a. At the end of chapter 12 Paul says he is going to show us a more
excellent way. In doing so, he turns our mind away from the special spiritual
gifts and focuses our attention upon a supreme spiritual grace - agape.
- In 13:1-8a, the apostle Paul reminds us three important things about
agape - a love that is patterned after God's love for us in Christ - love is
indispensable, love has a distinct character, and love is permanent.
- Love never fails! This abiding love is then contrasted with the
spiritual gifts that the Corinthian believers are obsessed with. These
spiritual gifts are all temporary - they will fail, and they will be abolished.
b. This chapter is found right in the middle of Paul’s three chapters of
instructions for the right use of spiritual gifts (12-14). Its location is not
an accident, and it should greatly affect its interpretation, for the context
will give us the overall lesson.
- The church at Corinth had major problems with division (1:10; 11:18;
12:25), strife (1:11; 3:3), and glorying in their spiritual gifts (1:4-7; 8:1;
12:12-30; 14:12,26). Paul included this instruction about love to correct these
deficiencies.
- He used chapter 12 to teach the importance of unity, and he used
chapter 14 to teach the specific regulations for exercising the gifts. It is
the teaching of love as the more excellent way of serving Christ Paul used here
to correct selfish conduct in exercising the gift. At the conclusion of chapter
12, Paul wisely appealed to the Corinthians to fervently desire better spiritual
gifts and to pursue a way of serving Christ that was better than any spiritual
gift, including the gift of being an apostle (12:31)!
- We learn that love is superior to spiritual gifts by nature (1-3), by
definition (4-7), and by permanence (8-13).
- Spiritual gifts without the excellent grace of love are worthless
(1-3)
- Love as defined by God is the greatest inter-personal grace (4-7)
- Love is the enduring permanent grace for all to seek (8-13)
1. Spiritual gifts without the grace of love are worthless (1-3)
a. Speaking in tongues without loving one another is nothing but a very
irritating noise.
- The tongues of men are the various languages of mankind (Gen 10:20;
John 5:2; Acts 2:5-8).
- The tongues of angels is a hyperbole, exaggerating the gift of tongues
to exalt love more. Tongues are specific languages, not merely babbling of any
sort. Hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration that the reader understands to make
a strong point. There is no Bible basis for a specific language of angels that
could be spoken by men.
- The tongues of angels would not be a spiritual gift, for it would not
edify or confirm men. This hyperbole cannot justify the barbarian babbling and
gibberish of today’s false tongues.
- Paul began with tongues because the church at Corinth was overly
infatuated with this gift. Paul will deal with tongues in detail in the next
chapter, though ranking it last (12:28). Paul ranked the gift of tongues last,
even after the gifts of “helps.”
b. Charity in this chapter is practical love of one toward another, as
carefully defined (13:4-7).
- The best measure of the grace of God is to love the brethren (John
13:35; I John 4:7). The love here is not the love of God, but rather the love
of saints, which is your calling.
- Any gift of tongues, no matter how incredibly glorious, was an
irritating noise without love. By this comparison, Paul elevated brother love
over the gift of choice of the Corinthians. Neither God nor men care what
spiritual gift you have if you cannot love other saints. Spiritual gifts were
given to benefit others, but what benefit are they from selfish people?
Sounding brass might be a military bugle, and a tinkling cymbal is merely
another vain noise.
c. Prophecy, wisdom, knowledge, and faith without loving one another
leave a man nothing.
- The gift of prophecy was the ability to understand and communicate the
will of God by inspiration (14:29-32).
- The gift of wisdom was the ability to understand all mysteries by
direct inspiration (12:8).
- The gift of knowledge was the ability to know things of God by direct
inspiration (12:8).
- The gift of faith was the special ability to believe in God for great
future miracles (12:9).
- These gifts are exaggerated beyond their reality to make a greater
appeal for charity.
- The gift of prophecy did not include total knowledge on any subject
(13:9; 14:29-32).
- Faith to move mountains is another hyperbole, and it is figurative
(Matt 17:20; 21:21).
- Charity in this chapter is practical love one toward another, as
carefully defined (13:4-7).
- Any of the revelatory gifts, no matter how extensive, were worthless
for a man without love.
-Though the church was built on the prophets, lacking love reduced them
to nothing.
- The revelatory gifts were very important and useful in communicating
God’s will.
- A church that prides itself on doctrine without love is nothing (Acts
2:42-47; I Cor 8:1-3).
d. Even charitable giving and martyrdom without loving one another is
totally profitless.
- The incredible contrast between outward charity and the true love of
others is shown here.
- Men can easily have false motives for outward actions (Ps 144:7-8; Pr
21:4; 26:24-26).
- For example, giving some financial help to another person is much
easier than actually loving them.
- Bearing patiently with irritating idiosyncrasies and conduct is much
more difficult. Love is required!
- Again, extreme descriptions are made of giving and suffering to make a
great appeal for love. A literary tool.
- We tend to think giving your goods to feed the poor is a glorious act
of Christian charity.
- We imagine giving your body to fire, as a martyr, is a great act of
Christian devotion.
- Charity in this chapter is the practical love of one toward another, as
carefully defined (13:4-7). Any of these great acts of external giving and
suffering are worthless without practical love. God is not pleased by a man
giving much money and dying as a martyr if he cannot love.
2. God’s definition of love is the most perfect cure for all relational
problems. v4
a. Charity in this chapter is the practical love of one toward another in godly
interpersonal relationships.
- Love will suffer, enduring the pain of irritations and offences by its
object, for a long time.
- Love is benevolent, courteous, and good in all its thoughts and
actions toward its object.
- Love does not envy another person for superior advantages of abilities
or circumstances.
- Love does not put itself forward in the presence of others due to any
presumed superiority.
- Love does not have a puffed mental arrogance or haughtiness about
presumed superiority.
b. God’s own definition of love is the perfect cure for all
relational problems. v5
- Charity in this chapter is the practical love of one toward another in godly
interpersonal relationships.
- Love always acts in a courteous, conventional, decorous, and
appropriate way at all times.
- Love is not selfish in pursuing its own ambitions and preferences over
those of others.
- Love does not get offended or angry with others easily, no matter what
the offences by them.
- Love thinks the best of others’ actions and does not evilly surmise
that they intended wrong.
- For a detailed explanation and practical application of these phrases,
see the outline below.
c. God’s inspired definition of love is the most perfect cure for all
relational problems. v6
- Love is grieved when it sees its object in error and does all it can
to help get them right again.
- Love is happy when it sees its object doing everything right and
growing in righteousness.
- The depravity of the soul is seen at internal gloating at the sins and
punishment of others.
d. God’s inspired definition of love is the most perfect cure for all
relational problems. v7
- Love bears all the burdens and offences of others without getting
angry or bitter at them.
- Love believes the best about others, even when there is suspicion of
insincerity or evil.
- Love hopes the best for others, even when there is not enough
evidence to believe them.
- Love endures repeated irritations and offences of others and does not
wear out and give up.
- You have just read the finest sentence in any language about the
greatest subject of all; yes, v4-7 is just one sentence, on just one same
subject – charity, the more excellent way.
3. Love is the enduring permanent grace, the spiritual gifts at Corinth
were soon to disappear.
a. The emphasis on love here is not that it always works, but rather
that it will always be in use.
- The “never faileth” of charity is contrasted to prophecies failing,
tongues ceasing, and knowledge vanishing away. We know Paul is arguing about
the permanence and continuance of charity!
- The spiritual graces, faith, hope, and charity – the fruit of the
Spirit worked by indwelling Spirit - abide; they will not fail, as the
spiritual gifts will all fail (13:13).
- Prophecies, tongues, and knowledge were to come to an end, which was
in contrast to love. Prophecies would not fail in the sense of predictions not
coming to pass as foretold, for the prophecies of every prophet of God always
came to pass without exception. Prophecies would fail in the sense the
temporary gift will end (14:29-32).
- Speaking in tongues, or foreign languages, as a supernatural sign gift
would also end.
- Knowledge vanishing away was not in the sense of all men becoming
senile or ignorant, but rather the temporary gift of supernatural knowledge
would come to an end (12:8).
- The spiritual gifts Corinth loved were only temporary; the charity
that God loved was permanent.
b. The apostolic sign gifts and revelatory gifts were temporary gifts to
help build the early apostolic church God promised by covenant to do marvellous
things in Israel for 40 years (Micah 7:14-20).
- God gave the gifts to the apostles which were fulfilled (Mark
16:17-20).
- The three gifts mentioned are simply examples of all the miraculous
gifts going away.
- Paul lost his power to heal by the time he wrote his epistles to
Timothy (I Tim 5:23); he left a minister sick (II Tim 4:20), though he had once
used handkerchiefs (Acts 19:12).
- Paul taught Timothy to study, which was not necessary if the special
gifts of wisdom and knowledge continued.
- In the three Pastoral Epistles there is not a word about any
miraculous gifts of any kind.
- There have not been any consistent spiritual gifts since 70AD provable
by any church.
- The gifts claimed by Charismatics are hilarious caricatures of the
power of the apostles.
- They are just fables at best, demonic delusion at worse.
