Faith Hope Love

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 that which is perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

1 Corinthians 13:11–13 (ESV)

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.

Because God is love, love is the standard for all things which is why it never ends.

As Paul points out here miracles, unlike love, would end when “that which is perfect comes.”

Because miracles were to confirm the non-complete word at the time of their use (Mark 16:20) it makes sense then that when God’s word was complete (2 Peter 1:3) as the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25) there would be no more need for the miraculous (1 Corinthians 13:8-10).

However, Paul doesn’t end this chapter discussing the end of miracles, no he concludes by pointing out that which is greatest between “faith, hope, and love” which is love.

The question is why through?

Let’s start by…

Defining These Three

What Is Faith?

The word faith is found 243 times in the New Testament which points to the sheer significance of the word.

Like most biblically significant words, it is not singular in definition, meaning there is a progression to it.

Faith begins with a belief in God.

John 3:16 (ESV)

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Belief progresses into faith if we allow it.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists AND that he rewards those who seek him.

Faith then professes into faithfulness if we allow it.

Ephesians 1:1 (ESV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

This of course doesn’t explain what “faith” is however.

For that we turn to Hebrews 11:1.

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

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

So faith is an “assurance/substance of things hoped for” & the “conviction/evidence of things not seen.”

Now the word assurance or substance literally means, “to stand under” with the idea being that of a firm foundation.

In other words, faith is the firm foundation or trust in the things we hope for.

We find the word conviction or evidence is an ancient “court of law” term used concerning the cross-examination of a person with the purpose of establishing objective evidence.

In other words, faith is the logical conclusion based on the cross-examination of the invisible God and his word.

So when we combine Hebrews 11:1 with Hebrews 11:6 we can easily see what the word faith means.

Faith is the logical and reasonable conclusion that God exists and is worthy of following because he is God and he has promised us an eternity in his presence.

Let us now consider…

What Is Hope?

As we just saw in our definition of faith, hope is linked to it.

Cyrus Augustus Bartol once said, “Hope is the parent of faith.”

You cannot have biblical faith without hope nor biblical hope without faith.

So again what is hope?

The bible describes in great detail what biblical hope is and so we find that…

Hope is based on God’s faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 7:9 (ESV)

9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations

1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Acts 26:6 (ESV)

6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Where there is no trust in God there is no hope because hope is “based” on God’s faithfulness.

Hope is sustained in that which is yet to be obtained.

Romans 8:24–25 ESV

24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

In other words, hope is sustained by way of expectation not fulfillment as one cannot hope for that which they already have.

A child of God’s hope is in salvation’s ultimate climax found in heaven.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 (ESV)

8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

Colossians 1:5 (ESV)

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven…

So biblical hope can be defined as a “confident expectation of heaven based on our salvation.”

So when we hope in God we living with a confident expectation of heaven based on our salvation, or as the apostle John would write 1 John 5:13…

1 John 5:13 (ESV)

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

That brings us to the last of our trio as we ask the question…

What Is Love?

I won’t spend a lot of time on this as we discussed this several weeks ago now but as way of reminder…

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (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. 8 Love never ends…

God is love and because of this love is the standard for everything.

1 John 4:8 ESV

8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:16 ESV

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

God’s very essence and character is that of love and is seen in his actions.

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV)

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

Matthew 22:37–39 ESV

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Therefore, biblical love can be defined as, “actions driven by our very character that seek the spiritual best of ourselves and others.”

Summary

We now have a good understanding of “Faith, Hope, & Love” but we still have not answered the question of why “love is the greatest” of these three.

So…

Why Is Love The Greatest?

God “Is” Love.

God “is NOT faith” but faithful.

We have faith in God because he is perfectly faithful.

2 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.

God is faithful and is the source of our faith but he has no need of faith because he is the faithful one.

God “is NOT hope.”

Once again we have hope in God’s promises because we have faith or trust in him as faithful.

Psalm 42:5 (ESV)

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Psalm 78:5–7 (ESV)

5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments

God “IS” love.

His very nature is that of love which produces faithfulness and gives us hope in him.

Our faith and hope in God is based on “God is love.”

Secondly love is the greatest because…

Love Never Ends.

As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 13:8…

1 Corinthians 13:8 (ESV)

8 Love never ends…

When we have been faithful unto death and continually kept our hope in the God of our salvation we will receive the crown of life where “faith and hope will end.”

Faith is simply meant to lead us to the outcome of salvation.

1 Peter 1:8–9 ESV

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Once that ultimate outcome takes place it is no longer necessary.

Hope is meant to motivate us to the outcome of salvation.

Hebrews 3:6 ESV

6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Once that ultimate outcome takes place it is no longer necessary.

However, when we get to heaven love does not end.

It is all the more magnified in the very presence of “love.”

Summary

v Love is the greatest because God is love and when we get to heaven it will not end like faith and hope.

Conclusion

But brothers and sisters we here today are not in heaven yet.

We do not know when Jesus will return in the clouds and take his faithful home (1 Thessalonians 4:13ff) but we do know that we must stay the course of faith and hope in God until that day comes.

And as long as God grants us life here on earth let us wake each day seeking to grow in our faith, in our hope, and in our love for our Lord and Savior.

Let us set our minds on being the very best Christian we can possibly be until we one day receive that promised crown of life.

Invitation

Isaiah 59:1–2 ESV

1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Philippians 2:6–7 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Acts 17:30 ESV

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

Matthew 10:32–33 NKJV

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV

8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Romans 6:3–5 ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

1 John 1:7 ESV

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

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