1 Corinthians 13

1. Historical/Literary Background

Paul has been teaching the Corinthian church about the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to individual members of a unified body—each member benefitting form the the gifts that were given.  Having finished his discussion on gifts and functions of individual church members, Paul exhorts them to have love above all—“a more excellent way” (12:31).

Figuratively, it would amazing to speak with the eloquence of angels, but if it is down without love, it may has well be the metallic clanging of symbols.  Without love, having faith and possessing great intellectual power benefit no one.

Love is most beneficial to the body of Christ because it is patient, kind, humble, and selfless. It doesn’t give up on people, it is faithful to others, optimistic, and endures through every circumstance.

Eventually, the church will have no use for preaching, speaking tongues, and prophetic revelations.  Love however will endure in its usefulness.   When Jesus makes everything perfect again, all other gifts will not be needed, but love will continue.  We may not have perfect knowledge of everything until Christ returns, but three attributes of the Christian will never perish—faith, hope, and love.

2. Theological Observations

God’s Love Is in the Forefront of All He Is. A person is most like God when they possess the love chapter thirteen describes. As we read and understand the passage, we of course immediately see that Paul is speaking to Christians, teaching them about the love they ought to practice, but we also recognize that each quality of this love being defined is actually the heart of God.  The Gospel is not just moralistic message simply telling us what we ought or ought not to do, but because of the substitutionary act of the cross and second birth, we are created again after the likeness of Jesus Christ who perfectly expresses God’s person.  Therefore as we read about the patience, kindness, faithfulness that this love possesses, we understand first that this is the love of God He gave to us in Christ.   When we understand that when the New Testament instructs on a certain virtue, it is not simply a list of do’s and don’ts, but it is a pattern for life after the likeness of God’s heart, made possible by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

God’s Love is Immutable. It is clear that many of the gifts given by the Holy Spirit are temporary as they will lose their relevance when the time of ‘perfection’ comes. Particularly those gifts which give knowledge and revelation will one day no longer be relevant.  I have often wondered and still ponder what Paul means by “that which is perfect is come.”  Is he talking about the return of Christ?  Is he referring to the Holy Spirit’s completion of inspiring Scripture?  When exactly will these gifts be no longer necessary?  Personally, I think Paul might have known that one day the Bible would be complete, so it is possible that he is referring to the completed Bible.  But if Paul had an allusion in mind, I would point to Jeremiah 31:34 

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,

Know the Lord:

For they shall all know me,

From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord:

For I will forgive their iniquity,

And I will remember their sin no more.

The context in Jeremiah is a discussion on the completed result of the “new” covenant that God established through the blood of Jesus.  In this covenant, God’s people will have a complete knowledge of God and a true intimacy with Him.

Regardless the answer, I don’t believe that the timing of these things is the point of the passage. The point is that while God’s methods may change through different dispensations, His love however will not change, but hold the same quality of selflessness, humility, and kindness throughout the ages.

3. How Does this Passage Point to Jesus?

Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the express image of God’s person.  This is the hermeneutic we apply to passages like this which teach us about the attributes of God.  To find the answer how this passage points to Jesus then we must ask, where in the Bible do we see the ultimate example of God’s immutable and extravagant love?  One count point to any of the numerable passages that showcase God’s kindness, beginning in the garden, His forbearance when man rebelled, His broken heart when He brought justice through the flood, His choice of Abraham to bless the earth..etc, but the greatest show of God’s love is when He have His Son to taste death for everyman.  In Christ we have no greater evidence that God loves you, in spite of all your sin and rejection of Him.   

Even at this very hour God’s heart breaks for the lost and has patiently called sinners back to Himself at the price of His own Son.  The Father giving up His Son to die on the cross and face rejection to be punished alone for the sins of the world is the measure of God’s love for you.  It is an extravagant, kind, and immutable love.  Even has we speak, the Eternal Son, risen from the dead, sits now and forever at God’s hand advocating for those whom He has bought with His blood.  His blood is price of eternal life that will not deteriorate but will found faithful as God is faithful.   Anyone who wishes to benefit from God’s love only needs to come to Jesus and, by faith, receive the gift He gave when He died.

4. How do we apply this passage today?

We want to avoid applying this passage simply by saying, “well, let’s try to love others better!”.  The kind of love Paul is talking about is an impossible standard for sinners like you and I to ever possess. Love is always kind, at best we are sometimes kind.  The bible’s message is never simply to “do better”, once one agrees with the Bible’s diagnosis of our sin, one quickly realizes that ‘doing better’ is merely like re-arranging the furniture on a sinking Titanic.   Therefore the motive for emulating Christ’s love is because we are already accepted through Christ’s atonement.  Without the atonement, God’s love would not simply cancel out our sins without payment for sin.

When Paul teaches a ‘better way’, He knows the people he is teaching already have their identity in Christ with their sins forgiven and are therefore already accepted in the beloved.  God’s love is His motive for saving sinners which is the pattern in which Christians live their lives—not to avail ourselves to God’s favor, but a grateful response to the love He gave us on the cross.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, we grow in this gratefulness to Him and the result is a life that is fashioned after the image of Christ.  Through the Holy Spirt’s power, our lives becomes more kind, patient and enduring, until one day our resurrection or translation into Christ’s kingdom will complete the task—our resurrected nature will forever more be a reflection of the Savior that bought us.