1 Corinthians Episode 18: The Excellence of Love – Part 1

In one of the greatest chapters in the Bible, Paul instructs us on the supremacy of love as the greatest virtue in every aspect of the Christian life.

- Podcast Transcript - 

Wes

Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you're interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today's episode.

This is Episode 18 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study Podcast. This episode is entitled The Excellence of Love: Part 1, where we'll discuss 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. I'm Wes Treadway, and I'm here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we're looking at today?

Andy

Well, we're going to walk through one of the great chapters of the Bible, maybe in some sense one of the greatest. Wes, the more I go on in my Christian life, and I meditate on the Christian life and the work that God did for us in Christ, I see that everything comes down to the two great commandments. When all's said and done, that's what the Lord will have worked in us and demanded from us and perfected in us: that we would love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, that we would love each other as we love ourselves perfectly.

This chapter describes horizontal love, human to human love, more clearly than any other chapter in the Bible. It breaks up into three main portions. Verses 1-3 is the excellence of supremacy, of love, and its essential nature, how everything that we do for one another must be based on love. And then verses 4-7, a description of what love should be like. And then in verses 8-13, the perfection of love in heaven. And as Jonathan Edwards put it, heaven is a world of love. These words are so great, and the themes are so eternal and consequential that we need to pay attention to everything Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13. These podcasts are just to whet our appetite into the greatness of these themes.

So, Wes, I look forward to walking through it. When I preached through these 13 verses, I did it in 10 sermons. When Jonathan Edwards gave a series of lectures on it that is published in a book called Charity and Its Fruits, it was 16 lectures. And it ended up in one of the greatest single lectures or sermons I've ever read in my life entitled Heaven is a World of Love, which motivated me to write a whole book on heaven. So, I'm excited to walk through it however briefly. We'll not exhaust this chapter, it cannot be, but I'm looking forward to a short journey through it.

Wes

Well, let me read these first 7 verses as we begin our brief meditation on this chapter.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Andy, as we begin, we really begin by thinking about the indispensability of Christian love. What is Paul's basic point in these first three verses of this great chapter?

Andy

Well, it's part of a larger section as the book of 1 Corinthians addresses significant issues in the life of that local church. And we saw that with the whole question of meat sacrificed to idols. It goes on chapters 8-10, other issues. This now is in a larger section dealing with spiritual gifts, 1 Corinthians 12-14. And we've walked through chapter 12 in this podcast, and we've seen what spiritual gifts are, special abilities given to every Christian. And there's a diversity within the unity, the body. So, the Corinthians are gifted in every way. All of the gifts that are available in the Christian life were being exercised in the Corinthian church, but there was a significant problem. They were forgetting the whole point of all of the spiritual gifts and indeed of all of the work of God's grace in their lives- that it should produce love in them.

"The whole point of all of the spiritual gifts and indeed of all of the work of God's grace in their lives- that it should produce love in them."

What Paul argues in the first three verses is, you can do all these gifts, you can do any spiritual gift, but if you don't do it out of a heart of love for the person, it's worthless. It's absolutely eternally worthless. It's eternally inconsequential. It will not produce anything good in eternity. It is not what God is doing. It has no merit at all. So, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have not love, I'm worthless. I'm a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. If I give all I possess to the poor, if I have a gift of prophecy, all of these, and he uses superlative terms if you have them to the nth degree up to the heavens, but I have not love.

What it shows me is that fundamentally love is a heart attraction for a person. Love is not merely a choice. Some people say that. They say love is a choice, it's a determination you make, has nothing to do with feelings, and that's just not biblically true. You can make a choice to give all you possess to the poor, and you don't have a heart of affection for the person, and it's worthless. I know that James and 1 John both say you could have a warm fuzzy feeling for a person, but if you don't actually meet their needs, what good is it? That's one side of the equation. This is the other side. You can meet their needs, but if you don't love them, what good is it? And then he describes it so powerfully. So, he begins by saying, "There is no point, O Corinthians in you using your gifts if you don't have a heart of love for the other person."

Wes

Now, he uses some very specific language to talk about what it's like if we do these things but don't have love. In verse 1, why would speaking in tongues with no love in our heart be like a noisy gong or cymbal?

Andy

Right. So, as I read 1 Corinthians 12-14, these three chapters, it seems to me that one of the basic problems with the spiritual gifts is that those with the speaking gifts, the upfront gifts, the gift of prophecy and the gift of tongues, were exalting themselves and being inappropriately exalted by others in a way that was harmful for the body. So, he zeroes in on that right away. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, so he's dealing with the gift of tongues, but if you don't have a heart of love, you're like, I picture it almost like an old tin can, like a garbage can, and someone's got a lead pipe and they're banging on it. It's awful actually. The sound of you using your gift sounds like that to God. Basically, it's an eternal perspective saying it is a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. It's ugly, it achieves nothing.

Wes

So, it's not just speaking in tongues, but also as you mentioned, that gift of prophecy or might even think about teaching. In verse 2, why is it true that an overwhelmingly powerful gift of prophecy and teaching with no Christian love would mean that person is nothing?

Andy

Right. So, we dealt with this briefly earlier in the beginning of the meat sacrificed to idol section. He said, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). So, this is the same kind of idea. You can have this deep doctrinal knowledge and the ability to articulate it, and you can do all of these great doctrinal things and you can speak.

Now, prophecy ultimately resulted back then in the New Testament. And the whole Bible really is a prophetic book. So, you could be a conduit of biblical truth from heaven through you to people, but if you don't have a heart of love, you yourself don't have a heart of love, you yourself are nothing. You are nothing but an empty pipe flowing through you. Now, it doesn't mean no good can come from you, but what it means is you yourself are nothing. So, for us, Wes, you and I are in the ministry of the word, and it is important for us to deliver truth, but we have to, as Ephesians says, "Speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). It's not enough to speak right doctrine, we have to have a heart of love. Our reason for ministering doctrine is that we love people.

Wes

Before turning to verses 4-7 where we'll discuss the nature of Christian love, we come to verse 3. Verse 3 is really where Paul unpacks exactly what you were talking about before, the idea of heart attraction that results in sacrificial action toward others. How does verse 3 give us an insight into the kinds of actions God will reward?

Andy

Right. It really was meditating in 1 Corinthians 13:3 that gave me the beginning elements of that definition. It isn't just sacrificial action, and it isn't just heart attraction. So, if it's just heart attraction and it never results in sacrificial action, James says it's like faith without works (James 2:17). And John says it isn't love. What good is it if you see your brother in need, and you have this world's goods, but don't do anything to help them (1 John 3:17)? Both James and 1 John make that point. So, you can't have warm fuzzy feelings and do nothing to meet the practical needs of a person. That's of no use.

But the flip side is equally worthless according to 1 Corinthians 13:3. In this case, the individual gives all that they possess to the poor, like the rich young ruler was called to do. They actually do it, and they lay down their life. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life" (John 15:3). But Jesus said, "For his friends." There has to be that heart attraction. I'm doing this to save you. I'm doing this because I care for you, because I love you. But if you don't, you fundamentally have no reward. You get nothing. God sees it as a nothing. So that means both sides of the equation have to be there. There has to be a heart attraction for the person. I want to do you good. And it has to result in sacrificial action, because what good is love that costs you nothing. So, both of those come from verse 3.

I will say this, this is hard to do or conceive when you're talking about somebody who's persecuting you, somebody that's very hateful towards you, who might themselves end up proving to be a reprobate. Somebody who ends up not in heaven but in hell. Do you have a heart attraction for that person? I wouldn't say that you have a heart attraction for what they are, but you do have a heart attraction for what they might become if God's grace gets hold of them, and your sacrificial actions might be conducive to that. So ultimately, you do love what they might be, not what they are.

Wes

As we mentioned in verses 4-7, we turn to the nature of Christian love. The first attribute Paul ascribes to love is patience. Why is patience, or long-suffering as the King James version says, a vital part of every love relationship? And how does God display patience toward us?

Andy

Right. I have to tell you, I think about 1 Corinthians 13:4 every day in my married life. I just think if by the Spirit, the power of the Spirit, I could fulfill these simple words: love is patient, love is kind. So many of the conflicts that happen in family life are because somebody is not being patient or kind. What's amazing is, Wes, you and I have both experienced this, I know. I'm thinking, what percentage of weddings that I've either officiated or just attended have had 1 Corinthians 13 read at them? I would say at least two-thirds, if not more. Especially after studying this chapter, I want to stand up, do you realize what this is saying? Do you realize how hard this is?

Wes

Do you realize what you're committing yourself to do?

Andy

Yes, and it's natural, but it's supernatural. Only the Holy Spirit of God can work this in us. So, let's take these first two. Long-suffering is a literalistic translation of the Greek word makrothumia, which is just putting up with something for a long time. God is long-suffering with Israel. He has walked the centuries with the Jewish nation, and he has been so patient with them. In the Old Testament, he waited and waited for years. Ezekiel had to tie himself up or was tied up and laid on one side for all these days, representing the number of years that the northern kingdom of Israel had been in idolatry, and then on the other side to represent the number of years that the southern kingdom also had joined in that same idolatry. And it was just terrible. Year after year, God waited for these people to repent.

"God is long-suffering with Israel. He has walked the centuries with the Jewish nation, and he has been so patient with them."

Now, within our relationships, it's just people are going to annoy us. People are going to sin against us. People are going to injure us. To put up with it and not have a short fuse or hair-trigger, that's what love is. Love puts up with things for a long time. And then love is kind. How do we define it? What is kindness? What is kindness? It's a word, it's an action. It's a gentleness. It's giving. What is kindness? I think we can know when it's not there like, "That was unkind," et cetera, or when it's there, easier than we can define it. But love is kind. So, I just look at the kindness of Jesus and dealing with sinners and dealing with women that were bleeding or lepers. There's just a kindness to Jesus. So that's love.

Wes

Now, the next seven assertions that Paul makes are all negative, things that love does not do or that are no part of love. Why are such negations helpful for us when we're learning about love?

Andy

Well, because sin is a reality, sin is already out in the world. It's kind of like the sinless in Romans 1 and other sinless like the acts of the flesh. It's because sin has been out there, it's had a career. We're aware of it. So, we already do these things, and therefore we have to be told not to do them. So, it's very, very effective how the Bible is both positive and negative. It tells you what virtue is and tells you what virtue is not. So now we have a bunch of negative things, and so he walks through them. It does not envy, it's not envious. So that would be a jealousy, a covetousness that comes over you where some good thing another person has annoys you. You're angered by the fact that they get that good thing you wish you had it. It's like in the 10th commandment, you shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. So, love doesn't envy. I'm glad for the good things that my neighbor has.

It does not boast. That pridefulness in the next two, doesn't boast, it's not proud. So, the fundamental issue of a soaring ego, and it goes through the tongue, which James calls a restless evil full of deadly poison (James 3:8). Well, one of the things James says is, it makes empty boasts. So, boasting about yourself, talking greatly about yourself, praising yourself in an ordinate measure, it doesn't do that. It doesn't boast or vaunt itself over another person. It's not proud. Well, we know that pride is fundamental to the sin nature. So, the opposite of pride is love. It's amazing how those two are set in opposition to each other. It's not a pridefulness to love, it's not rude. This is something that our culture is becoming more and more rude, where people push themselves forward, shove people out of the way, say rude things, behave in rude ways. They're ill-mannered.

Think about table manners. You have a son and you're teaching and training him to be well-mannered, let's just say at the dinner table, because the opposite of that is rudeness. And you think about eating like a barbarian. I always pictured, I don't know why, Henry VIII with a turkey leg gnawing on the thing and there's food flying everywhere. That is just so ugly. It's so animalistic. So, there's a rudeness to the opposite of love. Whereas love is polished. Love cares about others. The reason that you don't talk with your mouth full is because other people have to look at your food in your mouth, and it's disgusting. So, manners is a form of love. It's preciousness of other people. So, love isn't rude. Interrupting is rude. It's unkind, it's not polished. So, there's a polish to a loving life.

It's not self-seeking. It doesn't go after its own agenda. Philippians 2:1-3 talks about that where it says, "Don't go out for your own interest but seek the interest of others." So, love is not self-seeking, meaning I'm all about me, what's in it for me, et cetera. Now, one thing John Piper says in his Desiring God, it's like we should not misunderstand love is not self-seeking. There has to be a personal delight in blessing the other person, or it's not love. That's not what this means. This means just selfish, somebody who's just simply thinking about themselves.

It's not easily angered. It doesn't have that hair trigger, just rage, anger comes along. Anger comes in many flavors or versions. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander. There's a lot of different types of anger. This is dealing with how quickly those things come on you. It says, better a man who guards his spirit than one who loses his temper all the time (Proverbs 16:32). It's like an unwalled city, like a city whose walls are broken down (Proverbs 25:28). He can't control himself. So, we see men and women who are like this that are hair-triggered, they're enraged quickly. And I think we see that in our culture. We're an angrier and angrier people, but love isn't that way. And it keeps no record of wrongs. It's not holding onto what a person did. This is so important.

I remember when I was memorizing the gospel of Mark, and I came to this section in which Jesus was talking about faith that can move mountains after cursing the fig tree. And in Mark's gospel, he adds an extra statement about faith-filled prayer. He says, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, that your father may forgive you" (Mark 11:25). And I feel like if you're going to go into the throne room of grace, you have to give up your weapons at the door, and the weapons are what you're holding against somebody else. It's like you can't approach the throne of grace if you're holding something against somebody. You got to leave those weapons at the door. So, the idea here is you're free. Look on this as freedom. You're free from keeping a record of wrongs. You're just covering and covering what other people have done to you. It's very beautiful, these negations, it keeps no record of wrongs. And then the last negation, it doesn't delight in evil. It's not enjoying when bad things happen to people. It doesn't delight in wickedness and sin.

Wes

Andy, you mentioned that these are so valuable to us because sin is so rampant, right? We look at a list like this and we say, "Wow, I can see that in myself. I can see how I have acted in these ways." Perhaps even today I could go back, and I could recount a moment where my heart was not filled with love, but rather these things that Paul says have no place in Christian love. How does Christian love help us to drive these things out more and more as we're conformed to the image of Christ?

Andy

Well, it's just the beauty of God's salvation in Christ, the incarnation in which Jesus lived for, I guess scholars tell us 33 years on earth. He began his ministry, public ministry we're openly told in Luke's Gospel, at the age of 30. And scholars tell us that Jesus went through three Passover cycles. So generally, ministry seemed to be three years. So, let's say 33 years of perfect living on earth. Some of that was to give us an example, to give us a role model. So, for me, I want to look at this negated list and say, "All right, when I put Jesus' name in here, I see that he fulfilled it, that Jesus was patient, Jesus was kind. Jesus did not envy. He didn't boast. He wasn't proud, he wasn't rude. He was not self-seeking. He was not easily angered, and he kept no record of wrongs."

So Jesus is for me, a perfect example. He didn't delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, rejoiced with the truth. That gives me a way to live my life. Also, the beauty of it, the Christian life, it is the Spirit of Christ that's living in you, Wes, and in me. And therefore, it is the spirit of love. The first fruit of the Spirit is love, and this chapter defines it. So that's what love is. It's the spirit of Christ in me working these things with perfection. Other than that, I would despair. I would want to walk out at every wedding. It's like, "Tell me when you're done with this reading because I can't bear to listen to it." Because I love the words, I just can't seem to do it. I think it's what Paul writes in Romans 7, "I delight in the law of God, but I can't do it" (Romans 7:22 paraphrase). This is a good example of that.

Wes

Yeah, absolutely. I love that verse 6, after Paul has listed all these negations, all these things that love is not ends with this rejoicing or delighting in the truth. What truth does Paul have in mind here and how does that help us as we pursue this kind of love in our Christian walk?

Andy

Yeah, it's an important word: truth. Jesus said, "I am the way, and I am the truth, and I am the life" (John 14:6). So, truth is Jesus, Jesus is truth. But I think here its more practical, I think the idea of God's word is truth. "Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). We rejoice when God's word produces good effect in people's lives. When God's word, when the reality of the circumstances lining up with what God says it should be, we rejoice in that. When someone comes to Christ, we rejoice. That's the truth.

When somebody has come to faith in Jesus because He is the truth, and now truth has come into your life, I'm glad about that. Or at a detailed level, when a brother or sister in Christ is struggling with a sin, and then by the Spirit puts it to death and makes progress, I rejoice in that. I rejoice in the truth at work in their lives. I rejoice in hearing someone preach a true sermon. I rejoice in hearing truth in lyrics of songs. Somebody has taken some biblical themes and skillfully woven them together in a beautiful song with a attractive melody. I love that. I rejoice in the truth. I rejoice everywhere that God's word achieves things and produces fruit. It rejoices in the truth.

Wes

Verse 7 speaks four positive things about what love does in relationships. Verse 7 says, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things." Why is such a disposition so essential to relationships between sinners?

Andy

Well, because people are broken, as you said at the very end there, because they're sinners, and love is in it for the long haul. If you had a wife that comes to you and says, "My husband is an alcoholic. Claims to be a Christian, but the Bible says that drunkards don't inherit the kingdom of God. I don't know, maybe he's just trapped in this pattern, but it's cost our family so much. I want to stay in the marriage. What do I do?" This verse may be one of the first things I would tell her. I'm not saying it's the only thing. There are other things. But those four things this verse tells us that love does, you're going to need them. I would say to that wife, read again, your translation, mine's different.

Wes

It says, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things."

Andy

Okay, so the context of that is, you're in a hard time with other people. It's not going well. How do I endure? How do I get through this? Well, first of all, you bear all things, you put up with a lot. Because you love a person, you just put up with a lot. We talked earlier about long-suffering, about patience, but it's like that you're bearing with a person. And we're commanded that in other places, bear with one another and forgive whatever grievances. So, there is that bearing. And as you bear, the second one is, I meditated a long time when I preached on this, I didn't know what it meant. What does it mean, "Love believes all things"? It doesn't mean that love is gullible, easily taken advantage of. It could be that, but Paul's not saying that. It certainly doesn't mean love has no doctrinal discernment. I don't really care if you become a Muslim. I don't really care if you become a Mormon. It's not saying that.

Well, what does it mean then love believes all things? I think what it means is, first of all, it's what we call the judgment of charity that we give to each other. It's like, I'm going to believe that God's at work in your life. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm going to put the best possible spin on what you've said or done rather than immediately judging you. I'm going to trust that who knows, maybe it's not what it appears. And again, it sets you up for being gullible. But no, it's important to be able to say, "No, I'm going to believe the best about that person. I think you're putting a dark spin on it. Let's not do that. Let's believe that God's at work in this person."

I don't know how we can do local church without it. If we're always very darkly skeptical about what's going on in another person's life because we're so convinced that sin is powerful and deceptive and people can deceive us and be hypocrites, you can't do church that way. You have to have what we call the judgment of charity. We're going to think that if somebody claims to be a Christian, and there's evidence that they are and no direct contrary evidence that they're not, I'm going to believe that they are. And then when something happens, I'm going to believe the best about that person. It doesn't mean we're not going to find out and try to help. So, I think what it means is that we believe the best about a person.

I think also it could mean that we believe that God's grace will win in the end. "Where sin abounds, grace is going to bound all the more" (Romans 5:20). So, I believe in God's grace in your life. I believe that your sins are not more significant than the gospel at work in your life. I believe that. I'm going to believe all things. And then, "Hopes all things," I think we're going to a good place. I believe in what God's doing in you. Ultimately, I believe we're going to end up in heaven, free from sin. And I am hoping, in the midst of every circumstance, I'm hoping for God's work. And then because of that, I'm able to persevere in that earlier circumstance with the alcoholic husband or something like that. I'm going to just persevere to the end. I'm going to keep loving you. These four are very useful in a hard world, in hard marriages, in hard parent-child relationship, in hard church situations, those four words are going to help you. Would you mind reading them again?

"I believe in God's grace in your life. I believe that your sins are not more significant than the gospel at work in your life."

Wes

Verse 7 says, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Andy

Yeah, you're going to need those. And in that package, you do that with each other, you'll make it through.

Wes

Well, Andy, as you mentioned at the outset, these verses deserve a treatment of their own, each one. So, we would commend to you reading Edward's work on this. Andy, remind us of the name of those.

Andy

Charity and Its Fruits.

Wes

Charity and Its Fruits, and then-

Andy

The Banner of Truth has published it. It's about 500 pages long, so have a good time.

Wes

That's great. I love it. So, you could turn to that, or we would also commend the time that we spent walking through 1 Corinthians as a church. Those are also available on twojourneys.org. But Andy, as we wrap up our time looking at these first seven verses, what final thoughts do you have for us today?

Andy

Well, you may have perceived, Wes, as we walked through them, I was convicted by these words anew. I realize that I have a ways to go in these verses. So, to my listeners, I would just say, if you're a Christian, rejoice that this is what the Holy Spirit is working in you, but then roll up your sleeves and say, "Show me my sins. Show me where I'm falling short." It should not be long before you see them. It can't be, or you're just self-deceived, or you're a stellar saint, and I want to move near where you are and just be in your afterglow because these are beautiful words, but they're so hard to live out. So, I would say, look at them, let them convict you, but don't let them crush you. Know that the Holy Spirit is working these things and know that in the end you will perfect them. Some of them you won't need in heaven. You won't need to bear all things and persevere in heaven. But they're very useful now, and God is working them in you.

"If you're a Christian, rejoice that this is what the Holy Spirit is working in you, but then roll up your sleeves and say, 'Show me my sins. Show me where I'm falling short.'"

Wes

Well, this has been Episode 18 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 19 entitled The Excellence of Love: Part 2, where we'll discuss 1 Corinthians 13:8-13. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.