The most excellent way

Introduction:The most excellent way

1 Corinthians 13:1–13

The concluding words of chapter 12, ‘And now I will show you the most excellent way,’ underline the importance and significance of what now follows. Judging by what happened in the history of the Corinthian church it might be thought that the gifts of the Spirit are more important than the fruit of the Spirit. But that is not the case and it was the Corinthians’ mistake.

No one knew more of the Spirit’s power and gifts than our Saviour. Significantly, however, when we think of him our thoughts go more to his character and work than to the gifts that he exercised. The Spirit’s principal task in our lives is to reproduce in us the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. The priority in that character reproduction is love; and it is from love that all the other aspects of the Spirit’s fruit flow.

Gifts from the Holy Spirit

(1 Cor.12:1-4 )

1.Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit.

I want you to know the truth about them, my brothers and sisters.

2. You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols.

3. I want you to know that no one who is led by God’s Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is Lord”, without being guided by the Holy Spirit.

4. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.

5. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.

6. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.1

1 American Bible Society. (1992). The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation (2nd ed., 1 Co 12:1–6). New York: American Bible Society.

The most excellent way

We must not forget that the overall subject in this part of Paul’s letter is spiritual gifts and their use. He has concluded chapter 12 with the exhortation to ‘eagerly desire the greater gifts’ and he now shows ‘the most excellent way’ (12:31b). If we ask, ‘The most excellent way to what?’, the reply is to serve, please and honour God and his Son. This answer is underlined in three ways:

1. Besides being the foremost aspect of the Spirit’s fruit, love is also the best spiritual gift (12:31; 13:1–3).

Without the presence and practice of love the gifts of the Spirit are useless (vv. 1–3). Since speaking in tongues (v. 1) seems to have been the gift with which the Corinthians were most preoccupied, Paul mentions it first in his list of things to which love is superior. The words ‘of men and of angels’ show that the widest and most developed use of the gift is included. ‘Mysteries’ (v. 2) are truths we could never penetrate for ourselves but which may be known only because God has been pleased to reveal them. Even the willingness to be a martyr (v. 3) has no value if love is lacking.

2. Love is the chief aspect of the Spirit’s fruit; in fact, all the rest illustrates it (cf. Gal. 5:22–23 with love’s characteristics in 1 Cor. 13:4–7).

If we think of the various aspects of the fruit of the Spirit as a mathematical sum, the sum adds up to the character of our Lord Jesus. Patience and kindness—the first two aspects of love that Paul mentions—are both found in his description of the Spirit’s fruit in Galatians 5:22 and 23. Love is patient with people and it tries to understand them and react accordingly. Love is

kind in that it always thinks of a gentle and constructive way of dealing with people and difficult situations.

3. Love’s superiority to other gifts is summed up: it ‘never fails’ (v. 8).

When all other gifts pass away it will remain (vv. 8–13). Human love, even at its best, may fail, diminish and even disappear. But the love of the Lord Jesus, reproduced in us by his Spirit, does not fail but goes on and continues where human love stops. There will be a time when prophecy (v. 8)—direct revelation from God, either about the present or the future—will not be necessary. But love will remain. Likewise, the place of the gift of tongues (v. 8) and the gift of knowledge (v. 8) among God’s people is limited. They will not be necessary in heaven, whereas love will remain. Almost incidentally, Paul provides a glimpse of heaven and the life to come (v. 10; see also v. 12). All that is imperfect will be replaced by the perfect in every aspect of our existence. The experience of heaven will be like suddenly becoming adults after being children (v. 11). We will see face to face rather than seeing poor reflections. This will be most wonderfully true of our view of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. An old hymn by Isaac Watts puts it well:1

1 Prime, D. (2005). Opening up 1 Corinthians (pp. 116–119). Leominister: Day One Publications.

Maturity: The Graces of the Spirit (1 Cor. 13:1–13)

It was Jonathan Swift, the satirical author of Gulliver’s Travels, who said, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” Spiritual gifts, no matter how exciting and wonderful, are useless and even destructive if they are not ministered in love. In all three of the “body” passages in Paul’s letters, there is an emphasis on love. The main evidence of maturity in the Christian life is a growing love for God and for God’s people, as well as a love for lost souls. It has well been said that love is the “circulatory system” of the body of Christ.

Few chapters in the Bible have suffered more misinterpretation and misapplication than 1 Corinthians 13. Divorced from its context, it becomes “a hymn to love” or a sentimental sermon on Christian brotherhood. Many people fail to see that Paul was still dealing with the Corinthians’ problems when he wrote these words: the abuse of the gift of tongues, division in the church, envy of others’ gifts, selfishness (remember the lawsuits?), impatience with one another in the public meetings, and behavior that was disgracing the Lord.

The only way spiritual gifts can be used creatively is when Christians are motivated by love. Paul explained three characteristics of Christian love that show why it is so important in ministry.

Love is enriching (vv. 1–3). Paul named five spiritual gifts: tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith, and giving (sacrifice). He pointed out that, without love, the exercise of these gifts is nothing. Tongues apart from love is just a lot of noise! It is love that enriches the gift and that gives it value. Ministry without love cheapens both the minister and those who are touched by it; but ministry with love enriches the whole church. “Speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).

Christians are “taught of God to love one another” (1 Thes. 4:9). God the Father taught us to love by sending His Son (1 John 4:19), and God the Son taught us to love by giving His life and by commanding us to love each other (John 13:34–35). The Holy Spirit teaches us to love one another by pouring out God’s love in our hearts (Rom. 5:5). The most important lesson in the school of faith is to love one another. Love enriches all that it touches.

Love is edifying (vv. 4–7). “Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth [builds up]” (1 Cor. 8:1). The purpose of spiritual gifts is the edification of the church (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:3, 5, 12, 17, 26). This means we must not think of ourselves, but of others; and this demands love.

The Corinthians were impatient in the public meetings (1 Cor. 14:29–32), but love would make them long-suffering. They were envying each other’s gifts, but love would remove that envy. They were “puffed up” with pride (1 Cor. 4:6, 18–19; 5:2), but love would remove pride and self-vaunting and replace it with a desire to promote others. “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another” (Rom. 12:10).

At the “love feast” and the Lord’s Table, the Corinthians were behaving in a very unseemly manner. If they had known the meaning of real love, they would have behaved themselves in a manner pleasing to the Lord. They were even suing one another! But love “seeketh not [its] own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil” (1 Cor. 13:5). The phrase thinketh no evil means “does not keep any record of wrongs.” One of the most miserable men I ever met was a professed Christian who actually kept in a notebook a list of the wrongs he felt others had committed against him. Forgiveness means that we wipe the record clean and never hold things against people (Eph. 4:26, 32).

Love does not rejoice in iniquity, yet the Corinthians were boasting about sin in their church (1 Cor. 5). Love “shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Like Noah’s sons, we should seek to hide the sins of others, and then help them make things right (Gen. 9:20–23).

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 carefully and compare this with the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22–23. You will see that all of the characteristics of love show up in that fruit. This is why love edifies: it releases the power of the Spirit in our lives and churches.

Love is enduring (vv. 8–13). Prophecy, knowledge, and tongues were not permanent gifts. (Knowledge does not mean “education,” but the immediate imparting of spiritual truth to the mind.) These three gifts went together. God would impart knowledge to the prophet, and he would give the message in a tongue. Then an interpreter (sometimes the prophet himself) would explain the message. These were gifts that some of the Corinthians prized, especially the gift of tongues.

These gifts will fail (be abolished) and cease, but love will endure forever; for “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). The Corinthians were like children playing with toys that would one day disappear. You expect a child to think, understand, and speak like a child; but you also expect the child to mature and start thinking and speaking like an adult. The day comes when he must “put away childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11).

In the New Testament (which at that time was not completed) we have a complete revelation, but our understanding of it is partial. (Review 1 Cor. 8:1–3 if you think otherwise.) There is a maturing process for the church as a whole (Eph. 4:11–16) and also for the individual believer (1 Cor. 14:20; 2 Peter 3:18). We will not be fully completed until Jesus returns, but we ought to be growing and maturing now. Children live for the temporary; adults live for the permanent. Love is enduring, and what it produces will endure.

Summary

Note that all three of the Christian graces will endure, even though “faith will become sight and hope will be fulfilled.” But the greatest of these graces is love; because when you love someone, you will trust him and will always be anticipating new joys. Faith, hope, and love go together, but it is love that energizes faith and hope.

Unfortunately, some of the emphasis today on the Holy Spirit has not been holy (because it has ignored Scripture) and has not been spiritual (because it has appealed to the carnal nature). We must not tell other believers what gifts they should have or how they can obtain them. This matter is in the sovereign will of God. We must not minimize gifts, but neither should we neglect the graces of the Spirit. In my itinerant ministry, I have run across too many local church problems created by people who were zealous for the gifts, but careless of the graces.

Unity—diversity—maturity; and maturity comes through love.

More about Gifts from the Spirit (1 Cor. 14:1-40 )

1.(1 Cor. 14:1-40 )It is love, then, that you should strive for. Set your hearts on spiritual gifts, especially the gift of proclaiming God’s message.

2.Those who speak in strange tongues do not speak to others but to God, because no one understands them. They are speaking secret truths by the power of the Spirit.

3.But those who proclaim God’s message speak to people and give them help, encouragement, and comfort.

4.Those who speak in strange tongues help only themselves, but those who proclaim God’s message help the whole church.

 American Bible Society. (1992). The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation (2nd ed., 1 Co 14:1–4). New York: American Bible Society.