And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Background

* Who is the author? Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1)

* Where is the audience? The church that is in Corinth (1 corinthians 1:2)

* Context? Elevating one spiritual gift above others (1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40)

* Title: Love is the greatest

key words

* Now (Nuvi); just now, or present, but the ‘now’ in this text is logical. That is, it does not refer to time, but to the sequence of the Apostle.

* Abide (menō); stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): – continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, stay.

* Faith (pistis); belief, trust, confidence, assurance, moral conviction.

* Hope (elpis); (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence: – faith, hope. trust.

* Love  (agapē); From agapao; love, i.e. Affection or benevolence.

Cross references

Galatians 5:6, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

1 Thessalonians 1:3, and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 6:19, We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

1 Corinthians 8:1, Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies

1 Corinthians 18:1-8, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal…..

Compare

AMPC writes, And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.

ERV says, So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.

Truth

The Corinthians took satisfaction in the inferior and fleeting spiritual gifts in lieu of shaping their lives so as to seek that which remain forever. There is an obvious contrast between the transient gifts ‘prophecies, tongues, knowledge’ (1 Corinthians 13:8), and permanent gifts ‘faith, hope, love.’ Let it be know to us today that prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will be (or as Cessationists believe ‘tongues and prophecies’ have already) ceased.

Faith abides because the essence of faith is not the absence of the person trusted, but the emotion of trust which goes out to the person, present or absent. And in its deepest meaning of absolute dependence, faith continues through all the glories. Forever and ever, on through the irrevocable ages of eternity, dependence on God in Christ will be the life of the glorified, as it was the life of the church.

Hope abides; It might be difficult to see how “hope” should be permanent. But future presents itself to us as the continual communication of an inexhaustible God to our progressively spirits. Wherever there is progress there must be hope.

Love abides; God is love. God is eternal. Love is the eternal form of the human relation to God. Love is greater because while faith and hope belong only to a creature, the love which springs from faith and hope not only corresponds to but resembles that is in God.

Application

Shape your life by seeking that which continues forever. Abide faith, hope, and love.