First Letter to the Corinthians -- Chapter 16

Having reassured us with the promise of the resurrection of the dead Paul closes this letter to the Corinthians with instruction for giving and with his final plans, admonitions, and greetings. “Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do” (1 Corinthians 16:1). Here Paul begins his brief instruction about taking a collection for God’s people. In these words we have a firm foundation upon which we should model our own giving/collecting: “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me” (1 Corinthians 16:2-4). Paul implores us to set aside money for the Church at the beginning of every week so that when this money is needed there will already be a sum and collection. This is what many today would call giving a “tithe.” However the Christian model for giving is not a legalistic tithe (10%), instead we are all implored to give as much as we can from our firstfruits based on how we are blessed with earthly goods from God. In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul touches on this more explicitly: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). It is important to see that a “tithe” (a firstfruits 10%) can be used as a good starting place or guideline, but we also need to see that the Christian in his freedom is called to much more than this; the Christian is called to give cheerfully, without compulsion, and sacrificially (as the Lord has given to us). Seeing that all we have is truly the Lord’s and that He Himself gave His own life for our sakes, it should be very easy for us to cheerfully give. He blesses us with everything (everything!) we have (life, body, soul, family, food, drink, toys, pleasures, jobs, fun, etc.), so how can we ever dream of being stingy with using these blessings to forward His Church in this world? “As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’” (Luke 21:1-4). The widow who gave out of her poverty all she had to live on is the eternal example of the giving the Christian is called to. Obviously we should be wise with our blessings (being good stewards of the things God has given us) but we must also be willing to give beyond what our sinful flesh is “comfortable” with. If our giving is always “comfortable” and never puts us beyond the feeling of having “control” of our life and finances then we might want to step back and ask ourselves if we are truly relying on God as our provider. Our sacrificial giving is always meant to be an exercise of faith in God as our provider who will take care of us thru all things. The wealth of this world can never truly provide for us; God alone provides and His promise to do so will never fail. “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?...So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:26, 31-33).

Moving on Paul discusses his immediate plans for visiting the Corinthians: “After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should refuse to accept him. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am expecting him along with the brothers. Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity” (1 Corinthians 16:5-12). As much as Paul desires to visit the Corinthians he realizes that the Lord’s will and work must always come first. No matter how “fixed” his plans may be in a worldly sense Paul is constantly willing to drop everything in order to follow the will of God that presents itself in his life. We should also strive for this attitude; we should never be too busy or too entrenched in our own plans to drop everything and follow a path of love and service that God presents in our life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps—reading the Bible. When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised athwart our path to show us that, not our way, but God’s way must be done…It is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God.” The Lord’s will must prevail even when we think we know what that will is; we need to be flexible, willing to humbly follow the seemingly winding path of our life, which in reality is nothing but the single, straight, and narrow way of Jesus Christ crucified.

Proceeding on Paul gives the Corinthians his final admonitions and advice: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). Paul’s first concern is that we be on our guard. We must always be wary of Satan prowling around like a roaring lion waiting to devour us thru temptations and false teachings. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If we are not alert and on guard then we may be infiltrated with the lies of the world and the false doctrines that pull us away from Jesus Christ. For this reason Paul urges us to stand firm in the faith. We need to be absolutely unmoving and uncompromising in our stand on Jesus Christ. If we waver or are willing to give up the truth for the illusion of peace then we will fall. “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9). Our only hope is on the immutable and unchanging truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified, so if lose that then we are truly hopeless. This standing firm consequently lends itself to being courageous; being willing to face all the assaults and attacks of the false gospels that parade around in Christ’s name. Without courage we will become afraid and concerned of the world’s opinions and thoughts and eventually fall into serving men over God. So in this courage we need strength, the strength of Jesus Christ. It is only in Him and thru Him that we can be strong enough to stand firm as Paul urges. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Therefore having urged us to stand firm in the faith and truth of Jesus Christ, being on guard, courageous, and strong, Paul’s gives us his final guidance: Do everything in love. Once again Paul wants us to realize that the goal of our faith and hope in the cross is to empower us to lives of discipleship and love. On top of everything we need to see that we have been given the grace of Jesus Christ not for the sake of academics or exclusiveness, but for the sake of loving and serving our fellow man.

Next Paul urges the Corinthians to submit to those who come in the truth of Jesus Christ, who do the work of proclaiming the Gospel: “You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it. I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition” (1 Corinthians 16:15-18). We must not think that God can use only one person in our life to strengthen us in His Word, we need to be willing to listen to all men who proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ. We must not attach to the messenger; we need to instead be focused on the Message. It doesn’t matter who brings it, what matters is what they bring. If they bring the truth then we owe them our attention, support, and prayers. “The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss” (1 Corinthians 16:19-20). In these words we see the love and camaraderie that we should display towards our fellow believers. We should be warm and full of hospitality, greeting each other with affection worthy of greeting Christ Himself. Though we may think we are strangers in this life we are in reality dear friends and brothers (family indeed!), and in fact we are more than that, we are members of the one Body of Jesus Christ.

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Paul concludes his letter: “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand” (1 Corinthians 16:21). On the basis of his hand writing here in this greeting Paul testifies that this letter is his work, giving it the authority of an Apostle called by God. Even after having urged us to not be concerned about the messenger, Paul still recognizes the importance of the unique office that He holds as the Apostle of Jesus Christ. This unique office allows him to speak on behalf of God, proclaiming His truth and doctrine to the world. Therefore all messengers that come afterwards must have there proclamation compared to the truth laid out by the Apostles; their proclamation (along with the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms) is always the standard by which we judge the truth. “If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen” (1 Corinthians 16:22-24). With his final words Paul curses all who stubbornly reject Jesus Christ, he calls for the return of Christ, he bids the grace of Jesus upon the Corinthians, and then he gives his own love to them. Paul recognizes that he can only love the Corinthians “in Christ Jesus.” There is no fellowship or brotherhood between men except “in Christ Jesus.” Apart from Him we are nothing but a scattered and broken group of individuals, but in Him we are One Body and One Church. “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God” (Philippians 1:27-28).

First Letter to the Corinthians -- Chapter 15

Having taught the Corinthians the ways of proper and orderly worship Paul continues on to remind us all of the heart of our faith: the Gospel. “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand” (1 Corinthians 15:1). It is upon the Gospel Message that we take our stand; this Message is the heart and crux of everything we stand for and its importance can never, ever be overstated. If we are not standing on the Gospel then our foundation is nothing but sinking sand. “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:2). The Gospel is the power of God for salvation and thru the means of the Gospel we come to share in the blessings of Jesus Christ. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Therefore we must cling to the truth and doctrine of the Gospel with unwavering ferocity. If we compromise the Gospel we compromise and lose everything, our entire life, way, truth, faith, hope, and especially Jesus Christ Himself. To believe in a false or a perverted Gospel is to believe in vain and in fact a slightly perverted or twisted version of the one Gospel is no gospel at all: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all” (Galatians 1:6-7). This is not something we can take lightly or blow off, and Paul himself takes this so seriously that he even tells us that anyone who preaches something contrary to this exact Gospel should be eternally condemned. “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:8). These are not light words, and we need to take them with the seriousness of Paul. So many people in Christianity today fail to grasp the utter importance of the purity of the Gospel, and do not see that if we lose the truth and doctrine thereof then we lose the entire Church which exists in the Body of Christ. Paul’s entire purpose was to preach, proclaim, and defend this one Gospel of Jesus Christ so that the truth of God would not be lost amidst false teachers, prophets, and heretics. “I am put here for the defense of the gospel” (Philippians 1:16). This Gospel is therefore of first importance; it is the absolute center and heart of the Christian faith and it cannot be compromised even one iota. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3). This Gospel is the doctrine by which the true Church of Jesus Christ stands and falls. If we have the true Gospel we stand with Christ, if we lose the true Gospel we fall apart from Christ. To have the Gospel is to have Christ; Christ is only found in the Gospel.

But what exactly is the Gospel? And where is it found? It is the Good News of Jesus Christ and it is found in the Scriptures. It is the teaching and doctrine of Jesus Christ, most especially the declaration of our justification and salvation thru His work on the Cross alone. Ok, but what are the details of this Gospel which we cannot compromise at any cost? In light of these unspoken questions Paul continues on to elaborate on the precise doctrine and content of the Gospel: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The first part of the Gospel message is the fact that Jesus Christ was given over into death “for our sins.” Those three small words carry all the weight in the world and can never be overemphasized. Jesus Christ died on our behalf; He was our ransom, the atoning sacrifice and Lamb of God by which all of our wretched and depraved sins and sinful flesh was punished by the justice of God. He took upon Himself the punishment for our sins and what He suffered is what we deserved and earned thru our wretched rebellion and rejection of God. This very truth was proclaimed by the prophets of the Scriptures and thru the truth of God’s Word all men were foretold that Christ would come and die “for our sins.” “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

But this is not all, for what good is it for a man to just die? What would be so special about dying, don’t all men do that? Yes, and therefore Paul continues: “He was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). The Scriptures foretold that Christ would not only die but that He would be buried for three days and then rise again. This is significant since a burial truly marks a death as being final and complete. This was no coma that Jesus Christ fell into, He was buried and dead. “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9). Christ Himself even tells us that the story of Jonah was a foreshadowing to this death and burial for three days: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). To be in the grave for three days signifies that one is truly dead and gone, beyond the point of no return. But because a burial in and of itself is nothing special or unique the Scriptures go on to proclaim that Jesus Christ would not just die, but that He would also be resurrected from the dead: “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). This resurrection from the dead after three days was foretold by Christ Himself: “The Jews demanded of him, ‘What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:18-22). This resurrection from the dead is the key to completing the work of salvation on our behalf. If Christ had just died and been buried then the act would not have been completed for He would have been “just another man”; but because He came back to life, we are saved because He was more than “just another man.” Paul will elaborate much further upon this completion of God’s work later in the chapter.

Next Paul tells us that after His resurrection Jesus Christ appeared to Peter, the Apostles, a group of 500, to James, to the Apostles again, and then lastly to Paul: “He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born” (1 Corinthians 15:6-8). This appearance of Jesus Christ in the flesh to real people is very significant for it illustrates the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Men saw first hand with their own eyes that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead; He who was dead, was now alive. He was seen by “those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word” (Luke 1:2). At the beginning of his first epistle the Apostle John speaks very clearly about the first hand encounter of men with Jesus Christ and how Christ was heard, seen, witnessed, and touched. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1-3).

Paul continues on to elaborate on the importance of his first hand experience with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus: “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10). Paul considers himself the least of all the Apostles, and yet he knows by God’s grace that he is a true and called Apostle of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus Paul had a first hand experience with the risen Lord and therefore was a living eyewitness of the Gospel. This encounter of grace empowered Paul to become who he was, the chosen vessel of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. It was not that Paul was better, more worthy, or holier than any of the others (in fact he was the worst, the greatest of sinners just like ourselves); the difference was completely and totally the grace of God. God’s grace made Paul who he was, just as God’s grace makes us the disciples of Jesus Christ that we are today.

In conclusion Paul tells us once again that it is not the messenger that matters, but it is only the message. “Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed” (1 Corinthians 15:11). Regardless of who brought or brings this message to us, what matters is that it is the one Gospel of Jesus Christ and that thru God’s grace we cling to it with every fiber of our being. Paul is deeply concerned that the Corinthians may be falling away from the truth of this doctrine that he has proclaimed to them, and falling into false teachings and gospels that come from the world. He wants them to see that the externals of their situation aren’t the important things, but that only the truth of Jesus Christ matters. Therefore it is imperative for us to reflect daily upon the two major points of Paul here: 1) the Scriptures are what bear witness to the truth of Jesus Christ, and 2) the content of the Message matters, for if we take out the content we will no longer have the Gospel at all. Jesus Christ was very clear that the Scriptures were the source of God’s Word in regards to His life, suffering, death, and resurrection, and that the Apostles would be eyewitnesses to the world about these things: “He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:44-48). Any gospel which claims facts that are contrary to the Scriptures is not the one Gospel of Jesus Christ. In these words Christ only allows for the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the witness of the Apostles to be the norm and source for all truth about His life and work for our sakes. By God’s grace Paul was given the ability to faithfully interpret and communicate the content of these truths which were foretold by the Scriptures and witnessed by the Apostles: “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…while we were still sinners, Christ died for us...when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:6, 8, 10). “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ” (Colossians 2:13). “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). While we were dead in our sins, God’s very enemies, and helpless slaves to the depravity of our sinful flesh, God was merciful and gracious, sending His Son down to earth to be incarnated in human flesh so that thru His fulfillment of the Law we might be freed from death, the devil, and sin. God made Jesus Christ to stand in our place and take upon Himself the sin, punishment, and death that we rightly deserved. “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them…God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 19, 21). This is the one Gospel message: When we deserved nothing but wrath and eternal damnation from God our Father we found mercy and forgiveness through the grace of Jesus Christ crucified, and thru this we have been transformed so that we no longer live for “me” but for Jesus Christ alone. Thru it all it is very important to note that neither Christ nor Paul point us to feelings, decisions, emotional experiences, or anything else, but that they only point us to the concrete and tangible testimony of the Scriptures which includes the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the witness of the Apostles. The false teachings of many Christian circles focus on the half-truths of the words of Angelus Silesius (a 17th century mystic) which are ultimately dangerous and deceiving: “Though Christ was born a thousand times in Bethlehem, if He was not born within yourself you would be eternally lost.” To our sinful reason this may seem to make sense and sound “very good”, but in reality it is very dangerous. If we look to the Scriptures we will see that Jesus and Paul never point us to a subjective birth of Christ in our hearts, they instead point us to the concrete, historical, unchanging, and objective facts of the Gospel message. What happens inside of us is a mere result of what has already happened outside of us; our salvation has happened outside of us in the cross of Jesus Christ, so that thru His objective work we will be internally transformed. The fact that Jesus Christ came down from heaven, suffered, died, and rose again on our behalf is what is important, and so with Hermann Sasse we say, “Though Christ was born a thousand times in your heart, if He was not born in Bethlehem you would be eternally lost.”

Having reemphasized the Gospel upon which our entire faith is based Paul continues on to elaborate on the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how it is the cog upon which the entire Gospel turns. “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (1 Corinthians 15:12). The resurrection of the dead was controversial amongst the Corinthians and many were claiming that there was in fact no resurrection of the dead (that is, the physical raising of the body after death). Therefore Paul begins by asking how men among them can claim there is no resurrection of the dead when the Gospel that Paul has faithfully proclaimed clearly states that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day. If there is no resurrection of the dead, how do we explain what happened to Jesus Christ? “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14). If in fact there is no resurrection of the dead then not even Christ has been raised from the dead and therefore everything proclaimed in the Gospel is useless and ineffectual. If our faith clings to something that never happened then our faith is futile, wasted, and good for nothing. A faith is only as good as what it clings to and trusts; if our faith is in a lie, then our faith itself is a lie. “More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Corinthians 15:15-18). If Christ has not been raised from the dead then everyone who is a Christian not only has an empty faith but is in fact proclaiming lies about the one true God. What could be worse than this? Can there be a more blasphemous thing then testifying falsehoods about God to the world? Paul wants us to see the critical and decisive nature of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the essentiality of getting the facts absolutely right. This once again reiterates the importance of the objective truths of the Gospel; our entire faith hinges on the objective facts of the Scriptures. If these concrete truths are incorrect then everything we believe is empty and worthless and we are still dead and helpless in our sinful depravity. The consequence of a useless faith is that we would still be in our sins and all those who have died in Christ would be as “good as dead.” Whether we have some elusive concept of “faith” is not the crux of the matter, what matters is whether Jesus Christ actually died on the Cross and was resurrected to life for our sins. Did He or did He not? That is the question that matters. If He did not then all the faith in the world is useless mumbo-jumbo. “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:19). If our hope in Christ is only for this life then as Christians we are to be pitied more than all others. Why? Because the hope of the follower of Christ is never in this life, but always in the promises of God that will be completed in Christ Jesus in the life to come. We cannot touch forgiveness, yet we trust it is ours thru Christ. We cannot touch the resurrection of the dead, yet we trust it is ours thru Christ. As Christians in this life we share in the sufferings, persecutions, and rejection of Christ crucified; we suffer for His name’s sake, hoping in the life of the world to come thru Jesus Christ.

However, our faith is not futile: “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Christ Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead, and He is the firstfruits of all those who share in His life thru the grace of Baptism. This means that because He was raised, we too will be raised thru His atoning work done on the Cross. Paul explains how thru our understanding of Adam that we can grasp how Christ’s work applies to all men. “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Sin and death entered the world thru one man, Adam, therefore life and resurrection has also entered the world thru one man, Jesus Christ. Paul wants us to see that Christ is the New or Second Adam, He is the New Man. Where the old man fell into sin and death, the New Man was perfect and paid the price to free all men from the clutches of death. Those who share in the birth of Adam share in his sin and death, those who share in the new birth of Christ share in the life that comes after dying with Him in Baptism. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5). Thru our Baptism we share in the crucifixion of Christ and subsequently we also share in His resurrection from the dead. Because we die to sin and share in Christ’s propitiation we no longer owe death our lives for the penalty of sin; the ransom has been paid, death no longer has a grip on our souls. “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). Therefore all who belong to Christ will be raised in the same way that He was raised: “But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:23). When the end arrives this hope that we hold will be realized as our bodies will be redeemed from the sinful nature that corrupts its very core. “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God…we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:21, 23). Christ will put all things under Himself and by His authority He will claim from death all who belong to Him thru the Gospel. He will destroy death once and for all, bringing glory to God the Father, snatching us from the jaws of sin that once held us. “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he ‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

Paul continues on to ask several questions that will help us realize that the notion of no resurrection of the dead is absolutely ridiculous. “Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?” (1 Corinthians 15:29). These first two questions of Paul refer to the false belief and practice of the Corinthians by which they baptized those who were dead. This false ceremony was done in the hopes that they could save those who had already died; therefore Paul asks them why on earth they would carry out this false ritual if there was no hope for the dead for a resurrection? If the dead can’t be saved or raised then why try to baptize them? Clearly the Corinthians our practices were in glaring contradiction to the message of the Gospel. “And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained?” (1 Corinthians 15:30-32). The next set of questions of Paul asks why the Apostles would risk their life for the Gospel message if the resurrection of the dead was not real. Who in their right mind would endanger themselves in this life for something that was fake or didn’t exist? Clearly the testimony of the lives of the Apostles should give credence to the resurrection of the dead, for they would only sacrifice their lives if there was true hope for a life and resurrection to come. Indeed Paul even goes on to admits that if there was no hope that we should live like the rest of the world focused on the pleasures of this life: “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32). If the dead are not be raised then we might as well revel in the lost pleasures and hopes of this lustful life, for what hope can we have if death is truly the end?

Having finished clearly laying out the truth Paul concludes with a firm, pastoral admonition: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:33-34). Because of these false teachings that had infected the Corinthians and were destroying their belief in the resurrection, Paul very plainly tells them to stay away from those who proclaim these false teachings. Which of us would continue drinking water that we knew was polluted with poison? Would we not immediately remove from our lives this source of potential disease, death, and destruction? In the same way, if we hang around and listen to false teachers they will eventually corrupt us; false doctrines are poisonous and insidious and they will slowly destroy our entire faith from the inside out. Therefore we must not risk exposing ourselves to the lies and evil ways of men who proclaim false gospels against the Scriptures; we need to remove ourselves from the “bad company” of false teachers. These men are ignorant of the true God and at final analysis they only live for their own pleasure and flesh like the rest of the world. Paul on the other hand proclaims the truth of the Scriptures and the one Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the same way that Adam went before us dragging all of mankind into the way of sin, so too Christ has gone before us bearing all mankind with Him in the resurrection of the dead. Because He lives, by His grace we will live also. “If we died with him, we will also live with him” (2 Timothy 2:11). Therefore let us pray that we cling to the truth of the one Gospel of Jesus Christ and live in the great hope that has sustained all of our fathers in the faith: the hope of the resurrection of the dead. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27).

Having shown us the absolute central necessity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ Paul continues on to teach us about the resurrection of the body for those in Christ. Paul begins with the questions of our human reason: “But someone may ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’” (1 Corinthians 15:35). The question of “How?” is always a question of our sinful nature and of doubt. The first thing our reason says to almost every declaration of God is “How?” How can an apple cause death for all mankind? How does mere water wash away our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ? How can bread and wine be Christ’s true body and blood? How can the Cross be our salvation? How can God become full man? How can a dead man come back to life? These are the questions of doubt and sin, the questions of Satan. Therefore Paul responds to this first question of “How?” with frustration and disgust: “How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1 Corinthians 15:36). “How foolish!” he says. Who are we to doubt the resurrection of the dead and ask “how” it is possible? Are we so arrogant and prideful that we put the resurrection of the dead beyond the powers of God Almighty? We don’t need to know “how”; we only need to know that it is the truth. In fact even the basic world around us bears witness to the resurrection of the dead: seeds go into the ground and die in order that they will be raised to life as a new creation, the caterpillar goes into the cocoon and “dies” so that it will be raised as a butterfly, winter comes along and all of nature dies before it is raised again in the new life of spring, the whole cycle of nature is one of death preceding new life. Who among us would ever think that an unimpressive seed would be capable of producing a grand tree that towers over the world around it? And yet thru the power of God’s creation such unimaginable things occur all the time. So in the end “How?” doesn’t matter, for what does matters is the simple fact that we must die like the seed that is sown in order to be shed of our old sinful flesh. Therefore we need to stop doubting and just believe the clear Word of God. “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead” (Isaiah 26:19).

Paul continues on to answer the second question of what kind of body we will have after the resurrection: “When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor” (1 Corinthians 15:37-41). Once again Paul points us to the witness of the world around us: the seed is sown as one body and raised as another, and each seed even has an individual and unique body which it produces. In addition, all around us in nature we see the various bodies of flesh that walk the earth and even the bodies of the heavens above. This great variance illustrates God’s creative power and genius and ultimately points us to the unique nature of the body to come. “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). Our bodies now are mere seeds compared to the glory, power, and greatness of the spiritual body to come. We will sow this current body in corruption, weakness, dishonor, fallen naturalness, and sin, but it will be raised thru Jesus Christ in incorruption, power, glory, honor, strength, spirituality, and perfection. To illustrate this fact Paul compares and contrasts Adam and Jesus Christ (the second Adam and new Man): “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). Thru God’s plan He has chosen to have all men go the way of Adam with a natural body in order that thru Christ’s work we might die and be raised with a spiritual body like Christ’s. Jesus came down to earth and assumed our natural, sinful, dust of the earth body and fulfilled the requirements of the Law so that He would properly sow and germinate the seed that was to be raised with the new, glorified, spiritual body; He became the “man from heaven” on our behalf. We must therefore go the way of Christ in order to inherit the kingdom of God, there is no other way: “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:50). The body that we have now cannot receive the kingdom of God, we must go the way of the cross, the way of death thru Jesus Christ in order to partake in His fulfillment of the demands of the Law. Therefore our glimpse of the glorified body to come is seen in Jesus Christ’s resurrected body; His body which ate, could be touched, and yet could not be held by any locked door.

Continuing on Paul tells us what will happen in the end: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). When Christ comes again at the last trumpet call we will all be changed instantaneously. This will not be a slow process but an immediate transformation. It is for this reason that we should think of our life on earth as disciples of Christ as the period of our germination or cocoon. When we are baptized into Jesus Christ our old man is buried with Christ and the rest of our life is the period of developing within the cocoon or soil of Jesus Christ; we are internally a new creation in Jesus Christ, awaiting the outward completion of this act. Then when Christ comes on the last day we will finally spring forth from the confines of our old man once and for all, being resurrected in the new body that God has given us for Jesus’ sake. On this day all the dead in Christ will rise again and be clothed in new life: “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55). At this point the entire old man with all the sin and death that enslaved him will be defeated. No longer will sin have any reign in our bodies and death will have been conquered for all time. “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).

Having given us the most blessed assurance of life and victory in Jesus Christ Paul now urges us to stand firm in this faith and hope, giving our lives over to the work of love and discipleship: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Paul is always very careful to make sure that we do not become complacent and apathetic Christians who try to rest on some self-bestowed laurels. He wants us to cling to the objective work of Jesus Christ crucified and to step out in bold discipleship. To abuse this grace by perverting it into a license for sin is never an option for the true believer. We always need to give our lives over fully and completely to the Lord so that He may work thru us to His glory, making our work, labor, striving, and enduring fruitful in Jesus Christ. When His Gospel of the cross is front and center of all we do we are assured all the promises of God despite our own weaknesses and failings. Therefore our standing, striving, and surrendering are never our work but always His work in us thru His gracious Word. We stand because He holds us up, we strive because He moves us forward, and we surrender because He pulls our fingers off of our idols, self, and sinful lives. Let us pray that thru His grace we cling to this Gospel with unwavering perseverance, standing firm not on our own abilities but always on the work of the One who came on our behalf, was crucified, and was raised to life so that we too might share in the resurrection of the dead. “This is what Yahweh says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life…I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them…I will put my Spirit in you and you will live…then you will know that I Yahweh have spoken, and I have done it” (Ezekiel 37:5-6, 12, 14).

First Letter to the Corinthians -- Chapter 14

Having established once and for all that faith, hope, and love are the greater gifts of the Spirit (with love being the greatest), Paul continues on to urge us to once again desire the spiritual gifts given to build up the Body of Christ, especially the gift of prophecy. “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Following the way of love Paul desires for us to have spiritual gifts in order that thru their use we might reach out to the world with God’s Message and build up those within the Church. One commentator correctly explained: “Love is the mistress; all the spiritual gifts are servants, handmaids.” All the spiritual gifts are subordinate to love and they all exist in order to serve the great mission and goal of love; we have spiritual gifts in order to use them to love our neighbors and enemies. It is for this reason that Paul urges us to especially desire prophecy for ourselves and for the Church in general.

He continues on to explain why he insists on prophecy over all the other spiritual gifts he has listed: “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified” (1 Corinthians 14:2-5). Paul clearly explains what he means by “speaking in tongues” and by “prophecy.” Speaking in tongues in this context means speaking in an unknown language, one that no one understands (even himself). Prophecy means teaching and expounding on the truths of God’s Word in a known and intelligible language. Therefore prophecy is by far the greater gift because it communicates to men the message and comfort of God’s Word while speaking in tongues is nothing but unknown blabbering and gibberish to the listening ear. The sole is exception to this exists when someone is present to interpret the unknown tongue that is being spoken because in this situation speaking in tongues then becomes communication (which is what truly matters for building up the Church and our fellow man).

Paul moves on to discuss how this communication is the key: “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air” (1 Corinthians 14:6-9). By using the analogy of music Paul cuts to the heart of the matter. What is music if there is no distinction of notes, pitch, and tone? It is nothing but meaningless racket. So it is also with speaking in unknown tongues. Tongues serve no edifying purpose to the Church when there are no distinct syllables and sounds that compose an interpretable language. To speak in an unknown tongue without interpretation is simply speaking into the air; it is purposeless babbling that does not help the Church in any way. “Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:10-12). The whole point of speaking (and of language in general) is to communicate thoughts, ideas, and truths to another person. Therefore if one speaks in an unknown tongue without interpretation then there is no communication and those in the Church might as well be foreigners to each other. It is for this reason that Paul urges the immature Corinthians to stop obsessing about speaking in tongues and to start seeking prophecy where there will be true edification and building up of the Body of Christ. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified” (1 Corinthians 14:13-17). Speaking in tongues is truly unfruitful if there is no interpretation. For the one who speaks in tongues by himself, there may be joy knowing that his spirit is praying to God but there is no fruit or edification for the mind if he does not know what he says or prays. This is especially amplified in the congregational setting when the speaker of tongues becomes only a meaningless racket and distraction to those present, removing their focus from the proclaimed and intelligible Word of God. Therefore Paul urges us to sing and pray, but to do so in a known language so that both spirit and mind may be edified for both the one doing it and those who hear it.

“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:18-19). If we have somehow missed Paul’s position beforehand, he hammers it home once more: a tongue that is not interpreted is worthless for the Church. No amount or quantity of an unknown tongue can match even the smallest amount of intelligible words that communicate God’s truth. Paul admits that he speaks in tongues more than all the men at Corinth, yet he sees how this gift is completely empty for the Church without an interpreter to help with communication. Our goal is never to please ourselves with fantastical gifts and abilities, our goal is always to love and serve our fellow man in God’s truth. Therefore a tongue that is unintelligible is worthless to building up the Church of Jesus Christ. “Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults” (1 Corinthians 14:20). To believe that speaking in tongues is more desirable than speaking in clear language is absolutely infantile. Paul wants the Corinthians (and us!) to see this fact. He desires us to have a child-like faith and innocence in regard to evil, but in our spiritual walk he wants us to grow and mature.

Using the Scriptures Paul proves this greater point and teaches us the true purpose of speaking in tongues: “In the Law it is written: ‘Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,’ says the Lord. Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’” (1 Corinthians 14:21-25). By carefully and honestly reading the Scripture that Paul quotes from Isaiah we will see that the gift of speaking in unknown tongues was given to bring forth the hardness of the hearts of the unbelievers in the house of Israel and to fulfill the prophecy of God’s Word. God sent foreign people to speak in unknown tongues to the Israelites and yet they still refused to see God’s miraculous work and hear the voice of their Shepherd. Therefore the gift of unknown tongues is not given to convert men or to strengthen those who already believe, it is instead given to harden the hearts of unbelievers who are obstinate in their rejection of God. “My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion” (Psalm 71:24). “He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn” (Psalm 64:8). “You will see those arrogant people no more, those people of an obscure speech, with their strange, incomprehensible tongue” (Isaiah 33:19). Dr. Kretzmann wrote, “When God speaks in such an unintelligible way, He exhibits Himself ‘not as one that is opening His thoughts to the faithful, but as one who is shutting Himself up from those who will not believe.’ So the hardened unbelievers, having rejected the clear and unmistakable preaching of the Cross, find themselves confirmed, and even justified, according to their opinion, by this phenomenon.” God is simply giving men over to their rejecting, obstinate, hardened hearts thru the means of speaking in unknown tongues; it is God bringing judgment on those who refuse to hear the Word of Christ. Prophecy on the other hand is given for the Church in order that we may edify our fellow man and witness to those in the world who have not yet been reached with God’s Word. Prophecy is not given to confuse and harden, but to teach and clarify the truth. Prophecy is where the Spirit uses God’s Word to open the eyes, ears, and hearts of men, making them believers. “The eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear” (Isaiah 32:3-4). Therefore Paul wants us to speak as if speaking the Words of God, “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God” (1 Peter 4:11), and to speak with wisdom, justice, truth, and clarity so that men may be edified by God’s Word. “Let the one who has my word speak it faithfully” (Jeremiah 23:28). “Speak the truth to each other” (Zechariah 8:16). “The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just” (Psalm 37:30). Let us follow Paul’s advice and pray and seek for the gift of prophecy so that we may clearly proclaim the truth of God’s Word to our fellow man when the situation arises, edifying Him with the One truth of Jesus Christ crucified. “My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long” (Psalm 35:28). “I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O Yahweh. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly” (Psalm 40:9-10).

Having urged the Corinthians to seek spiritual gifts that edify and build up the Church Paul continues on to address orderly worship: “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church” (1 Corinthians 14:26). Anytime a congregation joins together all things must take place in order to strengthen and enlighten the entire group. Every Scripture read, every song sung, and every sermon given must all serve the purpose of proclaiming God’s Word for the good of the people. It is especially important that our music not degenerate into entertainment or emotional revelry but that it also proclaims the truth of God’s Word. Our hymns must not serve the purpose of enjoyment, but the purpose of strengthening and educating.

Moving on Paul touches on how speaking in tongues should be handled: “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God” (1 Corinthians 14:27-28). Paul sets forth regulations for the use of tongues within the church: 1) no more than three people should speak in tongues at one gathering, 2) each speaker must go one at a time, 3) each tongue must have an interpretation and if there is no interpretation then the speaker should keep quiet. Paul lays down these ground rules not to limit us but in order to prevent disorder and abuse of the gift of speaking in tongues. If there is no one present who can interpret the tongue then it is harmful for the speaker to continue, for he will only cause confusion and disorder within the gathering. Only when the tongue can be interpreted and then communicated to the congregation should we actually allow speaking in tongues at a church service.

Paul next addresses prophesying and expounding on God’s Word: “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:29-33). Not everyone should speak at a church service, only a couple “prophets” (those who have been called by God and the Church to proclaim His Word) should speak and when they speak there should never be more than one person speaking at a time. No man must act like he cannot wait in regards to speaking in his due turn. God does not give us a spirit of impatience; He instead gives us a spirit of order, patience, and self-control. Paul wants us to be cordial and orderly, waiting for each other to finish; if a prophet claims that he cannot wait then we know that what he has to say is not from God. If someone has something to say in reaction to what is being said, it should be done in an orderly, patient, and timely manner so that all members may be instructed and encouraged as a single group. The final point to pull from these words of Paul is the fact that everyone in the congregation is called to “carefully weigh” what is being said. This means that it is the responsibility of every member of the congregation to make sure that what is being said does not go against God’s Word and is in fact in harmony with God’s revelation of the Scriptures. We are called to do the same as the Bereans who “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). Even though all believers are not called to be prophets and teachers of the Word, all believers are called to be hearers and listeners who carefully weigh and study what is being said and taught. We are not to be blind sheep, but we are to be diligent, studious, and mature believers.

Continuing on Paul revisits an area he has recently addressed: the order of creation and what that means for the role of women within the church. Remembering that woman is called to be submissive to the authority, headship, and leadership of the man, Paul says: “As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says” (1 Corinthians 14:33-34). It is very important to note that Paul prefaces this with the bold proclamation that this is not a “congregation to congregation” thing or a matter of Christian freedom, but that this is the teaching of all congregations that remain in the truth of God’s Word; Paul is not speaking culturally, but universally. Paul is telling us that because of the order of creation women should not be allowed to hold the place of leadership, authority, and headship in the congregation of the saints. “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner” (1 Timothy 2:11-14). This is not a question of inferiority or superiority, but a question of creation, headship, and God’s will for the Church. Therefore by “not allowed to speak” Paul does not mean “say no words whatsoever” (as in don’t sing or profess your faith with the congregation) but he means that women should not be one of the “prophets” who teaches and proclaims God’s Word to the congregation. To speak before the congregation assumes that one has been ordained with a calling, leadership, authority, and headship from God, and therefore Paul urges women to remain “silent” in church. Peter and Paul both teach us the proper way in which women are to bear witness to Jesus Christ: “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful” (1 Peter 3:1-5). “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God” (1 Timothy 2:9-10). It is with lives of love and service that women are called to witness to Jesus Christ; this quiet life of obedience, action, and discipleship is very powerful in bringing people to Christ and is a much needed ministry in the Church. It is with this in mind that Paul gives his final instruction on the matter: “If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church” (1 Corinthians 14:35). It is important to see that women are not called to be ignorant and blind, but that Paul actively encourages them to seek wisdom, knowledge, and learning in regards to God’s Word within and under the headship of man. Therefore women are called to be inquisitive, learned, and interested but always within the order of God’s creation by submitting to the headship and leadership of the men in the Church.

In light of these tough teachings Paul takes no risks at having his words misinterpreted, misused, and abused: “Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?” (1 Corinthians 14:36). Thru his rhetorical questions Paul wishes to illustrate the fact that we must always humbly submit to the Word of God since it is just that: the Word that comes from and originates from God Himself. We must not think that we have special “exception” to apply God’s Word in whatever way suits us, but we must respect the Word of God as being bigger than ourselves. Paul realizes these teachings of his will not be liked by Corinth or in any future congregations who read this, and therefore he specifically goes out of his way to remind us that we cannot “pick and choose” which words of God to listen to; it is either all of them or none of them, to pick and choose is to tear it all asunder. Therefore Paul issues a warning: “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. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored” (1 Corinthians 14:37-38). Those who have the true Spirit will acknowledge that what Paul writes is nothing but the truth of God’s Word. If anyone ignores this Word Paul has given then he is not from God and will himself be ignored. If anyone preaches things to us that are contrary to God’s revealed Word then we must ignore them for our own sake and for the sake of all God’s people.

In conclusion, Paul revisits his main points: “Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:39-40). Prophecy is a great spiritual gift we should all strive after, but in our zeal for it we must not condemn speaking in tongues. Tongues is not to be hindered but at the same time it is also not to be diligently sought after like the spiritual gifts which build up and edify God’s people. In addition we must do all things within church services with order, respect, honor, service, and love. Let us pray that we take these words of Paul to heart and that we strive to implement them in a way that our worship of God and discipleship of Jesus Christ is done in a proper, orderly, and godly manner, bringing all glory to Him who has saved us from the clutches of eternal damnation. “We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:9-14).

First Letter to the Corinthians -- Chapter 13

Having shown us how our gifts, talents, and abilities are to be applied to proclaim Christ crucified and to aide our fellow man in the Body of Christ, Paul continues on to address what he wants us to all strive after, the greater and greatest gifts of the Spirit. It is here in these words, of the most famous chapter to the Corinthians (the “love chapter” that is used at so many weddings), that Paul means to destroy all the false doctrines, lies, and beliefs of the Corinthians (and of us) in regards to what truly matters. We need to forget and put aside all our worldly perspective and lusts, this is what really matters: Love.

But what is love? Is it a feeling? Is it a thought? Is it a word? Is it an action? From the Scriptures we know that love is the fulfillment of the law, “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10), and within the whole context of Scripture that means far more than what anyone could first imagine. To put it as simply and plainly as Scripture does: “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Those of us who have been Christians for awhile have all heard “God is love” many, many times but we continually miss the depth of what the Bible is telling us in that. It is very easy to write that statement off and say, “Oh, that’s great, God is love, makes perfect sense…” then turn around and ignore the implications of such an awesome and profound statement. Is love God? No. Is God love? Yes. So to know love we must know God. However, we cannot know God without Him revealing Himself to us; we can never come to know Him simply on the power of our own reasoning or searching. Therefore we must be known by God. So the question becomes this: has God revealed Himself to us and sought us out? And if this is so, then we must look there, for that will be where we find love as the Bible teaches, the love which we need to seek daily with all our hearts, the very love that we are nothing without. What do the Scriptures tell us about God’s revelation of love to us? “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him…We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:10, 15-16, 19). “We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us” (1 John 3:16). Jesus Christ is God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. Jesus Christ is love revealed to mankind. Jesus Christ is therefore the only true definition of love. It is here, and only here, that we can come to understand all the Scriptures that speak on “love.” If we read the Scriptures without the recognition of this truth about love then we will miss the entirety of its Message. Therefore let us proceed with a thorough acknowledgement of this truth: Jesus Christ = Love.

Paul begins by addressing a topic that we will come to see was much abused by the church at Corinth (and in our world today): speaking in tongues. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). Without hesitating Paul tells us very plainly that all the tongue speaking in the world is empty nothingness when it lacks the direct proclamation of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ as its center it is nothing but noise and clamoring, a meaningless blabbering. But how devastating are these words to our self-righteousness and all the lofty ideals, standards, and values of this world? Speaking in tongues in this context also represents far more than just speaking in languages, it represents the vain desires and seeking of this world. So often we in the Church get caught up in our “perfect” words and all our charming and charismatic ways and facades; we get caught up in talking the talk and completely lose the walk and substance. Our discipleship is lost for the sake of upholding an image to the world, to our fellow man. What good is our idle talk and chatter if we are living as hypocrites? What good are our words if we are not obeying and following? As Scripture tells us, if our words are not backed up by discipleship we are nothing more than a clanging cymbal that is making a meaningless racket. Our words are certainly something we should pay attention to as they can be a powerful witness and a powerful destructor, but we must remember that we are first and foremost followers of Christ; not talkers about Christ, not theorizers about Christ, not philosophers about Christ, but followers of Christ, men and women of action. Without Jesus Christ living in our hearts and having possession of our very being thru the Cross we are hollow and empty, we are simply nothing at all. Our words only have meaning and carry true weight when Christ is living a life of love thru our bodies. As the saying goes, “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who talk about doing things, and those that actually do them.” We need God’s love in Jesus Christ to burst into our lives and lead us to be children of action and love, bearing witness to Christ with the entirety of our lives. “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Let us stop talking about following Jesus Christ and by His grace actually do it.

Moving on Paul compares love to a topic that strikes to the heart of Greek culture: knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). To have the knowledge and understanding of all mysteries, to know the ways of God and to be able to see and interpret them, and to be able to discern God’s will in the paths of our life and of those around us, are all torn completely asunder without love. All the understanding, wisdom, and truth in the world becomes nothing more than lies if it is not upheld by love, that is, by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is Himself truth, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and is therefore the foundation of all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Nothing is truth without Him and apart from Him. He is the beginning and the end of everything we are and rely on. To proclaim anything apart from Jesus Christ, as true as it may seem, is ultimately nothing more than a lie. Jesus Christ is the key and foundation that holds all truth together and unites it all; without that key all our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding become empty in the strictest and realest sense. “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (Isaiah 22:22). For instance, the Ten Commandments apart from Jesus Christ bring death, judgment, and condemnation on us all, but combined with the truth of Christ, the Ten Commandments become the living and active will of God that we live for in freedom under the Cross. Everything in the realm of truth and knowledge is only held together in love, in Jesus Christ.

Paul continues on to even compare love to the heart of his own message: faith. “And if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). This line of Scripture may bother us more than any other, especially in this day and age. Since the Reformation, faith has become the focal point of the majority of churches in Christendom. However, even Paul, the one who preached faith so vigorously, saw the dangers that lurked in the dark recesses of this teaching that are waiting to devour us. We must not become obsessed with faith as an independent entity. A faith that can move mountains is nothing, absolutely nothing without love, without Jesus Christ. Faith in and of itself is worthless and empty, or as Paul says, it is nothing. The faith that seeks itself and believes in itself and its own merit is a very dangerous foe in our lives. It readily deceives thousands upon thousands into believing they stand with God when in fact they are fully entrenched in slavery to themselves and trust in the merits of their own idea of faith. Saving faith (faith which clings to Jesus Christ for all things) is always the gift of God thru the Holy Spirit’s work and it cannot be objectified, as it is merely a passive receptor to the gifts of salvation that are poured out to us in Christ Jesus. We must never lose sight of Jesus Christ and become focused on a faith that attempts to exist without love and apart from Him. Faith always looks to what it trusts, whether it is Jesus Christ, money, humanity, or faith itself, and it is only as “good” as what it trusts and relies on. Saving faith therefore looks solely to Jesus Christ, being unaware of its own existence as it is so completely and totally consumed with Christ and His work and His merit and His righteousness. The faith that the devil tries to trick the Church with looks to itself as the source and location of salvation, always focused inward and consumed with its own self-existence; the devil’s faith believes that faith itself is the reason for salvation, slowly pushing Jesus Christ out of the picture. Faith itself however does not and cannot save; faith in Christ Jesus saves only by means of the grace of His vicarious suffering, death, and resurrection. Therefore with Martin Luther we say, “In my heart reigns this one article, faith in my dear Lord Christ, the beginning, middle and end of whatever spiritual and divine thoughts I may have, whether by day or by night.”

The final words of Paul’s opening section on the centrality of love, looks at the actual deeds of love themselves. “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Here we truly see how love is far more than anything we thought it ever was in the past; that it is in fact Jesus Christ Himself. In our ignorance did we not used to believe that love was an action, an immeasurable sacrifice that one made? Love is certainly manifested in such ways, but at its core, thru Scripture, we see that it is so much more. No deed in and of itself is love and nor will it ever be. God Himself is love and this is revealed to us in its pure and unadulterated form only in Jesus Christ. No deed that resembles our human notion of love, whether it is enormous charity or even sacrificing our very life for another, is of any gain or worth apart from love, that is, apart from Jesus Himself. Apart from Christ these deeds are selfish and vain, even if we cannot see that fact. Their vanity lies in the fact that they are corrupted by a heart that is consumed with itself and does these deeds for its own selfish glory, honor, dignity, and sake. We are slaves to this selfish prideful nature until Christ makes us born again by His grace, and we are incapable of escaping it on our own or thru any action of our own. Therefore love is not even the greatest deeds and actions in the world; it is always complete adherence to the person of Jesus Christ. Love is not an offer we can make to God in word and deed, but it is always the gracious work that Christ has done for us in the cross.

Thru these powerful words from Paul everything we have worked to achieve and everything we have strived to build under the rule of our ego is crushed. Even our unwitting attempts to corrupt Christianity by polluting it with zealous fanaticism, moral piety, self-endowed faith, and self-righteous rigor fall by the wayside before this proclamation of Scripture. No man can stand on his own religion, piety, morality, self-righteousness, or even his own faith before these words. “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things” (Philippians 3:7-8). Paul purposefully leaves no wiggle room, wanting us to see that everything in the world is meaningless apart from the Cross. We are completely and utterly bankrupt, we are nothing (nothing at all!) without love, that is, without Christ. Without love, without Jesus Christ, “I am nothing.”

Having showed us that we are absolutely nothing apart from love, Paul continues on to give us the characteristics and features of the true love that is found only in Jesus Christ. Before we begin however it is important to clearly distinguish this love that Paul speaks of from the concept of “love” that pollutes the world around us.

Everyone has love. For so many people it is the very reason for living and even the staunchest atheist often comes to the conclusion that “love” is the meaning of life. But is this the love that the Bible speaks of? No, the world’s love, the love that every man has from birth, is a love turned completely inward, a me-first love, a self-love. This love is the most dangerous delusion and false god that plagues every man from the womb (honest observation will show that for small infants their whole world is “all about them”). “How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” (Psalms 4:2). In reality this self-love is complete enmity towards God. On the other hand, the love that the Bible speaks of is entirely different in nature than what the world proclaims and what the world teaches. Self-love is a mere dirty, selfish, and distorted reflection of what Biblical love is. In fact this self-love is such a lost image of true love that we are incapable of reconstructing what true love is on our own; it is simply too amazing, too magnificent, and too outside of ourselves for our puny intellects and inwardly pointed selves to grasp. The real danger with self-love is its hidden and sneaky nature. Self-love is an actor that wears many faces and masks in an effort to remain unknown to those around it, even to the one it inhabits. It works and schemes behind the scenes trying to keep itself hidden behind a flood of facades and illusions. This self-love will even go out of its way to “help” others in an effort to fulfill its own motives and bring its own plans to fruition. Looking closely we will find that oftentimes the fiercest and most disgusting self-love is buried deep beneath philanthropy, altruism, and sacrificial charity. Paul strongly warned Timothy and us all of this false love: “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). This self-love parades as a “form of godliness” yet in the end it denies Jesus Christ in favor of itself. This is what the world calls “love.”

Biblical love however is far different than this self-love. As we have seen previously, Biblical love is understood only thru Jesus Christ, and therefore as Paul continues on to list the characteristics of love he is in reality listing the characteristics of Christ. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” (1 Corinthians 13:4). The true love of God is the very opposite of the self-love that consumes sinful man. What we often peg as “love” in this life usually turns out to be impatient, angry, jealous, arrogant, and prideful, while on the other hand Christ’s love is always willing to wait, gentle, meek, and humble. How often in our relationships have we found ourselves possessive and jealous, unwilling to wait, and most especially proud? This is once again our self-love and ultimately it is nothing other than pride, the great enemy and sin of the world. It is an arrogant love of oneself that exalts oneself to the center of the universe in complete and utter selfishness, pushing mankind and God out of its life even as its tries to give lip service to them in order to keep our consciences quiet. Therefore it is extremely important for us to note that true love is not proud but modest and long-suffering. In the face of all the trials, tribulations, and temptations of this life, love continues to be patient and humble.

“It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5). One of the most embittering things in all of life is unreturned love. Why is that though? What is love at all if we only expect something back in return for it? A “love” that must be returned and reciprocated is truly not love at all but is a corrupted and warped charade of love. Love does not seek its own and is truly unconcerned with itself; it only looks to and is concerned with what it is loving. It is for this reason that love never holds a grudge and never keeps an account of wrongs. If our love is crushed, snuffed out, or turns bitter when it is unreturned, rejected, hated, ignored, or abused then what we had was never love at all; what we had was nothing more than a selfish, controlling obsession. Scripture tells us plainly that love stands firm in the face of all of this and exists and perseveres despite any abuse it may encounter. Our culture tries to convince us this is weak and ridiculous and that we will only set ourselves up for constant abuse if we love like this. However, we must look to Christ alone and His example. I urge us all to watch the Passion of the Christ movie, see all that Jesus endures for His love, and then truly appreciate that as He hangs bloodied on the cross He utters the honest and sincere words of “Father forgive them” (Luke 23:34). That is what love is all about and that is the example that we must follow. Love is therefore in its truest and most real form only and always unconditional. We throw around the words “unconditional love” without truly understanding the consequences of what that means. It means that even in the face of persecution and death like Christ’s that we continue to uphold the forgiveness and good of even our worst enemies. It means there is no condition or stipulations for our love, thru any and every single possible condition true love remains constant and unchanged. In the face of all the trials, tribulations, and temptations of this life, love continues to forgive and seek the wellbeing of others.

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Love rejoices in the truth. It does not rejoice in facades, illusions, or dreams, but simply in the reality of truth. Love does not just look at the bright side of things but instead gladly welcomes the sorrows, sufferings, and injustices that come with the truth. Love finds nothing more disgusting, perverse, or ugly than a false amiable mask that attempts to cover up the truth. Ignorance is not bliss to love, for love only rejoices in the truth no matter how dark or dismal it may be. Love cannot survive and live amidst lies, masks, and deceptions. We often deceive ourselves into “living a lie” in order that we can go on “loving” someone, but in reality this “loving” is not love at all, for true love welcomes the truth in all its brazen and caustic harshness. What is love at all if we are attempting to love some self-conceived notion of who someone is and not their real self (love will always take someone “as they are”)? Why is it easier to “love” someone in ignorance when we don’t see how they are betraying us and stabbing us in the back? Well because we aren’t loving them at all in the first place. If I can only love my child when I lie to myself about how “good” they are then I am not loving them at all. If I can only love my spouse by telling myself that they are not cheating on me or that they aren’t abusing my children then what I have is not love at all. This does not mean that love approves of sin and depravity, but it simply means that love refuses to live behind a mask of lies. Love rejoices in the truth because it is only then that love can truly be love. As we have seen, love is unconditional by very nature and it will welcome someone no matter the baggage, hatred, animosity, and betrayal that they bring into my life. In the face of all the trials, tribulations, and temptations of this life, love clings to the truth and continues to rejoice in it.

“Believes all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). Why on earth would love believe all things? Simply because love doesn’t doubt. Then we must ask: Is love ignorant and naïve? No, love doesn’t believe falsities and lies but it believes the truth completely and fully no matter how foolish and nonsensical it may seem. It believes that all people are created by God and are in dire need of love, of a Savior, of Jesus Christ. It believes in the complete sufficiency of grace and that by the love of Christ men can and will be overcome. Love unconditionally stakes everything in the cross and the promises that God has given us in Christ Jesus; love never questions the promises of God. In the face of all the trials, tribulations, and temptations of this life, love continues to believe.

“Hopes all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). Love hopes all things so that thru our “foolish” and unconditional hope we will bring strength to those around us. It is with joyful assurance and unshakeable confidence in the love and atoning work of Jesus Christ that our hope is set. This incomparable and unmatchable hope and confidence is a breath of fresh air to a world that despairs and is without any real hope. In a world that searches endlessly for “purpose” and for “meaning” there is only one answer, the Answer Himself, Jesus Christ; and this, our hope and belief, points all men to the cross even as we suffer and endure for this very hope and belief. In the face of all the trials, tribulations, and temptations of this life, love continues to hope.

“Bears all thing…endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). Love willingly bears all things and nothing can bring it down. Love recognizes that no matter how often it is spit on, betrayed, rejected, hurt, laughed at, mocked, or ignored that it is greater than sin and it will overcome all things in the end. Love gladly bears the responsibilities around it, taking on the burdens of those it loves and those that hate it in return. Selfishness and love cannot coexist for this very reason, because a selfish person will never willingly bear all things simply for the sake of love. Only when our “self” is taken out of the equation will we be freed to love in a Christ-like manner, therefore by grace we need to die daily to self so that Christ will empower us by His love to unconditionally love all people, willingly accepting all the burdens that come with that. In the face of all the trials, tribulations, and temptations of this life, love continues to bear and to endure.

Having concluded Paul’s list of qualities about love, we should now be able to see even more clearly how Jesus Christ is the only one to whom this chapter points. Even though Paul never mentions Christ explicitly in this chapter, the presence of Christ throughout it is very real. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about this chapter: “Who is this love if not the One who bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and even had to endure all things all the way to the cross? The One who did not insist on His own way nor seek Himself, the One who did not allow Himself to become bitter, and who did not keep a record of the evil deeds perpetuated on Him and thus was overwhelmed by evil? The One who even prayed on the cross for His enemies and in this act of love utterly overcame evil. Who is this love Paul spoke of in these verses if not Jesus Christ Himself? Who is meant here if not Jesus? What is the mark of this whole chapter if not the cross?” It is with Jesus Christ as the center that this chapter should be read. No wedding vows can do these words of Paul justice and they can only point us away from the love that he truly desired to point us towards: the love of the Cross. Let us read and meditate on the first words of this chapter with a new focus, in light of Jesus Christ crucified: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not Jesus Christ, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not Jesus Christ, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not Jesus Christ, I gain nothing. Jesus Christ is patient, Jesus Christ is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus Christ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8).

Having given us a list of characteristics of love Paul continues on to give us the crowning and pinnacle quality thereof: “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8). The quality that separates the rubbish of this world from the love of God is the fact that the love of the cross will never, ever fail, it will never end or cease. Paul contrasts this love to the things of this world: “But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:8). Prophesies will cease, tongues will be stilled, and knowledge will pass away. The things that so many esteem so highly in this life are nothing but flowers and grasses of the field which are here today and gone tomorrow. “As tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust” (Isaiah 5:24). “The grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire” (Luke 12:28). Therefore Paul wants us to look away from prophecy, tongues, and knowledge to the greatest gift of the Spirit: Love. It is easy enough for us to see that tongues are a passing and imperfect thing, but it is much harder to see how knowledge and prophecy also fall into this category. Doesn’t God highly esteem prophecy and knowledge when it is applied to Him? Therefore Paul goes on to explain this by means of an analogy: “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 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. 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” (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). We only know in part and we only prophesy in part. These qualities are only in an immature state, they are a poor reflection of the true knowledge and prophecy of God. In the renewal of the next life we can look forward to the maturation of these qualities and their subsequent perfection. The imperfect version that we know in this life will be gone and it will be replaced with the completed and perfect heavenly version.

Because we only see but a poor reflection our faith plays a very critical role in our relationship to God; if we already understood everything perfectly and saw it all clearly there would be no need for faith, but because we don’t see face to face yet we must trust God’s Word in Jesus Christ. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). With this in mind Paul continues on to express the three things that remain firm and strong thru fleeting and changing nature of this life: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). In these words Paul is telling us that the “greater gifts” of the Spirit are the faith, hope, and love that He grants to us thru Jesus Christ. These should be our focus and desire in Jesus Christ. All the other gifts of the Spirit completely pale in comparison to the steadfast beauty of faith, hope, and love. Faith, hope, and love remain where all else fails and where all else withers like the flowers of the field. Wisdom, knowledge, power, prophecy, wealth, honor, and reputation all pass away or can be ripped away from us, but thru it all faith, hope, and love endure, with love being the greatest of all.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith is not head knowledge of Christ, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder” (James 2:19), and it is not just calling Jesus our Lord; faith is instead the gift of God, the transformation of the heart of man, the dying of the old man and being born again in Christ. By faith we live on the hidden and invisible works of God. We do not live by the visible and therefore we stake nothing in worldly success and feats. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). What we see with our eyes is in complete contradiction with the promises we have in Christ Jesus. We don’t see the cross, but we stake our lives on it. We don’t see our sanctification and new righteousness from Christ but we trust that the Holy Spirit is working behind the scenes to daily make us new creations in Christ’s blood and that when this life is over this will be completed. We see suffering and misery and trust in the relief that we have in the resurrection. We see the heresies and false gospels that abound and trust that grace is sufficient and that God will work where He has promised in His Word and sacraments. We can be nothing more than humble sinners who rely on the grace and Word of God despite all the discouraging visible signs of this fallen world. Therefore it is faith that remains and it is only by faith that we can live, for it is this gift of faith that we have from God that grasps, clings, and receives the blessings and righteousness that we have in the work of Christ Jesus. “In the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last” (Romans 1:17).

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith and love get a lot of attention these days but rarely do we ponder hope. However, Scripture has many things to say on the importance and greatness of hope. The dictionary defines hope as “a wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.” The key word in the definition of hope is “confident.” For hope to be real we need a confident expectation of its fulfillment. This makes our faith and hope very closely intertwined, and as Scripture says: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:18, 21). How alive can our faith be if it is not being sure of the hope we have in Christ Jesus? What is our faith if we aren’t confidently hoping in our eternal home that we have in Christ Jesus? “A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2). A faith that doesn’t hope in the promises of God is truly a dead faith, for if we believed God’s promises with true trust and faith we would be full of confident expectation. However there will indeed be times when we are down and depressed and our faith will be going thru a time of trial, and in that time we will sound just like Job: “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?...Do I have any power to help myself?” (Job 6:11, 13). But because of God, who does not lie, our faith can remain full of hope and by Christ’s grace we will persevere thru these trials to the end. In these times it will seem absolutely silly and insane that we have hope in this world. In fact most people in the world believe hope is unrealistic and is only naivety and ignorance. Some would say that the more you know, learn, and discover about life and the world the more hope becomes ridiculous and absurd. A simple observation of people shows this to be very true. Are not children full of eager hope and expectation in almost all things while those who have lived long lives often end up very dark and cynical? When we lose our “innocence” in the world we see how futile hope can be and truly is from a worldly perspective. Hope in this world becomes something for the immature, and those who are filled with hope need to “grow up.” If we simply lived on sight we would indeed have no reason to hope. However, in Christ everything is turned upside down; where we should be cynics we do indeed hope, where we should be grown adults we are like eager children. We will find that when Christ comes again that we will be ashamed of how little hope we had. When the true glory of eternal life and righteousness is revealed in Christ Jesus we will marvel at the doubt and cynicism that we bore in our life. The all-powerful God of the universe, who is Himself love, has made us promises, has given His Word and yet as sinners we often live in fearful and doubting hopelessness. But we need not be hopeless for we have the power and unshakeable faithfulness of God’s Word, the very Word that spoke the entire universe into existence. We must never underestimate the shear power of God’s Word; His words are never empty and hollow but carry all authority and power. When God speaks mountains jump and stars are snuffed out, man is humbled and galaxies obey. Scripture says it best: “He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea” (Job 9:5-8). This is the very reason why we must cling to the Word of God in Scripture so fiercely. When God speaks the universe obeys, if He says the sky is pink, the sky is pink, regardless of how silly or absurd it may seem to us. Every word was written to give us hope and therefore we must willingly stake our lives on every Word that comes from the mouth of God: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). This hope that we have because of Christ Jesus also empowers us to live bold lives without fear: “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold” (2 Corinthians 3:12). No matter the circumstances of life and no matter the dangers and trials that we face, we know with full assurance that we are protected and secure in God because of what Christ Jesus has done on our behalf. Let us then be bold in our lives for Christ for we have nothing to doubt and nothing to fear anymore; God is on our side, for Jesus Christ has walked the road in our stead that we were incapable of traversing. It is on this anchor that always remains and is always steadfast that we place our hope. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf” (Hebrews 6:19-20). “Those who hope in Yahweh will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Thru these words Paul wants us to understand that love is the culmination of our faith and hope that are given us in Christ Jesus. A true faith and hope is an absolute trust in Christ as Savior and Lord for all things, meaning that obedience and love will follow without question. “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). Saving faith cannot truly believe Christ as Lord and then proceed to ignore His commands; human, self-endowed, non-saving faith on the other hand can and will do this. We must ask ourselves: Do I acknowledge Christ as “Lord and Savior” but then in turn put my trust in other things? Do I trust the problems of this world to Christ or do I bear them myself believing that I need to fix them or that my money and hard work will take care of it? Do I truly believe that my sins have been paid for and that all atoning work has already been accomplished and I don’t even need to “pay Him back”? Do I pick and choose which commands and words from Christ I want to listen to? Do I realize that the phrase “No, Lord” is a complete contradiction that a follower of Christ can never say or live out? We will never be able to answer all these questions the way we wish we could, and therefore we must rely even more on Christ to carry us thru it all. Faith and hope is His gift that He works in our hearts and so is the love that is born from this work. “Everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). Therefore the end of the journey is the grace and love of God. Our journey of sanctification in the Holy Spirit has its final goal in love; it is this that we strive for and it is this which the Spirit has taken a hold of us for. “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:14). However, we cannot get there without going by the way of faith and hope, by the way of the cross. This is the only place and only way we know love in this life, and it will remain this way until the last day. The cross is our only view of salvation. The cross is our only view of love. The cross is our only view of God. We cannot know any truth apart from Christ crucified and so with Paul we say: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Faith is the start of the journey as we are baptized into Christ and into the one true faith. This faith is what “seizes hold” of Christ and brings Him into our lives, crucifying the old man and replacing him with Christ. Our faith then leads to hope which keeps our eye on the goal and which gives us continual joy in God’s promises. This faith and hope is then perfected in our life by love, by Jesus Christ Himself. Now that we no longer live and Christ lives in us, our life becomes one marked by love: “We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore we boldly step out and live for Christ, realizing that He has empowered us with a faith that enables us to do this. We don’t dwell on whether we have this “elusive faith”, we instead simply trust that thru His Word and thru our Baptism He has given us this gift of faith and has enabled us to nurture it by putting it to use with lives of action and obedience. Paul clearly tells us that what counts and what matters is that our faith is producing a fruitful bounty of love: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6). Therefore love is the greatest of these because it is the manifestation of the Cross in our lives. Jesus Christ breaks into our life thru the cross and seizes hold of our lives thru His call to discipleship. This call doesn’t lead us to questions, speculations, or reflection, but it leads us to lives of simple obedience. “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:3-6). Therefore let us pray that we see that the three greater gifts of the Spirit are the faith, hope, and love we have been given in the cross of Jesus Christ. It is thru these gifts that we are transformed into the disciples of Jesus Christ who cling to Him for all life and follow Him in humble obedience. These three gifts are the culmination of the Christian life, for thru their connection to Christ they bear fruit in our lives to the glory of God: “Your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:3). “Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:21-22).