The Power Of Love Series

Five weddings and maybe six in the space of twelve weeks; that’s how my summer is shaping up! It must be in the water around here, I don’t know! And when I stand at weddings and often read this Scripture passage, it is painfully true that there is no guarantee that the couple in front of me has a real understanding of what agape love looks like. You’ll remember that there are four Greek words which are translated “love”: one is eros, from which we get the word “erotic”, referring to sexual love. How many couples stand at marriage altars understanding love primarily as eros? Phileo is another Greek word, referring to brotherly love—hence “Philadelphia”, the “City of Brotherly Love”. Storge, “instinctual affection” is another word—how many of these couples have some sort of affection which brings them together, but which is not willing to love with God’s kind of love, agape? This is the love Paul is describing; this is the kind of love for which we as believers must be striving. This is what God desires to produce in our lives as fruit of the Spirit number one! And notice that our final main point about this agape—not said to be true of eros, phileo, or storge—is that it “endures all things.”

Now remember we said that Paul sets this passage in the context of a discussion of spiritual gifts, gifts endowed by the Spirit upon individuals for the purpose of building up the body of Jesus Christ, the church. And so we ought not be surprised, spoken to a church that was abusing these gifts, that Paul contrasts love with the gifts. Notice that Paul, in verses 8-12, says to the Corinthians and to us that

I. Our spiritual gifts and understanding

are incomplete:

This is the primary point that he makes in the contrast: spiritual gifts are in and of themselves incomplete. Love forms the context for the living of the Christian life and the exercise of the spiritual gifts. Paul doesn’t diminish their importance at all; he goes to great lengths to teach on such gifts. But he here emphasizes the fact that love far supercedes the gifts themselves. Notice he says in both verses 8 and 10 that gifts are

A. Impermanent (vv. 8,10)

Paul says that the gifts will pass away. There will be no need for them in eternity. No matter what one believes about the gift of tongues, one will not need such in eternity. He says of prophecy, a gift primarily involving the anointed forth-telling of God’s truth, and of knowledge, which referred to a God-given supernatural ability to perceive truth, that these would katargeo, a Greek word which means “to reduce to inactivity”. At some point, these gifts would be reduced to inactivity. Of the gift of tongues, Paul uses a different Greek word, one which brings to mind the image of a clock running down. He says that there is, if you will, a built-in stopping point for the gift of tongues; many believe that this has already taken place, while other believers, of course, dispute that interpretation. Verse 10 builds upon this, saying that these gifts, since they are incomplete, partial, will be done away. It ought to be said as well that these gifts are meant by Paul as being representative of all others; all spiritual gifts fit this description—they will be done away with! Without getting into the argument about the timing of the cessation of certain gifts, let’s all agree that Paul is here emphasizing the temporary nature of all gifts!