“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
And now
The “now” links love to the discussion on gifts. The words “and now” are temporal – “Now at present.” This contrasts the temporary gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge with the church-age gifts of faith, hope, and love. Faith, hope, and love are all permanent functions for the believer in time, while certain kinds of gifts will cease in time. Paul began his discussion on the contrast between temporal gifts and the permanence of love in verse eight:
1 Co 13:8, Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Certain revelatory gifts ceased at the end of the apostolic age and the close of the canon, but the virtues of faith, hope, and love continue in the present time. By contrasting these virtues with temporary revelatory gifts, Paul makes the virtues superior because they are longer-lasting. Faith, hope, and love continue throughout the church age. Love is superior to faith and hope because it continues into eternity.
abide
The word “abide” is singular, making faith, hope, and love a unit, set apart from temporal gifts. The word “abide” indicates continuity, as it literally means remain. Love, while permanent eternally, is not the only lasting virtue, for faith and hope endure in time as well. Those who take the “perfect” to be the eternal state have a problem with “faith” and “hope” existing in heaven. The reason for that problem is that “perfect” does not refer to the eternal state but to the closing of the canon. We need faith and hope for the remainder of the present time.
faith,
Faith here is the function of faith, not the gift of faith. Faith is an enduring virtue. We exercise trust because we are finite creatures. Faith is the believer’s response to God’s promise or provision. Presently, we walk by faith, not by sight, but in eternity, we will walk by sight.
2 Co 5:7, For we walk by faith, not by sight.
hope,
“Hope” in the New Testament carries the idea of confidence. It expects God to fulfill His promise or provision. God will set aside hope in eternity, but it is essential for believers to function in time. God sets hope aside in eternity.
Ro 8:24-25, For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Love is superior to faith and hope because it will continue into eternity. Faith and hope operate in time. Love is also the greatest because the exercise of all the gifts depends on it.
God cannot trust or hope; otherwise, He would not be God, for God is absolute and needs nothing. However, God is a God of love, and His love does not depend on anything or anyone outside Himself.
PRINCIPLE:
The permanent has greater value than the temporary.
APPLICATION:
Christians should put spiritual gifts in perspective with the qualities of faith, hope, and love. Temporal gifts function for a period in time while faith, hope, and love continue to function throughout time, directing faith towards God, hope towards self, and love towards others. Although temporal gifts will die away in time, love will remain the highest priority for Christians to pursue (1 Co14:1). The reason for this is that it is in the very nature of God to love (1 Jn 4:18). Faith will dissolve into sight; hope will melt into stark reality, but love will exist for all eternity. God poured His love into our hearts when we became Christians (Jn 3:16). The Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us (Ga 2:20). That is why we love as we never loved before.
You set forth a principle that “the permanent has greater value than the temporary”. I agree that this principle explains the contrast between “love” and “tongues” (or any other temporal gift of the Spirit). But I am at this link because I am researching the contrast between “faith, hope and love”. All three of these are said to abide, so I’m not quite satisfied that the principle “the permanent has greater value than the temporary” applies here. At the same time, I can see that faith is irrelevent in the context of eternity, because sight obviates it. Or does it– will faith still abide even after it has been made sight? Will hope still abide in Heaven? If faith and hope DO abide into eternity, then it suggests a different sense in which love is “greater”, perhaps akin to “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Can you clarify this comparison for me?
Scott, thanks for your comment and insight.
Since 1 Co 12-14 argues what what is current in the life of the church, it appears to me that faith, hope and love are operative to the church at hand. 1 Cor 12 gives the catalogue of gifts, chapter 13 the correct use of the gifts and chapter 14 set forth the misuse of gifts. 13;13 appears to me a restatement of the priority of love argued earlier in the chapter.
In eternity we will still be finite albeit a being that lives for eternity. We will never be omniscient, omnipotent, etc. because those are the incommunicable attributes of God. Therefore, I believe that belief, hope and love will continue into eternity. Finite beings will learn for eternity and carry confidence (the Greek work for “hope” is confidence, not a wish).
The response in the comment section to Scott on March 26, 2017 says in the second to last sentence:
“Therefore, I believe that belief, hope and love will continue into eternity.”.
In the commentary under ‘love, these three: but the greatest of these is love.’ Is the sentence:
“Love is superior to faith and hope because it will continue into eternity. Faith and hope operate in time.”
This sentence seem to imply faith and hope do not continue in eternity. Also other places in your commentary – under the topics, And now, Faith & Hope, seems you allude faith & hope are just for time.
Of course you wrote the original commentary in 2002/2003, so maybe through your study, the Spirit has clarify this interpretation or I’m not misinterpreting your commentary.
Thank you for your faithfulness to the Word & your commentaries.
DennisInChrist,
Thanks for your insightful post and pointing out my unclarity in response to Scott. Here is an attempt to clarify what I meant:
“And now” (νυνὶ δὲ) may carry either a logical or temporal force.
If the sense of “and now” is logical, “now” would reference the conclusion of the argument in chapter 13. The present tense “to remain” would denote something present that continues in the future, i.e., all three virtues continue into eternity. In the description of love, Paul includes both faith and hope in 13:7. Thus, the main point of the passage is the permanence of love as opposed to temporary spiritual gifts. Love is greater than prophecy, tongues, and knowledge.
If the premise is temporal, then the idea of 13:13 refers to the believer’s present life and walk. The occurrences of ἄρτι in verse 12 are clearly temporal, but in v. 13, Paul uses νυνὶ δὲ. Although love is forever, that love has a present application as well. Under this assumption, love is the greatest because only love carries into the future. However, faith and hope are only for the present age. The argument is love is the greatest because it carries into the future, but faith and hope are qualities for the present age (Ro 8:24; 2 Co 5:7). Hope does not continue into eternity because that hope has been realized. Hope is something that remains unseen (He 11:1). It seems that faith and hope are more tied to present trust in realities that will become visible. It appears to me that the argument is that faith and hope are qualities of time, not eternity, where we will see by sight. Love is the greatest because it is eternal and supreme during time on earth. “Hope” in the sense of anticipation would not carry into eternity, but in the sense of confidence, it would carry over.
The adjective “greatest” is comparative with the implication of being superlative. Love is the greatest because all the Christian virtues and ministries of the Spirit depend on it for their validity, it lasts for eternity, it binds the Christian community together now and eternally, and it is the nature of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your excellent clarifing response & taking time to pen it.