MODULE 3

Let us Learn the Hebrew Literature

FROM THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE
APOSTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS
1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, and have not charity, I am become a
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and
though I have all faith, so I could move the
mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind, charity
envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not
puffed up.
5. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh
no evil.
6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in
truth.
7. Beareth all things, believeth all things,
endureth all things.
8. Charity, never faileth; but where there be
prophecies, they shall fail, whether there be
tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9. For we know in part, and prophesy in part.
10. But when that which is performed is come,
then that which is in part shall be done away.
11. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child, but
when I became a man, I put away childish
things.
12. For now we see through a glass darkly but
then face to face; I know in part but then shall
I know even as I am known.
13. And now abideth faith, hope, and charity,
and greatest of these is charity.
 Love as described in 1 Corinthians 13 is best
understood as a way of life, lived in imitation
of Jesus Christ, that is focused not on oneself
but on the “other” and his or her good.

 Love is about action, how a person lives for the

Lord and obeys him and how a person lives for
others and serves them.
 Yet it is also about being. This is because its foundation
is in God who is love, and in Christ who shows that
love. The sense that this is about more than simply
how people behave is seen in passages like Paul’s
prayer of Ephesians 3:14–19, particularly as he prays
that Christians will be “rooted and grounded in love.” To
“know the love of Christ” is to experience his presence
“through faith” in their “hearts.” God’s people are to
look and become more and more like Christ, and it is
this for which Paul prays here.
 It is because being and actions are so closely tied together in
God and in Christ, first, but then also in his people, that Paul
calls love a “more excellent way” (12:31b). It is the way of the
new age that has been ushered in with the appearance of the
Messiah, who has shown it in his life, passion, and death, but
who has also exhibited it in his being. Love is the way of
existence in the heavenlies. As this breaks into the present in
Christ, his people, filled with the Spirit of Christ, are to take on
this way of existence and develop a life where love guides their
approach to all things. Of course, this will immediately be seen in
how they live and speak and think. Even so, when all that is
mentioned here is done, the meaning of love for the believer is
by no means exhausted!
LOVE IS COUNTERCULTURAL
 Paul’s description of the action and behavior
produced by love is distinctly countercultural.
It speaks against the envy, pride, and self-
centeredness of the Corinthian Christians,
and in doing so speaks clearly to our own
generation as well.
 Christ has to remain the example. The envy,
boasting, rudeness, arrogance, and anger of
normal life will be turned upside down.
Instead, patience and love and a rejoicing in
truth are to mark out God’s people. In line with
the way Christ forgave our sin and no longer
holds it against us, so our love is to hold no
record of evil.
LOVE IS NOT SOFT

 Many see love as little more than an attitude of

“niceness” to everyone. This means that any
dispute, any strong speaking over important matters,
and any firm spiritual discipling or disciplining of
another is to be regarded as unloving. In some
churches this has even led to a watered-down
Christian faith being preached with little emphasis on
holiness lest some should feel condemned or
unloved.
 One of the modern myths so prevalent in our society

is that love will tolerate all things, promote all things,

and deny nothing. In Scripture love is beautiful and

well defined for us in that God is love, and Jesus

demonstrated this perfectly to us all.

 Certainly, love is not soft. It will always seek to build

up the other, but that does not mean turning a blind

eye to sin or not calling out evil in another person. “It

does not rejoice at evil” (1 Corinthians 13:6).ll. 

LOVE IS CHRIST-LIKE

 Love is a way of being as a person, a way of

thinking, acting, and living. It is, in fact, being
Christ-like.
 He also tells the Corinthians to “be imitators of
me.” Love is the way of being that is so all
invasive that it affects the whole of the way life
is conducted.
BUT WHAT IS LOVE?
 The idea of “love,” in contrast with “knowledge” and
grace-gifts, is introduced earlier in the letter, in 1
Corinthians 8: “We know that ‘We all possess
knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love
builds up.” The argument in 8:1 that “love builds
up” reminds the reader that when Paul speaks of
“building up” the church or the body he thinks of
love in action in the community. The focus of love
here is thus predominantly the believer or the
church—the understood object of “to build up.”
THE LOVE OF GOD POURED OUT BY THE HOLY
SPIRIT
 Love for God was seen to rest in God’s prior work

through his Spirit. Paul’s understanding of the process

involved here is most clearly expressed in Romans 5:5:

“The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the

Holy Spirit which has been given to us”.

 This close relationship between love and the work of the

Spirit no doubt provides a partial explanation for why in

Paul, and in the early church more generally, love is

seen as the authenticator or marker of a Christian.

IMITATING CHRIST’S LOVE
 Christ stands as the supreme example of love through the whole of
his life, but specially in his death. In 1 Corinthians 1 the death of
Christ was at the center of Paul’s understanding of God’s wisdom
(his plan) to save his people. 
  It was the “word of the cross” that was the power of God to those
“being saved” (1:18).
  Supremely in Christ’s death the love of God and of Christ was
shown. The link is explicit in Romans 5:8: “God shows his love for us
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.
 It is also clear in Ephesians 5:2: “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and
gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”