Love greater than the gifts of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 « 4Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. » KJV
1 Corinthians 13:4-8: it is the love of God that is spoken of in these verses, not human love which can turn into hatred overnight.
Paul goes very far in saying, in verse 3, that to distribute all his goods to the poor and to want to sacrifice himself would be in vain if such acts were not motivated by love.
The love of God is greater than all that Paul has enumerated. It is greater than prophecies, languages and knowledge. For what reasons?
Because one day all these things will no longer be useful and will disappear, where the love of God will never pass.
In heaven there will be no need to speak in tongues, prophecies, words of knowledge or even manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit. All these things shall pass away but the love of God shall endure forever.
Love will not pass because God, who is Love, is eternal.
Faith, hope and love
1 Corinthians 13:13 « 13And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. » KJV
The Bible states that not only will love never pass away, but it is superior to faith and hope. Why such an assertion?
First of all, faith cannot work without love; it needs love to be effective.
Galatians 5: 6 « 6For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. » KJV
Since it is through love that faith is active, love is therefore superior to faith.
Second, faith is not effective without hope.
Hebrews 11:1 « 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. » KJV
Hebrews 11:1 could also be translated as, « Faith gives substance to our hopes. »
One must first hope for something before faith can give it substance. If one hopes nothing, faith cannot act because it would have neither purpose nor objective for.
Thus, faith depends on love to be active and cannot act without hope. This is why the Bible says that love is superior to hope and faith.
The Word of God adds that it is through love – the love of God in us – that all men will know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.
It does not say that it is by faith that we will manifest nor by the hope that will be ours, that they will know. No, it is the love of God manifested in us and through us that will enable men, especially those who do not know Christ, to know that we are Christians.
