the word “rejoices” in the second. The two verbs convey similar concept. If you recall the word “delight” is translated from a Greek word (chairō) that also means “to rejoice” as the second Greek word, we will examine shortly. Thus, to indicate that his use of “rejoice” in the first clause is different from that of the second, the apostle used the conjunction “but.” Second, it is also possible that the apostle wanted the reader to recognize that he used the Greek conjunction to do double duty of explanation and contrast. In effect, the second clause of 1 Corinthians 13:6, specifically the verbal phrase rejoices with the truth may be intended to explain the preceding clause Love does not delight in evil of what love does not do when it comes to the matter of rejoicing over unrighteousness. Furthermore, the apostle used the conjunction “but” to indicate that the descriptions of love he gives next are all positive descriptions in contrast to the negative descriptions of love he had given beginning with the third sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:4.
Be that as it may, the apostle gave five more additional descriptions of love. So, we will continue to examine the additional positive descriptions by relating them to the first two positive descriptions in the sense that we will continue by joining the five positive characteristics of love that begins in the second clause of verse 6 to the descriptions in verse 4. Therefore, the third positive description of love concerns the response of love to truth. In effect, it is the response of one with love that is given in the third positive description of love. It is this that is given in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 13:6 but rejoices with the truth.
The word “rejoices” is translated from a Greek word (sygchairō) that may mean “to express pleasure over another’s good fortune” so that the word has the sense of “to congratulate” someone. This is probably the sense of the word in describing the response of the neighbors of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, when she gave birth to her son as we read in Luke 1:58:
Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. [they shared her joy is literally they rejoiced with her.]
The word may mean “to experience joy in conjunction with someone,” that is, “to rejoice with” as that is the way the word is used in Jesus’ Parable of the Lost Sheep when the owner invited his neighbors to celebrate with him for finding his lost sheep as we read in Luke 15:6:
and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:6, the word has the sense of “to experience joy in conjunction with someone,” that is, “to rejoice with another” or “to rejoice together.”
The concept of rejoicing together with another as part of the third description of love is associated with truth as in the verbal phrase rejoices with the truth. The word “truth” is translated from a Greek word (alētheia) with a range of meanings. It may mean the quality of being in accord with what is true hence means “truthfulness, dependability, uprightness in thought and deed”, as it is used for God in Romans 3:7:
Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?”
It is in this sense of being in accord with what is truth that Apostle Paul used it in his commendation of the Corinthians for not letting his boasting about them to Titus to turn out to be empty so that he was not put to shame as stated in 2 Corinthians 7:14:
I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.
The verbal phrase has proved to be true is more literally has become truth. The Greek word may mean “reality” as opposed to mere appearance, as it is used in Colossians 1:6:
that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
“Truth” here has the sense of “reality” as opposed to mere appearance. It is for this reason that the translators of the TEV rendered the phrase in all its truth of the NIV as, as it really is. The Greek word that is translated “truth” may mean the content of what is truth and so means “truth.” It is in this sense that the apostle used it to encourage the Ephesians not to be involved with falsehood as they interacted with each other in Ephesians 4:25:
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
The command speak truthfully is literally speak truth. The word is used then especially of the content of Christianity as the ultimate truth. It is in this sense Apostle Paul used it in connection with the gospel in Colossians 1:5:
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel.
The phrase the word of truth, the gospel is literally the word of truth of the gospel. The rendering of the NIV is quite good because of the Greek syntax of this phrase. In fact, to communicate fully the idea of the Greek construction we could translate the Greek phrase as the word of truth, that is, the gospel; in this way, it is clearer that the word of truth here is a reference to the gospel message. The apostle used the Greek word to refer to the Christian message that includes doctrine and the gospel message in Galatians 5:7:
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
Truth here in Galatians 5:7 refers to the Christian message the apostle delivered to the Galatians that includes the gospel message, the doctrine of justification by faith, and the doctrine that the filling of the Spirit is by faith. The apostle used the Greek word rendered “truth” as a reference to the body of accepted Christian doctrines that the church is the custodian in 1 Timothy 3:15:
if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
We have noted the range of the meaning of the Greek word translated “truth” in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 13:6 so in what sense is it used in our passage? We are out of time so we will answer the question in our next study. However, let me end by reminding you of the message that we are expounding which is: You should test your claim of love by comparing your love to the positive and negative characteristics of love the Holy Spirit provides in 1 Corinthians 13.
10/28//22