1 Corinthians 13
Lipscomb1 Corinthians 13:1
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,—The apostle in this chapter presents the most excellent way. He shows that one may possess spiritual gifts and not be in this way. Though he should be able to speak all the tongues known to men or angels, that would not insure his salvation without he possessed love. Judas Iscariot possessed the power to work miracles in common with the other apostles. (Matthew 10:1). He did not possess love, betrayed the Lord, and went to his own place. (Acts 1:25). Paul himself, endowed with the apostolic measure of the Holy Spirit, said: “I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
There is no doubt that some of those who were endowed with the spiritual gifts turned aside into sin and were lost. When they turned from the Lord, it is certain that they lost their gifts.
but have not love,—The possession of love is the essential requirement. What is love? Passion is often mistaken for love. They differ widely, yet resemble in some points. Love denies self for the good of object. Passion seeks its own gratification. The test and measure of love is how much of his own pleasure he is willing to forego for the well-being of the object of his love. The test of a mother’s love for her child is how much of her selfish pleasure she will forego for the good of the child; the test of a husband’s love is how much of his selfish pleasure he will deny himself to make his wife happy; the test of a child’s love for its parents is how much of its pleasure it will forego to please the parent.
Man’s love to God is measured by his willingness to sacrifice his own pleasure and his own ways to please God. “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:3). Christ’s love to men was shown by his willingness to give up the glory of heaven and die to save man. Love looks to the good of the person loved. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.” (Romans 13:10). The greatest good any one can do to another is to fulfil the requirements of the law of God to him. To do what the law of God requires to a wife, a child, a husband, a parent, a neighbor, or an enemy is to do the greatest good to them possible. Then the highest and truest love is shown in fulfilling the law of God toward them. “And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments… whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected” (1 John 2:3-5)—that is, the love that God has toward us is transformed to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and is perfected in us by our keeping his commandments.
These Scriptures show plainly that love as used in the Bible is not a mere sentiment nor an excitement of the passions nor a feeling of magnetic attraction, but is an active desire to do good. In a believer in Jesus Christ it can be manifested only by doing to God, to man, in all the relations in which one stands to him, what God’s law directs, this will bring the highest and only true good, and so is the manifestation of love.
I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.—To be able to speak with tongues, while refusing to do their duty to God and man was like sounding brass or a clanging cymbal, an empty pretense without sense or good.
1 Corinthians 13:2
And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.—Though he should have all these greater gifts and have not love, or fail to perform the commands of God toward God and man, he would be a spiritual bankrupt before heaven and earth.
1 Corinthians 13:3
And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,—The giving of goods to feed the poor is considered by many to be the very essence of love. When done from a proper motive, it is a fruit of love, but if it is done for any other motive than to honor God, and to bless man in the name of God, it is not love.
and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.— [A willingness to suffer for one’s faith is not in every case a guarantee of the existence of a heart transformed from selfishness to love. Gifts and conduct which bring men prominently before the eyes of men are often no index to the character; and if they be not rooted in and guided by love to God and man, their possessor has but little reason to congratulate himself. Too often it is a snare to judge himself by what he does rather than by what he is. At one period martyrdom became fashionable, and Christian teachers were compelled to remonstrate with those who fanatically rushed to the stake and the arena. It is possible that many suffered through vainglory rather than the love of Christ.]
1 Corinthians 13:4
Love suffereth long,—This longsuffering is the protracted endurance of wrong, such as is fitted to provoke resentment. [It is that command over natural impulse which keeps just displeasure from breaking forth into action. Moses had more of this than any other in his day, yet to his cost he once failed in it. Indeed, Jesus Christ was the only one who possessed it in the fullest sense: “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again.” (1 Peter 2:23; see also Colossians 3:12-13).
and is kind;—It is kind to those who do evil. [It is good- natured, gentle, tender, affectionate. It is not sour, harsh, morose, ill-natured. It is active in doing good things to as many as possible, moved by the conviction: “I shall pass through this world but once, any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now, let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again.”]
love envieth not;—[Envy is chagrin, mortification, discontent, or uneasiness at the sight of another’s excellence or good fortune, accompanied with some degree of hatred and a desire to possess equal advantages; malicious grudging. Love does not envy the happiness and prosperity others enjoy; but delights in their welfare, and as their happiness is increased by their endowments, their reputation, their health, their domestic comforts, and their learning, it rejoices in it all and would not diminish it, and would not detract from that happiness.] love vaunteth not itself,—It does not thrust itself forward, nor take the highest seats in the synagogue. [Does not ostentatiously parade its superiority to others, whether real or supposed, priding itself on it. This quality is the exact opposite of envy; the one envying in another what is not possessed by ourselves, the other looking down on another for the want of something which we possess.]
is not puffed up,—[It does not indulge in inflated opinions of itself; the words imply an instinctive aversion from all false glitter, pompous bluster, strutting in borrowed plumes, from extravagant words, looks, tones, styles, in short, a deep hatred of seeming to be more than one is.]
1 Corinthians 13:5
doth not behave itself unseemly,—It behaves not haughtily; but is kind, gentle, loving in character, defers to the wishes and rights of others, and in honor prefers others. [It seeks that which is proper or becoming in the circumstances in which we are placed. It prompts to that which is becoming in life; it saves from all that is unfit and unbecoming. It prompts to due respect for superiors; to a proper regard for inferiors, not despising their poverty, their dress, their dwellings; it prompts to the due performance of all the duties growing out of the relations of life, as those of husband, wife, parent, child, brother, sister, and procures proper deportment in all these relations.]
seeketh not its own,—Seeks not its own selfish desires and ends, but looks to the good and happiness of all. [And who so eminent in this as Paul himself—next to “our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich”—who so often inculcated this grace. (1 Corinthians 9:22-23; 1 Corinthians 10:33; 2 Corinthians 7:3; Romans 15:2). And yet, even then, rarely found noticeably among Christians. (Philippians 2:21). The love here commended will prompt us to seek the welfare of others with self-denial, personal sacrifice, and toil. If all Christians would make it their grand object not to seek their own but the good of others; then true love would occupy its appropriate place in the heart, of every professed child of God; then there would be no lack of funds to carry forward the glorious gospel; then there would be no lack of men willing to devote their lives to the glorious work; then there would be no lack of prayer to implore aid from God to live up to the fullest measure of duty.] is not provoked,—It does not readily take offense, nor is it easily excited to anger, or provoked to resent evils. [The one who is under the influence of love is not prone to violent anger or exasperation; it is not his character to be hasty, excited, or passionate. He is serious, calm, and patient. He looks soberly at things; and though he may be injured, yet he governs his temper, restrains and subdues his feelings.]
taketh not account of evil;—It does not surmise evil and put the worst construction on the acts of others. [It makes no memorandum of evil done to itself, but allows it to pass unnoticed. It does not attribute evil motives to others, neither is it suspicious. It desires to think well of those whom it loves, and will not think ill of their motives, or conduct until it is compelled to do so by the most irrefragable evidence.]
1 Corinthians 13:6
rejoiceth not in unrighteousness,—It does not rejoice in the wrongdoing committed by others. (Romans 1:32). It cannot sympathize with what is evil, neither can it share the glee of the successful transgressor.
but rejoiceth with the truth;—Rejoices when the truth rejoices; sympathizes with it in its triumphs: “I rejoice greatly that I have found certain of thy children walking in truth, even as we received commandment from the Father.” (2 John 1:4). The truth is the gospel truth, the inseparable ally of love. (Ephesians 4:15; 3 John 1:12). The false love which compromises the truth by glossing over iniquity or unrighteousness is thus tacitly condemned. (Proverbs 17:15).
1 Corinthians 13:7
beareth all things,—”Love covereth a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8). It does not lay bare and expose to public gaze the infirmities and wrongs of the erring and those led into sin. It covers them up and tries to deliver from them.
believeth all things,—It believes all the good which it can of any one as long as it is possible to do so without betraying the truth of God.
hopeth all things,—Works for all, even the worst, hoping they will repent.
endureth all things.—It suffers, endures, bears all evils, and is not driven from the true course by the wrongs and injuries of the wicked. These qualities seem to be successive steps in the treatment of the erring. They manifest true Christian fortitude.
1 Corinthians 13:8
Love never faileth:—He now shows that spiritual gifts were temporary, and must pass away; while love, the doing of God’s will to all, as a principle of action and a means of justification, would never pass away. Love is the ruling principle in heaven, and is eternal.
but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away;—Prophecy, the foretelling of future events and the teaching by inspiration the will of God after it had been given by the apostles, would be done away.
whether there be tongues, they shall cease;—The speaking with tongues they had never learned would cease.
whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.—The time would come when miraculously bestowed knowledge would be known no more. All those spiritual gifts pertained to the introductory age of the church. These powers were given to help men do what they could not do without the power, as the New Testament had not been completed.
1 Corinthians 13:9
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;—At the time this was written, some things were unknown, had not been revealed. For the knowledge of God’s will they were dependent upon those possessing the gift of prophecy. Most expositors think this refers to the partial knowledge of divine things we possess in this world, compared with the clear vision we shall possess when we shall have passed into the future; but this is wholly outside the scope of the apostle’s writing here. He is contrasting the spiritual gifts, their teachings and blessings, with the service of love under the completed and perfect law.
1 Corinthians 13:10
but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.—These gifts were to continue in the church to guide and instruct it until the completed will of God was made known. They were to serve a temporary purpose; then when their office was fulfilled, they were to pass away and give place to it.
That perfection was completed, so far as God’s work of the revealing work of the Spirit is concerned, when the full will of God should be revealed, or made known, and his provisions for saving men should be set in operation, as is set forth in the following: “And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-15). In this passage Paul explains the whole matter: showing that these miraculous gifts were to serve till the full knowledge was received to make them one in faith and to bring them to the fullness of men and women in Christ. That knowledge is given in the New Testament.
There are two reasons why the gifts of the Spirit are not now imparted. These gifts were miraculous powers. First, there are no apostles now to impart gifts. The apostles were inspired men; so they knew all truth through inspiration, and they had seen and heard Jesus. Secondly, having revealed all truth needed to make men perfect, and thoroughly furnish them to all good works, having put in operation all the provisions of God for instructing and blessing men, there is no further need for miraculous revelations. Men can now learn all truth needed for present and eternal well-being from his will revealed and recorded in the Bible, and it will lead him into all the blessings of God in this world and in that to come, if he will study it to know and do the will of God. What man can learn himself, God will not work miracles to make known to him.
Again, to all creations and orders of God there have been creative and procreative ages. The creative age is that in which new creatures and a new order of things are brought into being; the procreative age is that in which these beings are multiplied and developed and the order is continued. In the creative age, the age of miracles, things are miraculously formed and created, afterwards they multiply and grow through the workings of law. Life was imparted to Adam and Eve by miracle; life, the same life that was given to them, has been passed on to their children through all the generations from them to us by law. No miracle has been needed to impart physical life since they were made alive. A miracle giving physical life would be a violation of the order of God.
The same is true in the spiritual world. In the beginning spiritual life was imparted miraculously. Jesus Christ came into the world; through his teaching in precept and example; his suffering, death, burial; his struggle in the grave with the power of death and hell (in the grave the battle for man was fought and the victory won); his resurrection and ascension to his Father’s throne, he created the material for the new spiritual kingdom. The apostles and their fellow disciples constituted the nucleus. Christ completed his work and left them with the words ringing in their ears: “Behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49). The Holy Spirit came, imparted unto them spiritual life miraculously, organized them, gave laws to guide in the operation and development in the spiritual realm.
The same spiritual life bestowed on them through miracle has been perpetuated and multiplied through “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2), so that all Christians now enjoy that life without miracle. It was given by miracle; it is perpetuated by law.
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child:—He compares this time of partial gifts in the church to childhood; that, when the perfect law is completed, to manhood. While the gifts last, he would use and speak by them as he spoke when a child.
now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things.—When the perfect law is come, he will put away these partial gifts bestowed as helps for the childhood of the church and use the perfect law given to guide its manhood.
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.—While in the state of childhood, with only the partial knowledge made known through the spiritually gifted, they saw as in a mirror darkly; but when the perfect revelation should be made known, they would know the things revealed through all. So that the knowledge we possess through the completed will of God is greatly more than any one of the gifted or inspired ones possessed, since the revelations made to and through all are given in the Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 13:13
But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;—While these miraculous gifts must pass away, faith, hope, and love remain as the permanent and abiding fruits of the word of God. Without these no one can be a child of God; with them and the perfect law of liberty, gifts are no longer needed. The word of God as the seed of the kingdom received into the heart produces faith. Faith, in the promises contained in the word of God, produces hope. The end of faith and hope is to bring man into perfect harmony with the will of God. Complete harmony with the will of God is perfect love to every being in the universe.
and the greatest of these is love.—Love is the filling of all requirements, duties, and obligations contained in the law of God toward God and to all the creatures of heaven and earth. Love is the great underlying and all-pervading principle of the universe. God is love, and the laws of the universe are the manifestations and outgrowth of his love; and to love is to conform to the laws of God, to bring ourselves into harmony with them, and through these to work good to every being in the universe. This love will only be perfected in the state of glory, when we shall see him as he is and be like him, and it will be eternal.
[Faith is not an end; it is faith in a Divine Deliverer and in his promise of salvation; it is the means toward eternal life. Hope is not an end; it is hope of final and eternal fellowship with God; it is the means to steadfastness and to heaven. But love is an end in itself. It is the bond of perfectness; beyond this even Christianity cannot carry us. As faith and hope realize their purpose when they produce love, it is obvious that the virtue which is their final purpose is greater than they. And this conviction is confirmed when we consider that, of all virtues, love is usually the most difficult and the last to be acquired.
Love is the test and the crown of spiritual maturity. Society needs above all things to be penetrated with the spirit of love to God, sympathy and brotherly kindness to man. This is the radical cure for all its ills—this, and only this. Without it, all is disorder and chaos; with it, all is regularity and beauty. It represses hatred, malice, envy; and it cultivates considerateness, pity, gentleness, self-denial, and generous help.]