July 26, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let\u2019s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ\u2019s body!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this chapter Paul outlines for us the way of love, which he says is far greater than any spiritual gift we can possess or any righteous act we can perform. Paul says that if we have every spiritual gift and use it to its maximum potential, or if we possess the greatest faith and even give up our lives and ourselves in martyrdom, but do it without love in our hearts, all we are doing is making a bunch of noise: nothing is gained in the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul tells us what genuine love looks like and that, in the end, love will be all that remains. As the church, we are to look to the coming kingdom with eager anticipation, and Paul reminds us here that all the spiritual gifts of this present age will pass away when the kingdom comes, because they will no longer be necessary. But love will endure forever, and we will live forever in the full light of God\u2019s love. Even faith and hope will no longer be necessary in that day; we won\u2019t have to hold on to belief or to hope, because we will be with the Lord! But love will endure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Love is meant to characterize the entirety of our lives as believers. If our actions, words, and lives are not motivated by love for God and for others, we are not fulfilling the law of Christ. Those who have encountered the love of God in Jesus Christ show that love to other people, and Paul calls us here to the way of love!<\/p>\n\n\n\n