"The Greatest Of These Is Love" (1 Cor. 13)

by L.C. Shattock, Leicester, U.K. | Category: Key Truths From Corinthians | Nov 1983

Divine inspiration alone explains the magnificence of thought that is expressed in this character which is surely among the most sublime passages of Holy Scripture.

As it unfolds to us the virtues, value and victories of love, we are left with the vision of the one perfect Life in which these were so manifestly demonstrated: that of the incarnate Son of God of whom, in the days of His flesh, those closest to Him declared, "We beheld his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

Paul has already been instructing the Corinthians that the exercise of spiritual gifts should be fulfilled with the complete recognition of the interdependence of each member of the Body of Christ. "Desire earnestly the greater gifts", he says, and with the words "And a still more excellent say shew I unto you" (1 Cor. 12:31), we are brought to one of the most glorious treatises that ever came from the pen of man.

It is necessary to remind ourselves that the word agape which is here translated love, means love in its highest and purest expression. Its source is God alone. It proceeds rather from the nature of the Lover than from any merit in the one upon whom that love is bestowed. It can be reflected in human experience only as it is first received from God. "We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Love is known by the action that it prompts. God gave it supreme display in the gift of His Son (cp. John 3:16;l John 4:9-10).

Human language has great power and depth. Words can be skilfully spoken to influence and motivate men. Beyond the range of human utterance is the speech of angels - those celestial beings whose nature is higher than our own (Psa. 8:5 RYM) and whose intelligence and strength is mightier than ours. In the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul affirms that though the speaking of men might find its highest expression and soar to match that of the angels, if it is void of love it is merely noise. This fact is emphasized by the force of the metaphors used and the adjectives employed. Brass presents the idea of a gong. Cymbals are percussion instruments which are struck together. Sounding means resounding - echoing. Clanging is defined as loudly resonant strident. Loveless speaking, no matter how eloquent, is nothing more than that: useless, noisy din.

The importance of prophecy has already been stressed in this epistle (ch. 12:8), but here the apostle emphasizes that without love it is futile. Prophecy in this context means not foretelling only, but forthtelling, the telling forth of what God has already said. The loveless declaration of divine truth can be as clear as the moon and just as cold.

The repetition of the word all in verse 2 implies that gifts may be possessed in fullest degree yet be nullified if love is absent. "All mysteries" - the reference is to truth that cannot otherwise be known except God reveals it. Knowledge is a word which describes that which men gather for themselves and also that which divine revelation imparts. Faith is the basic principle of life before God (Heb. 11:6), yet if these are void of love, they are worthless, not merely weak, but nothing.

Love is the essential factor that makes action meaningful. The highest sacrificial response is envisaged by Paul in the suggestion of one grand gesture of selling all that he has and bestowing all his goods to feed the poor, an act of generosity so extreme that its cost is personal penury. Beyond that he postulates the possibility of giving his body to be burned, to die a martyr's death in the worst possible way. Yet, though this be so, the assessment of divine appraisal is that if these actions lack the spirit of love, they are valueless, profiting nothing.

The virtues of love are introduced by a thought for deep contemplation. "Love suffereth long", but even as we pause to meditate upon that truth as a wonder in itself, the wonder is enhanced by the added revelation that, while patiently sustaining suffering, love is also kind.

"Love envieth not." How his condemns conformity to a world fraught with jealous competitiveness. Love knows no envy or displeasure at the progress or success of others. "Vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." Self-projection is a dominant pattern of contemporary living; man is instinctively inflated by pride, but love finds no compatibility with such attitudes.

"Doth not behave itself unseemly." Love is the absolute antithesis of anything disgraceful or dishonourable. It cannot be brusque or brutal; it will never bruise the spirit of others. Similarly, "seeketh not its own" are words which tell of love's capacity to be self-emptying; "is not provoked" - love stands the pressure of antagonism and is the master force of self-control.

"Taketh not account of evil" - love does not register in its memory wrongs to be requited or scores to be settled when opportunity occurs. "Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness." Today's news media often sensationally spotlight iniquity, and natural human appetite relishes such reports. Love is not like that, but rather rejoices in the truth (alternatively with the truth). When truth rejoices, love rejoices, for it cannot find joy when truth is denied. Truth in this context is the antithesis of unrighteousness (Cp. 2 Thess. 2:10-12).

Love "beareth all things". The verb used carried the thought of covering. Love provides shelter for others to hide and protect them. "Believeth all things": this does not describe a naive credulity, but rather the absence of suspicion stemming from the fact that love also "hopeth all things" which means that love refuses to take failure as final, for it looks always for the ultimate triumph of the grace of God.

The fortitude of love is conveyed by the words, "endureth all things". It remains strong when the pressures are heaviest, when the battle is fiercest, and even when under the whirlwind of oppression. Love is never overwhelmed no matter what the difficulties may be. Its victory is declared by the truth that "love never faileth". "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it" (Song of Songs 8:7). There can be no withering of love, no staunching of its flow, no withdrawal from its embrace, for its source, supply and strength is the unchanging, unalterable God.

The Corinthians set much store upon spiritual gifts, but the impermanence of them is pointed out by Paul. Prophecies will fail, tongues cease, knowledge be done away. When we stand before God, forthtelling will have no place; tongues no longer have voice; knowledge, handicapped by finite thought, will no longer exist. These all are "now in part", limited, incomplete, for they are conditioned by present imperfection. The prospect, however, is sure, "When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away".

The distinction between the partial and the complete is illustrated in the contrast between immature and mature human life. It is like the difference between the thinking of a child and the thoughts of a man. As a man would reject childish thoughts, so also Paul would not cling to partial and incomplete things.

Wonderful as the enjoyment of the spiritual may be in the now of Christian experience, it is yet partial, but the then of future hope assures us that it will be superseded by the certain fulfilment of future perfection. Although the vision is at this moment blurred, indistinct "as in a mirror darkly", it will be then "face to face". Paul does not say with whom it will be "face to face", but who can doubt that he is referring to his Lord whose appearing he loves and longs for in eager expectancy? The divine word assures us that "His servants... shall see His face" (Rev. 22:34). How amazing is the grace that has determined this for us! All the limitations of time-measured experience will disappear, for "then shall I know fully, even I am fully known" (NIV).

The great climactic note of this chapter is "Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love". These abide, not merely for the years of time, but eternally. Faith will not end because to perfected perception new vistas of eternal glory will yet be unfolded. Hope will abide far beyond the barriers of time; far wider and more extensive certainties will be realized in a progression of eternal purpose. Love abides, the greatest of these three, for it is the strength that undergirds both Faith and Hope. Love abides for God abides, and God is love (I John 4:8).

All that the Holy Spirit has been saying to us in the verses we have been considering link with the first sentence of 1 Cor. 14, "Follow after love". The strength of the w6rd translated "Follow after" implies never terminating action and persistent pursuit. The verb used is the same as that which Paul used when describing his pre-conversion activity as "persecuting the Church" (Phil. 3:6).

The glorious theme so wonderfully expounded in our study chapter leaves us acutely aware of human inadequacy in describing truth so exquisitely beautiful and holy. Yet none can avoid the need for the Holy Spirit to make plain to us the meaning of these matchless words and all should seek His power to bring their practical expression into daily living.

L.C. Shattock, Leicester, U.K. | Nov 1983
Key Truths From Corinthians