Bible Study - 1 Corinthians Chapter Thirteen

Kent Welch

Bible Study on 1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

1 Corinthians 13:1–13

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1 Corinthians 13:1–13 ESV

1 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.

Beginning Study Note:

For a few of the questions in this chapter in particular, and for general Bible study as a rule, access to Greek word definitions will be helpful. A number of Bible study apps for your phone will have the basic Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

If you are interested in a Bible study program for your computer, you might spend some time looking at E-Sword. I used E-Sword for many years (the first 10-15 years preaching) and it is an excellent Bible study program. E-Sword is completely free (it was developed by a believer who also worked for IBM as a programmer). I know there are several other well-known free Bible study programs, but I’ve not found any that have E-Sword’s resources and functionality. You can access E-Sword at: https://www.e-sword.net/

If you are interested in the best of the best (in my opinion anyway), and have money to spend (potentially A LOT of money, depending on the features you purchase), you can give Logos a try. Logos is much more technical and expensive, but it has some really powerful features. In truth though, Esword is my recommendation for just about anyone except geeky pastors who love computers, the Word of God, and who prepare sermons and Bible studies regularly. You can access Logos at: https://www.logos.com/

Neither of these programs (or any other) is required. A trusty physical copy of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance will serve you well. But I have found these programs helpful over the years and wanted to take a minute to bring them to your awareness. While at Canaan, I gave a demonstration and basic training on E-Sword on a Wednesday evening. If you download either of these and have questions, feel free to send them my way.

Study Questions

Verses 1-3

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

1. What is it like to listen to someone who is speaking without love?

A loud, unpleasant, noise!

2. Which is better, to increase knowledge or increase love?

Love

3. Is Paul teaching that we should not be interested in increasing our knowledge, wisdom, and faith? How would a right interpretation of this passage depend on a contextual understanding of Scripture?

The context of what Paul has been teaching the Corinthians should be kept in view. They were “right”, but were not as “loving” as they ought to be in their “rightness”.

Verses 4-7

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

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.

4. List everything Paul says that love is. (Don’t summarize what Paul says, but write down the specific words Paul uses)

(1) Paitient, (2) Kind, (3) Joyous over truth, (4) Bears all things, (5) Believes al lthings, (6) Hopes all things, (7) Endures all things.

5.List everything Paul says that love is not. (Once again, don’t summarize what Paul says, but write down the specific words Paul uses.)

(1) Envious, (2) Boastful, (3) Arrogant, (4) Rude, (5) Insistent on its own way, (6) Irritable, (7) Resentful, (8) Not joyous over wrong

6. Define each of the words you wrote down in questions one and two. (If you have access to Strong’s dictionary, or Greek Lexicon, use that resource for this question)

Patient = “patient despite difficulties”, Kind = “to provide benefit, kind”, Rejoices = “includes the idea of being joyous WITH OTHERS”, Bears = “to put up with annoyance or difficulty”, Believes = “Trust and reliance”, Hopes = “look forward with confidence”, Endures = “To continue to bear up despite difficulty”

Envious = “to look with ill-will”, Boastful = “praise oneself”, Arrogant = “prideful”, Rude = “act in defiance of social and moral standards”, Insistent on it’s own way = “expect their own way always”, Irritable = “to be provoked or upset at someone or something involving severe emotional concern”, Resentful = “To keep a mental record of events for the sake of some future action”

7. Based on your work in questions one through three, what insights, thoughts, new ideas, etc., do you have about what love is, and what love is not?

8. How would you describe the difference (or differences) between the way God defines love, and the way men often define it?

The Bible talks about love as thing which we are to GIVE as well as RECEIVE. The world seems to focus only on the receiving part.

9. What specific areas do you struggle with the most when it comes to being a loving person?

All of them at various times.

Verses 8-12

1 Corinthians 13:8–12 ESV

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.

10. When will love pass away?

NEVER

11. What is Paul referring to by “now” and “then” in verse 12?

This life and the next.

12. What does a mirror show? What does it mean that we see only a “mirror dimly” now? How should Paul’s instruction in verse 12 guide our view of this world?

A reflection - so not the thing itself.

This life we see only a dim reflection…not just dim, and not just a reflection, but a dim reflection of what is possible with God and what should have been possible with man without sin.

13. Instead of the mirror we see now, how will we see in eternity?

Face to face…nothing in between…perfect vision.

We will know things as they truly are…as God sees them now.

14. How do these verses in 8-12 support the necessity of faith?

We don’t “see” these things, but we trust that we one day will.

Verse 13

1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV

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

15. What is the difference between faith and hope?

One is present tense (faith)…one includes a future tense (hope)

16. Can you be faithful yet loveless?

Yes…to a point.

17. Can you be hopeful yet loveless?