Lessons #475 and 476
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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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Permanence of Love (1 Cor 13:8-13)
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
We have come to our final consideration of the section of 1 Corinthians 13:8-13. Recall its message is: The permanency of love is the primary reason for its supremacy over gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge and over faith and hope. Our last study focused on the second comparison the apostle makes that concerns the time of “the perfect” and “now.” Specifically, we started to consider the completion of the comparison the apostle has been making, he referred to the type of knowledge that will exist at the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is this that is given in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 13:12 then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. It is with this clause that we continue our study this morning.
The apostle stated that at the time of second coming I shall know fully. The expression “know fully” is translated from a Greek word (epiginōskō) that may mean “to have knowledge about something or someone, implying a thoroughness or competence” as the kind of information believers have about the truth as we read in 1 Timothy 4:3:
They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
The word may mean “to understand” as it is used by Apostle Paul to state to the Corinthians that his epistle to them was not subject to double meaning, what he wrote is straightforward and not complicated as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:13:
For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that,
The word may mean “to identify newly acquired information with what had been previously learned or known, that is, “to recognize” as it is used to describe those who identified the crippled man the Lord healed through Peter as we read in Acts 3:10:
they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
The word may mean “to acknowledge” as it is used to describe the response Apostle Paul expected from some in Corinth that probably claimed to be spiritual elites regarding what he wrote them as we read in 1 Corinthians 14:37:
If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, the Greek word has the sense of “to recognize,” that is, “to discern something clearly and distinctly, or as true and valid.” We are saying that although the meaning “to have full knowledge of” is an appropriate translation of our Greek word but what this really means in the context is “to recognize.” This is because of what the apostle states in the last clause of verse 12 that we will get to shortly.
In any case, before we get to the last clause of the verse we are considering, we should note that the apostle did not tell us what he and so all believers would recognize or know fully. That notwithstanding, there are subjects or truths that we will recognize or know more fully when Jesus Christ returns. Let me mention some of these. We will know more fully or recognize the relationship between the members of the Godhead that at this time we truly cannot fully understand despite all attempts to explain it. The Lord Jesus conveyed there is a relationship between Him and God the Father as he stated in John 10:38:
But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
The sentence the Father is in me, and I in the Father is usually understood to mean the unity between the Father and the Son. Some theologians interpret it using the phrase “mutual co-inherence—each is ‘in’ the other” but that does not fully explain what it means that the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father. There is an interrelationship between the members of the Godhead that we could not possibly understand fully at this point, but we will recognize or understand that relationship more fully when the second coming of Christ takes place, and we are in the presence of God. Related to this knowing fully the relationship of the members of the Godhead is that we will know more fully or recognize the person of Jesus Christ. At the present, what we struggle is to know the Lord Jesus better as implied in apostolic prayer of Apostle Paul on behalf of the Ephesians as we read in Ephesians 1:17:
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
There is no doubt that at the present all believers will continue to struggle to know the Lord Jesus better as Apostle Paul himself conveyed in Philippians 3:10:
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
Another thing that we will understand more fully when Christ returns is the concept of peace associated with God as we read in Philippians 4:7:
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
“Peace” as used in the Scripture, according to the UBS handbook, is never merely the absence of strife and trouble rather a term that stands for a total well-being associated with the state of salvation. The “peace of God” is not merely the peace He gives to those who are in right relationship with Him through Jesus Christ but also that which God has in Himself as part of His nature. We cannot at this time know this peace hence the clause which transcends all understanding. Literally, the Greek reads which rises above all mind that may be interpreted in one of two ways. It could mean that this peace is greater than the human mind can plan, or this peace is greater than our minds are able to understand. The second interpretation is probably what the apostle meant because of the meaning of the Greek verb used has the sense of to “to surpass” or “to excel.” Anyway, the fact that God’s peace is beyond our comprehensive at this point means that at the second coming we will know fully or recognize this peace fully. Still another thing that we will recognize or understand fully is how we will be like the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit through Apostle John referenced this truth in 1 John 3:2:
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
We believe that we will be like the Son of God but what that fully means is something we cannot understand at this point. However, when “the perfection” comes we will recognize or understand fully what it is to be like our Savior. We have mentioned these three things to cause us to recognize that there is much more to what we will know fully or recognize when Christ returns.
Be that as it may, the apostle compared what will be true of his knowledge to the knowledge that is applied to him as in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 13:12 even as I am fully known. This is an emphatic declaration by the apostle. This is because the word “even” is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that is often translated “and” in our English versions. 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.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it is in this later usage of emphasis that the word is used with the meaning of “even” indicating that the apostle was emphatic in what he wrote.
It is not only that the apostle is being emphatic in what he wrote but he also compared the second clause to the preceding sentence because of the word “as” that is translated from a Greek adverb (kathōs) that may be used “as a marker of cause or reason, often with the implication of some implied comparison,” hence the meaning “in as much as, because.” The word may also mean “as” to describe degree or extent of something. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:12, it is used as “a marker of similarity in events and states” in which case it means “just as, even as.” The comparison involves knowledge since the sentence I am fully known is translated from the same Greek word (epiginōskō) that we stated that although it has the meaning of “to have full knowledge” but in its first usage that the sense of the word is “to recognize,” that is, to discern something clearly and distinctly. The comparison made between the two sentences helps us to realize that it is better to use the meaning “to recognize” in translating our Greek verb that may mean “to have full knowledge.” The second usage of our Greek verb is different from the first in two ways from the Greek perspective that involves the voice and the tense used in the Greek. The first usage of the Greek word is in the middle voice in the Greek, implying that the apostle emphasized he would be involved in recognizing something or some person in the future that certainly benefits him. Of course, what the apostle stated is true of all believers who will recognize God in the future in a way than it is true at the present. The second usage of our Greek verb is in a passive voice as indicated in the translation of the NIV I am fully known, implying that someone recognized the apostle. The person that will recognize the apostle is the Lord Jesus. The first usage involves a future tense in the Greek so the apostle conveyed what will take place in the future when Christ returns or when the perfect comes. The second usage is in what is known as the aorist tense in the Greek. The apostle’s usage of the aorist tense is either to emphasize the present reality of God’s past action of recognizing or having known him fully or his emphasis is on the result of God having recognized or having known him fully. The first interpretation of emphasis on the present reality of God’s recognition or knowing fully the apostle is reflected in the translation of the NIV of the Greek as I am fully known. The second interpretation of emphasis on result of God’s past action of recognizing or knowing fully the apostle is one that is reflected in the English versions such as the NASB or the NET that rendered the Greek as I have been fully known. Of course, in the final analysis, there is really little difference in the two interpretations since the apostle’s mind could have gone back to the fact of the certainty of his election and so that of all believers.
It is our interpretation that when the apostle wrote the words of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 13:12 I am fully known that his mind reflected on the certainty of his election and that of other believers since God’s knowing someone as a past action involves election. This interpretation is reflected in what Prophet Amos wrote in Amos 3:2:
“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
The sentence You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth is more literally I have known of all families of the land. The literal translation is because we have a Hebrew word (yāḏǎʿ) that basically means “to know” but it is difficult to understand how the omniscient God knows only Israel of all the nations of the world. Therefore, it makes better sense to say that God chose Israel out of the nations to be His unique people. The Hebrew word that means “to know” may also mean “to choose,” that is, to select an object for special favor as it is used of God choosing Abraham for a purpose as we read Genesis 18:19:
For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
The apostle definitely understood that God’s knowing someone implies election because of what he wrote in Romans 8:29:
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
The word “foreknew” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (proginōskō) that has two meanings. It may mean “to know before hand, foreknew” or “to choose beforehand or in advance.” Of the five usages of the Greek word, only in two passages that involve humans that the meaning “to know beforehand” is applicable. When Apostle Paul spoke of the Jews knowing him before his conversion, the first meaning of our Greek word is applicable as used by Luke in Acts 26:5:
They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.
The second passage that the meaning “to know beforehand” is applicable is its usage by Apostle Peter to remind the recipients of his epistle what they have already known or what they knew in advance in 2 Peter 3:17:
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.
The sentence dear friends, since you already know this is more literally beloved, knowing this beforehand. When the Greek word is used as it pertains to God, the meaning should be “to choose beforehand or in advance.” Thus, we do not believe that the translation of the NIV in two passages where they translated our Greek word with “foreknew” is proper. The first is in describing God’s work in salvation in the passage we cited previously, that is, Romans 8:29:
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
It is difficult to know what it would mean to say that God predestined those He foreknew. Thus, some take the view that what that means is that God foresaw the faith of those whom He predestined before predestining them. The problem with this meaning is that man and not God determines His plan. In effect, those who give this interpretation imply that God responded to humans instead of humans responding to Him. The difficulty is removed if the Greek word is given the meaning “to choose” so that those God predestined, that is, to decide upon beforehand, were those He chose in advance or beforehand, that is, those he elected to eternal salvation. The other passage the translators of the NIV or few other English versions used the meaning “foreknew” that we believe is improper is in discussing Israel’s future in God’s plan as Apostle Paul did in his doctrine of election as we read in Romans 11:2:
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:
It is difficult to understand in what sense God “foreknew” Israel. This is the same problem that we noted with what Prophet Amos wrote about Israel. God chose Israel as His unique people as we read in Deuteronomy 7:6:
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
Therefore, it makes better sense in Romans 11:2 to say that God chose Israel and so did not reject them. Some English versions, such as the NCV and the TEV, reflect this interpretation because they translated the Greek word used with the meaning “to choose.” The translators of the NIV wisely used the meaning “to choose” in describing the choosing of Christ to come to the world since it would not make sense to say that God “foreknew” Christ, so they are correct in translating the Greek word used in Romans 8:29 as “to choose” in 1 Peter 1:20:
He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
Anyway, we are arguing that when the apostle wrote the sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:12 I am fully known that his mind went to the concept of election or of God choosing him as His own. He probably was also reminded of what the Lord said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
The sentence I knew you may alternatively be translated I chose you as reflected in the NET and a handful of our other English versions. As the mind of the apostle went to God’s choosing of Jeremiah, he would then have reflected on God choosing him similar to Jeremiah as we may gather from what he stated in Galatians 1:15–16:
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,
The expression “set… apart” is translated from the Greek word (aphorizō) that no doubt means “to set apart” but it also conveys the sense of “to select” or “to choose” as reflected in some of our English versions, such as, the CEV or the TEV. In any event, we contend that when Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 I am fully known he meant that when Christ returns, he will recognize Him personally as God recognized him through election. In other words, he, and so all believers, will recognize the God that chose them for salvation and at that time there would be no need for the incomplete knowledge about the Lord as he now possessed. Believers would personally recognize the Lord and would not need anyone to teach them about Him. With this comparison that involves recognition of him at the second coming, the apostle ends his comparisons he began in verse 11 and returns to the subject of the supremacy of love.
The apostle signaled that after dealing with the comparisons he introduced in verses 11 and 12 that he was returning to the subject of the imperfect versus the perfect. We assert this because of the word “and” that begins the first sentence of verse 13. The word “and” is translated from a Greek particle (de) that may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation but in certain occurrences this marker of continuation may be left untranslated. Although it is often translated “but” in the English, as done in this verse in the NASB, 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 as reflected in some English versions that translated it in our present verse either “and” or “so” in such English versions as the ESV and the NCV. Of course, we are not sure how the English versions that used the word “so” intended it, that is, whether they used it to introduce a concluding statement or to provide reason. That aside, our Greek particle 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 particle is used to resume the discourse concerning the subject of imperfect versus the perfect that the apostle introduced in verse 10 but digressed with comparisons that we considered in verses 11 and 12. Thus, the Greek particle may be left untranslated as done in the CEB and the REB. Anyway, we contend that the apostle used the particle to resume what he stated in verse 10 but it is also possible to interpret that particle as introducing a concluding statement on the subject of love.
The apostle preceded the Greek particle we indicated is used for resuming the apostle’s topic in verse 10 with another Greek particle (nyni) that may mean “now” as an adverb of time with focus on the moment. Another usage of the Greek particle is as a temporal marker with focus on a prevailing situation, with the idea of time weakened or entirely absent and so means “now, as it is.” The problem is how to understand the Greek particle. Some take the view that it is used with a weakened sense of time, implying that it is used in a logical sense. However, if, as we stated, the first particle we considered is used to indicate resumption of the subject of imperfect versus perfect then our word is used in the sense of time. Thus, the apostle is focused on how things stand at the present. Thus, what the apostle wrote next still involves time in which what he wrote are expected to take place as we will note later.
In any case, the apostle’s final point concerns the supremacy of love over faith and hope in this life and beyond. He begins by acknowledging the existence of the three at the present time in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
Some commentators express surprise that the apostle appeared to have suddenly mentioned the two qualities or activities he did not previously referenced or discussed as such. This is not entirely correct. The apostle had mentioned the concept of hope in the analogy he used when he taught the importance of support of the ministers of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 9:10:
Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
The concept of faith was introduced in the instruction of the apostle to the Corinthians as stated in 1 Corinthians 2:5:
so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
He also mentioned faith as part of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:9:
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit.
The references to hope and faith notwithstanding, the apostle sees the link between hope, faith, and love as triad of the Christian life on this planet that he did not have to expound on any of them before linking the three. There are three other passages where the apostle brought the three together. He did this in his epistle to the Colossians as we read 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 sentence the faith and love that spring from the hope is literally because of the hope as you find in some English versions. The reading of the NIV and a handful of our English versions is due to how the translators divided a long sentence in the Greek of first chapter of Colossians that goes from verse 3 to 8. That aside, the apostle did not mention hope prior to its reference in Colossians 1:5 although he mentioned love and faith in Colossians 1:4:
because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—
A second passage where the apostle mentioned the three qualities or activities is in his commendation of the Thessalonians for their spiritual life in 1 Thessalonians 1:3:
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle mentioned the three here without a previous reference to any of them. The third passage where the apostle mentioned the three together is concerned with encouragement to stand firm in the spiritual life or to be ready for the spiritual warfare by being equipped with hope, faith, and love as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:8:
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
The apostle did not give any dissertation on love or faith or hope in the three passages we cited so that there is no reason to take the reference of the three in 1 Corinthians 13:13 as abnormal, simply because to him the three are essential in the Christian life and it is likely that the Corinthians would have understood it that way and so would not have been surprised at the mention of the three at this point in his epistle where he has been dealing with love. In effect, the three must have been often mentioned together by Christian teachers that they are recognized as essential elements of the spiritual life in Christian communities.
Be that as it may, the apostle mentioned three activities or qualities that should characterize believers at the present. The first is described with the word “faith” in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:13 these three remain: faith, hope and love. The word “remain” is translated from a Greek verb (menō) that in our verse has the sense of “to continue to exist.” Some take it to mean to exist eternally, but others take it to mean to exist in time, that is, to exist in a temporary sense. It is probably the case that both are intended in the sense that the three continue to exist in time while only one of them, love, will exist eternally since both faith and hope are for this life as we will comment later. Anyhow, as we have indicated the first thing that continues to exist that should characterize believers is faith. But what is this faith? This question is necessary because the word faith as used in the NT Scripture has a range of meanings as we will demonstrate.
The word “faith” is translated from a Greek word (pistis) although often translated “faith” has several other meanings. Let me consider just a few. The Greek word may 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 our Greek word 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,
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.
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.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” 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 to describe what people heard about him following his conversion as stated 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, 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 to describe what will happen to some at a later time as we read 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.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:13, the word has the sense of “trust, faith,” that is, strong confidence in, and reliance upon, someone on the basis of the reliability of the trusted. Thus, at the present believers should be characterized by strong confidence and reliance on the Lord.
The second activity or quality that should characterize believers at the present is hope. The word “hope” is translated from a Greek word (elpis) with different meanings. It may mean “hope, expectation, prospect” in the sense of looking forward to something with some reason for confidence respecting its fulfillment. It is in the general sense of “hope, expectation, prospect” that the word is used in describing the state of the situation among the people in the ship that was transporting Apostle Paul to Rome to stand trial before Caesar as recorded in Acts 27:20:
When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
The meaning “hope” may, of course, pertain to matters spoken of in God’s promises, as Apostle Paul used the word regarding Abraham in Romans 4:18:
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Here “hope” has the sense of “confident expectation” so that Abraham waited expectantly for God to do what He promised to him about having a son through Sarah. The Greek word translated “hope” may mean the basis for hoping so that it could mean the foundation of hope, as implied in the description of Jesus Christ in 1 Timothy 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
“Hope” here in 1 Timothy 1:1 includes the element of certainty and firm conviction that Christ is not only the basis of our conviction for the future or eternity with God, but He is also the source of our trust or the One whom we trust. Another meaning of the Greek word translated “hope” is “something hoped for”, as that is the sense of the word in Titus 2:13:
while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
In one context, the Greek word translated “hope” has the meaning of faith. This seems to be the sense of the word in Romans 8:24:
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
We are saved by faith in Christ so that the first use of the word “hope” has the sense of faith, or it has a meaning close to “faith”. That aside, in our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:13, the word is used with the meaning of “the looking forward to something with some reason for confidence respecting fulfillment,” hence “hope, expectation.” Thus, believers are to be characterized by expectation of what God will do for them in the future. It is this hope that should keep us from despairing when we face difficulties of life that challenge our faith in the Lord.
The third activity or quality that should characterize believers is love. The word “love” is translated from a Greek word (agapē) that we considered in detail in 1 Corinthians 13:1 that we indicated that it has the sense of “strong affection and interest in the affairs of another.” Because we considered the word “love” in details in that verse, we simply want to remind you of the meaning of the Greek word used. We have, of course, emphasized that the activity of love is one that should characterize believers in their relationship with each other. So, we will not say much at this point but to recognize what the apostle said about love in relationship to faith and hope.
The apostle conveyed that love is supreme over the other two activities or qualities as we read in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 13:13 But the greatest of these is love. The word “greatest” is translated from a Greek word (megas) that has the basic meaning of “great” but with different nuances. The word may mean “great” in the sense of pertaining to exceeding a standard involving related objects and so may mean “large” as Apostle Paul used it to describe a house with different kinds of articles as he makes the point that some individuals serve good purposes while others do not as we read 2 Timothy 2:20:
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.
The word may mean “great” in the sense of pertaining to being above standard in intensity so that when used with sound or one’s voice the word means “loud” as when the Lord Jesus uttered the words by which He raised Lazarus from the dead as we recorded in John 11:43:
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The word may mean “great” in the sense of pertaining to being relatively superior in importance hence it may mean “more prominent or outstanding” because of certain advantages. It is in this sense that the word is used by the Samaritan woman to compare the Lord Jesus to Jacob as we read in John 4:12:
Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
It is true that the Greek word is translated “greater” here by most of our English versions, but it has the sense of “importance” thus the GW translated the question of the NIV Are you greater than our father Jacob as You’re not more important than our ancestor Jacob, are you? The word may mean “surprising” as Apostle Paul used it in describing satanic agents in 2 Corinthians 11:15:
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
The phrase not surprising is literally no great thing. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 13:13, the Greek word has the sense of “great” as it pertains to being relatively superior in importance. Consequently, the apostle conveyed that love is of superior importance when compared to the other two activities or qualities of faith and hope.
Interestingly, the apostle made the statement regarding love being the greatest without directly providing a reason for his declaration. It is probably because the Holy Spirit expects us to draw the conclusion that first it is because love is most important in Christians’ relationship with each other. Thus, love is seen as the fulfillment of the law as we read in Romans 13:10:
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
In addition, love is also recognized as an expression of faith as implied in Galatians 5:6:
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Another reason love is described as the greatest or relatively superior in importance of the three is because it is the one activity or quality in the life of a believer that will not end and so will continue to exist in eternal state. Faith and hope will end once the second coming takes place but not love. There are those who contend that faith and hope will last beyond this life. This interpretation is unlikely because “faith” is indicated as that which we need to function on this planet because of what the Holy Spirit asserted through Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:7:
We live by faith, not by sight.
This assertion is only applicable on this planet. I am not sure how we will need faith to function when we are in the presence of the Lord since we will see Him as He is. The absence of sin in heaven will make faith in any form needless since faith is associated with sin in Romans 14:23:
But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Regardless of how one interprets what the apostle said here about sin and faith, the fact there will be no sin in heaven implies there would be no faith. The activity of hope is rendered needless in the eternal state as that is what is implied in Romans 8:24:
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
Based on these facts we have stated, we contend that both faith and hope continue to exist as necessary activities or qualities of believers on this planet. However, the supremacy of love over the other two activities or qualities means that love will never come to an end. In any event, the apostle wants us to recognize that we should exercise any spiritual gift with the understanding that love is supreme and should govern whatever we do in relationship with others. As we end this chapter concerned with love, let me remind you of the primary message of the chapter, which is: The permanency of love is the primary reason for its supremacy over gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge and over faith and hope.
12/09//22