First Corinthians, Chapter 13, Part 3; Now Abideth Faith, Hope & Love but the Greatest of these is Love:

It has been helpful and meaningful for me to review 4 key words in 1 Corinthians 13:1313 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

, i.e., faith, hope, greatest and love, by comparing their use in other Scripture and I hope this study is meaningful to you as we conclude the 13th chapter of First Corinthians.

“Faith:” occurs twice in the 13th chapter of Corinthians: 1) “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing.”, 1 Corinthians 13:22 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

; 2) “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love).” 1 Corinthians 13:13. The Holy Spirit defines faith: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

. The 4 English words “of things hoped for” in this verse are translated from the one Greek word “elpizo” sometimes spelled “elipidzo” (G1679) found 31 times in the New Testament (NT). In the King James Version (KJV) it is translated “trust” 18 times; “hope” 10 times; “hope for” twice and only here in Hebrews 11:1 is it translated “of things hoped for.” “Elpizo” is the verb form of the thought “hope” and is found once in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians where, speaking of love, it explains: “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:77 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

. The Greek word translated “all things” occurring 4 times in this verse simply mean “all,” and it obviously refers to all things Spiritual. Therefore, this verse indicates love bears (to accept or allow oneself to be subjected to, especially without giving way) all things for the sake of our Lord; believes all things in God’s Word; hopeth (has an earnest expectation for what God has promised in His Word) all things; endures all things for God’s purposes.

“Hope:” the Greek noun form of the word is “elpis” (G1680), found 54 times in the NT, always translated with the English “hope” except once in Hebrews where it is translated “faith:” “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” Hebrews 10:2323 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

. (It’s unknown to me why the KJV translators translated “elpis” with the English word faith here when they translated it “hope” everywhere else.) Paul writes about hope saving us: “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Romans 8:2424 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

. The first 3 words in this verse are the noun form, the 4th is the verb. In the context of this verse, Paul begins by stating that the sufferings of the present are not to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us, Romans 8:1818 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

, for the expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God, Romans 8:1919 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

. God created this earth perfect to begin with and it was good, Genesis 1:4 - 314 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

, but it became vain and corrupt because of Adam’s sin, Romans 8:2020 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

; Genesis 3:17 - 1917 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

. But the creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, Romans 8:2121 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

; 1 Peter 3:1313 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?

; Revelation 22:3 - 53 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

. Thus, the creation groans and travails in pain together until now, Romans 8:2222 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

. And, not only is the creation in pain but we believers groan awaiting the redemption of our bodies, Romans 8:2323 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

; “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Romans 8:24.

Biblical hope is not a mere wish or desire for something that might be possible, it is a sure well-grounded expectation of good in the future, it is the joyful expectation of what believers, by faith know will happen. Salvation from these bodies of sin is our hope, i.e., our well-grounded expectation but there is nothing of that hope that we can perceive with our human senses, for if we could, why would we hope for it? The hope of believers today is in Christ and because He was raised from the dead, we will be raised from the dead if we die prior to His coming for His Body, the Church of this age of Grace: “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” 1 Corinthians 15:17 - 2017 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

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“Greatest:” is from the Greek “meizon” (3187) that occurs 45 times in the NT where it is translated “greater” 34 times, “greatest” 9 times, “elder” once and “more” once; it is an adjectival comparative, meaning a double comparative to our English word “great.” It occurs twice in the verse in which it first appears in the NT: “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater (meizon) than John the Baptist: notwithstanding He that is least (Jesus Christ) in the kingdom of heaven is greater (meizon) than he (John the Baptist).” Matthew 11:1111 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

. John the Baptist was older (greater - meizon) than Jesus Who is referred to the “least” from the Greek “megas” (G3398) used 30 times in the NT translated “little” 16 times, “least” 6 times, “small” 6 times and “less” twice. (In Romans 9:1212 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

Esau is referred to the “elder” [meizon] compared to Jacob who was the younger [Greek “elatton”].) Never-the-less, Jesus Christ was/is the greater (meizon) than John the Baptist in the Kingdom of Heaven.

“Love:” the way of love and its attributes were examined in Part one of this series, (Vol 5, No 51); Part two examined further the way of love as well as other words in the NT translated Love, (Vol 5, No 52).

However, it is worthy to repeat that in our text, 1 Corinthians 13:13, love is from the Greek “agape,” which is the highest form of love as demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ Who died in our place or for us. Thus, Love is referred to as the Greatest (meizon) adjectival comparative to faith and hope. We are saved through faith, Ephesians 2:88 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

and we are to stand firm in faith, 1 Corinthians 16:1313 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

because it is in faith that we stand, .

Paul alludes to the faith, love and hope of the believers in Thessalonica, which believers today can emulate by the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love (agape), and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” 1 Thessalonians 1:2 - 32 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

. Furthermore, Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians (and for all believers to date) is that: “… the Lord make you to increase and abound in love (agape) one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:” 1 Thessalonians 3:1212 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

, explaining the result of love in the believer is: “To the end He may stablish (these 6 words translate 1 Greek word, sterizo [G4741] meaning “to place firmly, set fast”) your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:1313 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

. Therefore, when we yield our lives to the Holy Spirit within us to truly love others, our hearts will be firmly set unblameable in holiness before our Father God at the coming of The Lord Jesus Christ for us. And so we keep in mind that: “Now the end of the commandment is charity (agape) out of a pure heart (the center of all physical and Spiritual life), and of a good conscience (that which distinguishes between what is good and what is bad), and of faith unfeigned (without hypocrisy, real, genuine, sincere):” 1 Timothy 1:55 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

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At some point in time, those whether dead or alive who have truly believed from the heart the Gospel of God’s Grace revealed to the Apostle Paul will be caught up to Heaven with The Lord Jesus Christ and time will be no more. Faith (the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen) and hope (the believer’s earnest expectation) will be in the past because what is hoped for and not seen here on earth, will be fulfilled and believers will bask in and continue to discover more about the Love of God and the Head of our Body, The Lord Jesus Christ.