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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 considering 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. Furthermore, we stated that 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 object of love. Therefore, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul provides us characteristics that are necessary in identifying presence or absence of love as it relates to object of love. Because of these characteristics 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 have considered the first two positive characteristics of love followed by eight negative characteristics of love. However, we started to consider the third positive characteristics of love that concerns the response of love to truth as given in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 13:6 rejoices with the truth. So, we considered the range of meanings of the Greek word translated “truth”, but we left with the question of how to understand the Greek word in our verse. It is with this we begin our study today.
We stated that we have examined the range of meanings of the Greek word translated “truth” in 1 Corinthians 13:6 but in our passage, it has the sense of “truth” as a quality. This implies that the apostle is concerned more with that which truth produces such as faithfulness and uprightness. Because the apostle in the second clause rejoices with the truth contrasts what he stated in the first clause Love does not delight in evil that we indicated means that love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, he probably was thinking more of righteousness that results from truth. We say this because the apostle elsewhere associates righteousness with truth. Thus, the apostle indicates that truth leads to righteousness and holiness in Ephesians 4:24:
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
The phrase in true righteousness and holiness is literally in righteousness and in holiness of the truth. A problem with the literal phrase is how to relate the literal phrase of the truth to holiness or righteousness. There are at least three possible interpretations. Truth may be taken as expressing a quality or internal characteristic of righteousness and holiness, leading to the translation that we find in the NIV and most English translations. Another interpretation is to take truth as the source of righteous and holiness. This interpretation is reflected in the NET that rendered the phrase as in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. Still another interpretation is to consider truth as producing or leading to righteousness and holiness. This seems to be the view taken by the translators of the REB since they rendered the phrase as in the upright and devout life called for by the truth. Which of these did the apostle mean? The first interpretation is unlikely since there is no need to qualify holiness and righteousness in the text so the second or third interpretation is intended. There seems to be no significant difference in the two interpretations. Nonetheless, while the third interpretation is possible and may well be intended, it seems that it is the meaning that sees truth as the source of righteousness and holiness with respect to believers that was probably in the apostle’s mind. This is because sanctification is associated with God’s word or truth in the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus in John 17:17:
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Truth is a reference to the word of God as contained in the Scripture. Righteousness and holiness for us are derived from the Scripture. In effect, it is as we obey the word of God that we can be said to be righteous or holy. Hence, when the apostle says that love rejoices with truth, he meant that those who possess love delight in righteousness. Love celebrates when righteousness thrives or when a person displays it. People who do not have love, hate righteousness. Hating of righteousness may indicate that a person is an unbeliever since those who are perishing are those who hate truth but love wickedness as we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:12:
and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
The point is that anyone with love delights when the person sees in another the virtue that stems from truth such as righteousness or dependability. So, the test you can apply to yourself when you claim that you love is to test whether you love righteousness in a person in contrast to unrighteousness. For example, when a person you love refuses to go along with your lie, are you pleased or are you angry? Do you celebrate when you observe righteousness?
The fourth positive description of love concerns covering what may be displeasing in the object of love. It is this description that is given in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:7 It always protects. A surface reading of this sentence has created problems for many. Some commentators fear that it appears to support Marx’s notion of Christianity as “the opium of the people,” or Nietzsche’s concept of Christianity as “servile mediocrity.” Thus, there are several approaches to dealing with the sentence so as not to give a wrong view of love the apostle had in mind. Of course, those who want to defend the love described here in such a way to avoid the charges of these critics should remember that the love in view is that produced by the Holy Spirit. This being the case, what God perceives as love would be imminently superior to human understanding since God’s ways and thoughts are superior to ours as per the declaration of Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55:9:
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The implication is that it is not what the critics say that is important as the fact that God has demonstrated through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross something that human mind could not square. What sense does it make that the righteous would die for the unrighteous? What sense does it make that Jesus Christ although God lowered Himself to take on human nature? What sense does it make for Him to accept the abuse on the cross when He had the power to destroy all those who crucified Him? He demonstrated that if He did not want to go to the cross, He had the power to stop it. We see a proof of that when the Jewish authorities came to arrest Him and by His question and answer to them, they fell to the ground as we read in John 18:4–6:
4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
This passage implies that if Jesus did not want to willing go to the cross as He did, He had the power to stop being arrested. My point is that although at times it may be necessary to defend the Christian faith before unbelievers or critics but in the final analysis, we should have the attitude of the three Jewish men that felt there was no need to defend their faith before Nebuchadnezzar as we read in Daniel 3:16–18:
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Of course, we are not advocating that we should not be able to defend what we believe as the Scripture requires but that at times, we should recognize that no matter how we defend what we believe, unbelievers may still have problem with what we believe. This aside, our English versions have translated Greek sentence we are considering in different ways. The more common translation among the English versions is reflected in the sentence of the ESV Love bears all things. The CEV reads Love is always supportive, the NEB reads There is nothing love cannot face and the NJB reads It is always ready to make allowances. These various translations are the ways our English translators sought to interpret the literal verbal phrase bears/covers all things. The literal translation we have given indicates that there- are two problems with the translation of the Greek sentence.
The first problem of the translation of 1 Corinthians 13:7 It always protects is with the word “protects.” The word “protects” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (stegō) that in Greek literature has the sense of covering or enclosing in such a way as to keep something undesirable from coming in, such as water into a ship. Thus, in classical Greek, it has the meaning of “to keep secret, hidden.” However, in the NT, it has the meaning of to bear up against difficulties and so means “to bear, stand, endure” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate the reason he sent Timothy to the Thessalonians had to do with his being unable to bear not knowing how they were faring spiritually as we read in 1 Thessalonians 3:5:
For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
Apostle Paul used the word with the meaning “to put up with anything,” in the sense of not claiming his right to support as an apostle rather than hinder the preaching of the gospel as we read in 1 Corinthians 9:12:
If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:7, there are two possible interpretations. The word may mean “to bear,” that is, to endure something unpleasant or difficult whether on one’s own behalf or on behalf of someone else as reflected in many of our English versions. The problem with this meaning seems to be that the apostle would be repetitive in our verse because the last verbal phrase in 1 Corinthians 13:7 always perseveres implies endurance. Another interpretation is that the word has the sense of “to keep confidential”, that is, “to pass over in silence” or “to throw a cloak of silence over what is displeasing in another person.” Simply, that the word means “to cover.” It is the second interpretation of “to cover” or “to pass over in silence” that the Holy Spirit must have intended for the apostle to convey. We say this because although the first meaning of “to bear,” that is, to endure something unpleasant or difficult whether on one’s own behalf or on behalf of someone else makes sense but it is the second meaning of “to cover” that the Holy Spirit clearly identified with “love” as given through Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4:8:
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
We will return to this passage shortly, but we cited it to support that the second interpretation of “to cover’ is what the Holy Spirit wanted us to understand when Apostle Paul used the Greek word translated “protects” in the NIV. Furthermore, there is a sense that the meaning “to bear” under certain situation may be included in the meaning of “to cover.” The meaning “to protect” is possible if protection is seen as providing a cover for something but such meaning still leaves unanswered the question of what loves protected from.
The second problem of the translation of 1 Corinthians 13:7 It always protects is with the word “always” in the NIV. By the way, the NIV is not the only English version that used the word “always” explicitly in translating our Greek sentence, so did the NJB. The word “always” is translated from a Greek word (pas) with several meanings. The word may mean “whole” as it pertains to a high degree of completeness or wholeness so that Apostle Paul used it to describe Jesus Christ using a building metaphor in Ephesians 2:21:
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
The Greek adjective may be used as a marker of the highest degree of something so means “all, full, greatest.” The apostle used it in this sense in his instruction in Ephesians 4:2:
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Here the apostle intended to convey that believers are to show the highest degree of humility so that the translators of the NIV rendered the Greek as Be completely humble and gentle although the Greek literally reads with all humility and gentleness. In the Greek form that our Greek word appears in 1 Corinthians 13:7, where it appears four times it is subject to two interpretations. It may mean “all things, everything” or it could be used as an adverb. As an adverb, it may mean “always” as the translators of the NIV rendered it in six passages in the NT, excluding our present passage of 1 Corinthians 13:7. However, the Greek construction in the six passages where the Greek word is rendered “always” is not the same as we have in 1 Corinthians 13:7. For example, the translators of the NIV rendered the Greek word “always” in Peter’s quotation from the OT Scripture during his sermon on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:25:
David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
The phrase the Lord always before me is more literally Lord before me through everything because a Greek preposition (dia) that may mean “through” is used in the quotation. The same Greek preposition appears where our Greek word is translated “always” in Acts 24:16:
So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
The sentence I strive always to keep my conscience clear is literally I myself through everything do my best to have a clear conscience. You notice that the word “through” appears” in the literal translation indicating that the Greek word that may mean “all” is used with the Greek preposition that means “through.” The Greek preposition that may mean “through” does not appear in the Greek of 1 Corinthians 13:7. Another passage where the NIV translated the Greek word that may mean “all” as “always” is in the promise of the Lord to be with the church throughout its stay on this planet as we read in Matthew 28:20:
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The sentence I am with you always is literally I am with you all the days. The Greek word is translated “always” in Apostle Paul’s instruction regarding prayer in Ephesians 6:18:
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
The expression be alert and always keep on praying is literally being alert with all perseverance and supplication. So, although it is possible to use the meaning “always” to translate the Greek word that may mean “all”, it is the Greek construction in which it appears that enables such interpretation. The construction in our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:7 does not necessarily support such translation. For this reason, we contend that the apostle when he used a Greek word (pas) that may mean “all,” he used it with the meaning of “all things.” There is probably no doubt that the idea of “always” might have been in the apostle’s thought because the four verbs the apostle used in the verse, we are considering are all in the present tense. The kind of present tense that apostle used is that which expresses that which is true for all time so that such words as “always” or “ever” or “never” is used to translate the Greek present tense. It might well be this interpretation that is adopted in the TEV that used the word “never” in their translation of the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:7. We mean that instead of the sentence of It always protects the NIV the TEV reads Love never gives up although it is also possible that the translators of the TEV could have considered the Greek word that literal means “all” as an adverb “never.” Anyhow, because of the kind of present tense used in our verse, the first sentence of our verse may be translated Always bears/covers all things. The point of our argument is that the Greek word we are considering should be translated “all things” as in many English versions instead of “always” of the NIV and a handful of English versions.
In any case, the fourth positive description of love concerns covering what may be displeasing in the object of love as given in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:7 It always protects. However, as we have previously stated, the Greek literally reads Bears/covers all things. The question we have to contend is what the apostle means by the literal phrase all things. This is important in helping us to understand the fourth positive description of love that we are considering. To begin with, we should recognize that the phrase all things should not always be understood in absolute sense of encompassing any and everything on the planet. It is usually the context that helps in understanding what is meant. Take for example, the claim of the Lord Jesus that is recorded in Matthew 11:27:
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
The phrase all things here refers either to “full authority” or “full knowledge.” Take another example, in the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, the Greek word translated “all things” is used although it is translated with the other meaning of the Greek word, that is, the meaning “everything” in Matthew 18:26:
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
The “everything” or “all things” refers to the total amount owed by the servant. Thus, one gets the idea that the phrase all things should not be always taken in absolute sense of any and everything under the sun. In our context of 1 Corinthians 13:7, the first usage of the phrase refers to unpleasant things that love or one with love faces. In fact, we may say that the apostle was more concerned with sin than any other unpleasant circumstances that one with love may encounter. You see, love is more evident whenever there is a failure or sin. Thus, the Lord describe His love in relation to forgiving of sin, as we read in Exodus 34:7:
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
The Lord promised His continued love to David’s royal line despite any of their failures as we read in 2 Samuel 7:14–15:
14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
The death of Jesus Christ for our sins is the quintessence of love as demonstrated by His death on the cross as the Holy Spirit states in 1 John 4:10:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Another reason we contend that the phrase all things refers specifically to sin is because we said that the Greek word translated “protects” in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 13:7 has the sense of “to cover” in our passage. This being the case, the meaning “to cover” is often associated with sin and forgiveness as we will focus later but for the moment, we should recognize that “to cover” is associated with sin as we read, for example, in Psalm 32:1:
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Still, another reason for our interpretation is the context. The apostle mentioned wrongdoing in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it keeps no record of wrongs. Consequently, when the apostle used the word that means “to cover” that must mean that he was thinking of wrongdoing when he wrote of the phrase all things. In effect, the fourth positive characteristic of love is the opposite of the negative description of love in the sentence it keeps no record of wrongs.
We have noted that the phrase all things refers to what may be displeasing, specifically sin. In effect, it is our interpretation that the phrase refers to sin and nothing else. Therefore, our concern is to understand what the apostle says about love in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:7 It always protects that we indicated is literally Bears/covers all things. We are concerned to understand what it means to cover all things or to cover sins. One of the best ways of understanding what the apostle meant is to examine what the Holy Spirit said about love covering sin in the passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Peter 4:8:
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
The word “cover” is translated from the Greek word (kalyptō) that means “to hide, to cover.” The basic meaning of this word is “to bury” something in the ground. It is from this basic sense that it came to mean “to cover, to conceal.” In stating that love cover sins, it seems Apostle Peter must have been directed by the Holy Spirit to quote a portion of a passage in Proverbs without actually stating that it is a quotation. For what he says is what we learn from Proverbs 10:12:
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
This truth that on a surface reading that love covers all wrongs can be observed at all times. As humans, we are eager to downplay the failures of those we love and high light those of individuals whom we despise. The fact is that those we have good will or good thoughts towards are those whose failures we seem to ignore. We can understand this when we say that children do no wrong with regard to their parents’ perspective. It means that because of their love for their children parents become blind to their children’s failures even when these are obvious to the whole world. So, what Peter says here is a universal truth that applies in any kind of love. But the love that we are concerned here is that which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that is also the focus of the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians.
The fact is that when love exists sins are covered. If we turn it around, we will realize that covering of sins leads to love. This is what we read in Proverbs 17:9:
He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
How true this verse is today! There are many individuals who destroy various human relationships because they keep repeating the faults of others. Many marriages have been broken because a man or a woman gets involved in emphasizing the failure of one’s spouse. Not to speak of how the News Media causes a lot of trouble with its constant repetition of things that should never be made an issue. As they keep repeating either failures or trends, people come to believe these to be true and very soon tension or mistrust is created among people. The passage in Proverbs indicates that when sins are covered that is an indication that one is more interested in the exercise of love.
We should understand what Apostle Peter means when he states that love covers sins. This is important because people are often prone to quote the Bible out of context to justify their actions. This passage of 1 Peter 4:8 is not teaching that love causes us to ignore crime or sin. Let me be clear as to what it is not saying. It is not teaching, according to some Roman Catholic scholars, that love covers one’s sins. The Bible does not mean that if a person commits a crime that because you love the individual you yourself should become a part of the person’s sin. Take an example, a loved one commits murder, and a person is aware of it but says that love covers sins therefore he should not turn in the loved one to the appropriate authority for the murder in question. This is not what our passage is dealing with. In short, 1 Peter 4:8 is not designed to cover crime of any kind either by lying or looking the other way. This passage is not saying that we should be idiots without recognition of facts. What then does it mean to cover sins? I think that the understanding of what it means is to be derived from the basic meaning of the Greek word (kalyptō) used which is “to bury.” The apostle is saying that love enables us to bury sins. If something is buried it is out of view but more importantly, it is not easily accessible and cannot be used for any purpose. So, what the apostle is saying is that love causes us to ignore sins committed against us personally. It does not mean that we do not recognize that one has sinned against us, but like forgiveness, we will not use the facts of their sins against us when dealing with them. A practical demonstration of this fact is that we cannot gossip about their failures. If we have love for each other, we will have the ability to deal with each other without any reference to sins committed against us by a fellow believer. If we may put it in another way “to cover sin” is to “forgive sin.” That “to cover sin” means “to forgive” is conveyed several times in the OT Scripture. Take for example, what the psalmist stated in Psalm 85:2:
You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. Selah
The first sentence You forgave the iniquity of your people is explained by the second covered all their sins. By this we mean that the Hebrew particle (we-) translated “and” may indeed mean “that is” to indicate that the second sentence explains the first. This we can see by examining the Hebrew words used. The word “forgave” is translated from a Hebrew verb (nāśāʾ) that literally means “to lift away, remove” but in this passage of psalm it means “to forgive” that is conceived as lifting up or removing something. The thing that is removed or lifted is described in the NIV with the word “iniquity” that is translated from a Hebrew word (ʿāwōn) that may mean “sin, wickedness, iniquity, i.e., wrongdoing, with a focus of liability or guilt for this wrong incurred.” Here it has the sense of “guilt,” that is, the state of having committed an offense. The word “sin” is translated from a Hebrew word (ḥǎṭṭāʾṯ) that may mean “sin, iniquity, wrong” so we recognize that the two Hebrew words have overlapping meaning so that the second explains further the first. The word “covered” in the second sentence of Psalm 85:2 is translated from a Hebrew word (kāsāh) that may mean “to keep hidden” or “to cover over.” Here in Psalm 85:2, it has the sense of “to forgive, conceived of as covering over something.” Thus, the word “covered” used in Psalm 85:2 has the sense of “to forgive” hence when the meaning “covered” is used in connection with love both by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:7 and Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4:8, we should recognize that the sense to be conveyed is that of forgiveness of sins. The emphasis of both apostles about love covering sin is an important positive characteristic of love. Thus, the fourth positive description of love concerns covering what may be displeasing in the object of love. In effect, a positive characteristic of love is to be forgiving which is a positive declaration of the seventh negative description of love we stated is unforgiveness as that is the way we interpreted the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:5 it keeps no record of wrongs.
It is true that the apostle has emphasized the importance of love in forgiveness of sins or wrongs done against us, but we should understand clearly that the sins here refer mostly to offenses that other believers or even unbelievers commit against the believer. We should also bear in mind that love would cause us to help a believer who has sinned to be restored to fellowship with God. We should remember that every sin is ultimately against God and that He is the one that can deal with it in ways that no human can. But if we have love for other believers, we should help them to recover spiritually from sin so that they can avoid divine discipline. I know that this is something that we Christians of the present time are not doing too well but the Bible demands of us to do so according to instruction found in various parts of the Bible, but let me quote James at this point, that is, James 5:19-20:
19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
If we help a fellow believer or an unbeliever, we have become agents of forgiveness. For then God would have used us as agents of reconciliation that we are, and we have then demonstrated love. Anyway, the fourth positive description of love concerns covering what may be displeasing in the object of love, that is, to exercise forgiveness of sins. So, love is characterized by forgiveness.
The fifth positive description of love concerns believe or trust in something as given in the next sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:7 always trusts or literally from the Greek believes all things. A surface reading of the literal Greek may imply that love believes any and everything or that love means that a person who loves trusts in and every person since people are usually untrustworthy. Hence, to understand what the apostle meant we should recognize that the comment we made previously about the word “always” is applicable here. The word “trust” is translated from a Greek word (pisteuō) that its predominant meaning in the Greek NT is “to believe”, as it is used by Apostle Paul to describe the belief in resurrection, cast in the sense of living with Christ in Romans 6:8:
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
The Greek word may also mean “to trust”, with the implication of total commitment to the one who is trusted, as it is used in the apostle’s short prayer for the Roman believers in Romans 15:13:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The word has the sense of trusting or putting something to the care of another. Apostle Paul was so conscious of the fact that the preaching of the gospel was entrusted to him that he states it several times. Writing to the Galatians, he indicated that preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles is a task given to him, as we read in Galatians 2:7:
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
He informed the Thessalonians that he was entrusted with the preaching of the gospel although he did not envision himself as the only one entrusted with that task, as we may gather from his statement in 1 Thessalonians 2:4:
On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.
The apostle also reminds Timothy that he has been entrusted with the gospel that is no doubt concerned with eternal life that he described with the word “glorious”, indicating its greatness certainly because it contains the promise of eternal life in 1 Timothy 1:11:
that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:7, the word has the sense of “to believe” or “to be convinced of something.”
The thing that is to be believed or convinced of, according to the literal translation, is given in the phrase all things. If one forgets what we previously said about this phrase, then what is stated about love does not make sense if the phrase is understood to mean any and everything since there is the implication that love even believes in falsehood. However, we have said that the context helps us to define what the phrase means in a particular context. This being the case, the phrase all things refers to truth. This is because “love” does not involve falsehood. Therefore, the thing that must be believed is truth. This is supported by the fact that the apostle had already indicated that love rejoices in the truth. Hence, we contend that fifth positive description of love concerns belief or trust in truth. Since God is “the truth” there is a sense that we can say that anyone with love keeps trusting or believing in God. This belief in God causes the one with love to act in a manner that is consistent with truth.
The sixth positive description of love concerns expectation of that which is good as given in the next sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:7 always hopes. Even as this reads in the NIV, there is the question of what love hopes in since the word “hopes” requires an object. As someone has observed, this sentence has nothing to do with naïve optimism. What then does the apostle meant to say when according to the NIV it is said that love always hopes? Again, we refer to the literal translation from the Greek that reads hopes all things.
The word “hope” is translated from a Greek word (elpizō) that has two general meanings. The word may mean “to look forward to something, with implication of confidence about something coming to pass” so means “to hope, hope for” as it is used to describe the widow who looks forward to God’s assistance as she prays to Him as we read in 1 Timothy 5:5:
The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.
The other meaning of the word is “to look forward to something, in view of the measures one takes to ensure fulfillment” hence means “to expect” as it is used by Apostle Paul to commend the action of the Macedonian churches regarding the contributions of the Gentile churches for assisting believers in Judea as we read in 2 Corinthians 8:5:
And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:7, the word means “to hope” in the sense of “to expect and wish for something.”
The thing that “love” expects, and wishes is given in the literal phrase all things. As we have indicated previously that the context helps us to determine what “all things” means. However, the immediate context does not tell us what the phrase refers but the general context of Scripture helps in interpreting what the phrase means. As we have indicated, love must have an object, so it is the object of love that enables us to determine what “all things” means. There are two objects of love human and God. Based on the general context of the Scripture when humans are the objects of love then the phrase all things refers to the things that are good. In other words, a person who has love wishes good for the object of love since love is associated with good. An association of love and good is referenced in Proverbs 14:22:
Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.
The Lord Jesus associated good with love when He commanded believers to do good to their enemies as an expression of love towards one’s enemy as we read in Luke 6:27:
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
When God is the object, then “all things” refers to His good promises that have to do with the future. Thus, when one loves God that person continues to have confidence in all the promises of God that have to do with our eternal destiny. Anyway, the sixth positive description of love concerns expectation of that which is good and confidence in God fulfilling His promises.
The seventh and final positive description of love concerns endurance as given in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:7 always perseveres or literally from the Greek endures all things. The word “endure” is translated from a Greek word (hypomenō) that may mean “to stay in a place beyond an expected point of time,” hence “to remain, stay behind” as it is used to describe the separation of Jesus from His parents when they went to Jerusalem for a celebration of Feast of Passover as we read in Luke 2:43:
After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.
The word may mean “to maintain a belief or course of action in the face of opposition” so it means “to stand one’s ground, hold out, endure” as Apostle Paul used the word to describe what he had to endure to preach the gospel for the sake of the elect as we read in 2 Timothy 2:10:
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:7, the word means “to endure/withstand” in the sense of “to face and withstand with courage.”
The thing love endures or withstands with courage is given in the literal phrase all things. The context of the passage we are studying enables us to define what the apostle meant in the phrase. The phrase refers to wrongs done by the object of love or hardships created by objects of love. Hence, if a person has love, that individual will endure any wrong done by the object of love. It is love that will keep us from hating even those who persecute us as the Lord Jesus commanded us in Matthew 5:44:
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
In any case, we have considered seven positive descriptions of love and eight negative descriptions. These are intended to help us test our claim of love so if you love you should be able to apply these characteristics to yourself and be confident that you love. As we end this consideration of love let me refresh your mind about our definition of love and the message of the passage that you should apply. Our working definition is that love is a thought-action phenomenon that involves a subject and an object whereby the object is benefited. The message of this passage 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.