Faith, Hope, Love (Conclusion)

Each part of 1 Corinthians 13:13 - Faith, Hope and Love - is a pillar that the believer purposefully decides to incorporate into their Christian journey. In other words, to be Christian means these three areas of Faith, Hope and Love are in constant development from the time of accepting Christ as Lord, forward.  

FAITH

Faith recognizes confidence and assurance not chance, not gamble or luck. The track record of Christ Jesus as the fulfiller of all, not just some, of the prophesies concerning The Messiah of the world is unparalleled. Jesus backed up everything said about Him and supported His own words as He claimed He is The Way, The Truth and The Life - The Only Means to Father God (John 14:6). 

Declarations like these and of His future return for His believers, plus the living out of His instruction, His Word found in The Bible are NOT ingredients for a future organization or kingdom built on risk, but on The Rock of All Ages, The Sure Foundation, The Cornerstone - Christ Jesus, The Lord.

HOPE

Hope recognizes the future benefits believers share because of the price that was paid through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ Jesus. All that goodness and hope can be wrapped into one phrase - The Plan of Salvation. Salvation is for the unbelieving world. What Jesus accomplished is a finished work, a completed mission. This Salvation from Jesus to all unbelievers can be trusted in.

Hope is something still yet to come but that is brewing with the good things of God. Hope then is for the Christian and will manifest itself one day in two main forms -

1. The physical appearance of Jesus Christ and His supernatural physical daily involvement in our lives. (John 14:2-4)
2. Our bodies glorified for our new dwelling in New Jerusalem on New Earth in a New Heaven. (Romans 8:23-24)

1 Peter 1:3-5 sums the believer's hope up nicely be stating it is a "living hope" found in Christ Jesus that secured for the Christian a Godly inheritance that "is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

LOVE

Love recognizes love. God is love (1 John 4:16). And we can find the best detailing of Love to exemplify in our lives in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, also known as The Love Chapter. This passage is your standard for Love. If you show what love is, what love does, what love keeps, what love rejoices in and what love always succeeds at - then the believer is on his/her way to becoming more Christ-like.

Jesus does not just instruct His followers and disciples to "love one another", He commands it, according to John 13:34. 

In addition, Jesus supplies the Christian with some how to be loving instructions -

1. "love one another" (John 13:35)
2. Who are we to love? Your enemies, your mother and father, neighbor, the church and wives - as a starting point.

When Jesus stated that "all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35) notice there is an "if" in this statement. This means to represent Christ and be recognizable before everyone by loving each other is a choice. 

Later, the Apostle Paul recognizes this command and incorporates another holy trio that Christians should implement to assist in loving God and loving others. Paul says in his first letter to his protege Timothy, 

"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5)

How do you know if your faith is sincere? How do you know if you have a good conscience? How do you know if your heart is pure? The boxes are checked in the positive if you operate in God's Love.

Each one of the three points of this trinity supports the other as mentioned in my Introduction of this Series. Each one of these is important to live out within the Christian journey, but the focus or emphasis should be placed on living in and through God's Love. 

As I stated in the section on Love - The Triad of Faith, Hope and Love is unified by Love. Paul says in Colossians 3:14 -

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Therefore, let us saturate our minds, our attitudes, our speech, our actions and relationships with Faith, Hope and Love knowing the greatest of these is Love.

Faith, Hope And Love (Love)

Love has plenty to discuss because Love was before, within and at the end of not only all things but also the establishment of the trio of Faith, Hope and Love.

The Definition of Love:

Love is defined as a verb, an action word. However, Love is also together a verb and noun, in the person of the constant loving person known as God, displayed through Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit within the believer.

God always shows Himself to us who love and believe in Him. Scripture supports this by saying,

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." - 1 John 4:16

But then there is the flip-side of the coin also - those that do not live a loving life, do not know God. Scripture states -

"Whoever does not love, does not know God because, God is love." - 1 John 4:8 "

One of the best known passages in detailing the definition of Love is found in what many believers know as The Love Chapter - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

So, there is your standard for Love. Just make sure you are showing what Love is, what Love does, what Love keeps, what Love rejoices in, and what Love always succeeds at - then you will be on your way to being Christ-like. 

 

I fall woefully short in measuring up to this standard, especially with the "ALWAYS protects, ALWAYS trusts, ALWAYS hopes, ALWAYS perseveres." I know I do not Always operate in these wonderful manners, BUT I have a Heavenly Father who does. In fact, when I am at my weakest in anything, especially Love, He says I can Always count on Him - 

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

I like what 1 Corinthians 13:13 has to say about love. Paraphrased: When the dust settles from what we think life is all about, all that counts is faith, hope, and love - and even among these the greatest is Love. The actual verse reads -

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

 

God's Love To Us:

Throughout the entire Bible God's Love is spoken of and displayed in various ways. Paul reminded the believers in Rome and everyone throughout history of God's Love for humanity, especially through His Son Jesus when he said,

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love" - Ephesians 1:4 

I have recently read a commentary that said the words "In love" that start the next sentence of the Ephesians 1:4 verse should actually be applied to the sentence before it. So, "in love" or due to Love, He chose us as His own and He chose us to function within love - which is Himself. He chose to supply that lifestyle as the main operating procedure to all humanity through Jesus, now each individual must decide what they want to do with Jesus.

Once that decision to accept Jesus as one's Personal Savior is made, look what Scripture says about His Love toward them:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" - Romans 8:35 

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:37-39

Another additional benefit in choosing Christ is that we receive the Spirit of Love - 

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." - 2 Timothy 1:7

You probably have heard of the term "kindred spirits". As believers in a church body, we all need to have the same "kindred spirit of love" with God and each other in order that we may appreciate God's Love and be filled up to overflowing with God's Love. Love knows love. 

Paul, when writing to the church in Ephesus, confessed their foundation of Love by calling them "rooted and established in love". Knowing their good foundation, Paul encouraged the Ephesians "to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19). 

However, this is another verse which has a So That phrase, except it comes in the form of "that you". 

"...that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 

Therefore, if you want to "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" then be "rooted" in His Love and keep a healthy respect for His Love that He showed toward us and continues to show on a daily basis. The whole idea or verse reads - 

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 

What a lovely prayer for Paul to dictate for believers miles away and for us to adopt for others.

Our Love To God and Others:

All means everything. I know that was enlightening to some of you (sarcasm inserted), but the word "all" is important in this next verse. 

"Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'" - Matthew 22:37 

The concept of "all" in this instruction from Jesus was so important He deemed it worthy of repeating three times, once for each of the three areas of focus. Therefore, our commitment, our Love must be Sold Out for Christ.

God so loved us that He gave His one and only Son (John 3:16), so it is only natural and highly beneficial that believers love God back with our whole lives. Plus, if we love God with our everything, all the rest will happen the way God intended. 

Jesus continues by saying in John 8:42, 

"If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me." 

Be sure God is your Father through accepting His love gift - Jesus. His Love is enough, but there are too many additional benefits to reject.

Since God is Love and has manifested His Love through Christ Jesus and continually displays His Love today through His Holy Spirit - I believe the natural and right thing to do is love God back. God accepts the dedication of my life and all those who place their trust in His Son, Christ Jesus, then says through John, 

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." - John 14:15 

This naturally begs the question - so, what do you command? 

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34) 

"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5) 

How do you know if your faith is sincere? How do you know if you have a good conscience? How do you know if your heart is pure? The boxes are checked in the positive if you operate in God's Love.

What does operating in God's Love look like? First, Jesus connects the dots for everyone who is Not a believer and is watching the Christians and by doing so gives a somber warning to believers, saying -

"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35)

However, God gets specific on who we are to love. 

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44) 

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?" (Matthew 5:46) 

Also, "...honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 19:19) 

Back then many churches, in many different locations needed to hear and see the love of God displayed through the believers (Body of Christ). Now, that same display of God's love through Christians, across denominations, is needed more than ever! 

"Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it." (2 Corinthians 8:24)

Another specific group of people that God targets to be sure to receive love is wives. Just in case there is any uncertainty about who should be providing that love - no, it is not society, pets, or a support group (although those things can help in the absence of) - it is the husband.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" - Ephesians 5:25 

"In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." - Ephesians 5:28 

"However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself," - Ephesians 5:33 

"Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them." - Colossians 3:19

Our attitude and speech should be saturated with love. Galatians 5:13 talks about the quality of our service, one-to-the-other by the attitude we bring to the table. 

"...do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love." 

I am all for telling the truth, but Scripture tells us to be careful in the delivery of it. 

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." - Ephesians 4:15 

Choose your words and tone carefully and speak them in love.

Notice that Love is the first item on the list that is mentioned as one of the Fruits of the Spirit. 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." – Galatians 5:22-23

Fruit is a by-product of a tree or plant. In the same line of thinking, love as a fruit should be a by-product of being grafted in The Vine, Christ Jesus through His Holy Spirit. You and I will produce lovely relationships and other things in our lives by being rooted in God's Love. Paul echoes this idea by stating -

"Do everything in love" (1 Cor. 16:14), 

"the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6). 

However, our expression of Love must be genuine. And if we continue daily to practice His presence, stir our faith, and spread His Hope then our path will be aligned with Him. Paul conveys this idea like this -

"Love must be sincere." (Romans 12:9). 

"Flee from all this [the world] and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (1 Tim. 6:11)

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor. 13:1-3)

For my unbelieving audience - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17) This means everything else other than the good and perfection from God comes from other sources. Does God allow those sources to influence your life? Yes, obviously. He has also given you the power of choice, to choose a relationship with Him that was built on Love, by Love and expects you to carry that compassion of Love to others - should you accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. I hope and pray you make that decision.

For my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, life is difficult at times, but loving God is simple, because He first loved us. If you have not already, I encourage you to cultivate a passion to Love-On God and have His Love flow through you as much as possible, even when it is a struggle to do so.

The Triad of Faith, Hope and Love is unified by Love. Paul says in Colossians 3:14 -

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." 

Therefore, let us clothe ourselves - our minds, our attitudes, our speech, our actions and relationships, our Faith and our Hope with the Love of God.

Faith, Hope And Love (Hope)

Paul writes to the believers in Rome and down through the ages as he defines Hope for us in Romans 8:24-25  - 

"But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

The word "wait" here is from the original Greek word apekdechomai (ap-ek-dekh'-om-ahee), meaning to expect fully. The "patiently" part is the hard part many times.

Many of us can attest to experiencing hardships, mistakes, troubles and trials that last for days, weeks, months, years and whatever Christians call "a Season". Then there is an expectation of sorts that at midnight on New Year's Eve, all of last year's woes are erased and we are allowed to hit the reset button as we look ahead. 

We call it a "new" year, but many times the only thing really new is just the number of the year. The same problems exist, same challenges and issues persist through the switch-over to the "new" year. 

What do we have to look forward to? What do we do, how do we respond when we see that the same-ole-same-ole did not go away but simply remained or changed form? What happens when our remedies, including faith, fails or does not seem to function as we believed it would? 

Year after year the motivation seems less and less in many of the areas of our lives, this is when believers need to remember their Hope.

What is the Christian's hope? It is not Salvation. Salvation is a completed, finished work of Christ that guarantees the believer eternity with Jesus and all the benefits thereof. 

The Hope then is - 

1. the physical manifestation of Jesus one day in our lives and
2. our bodies glorified for our new dwelling in New Jerusalem on a New Earth in a New Heaven.

Jesus promises His physical return and new residence in John 14:2-4 when He states - 

"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

In Romans 8:23-24 Paul announces the physically glorified hope we have through Christ - 

"we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved."

John Maxwell said, "Where there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present." I agree and would add - if there is no hope, the present is useless, the past has no meaning and the future is non-existent.

Christians have as their God, the God of Hope. God desires His believers to not only know Him as this and be filled with the expectation of all the blessings to come but to overflow with hope also.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13

Paul, when he wrote to the believers in Corinth the first time, mentioned the three sub-lifestyles within the Christian journey that the believer should pursue.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor. 13:13

Even with "love" being "the greatest of these" hope is listed as a lifestyle to pursue alongside love and faith.

God is not stagnant. God is continually moving in the believer's favor. God did not stop at The Cross, otherwise Christ would be only a martyr that died for a great cause. God did not leave Jesus in the tomb, otherwise the believer's faith would be meaningless. God did not stop at The Ascension, otherwise the believer would not be empowered and inspired by the Holy Spirit daily. Look how 1 Peter 1:3-5 states this -

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (underlined emphasis mine)

Paul continues to dispel the doom and gloom of carry-over problems from year-to-year spoken of earlier and injects new life into the believer by saying -

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." - Romans 12:12

Notice the descriptive words and what they are linked to -

1. Joyfulness with hope,
2. Patience with afflictions or issues,
3. Faithfulness with prayer or time with God. 

Paul recognized that year after year many things in life will not change. Problems will persist, but so will God and so will we if we live joyfully in hope, patiently in problems and faithfully in prayer - the "Living Hope" lifestyle.

The believer's new birth into Christ's lifestyle is a "living hope". Because of His resurrection, this living hope guarantees a personal, physical relationship with Christ in the future and an inheritance in heaven for the believer in Christ. Relationship with Christ and citizenship in Heaven - awesome expectation, awesome Hope.

Faith, Hope And Love (Faith)

The foundation of the servanthood lifestyle and life-purpose was manifested through the life of Jesus and the love gift of His life on the cross. Before His mission was complete, Jesus inserted seeds of Hope and Love for the New Covenant that was to come. After His death, resurrection and ascension to Father God - Faith was established first in this triune of Faith, Hope and Love found in 1 Corinthians 13:13 and Hope and Love naturally followed.

Hebrews 11:6 states this idea like this - 

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

This world is hope-less. If you desire more hope in your life, the writer of Hebrews instructs - 

1. You must believe that God exists
2. You must believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

The first point calls for pure belief. The second point calls for action on our part - to "earnestly seek Him", God through Christ Jesus.

The definition of Faith is spelled out in Scripture in Hebrews 11:1 - 

"Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

 

This means Faith is NOT Chance or Luck. Faith deals in confidence and assurance while Chance is in the realm of the absence of any cause of events that can be predicted, understood, or controlled.

The believer in Christ is NOT to treat his/her Faith as luck, chance or a charm. Faith in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth for our Salvation should not be seen as a gamble. When we accept the sacrifice at the Cross and the victory of the Resurrection we are not gambling by sliding all our chips on Lucky Number 7 nor gambling by placing all of our eggs in one of many religious baskets.

As the lyrics to the hymn state -

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

(Song - "On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand")

How can I sing - "All other ground is sinking sand"? How does the believer have confidence in what they hope for and assurance about what they do not see? 

When you read and hear Jesus Himself state He is the only way to a restored relationship with Father God then all other options that suggest themselves in history as beliefs to follow become by default null and void. Jesus said about Himself - 

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Also, every prophecy about His first visit was fulfilled.

Matthew 7:24 joins with the hymn that was mentioned earlier and pictures The Rock as Jesus, the firm foundation upon which we can place our confidence, remain assured and build our faith-based life. Matthew records Jesus saying,

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."

Finally, He promises to come again. With all the prophesies of Christ's first visitation being fulfilled, our confidence and assurance should soar about His Rapture of the Saints found in Matthew 24:40-41 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Jesus required those He sought out for His inner circle of disciples to drop everything and come follow Him. Through the human lens this is a risk, a gamble. All of those summoned by Christ had occupations and families they were tending. Yet, there must have been something about Jesus because on numerous instances the Scripture records the one being called "immediately" followed Christ. Perhaps the immediately was due to the rapidly rising powerful reputation Jesus was developing. Those Jesus called seemed to know of the prophecy of The Messiah to come and they matched those words up with Jesus and His potential and said, "Yes, I will follow you Jesus." From this point forward, Scripture depicts the daily life of Jesus as the proving ground that anybody that follows Him, their choice is not a gamble.

Yes, we have the luxury of hindsight to testify through historians like Josephus, the Apostles and other witnesses that Jesus of Nazareth lived, said and did the things recorded. The authenticity of Yeshua or Jesus on earth should not be in question anymore. What one does with belief in Him as Son of God, sent to humanity as Savior of our souls is the decision. 

Jesus is The Rock of All Ages. He is The Sure Foundation. He is The Cornerstone. Again, His seeding of Hope and Love by visiting as Love incarnate is the reason we believe without a shadow of a doubt that Our Faith Is Not A Gamble.

Faith, Hope And Love (Intro)

The words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19 leave no doubt that the Godhead is a Trinity - three in one - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are other instances in Scripture where God uses the triune of something as a holy threesome. Some examples are the three days He is dead before rising again. Jesus answered Satan’s threefold temptation by citing three scriptural passages (Matt 4:1-11). Paul experienced three shipwrecks (2 Cor 11:28) and prayed three times to the Lord for the removal of his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7-8). The list of the uses of three in the Bible are many, but one trinity in particular, taught by Paul and known by Christians world-over is the trio of Faith, Hope and Love.

The Scripture is 1 Corinthians 13:13 and it reads - "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

This line-up of concepts - Faith, Hope and Love - is not by accident. There is a divine order that is established in listing this holy trinity in this fashion. 

Faith points to Hope in Hebrews 11:1 -

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Faith points to Love in 1 Corinthians 13:2 -

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

Hope points to Faith in Romans 15:4 -

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope."

Hope points to both Faith and Love in Colossians 1:3-6 - 

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you."

Love points to Hope in 1 Corinthians 13:7 -

"It [Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (brackets and emphasis mine)

Love points to Faith in Galatians 5:6 -

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

However, even this triad has a favored point and Paul states "the greatest of these is Love". In this arrangement, all points of this holy triangle exist in perfect unity but Love was before it, created it, is a part of it and will be at the end when Faith and Hope are fully manifested in the glorified bodies of believers and physical encounters with Jesus. Colossians 1:16-17 begins the Scriptural support of this by stating -

"For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

1 John 4:8 continues this support by saying -

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

With Love manifesting in human form - Christ Jesus - God's love sets-up this holy triad by giving His life as a sacrificial love gift for all. Anybody willing to accept His gift, believe in Him as Lord and Savior and live a Christ-like life has now established in their lives this holy trinity of Faith, Hope and Love.