1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - Ordered by Love

Introduction

If you’ve ever heard someone read 1 Corinthians 13 out loud (especially v4-7), it’s probably been during a wedding ceremony. As I thought of ways to introduce my sermon today, I had all sorts of images and phrases come to mind… 80’s pop-songs about love… 90’s country songs about love… the Anglican minister during the wedding scene in The Princess Bride.

But, in the end, none of these have really anything to do with our passage today. In fact, I think it’s probably safe to say that there is nothing in our common experience that gives us any analogy or parallel for 1 Corinthians 13. Quite the contrary, the hard job I have before me today is to talk about love in a way that at least some of us (maybe many of us) will have trouble hearing and understanding.

Not only is our content today focused on a subject that most of us think we already grasp pretty well (which means we are prone to assume we already know where this sermon is going, and therefore we are prone to listen less carefully), but in addition to this, our text today falls near the end of a larger letter, which has already covered a lot of doctrinal ground that will be necessary to know in order for our passage today to make much sense.

Most importantly, you’ll need to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the central doctrine of Christianity (a point to which Paul will return in just over a chapter from now). You’ll need to know that God Himself is love, and that He’s shown His love for sinners by sending His own Son (the God-man, Jesus Christ) to live the perfectly righteous life that we haven’t and to die under the penalty for sin (even though the penalty is what we deserve). You’ll need to know that the same Jesus who lived and died arose from the grave, never to die again.

And you’ll need to know that anyone who turns from their sin and believes or trusts in Him will not only be welcomed into the blessings of God in the life to come, but repenting and believing ones will also be welcomed into the kingdom or family of God in this life right now.

And, finally, you’ll need to know that local churches are the visible and physical displays of God’s kingdom or family in this world. You’ll need to know that church members are those who are personally turning from sin and believing in Jesus, and also those who are communally united with other Christians who are turning and believing and aiming to follow Jesus alongside them.

It is into the context of this kind of local church community that Paul is writing the stuff we see in 1 Corinthians 13. The definition of love we find here is certainly applicable to the husband-wife relationship, but first and foremost this text is about church members loving one another actively and practically… it’s about church members orienting their lives toward the edification of others.

Let’s stand together, and I’ll read 1 Corinthians 13… and then we’ll walk through it together.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 13:1–13 (ESV)

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Main Idea:

Love is the active and practical ordering of one’s life toward the edification of others, and love is the distinctive mark of Christian fellowship.

Sermon

1. Love is Higher (v1-3)

These 13 verses before us today form the center of Paul’s instruction about order in the local church. In ch. 11 of 1 Corinthians, Paul turned away from his focus on regulated living for Christians out in the world, and he turned toward a new focus on ordered behavior for Christians within the church. From the middle of ch. 6 to the end of ch. 10, Paul was addressing how Christians ought to live when they are scattered (from Monday to Saturday). And from the beginning of ch. 11 until the end of ch. 14, Paul is dealing with how Christians ought to behave when they are gathered (assembled in the name of Christ on the Lord’s day).

It’s also interesting to note that ch. 11 is focused on the structure of Christian relationships (a hierarchical church body that is genuinely united, assembled together as one and everyone consciously aware that they are each part of the whole). But ch. 12 and ch. 14 are both focused on the ordered exercise of spiritual gifts (these gifts are given by God, for the common good of all, and intentionally distributed unevenly [everyone has distinct gifts, not the same gifts]).

So, here in ch. 13 (as Paul has arranged this portion of the letter), we find ourselves at the heart of Paul’s instruction (both logically and structurally) about how church members are to order themselves in relationship with one another.

All of this talk about literary structure may be more or less interesting to you, but the reason I’m spending time on it here is that our passage today is arranged with this same structure.

Letter structure:

Chapter 12 – the ordered practice of spiritual gifts

Chapter 13 – love

Chapter 14 – the ordered practice of spiritual gifts

Passage structure:

v1-3 – love is “higher” than other “gifts”

v4-7 – “love is…” and “love does/is not…”

v8-13 – love is “greater” than other “gifts”

Ok, Marc… but what’s the point? Well, the point is that Paul (by way of organizing his thoughts and words like this) is urging his reader to take notice of the fact that love is itself the central feature or characteristic or distinctive of Christian living. Of course, the chapter and verse divisions are not original, but the arrangement of the content of this letter (even without chapter and verse divisions) would still place “love” right at the center of it (both logically and visually).

And Paul gives two reasons here as to why love is central to Christians churching together. And the first reason is that love is “higher.”

I’m getting this word (“higher”) from ch. 12 verse 31. There Paul ends his instruction about spiritual gifts (which he is going to pick back up in ch. 14) by saying that he wants the Christians in Corinth to “earnestly desire the higher [or “best” (KJV) or “greater” (NIV, NASB)] gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31). And the Greek word in 1 Corinthians 12:31 is the same as the one in our verse 13 today (translated “greatest” in v13). But the contrast of love in our two sections… v1-3 and v8-13… the contrast of love with other spiritual “gifts” in these sections is different.

In our first three verses, Paul contrasts love with various spiritual gifts by showing that love is “higher” than the rest, in the sense that it is more necessary than all others. Paul describes it here by saying that the ability to speak gloriously (either by practiced eloquence [i.e., the “tongues of men”] or by supernatural power [ i.e., the “tongues… of angels”]) is only “noise” without “love” (v1).

He says that the uncommon ability to “understand” and even explain all the “mysteries” of God is “nothing” without “love” (v2). So too, without “love,” the strongest “faith” or “confidence” is as “nothing” (v2). And even the most compelling actions of self-sacrifice (i.e., “giving away all I have” and “delivering up my body to be burned”) will “gain nothing” without “love” (v3).

It does not seem to me that Paul is saying… that profound speech… or that knowledge of divine mysteries… or that strong faith or self-sacrifice… are bad. No! In fact, Paul wants the Corinthians to have all these gifts of God’s grace!

But what Paul is getting at here is that the most powerful display of any ability (any spiritual gift) is only self-serving and self-promoting unless it is done with love… love toward others… a loving desire for the good of others.

We might make application in our own day by saying that the preacher who makes it his chief aimto speak gloriously is really only talking noise. But the preacher who speaks gloriously while his ultimate aim is to do spiritual good for those he loves… well that is powerful indeed!

So too, the man or woman who understands the mysteries of God more than most is actually no real benefit (he is empty, she might as well be absent) if this understanding does not lead to greater love for fellow Christians and if this knowledge is not lovingly employed to the benefit of others.

And the Christian with the strongest faith, the one who has the most confidence in the power of the God to save, to provide, and to conquer… he or she is nothing good at all… to themselves or to others… if he or she is not lovingly bearing with, forgiving, and expressing kindness toward other Christians.

Brothers and sisters, how can we read this far into Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church and still have any doubt that Christianity is so much more communal than personal?! …much more relational than individual?!

I feel like I’m saying so many of the same things on our Sundays together, but here again we are confronted with the reality that our Christian growth, our church unity, our effectiveness as witnesses for Christ… all of this is far more impacted by our relationships with one another than it is by our “quiet times” or our Bible reading plans or our busyness with various church activities or programs.

At FBC Diana, we encourage one another to read the Bible together with family or friends or co-workers; we continually (maybe even annoyingly) urge one another to build relationships with other church members (especially those we don’t know as well); and we urge and pray for boldness in our everyday gospel conversations… so that we might have more organic/informal discussions (with Christians and non-Christians) about sin, righteousness, and life in Christ.

At FBC Diana, we have also intentionally decided not to be busy. Our church calendar is minimal, and we have almost no programs of any kind. So too, we emphasize the importance of our few regular gathered times together (weekly Sunday mornings and occasional Sunday evenings), and we regularly encourage fellowship with one another when we are scattered about during the week.

We’ve applied this ministry philosophy (a sort of minimally structured, free-market approach) precisely because we believe that doing less official or programmed stuff with a growing genuine and organic love for one another is far more powerful than doing more official or programmed stuff while neglecting the greater need we all have… to truly love and to be truly loved by one another.

It is possible that some of us might think of love as something that comes and goes on its own… like a feeling that grows or diminishes without warning… something that cannot be commanded or directed. But it is clear that the Bible speaks of love as something that not only can be “earnestly desired” or zealously sought after or intentionally pursued, but it ought to be (1 Cor. 12:31, 14:1).

Brothers and sisters, love is higher than other spiritual gifts, and we ought to strive for it… We ought to work and pray for it more than any other spiritual gift.

2. Love is Greater (v8-13)

Since v4-7 are the heart of this text, I’m going to jump passed them for now, and make that section the final destination for my sermon today. I said a while ago that Paul gave two reasons for why love is central to churching together. The first (there in v1-3) is that love is “higher.” And the second(found in v8-13) is that love is “greater” or “greatest” (v13)… It is superior to all other spiritual gifts.

Specifically, in v8-13, Paul contrasts those spiritual gifts that will “abide” (v13) or “remain” (NIV) with those that will “pass away” (v8) or “cease” (v8).

Now, last Sunday I dipped my toe into the water of that debate among Christians about spiritual gifts, and I think it’s warranted here again. I said last Sunday that good Christians can disagree about whether or not all of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the NT should be expected today. I also said that I don’t think disagreement on this matter has to mean church division. It can mean that (if someone makes it an issue to divide over… “You have to agree with me, or we can’t be church members together.”), but I don’t think it has to mean division.

I did also try to say clearly that there are some real dangers to expecting and bigger dangers to emphasizing some spiritual gifts (like tongues or prophecy). In fact, I think Paul’s point throughout 1 Cor. 12 to 14 is exactly that… Don’t put any emphasis on these dramatic gifts (i.e., tongues, prophecy, knowledge, miracles), but seek or aim for or strive for the “higher” and “greater” gifts… namely “faith, hope, and love” (v13; cf. 1 Cor. 12:31).

Three of those dramatic spiritual gifts appear in our passage today, and there is a clear statement that these will “cease” (v8) or “pass away” (v8). The gifts listed here are “prophecies” (v8), “tongues” (v8), and “knowledge” (v8), and some Christians have pointed to this passage in order to argue for a doctrinal view called “cessationism.”[i] A cessationist is one that believes that there are at least some sign gifts or miracle gifts or charismatic gifts that have ceased or stopped after the end of the Apostolic period (that time when Jesus and His capital “A” Apostles lived).[ii]

For my own part, I lean heavily in the direction of cessationism.[iii] But I don’t look to this passage for my argument. Some people do point to 1 Corinthians 13:8, and I think this may even be the verse from which the label originally came. It does say that “tongues” or languages will “cease” (v8), hence the label “cessationism.”

But the reason I don’t look to this passage in order to support my view that some of the charismatic gifts have ceased is because (it seems to me) Paul is not talking here about whether or not we should expect to see “prophecies” (v8) or “tongues” (v8) or “knowledge” (v8) continue all the way from his day through to our own. Instead, he is talking about the reality that some spiritual gifts are for the church at various times between Christ’s first and second coming, and others will continue to be for the church throughout the ions of eternity.

The gifts of “faith” of “hope” and of “love” will “abide” or “remain” (v13) even after “the perfect comes” (v10)… even when we all shall see “face to face” (v12)… and even when we “shall know fully” what we only “know in part” right now (v12). It seems to me that Paul is talking here about the resurrection and glorification, that day when Christ shall make all things new, that final destination for all Christians of all time and space, where we shall be made “perfect” in Christ, when we shall see Him “face to face,” and when we shall “know” more “fully” than we ever have in this life the brilliant glory and marvelous grace of God.

In short, this section of our passage is not teaching us about how long to expect charismatic gifts among the church. What it does teach here is that however long those charismatic gifts last (10 years or 10,000 years), they will most definitely be outstripped by billions of years by those greater gifts which are “faith, hope, and love” (v13)… and the “greatest of these is love” (v13).

Brothers and sisters, no one will prophesy in glory, and no one will exercise the gift of healing. No one will perform any miracles of any kind, and no one will speak in foreign language. What we now divide as “natural” and “supernatural” will no longer be divided, and heaven will quite literally be merged with the earth. There will be no need for prophets, because all Christians will commune with God perfectly. There will be no need for healing, because all sickness and death will have come to an end. There will be no strange languages, since we shall all speak and hear one another in perfect harmony (as the day of Pentecost foreshadows).

But for ions to come, we shall continue in faith, believing and celebrating and living in the full expectation that God will always make good on His promises… and we shall be loved… and we shall love more freely and truly… than we have ever imagined possible in this mortal life.

And Paul’s point in making this comparison between those spiritual gifts that are lower and lesser with the one that is higher and greater is to say that this greatest spiritual gift… the one that is higher than all others… the one that makes all others meaningful and useful… the one that will outlast all others… that one is a spiritual gift that every Christian has right now… and that one is what distinguishes Christians most drastically from everyone else … and that one is the one which we should all “pursue” or “follow after” right now (1 Cor. 14:1).

But what would this look like? What are some specific characteristics of this greatest gift of love… and how can we pursue this kind of love toward one another in the context of our relationships as Christians who church together?

Well, I’m glad you asked. That leads us to the heart of this passage and the third point of my sermon.

3. Love is Active (v4-7)

I’ve really tried to summarize this central section of our passage in my main point for the sermon. The whole passage speaks of “love” as a spiritual gift, which means we cannot produce true love by our own efforts or conjure it up by our own willpower. And yet, real love, genuine love, the kind of love described in this passage is not the stuff of teenage romantic infatuation… it’s the active and practical ordering of one’s life toward the edification (or building up or speaking and acting for the good) of others.

I’ve said that this kind of love is the distinctive mark of Christian fellowship because that’s the way Jesus talked about it during His earthly ministry… and because “love” is the command most frequently given for Christians in the NT.

Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35). And again, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). And the rest of the NT repeats Jesus’s refrain. Romans 12 says, “Love one another with brotherly affection” (Rom. 12:10). Galatians 5 says, “you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13). And the Apostle Paul’s prayer for local churches is that they “increase and abound in love for one another” (1 Thess. 3:12). Indeed, the author of Hebrews says that this is one of the main reasons we ought to gather as a church so regularly, so that we might “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24).

I could go on… I’ve only listed here less than half of the passages that speak to this Christian distinctive explicitly, and there are surely many more that allude to it or apply it further.

I might note here that I’m not saying that non-Christians don’t love or can’t love. There are certainly non-Christians who have displayed features of the kind of love described here, and no doubt non-Christians have sometimes been able to rightly accuse Christians of being more unloving than their non-Christian neighbors.

But, friends, when non-Christians show their longing for true and real love… when they sometimes show their desire to express that kind of love toward others… non-Christians are aiming and longing for something that they never can quite explain. What does true love look like? Where have you ever really seen it before? What example of genuine love have you experienced that serves as the blueprint for the kind of love you want to have toward others?

For the Christian, the answer is Jesus! In Christ, we see the perfect example of the kind of love that is self-sacrificing, but not squishy. In Christ, we see love that “bears all things” (v7) and also “rejoices with the truth” (v6). We see the kind of love “endures” (v7), but that is more than just a sentimental doormat.

Jesus gave His life in the service of others, but He also requires all people everywhere to turn away from their disobedience to God’s law and to trust and follow Him. Jesus forgives sin, but He also commands sinners everywhere to stop sinning, to confess their sin for what it is, and to pursue a life of holiness instead. Jesus reaches out to those who are completely unworthy of His time and effort, and He offers them a relationship of real love that lasts, and He also expects that those who receive His love will respond by truly loving Him and by truly loving others.

Friends, if you want to talk more about the biblical kind of love… the kind that offers real forgiveness and hope… then let’s talk after the service today. For those of us who might presume upon God’s love, we ought to be confronted in our presumption, and we need to understand the gospel better. And for those of us who might be prone to self-loathing or despair, we too need to understand the gospel better, so that we can come to know that God’s every thought of His children really is love… and not judgment or disappointment or condemnation.

Back to our text now… brothers and sisters let’s consider the description of love we see here, and let’s think about some ways that we might grow in and show this greatest gift of love toward one another in the context of our relationships as Christians who church together.

We see in v4 that “love is patient and kind” (v4). These are actions of practical application. Patience and kindness are the attitudes we bring with us into relationship with others we love. We also see in v4 that “love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude” (v4-5). The positive characteristics of “patience” and “kindness” are focused upon others, but the negative characteristics of “envy” and “boasting” and “arrogance” and “rudeness” are all focused upon self.

What makes us envious? And when do we boast? Is it not when we are comparing ourselves with others and thinking of ourselves as more deserving or more valuable or more praise-worthy? And what motivates our arrogance or provokes us to rudeness? Is it not a mindset that places ourselves at the center of attention and concern?

All of these first several characteristics (from both a positive and a negative perspective) speak to an active and practical ordering of one’s posture away from self and toward others. When we are concerned about the good of others, we are more prone to be patient and kind. When we are interested in doing good and helping others to enjoy good, then we are less prone to envy or boasting or arrogance or rudeness.

The next set of descriptives is much like the first. Here too we see an others-focused posture and mindset. Look at v5. “[Love] does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful” (v5). This is not referring to the sort of argument we might have with someone about who Jesus is or what the gospel is. In these arguments there is a right answer, and we ought always to insist upon it.

This descriptive of love is referring to those disagreements we might have over personal preference. We all (if we’re honest) have preferences about most things. We like this style of music; we are familiar with these sorts of activities; we remember our own experiences of growing with Christ over the years, and we want others to experience what we have.

These preferences are not bad (in themselves), but we are unloving when we put our preferences on the same level as the elements of Christian living themselves. Maybe some of us do prefer a certain style or way of doing things, but the fact that Christians are singing together, the fact that Christians are gathering together, the fact that Christians are growing in Christ together… these are far more important than the style or forms of such activities.

More could be said on all of this but look at v6 with me. Here we see a contrast that might not be clear at first. The Scripture says, “[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (v6). This is dealing with the practical reality of confronting and admonishing one another when we sin. When we love one another, we are not merely interested in pointing out “wrongdoing,” we are interested in the discovery of “truth.” We are especially interested in learning the truth and walking together in it.

An easy example of how to do this badly is what often happens on social media platforms, especially those that pride themselves as Christians with good discernment. In our day, when so many of the old tribes and camps are being reshuffled (Methodist churches are leaving their denomination over disagreement concerning gender and marriage, Anglicans are fighting amongst themselves on some of the same issues, conservative Evangelicals are disagreeing on what to do with social justice, political votes, and government policies), many Christians are talking like one poorly worded phrase or one faulty action necessitates war.

I’m not saying that none of these conversations are worth having, and I’m also not saying that we shouldn’t fight for truth and ethics, but I am saying that we can sometimes choose to fight over stuff that would be an entirely different conversation if we were actually motivated by love.

I haven’t followed the story closely, but I did hear that a longtime pastor (named Alistair Begg) is coming under fire for a word of pastoral counsel he recently gave in a public forum. As far as I understand what he said, I don’t particularly agree with the counsel he gave, but I also know that Alistair Begg has been a faithful pastor and churchman for decades. He has preached hundreds of sermons (most of which are available to the public), he has written many books, and he has spoken at many conferences (including various Q&A panels with rapid-fire questions and fast-paced discussions)… and on the whole, his ministry has been stellar… his faithful witness is one to be thankful for.

If someone wants to criticize him for his pastoral counsel in this one instance, fine… but the goal should be to rejoice together with Alistair in the truth… not make this one word of counsel (in my opinion, a less than helpful one) a battle-line to fight over. And the same is true in our relationships in the local church. If we hear something that sounds off… if we see something that causes us concern for the soul or mind or life of our fellow brother or sister in Christ, then we should lovingly and humbly go talk with him or her about it. We should aim to understand what he or she really said (what he or she is really thinking), and then we should aim to walk together in the truth… in so far as we can do that together.

And if we still disagree at the end of the conversation… see v5! Let us not “insist on” our “own way” (v5). Let’s not be “irritable or resentful” (v5), but rather let us look to v7… “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, [and] endures all things” (v7). This is not a blanket affirmation of all possible things. There are some things that we cannot bear or endure. We ought not take this single verse out of the context of this letter, nor out of the context of the whole Bible. We are not talking here about bearing with a professing believer who is bent on public and egregious sin (remember 1 Corinthians ch. 5!). We are not talking about enduring a church member who is assaulting or abusing others.

What this verse is calling Christians to do is to “bear” with… and to “believe” the best about… and walk in “hope” beside… and “endure” various pains and inconveniences that come from doing life together with other church members who are going to sin against us and challenge us and hurt our feelings and require all sorts of patience and kindness from us.

If we keep everyone at a distance, and if we never make ourselves vulnerable with one another, and if we never depend upon each other, and if we never have real conversations about what we’re doing or why or what might be a better way of doing it… then we won’t have to strive for this kind of love. We can just do the stuff we want to do; we can avoid the stuff and people we don’t want anything to do with; and we can be the sort of church member who never really grows… who never really connects… and who will likely just change churches or drop out of church altogether when things don’t go the way we want.

But this is no way to do church or Christianity. In fact, this is the opposite of biblical Christianity.

Real and biblical and edifying and spiritually growing Christianity is only available to those who experience the love of God in Christ and (in turn) give and receive that same sort of selfless and others-oriented love with fellow Christians.

I’ve said it a number of times, but it bears repeating here again. I’m so glad for the ways I see God producing this kind of love (this kind of real and messy and authentic Christianity) among the members of FBC Diana. We’ve emphasized this topic of genuine love today… not because we are largely failing at it and we need a pep-talk… but because this is the emphasis of our text as we’re studying our way through this book of the Bible.

But it is also true that the meaningful church membership that we are experiencing here has not come upon us by accident… nor will we continue to maintain (much less grow in) our genuine love for one another without ongoing effort on our parts.

It is clear from our text today that love is a spiritual gift… only God can give us this kind of self-forgetful and others-oriented kind of love. And it is also clear from our text that love is a spiritual gift that is higher and greater than the rest… and one that we must pursue or strive for or earnestly desire.

May God help us to love one another. May He help us to increasingly put ourselves in situations where this kind of love will be required of us. And may God help us to strive to be the sort of church that exemplifies (as well as we may) this central mark or characteristic of genuine Christianity… for our good and for the glory of Christ… until He comes, and for the ages that will roll on afterward.

Endnotes

[i] Here is a good representative article of an argument which leans upon 1 Corinthians 13:8 to demonstrate that the Bible teaches cessationism: https://www.gotquestions.org/cessationism.html [ii] Here is a great article representing the cessationist view: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/cessationist/ [iii] Here is an article that better represents my own rationale for expecting no miraculous spiritual gifts in operation after the time of the Apostles (though I also think Schreiner’s argument, cited in ii, significantly parallels this one): https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2020/04/cessationism/

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