“THESE THREE”                    march 2019                                                                                         

“so now faith, hope  and love abide, these three:

but the greatest of these is love”.

FAITH  abides.  Also translated belief, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe …” (Hebrews 11:6).  

Faith refers to that by which our steps are guided.    To become a Christian; or to live as we should as Christians, we must walk by faith.  “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ’ (Romans 10:17).   Therefore, that faith by which we walk is not “faith alone”, not an empty, barren thing.  Faith without works is dead, James writes (2:17).  Hebrews 11 offers several examples of people walking by faith, and they all have this in common, they are identified by the obedience of faith that led to their salvation from a flood or from an opposing army, et al.

The faith by which we walk is not ad lib, so that whatever suits me is acceptable to God.  This was the force of Paul’s words in I Corinthians 4:6, “ … that you may learn by us not to go beyond what  is written …”.  It was the negative example provided by Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron “who offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them” (Leviticus 10:1, 2).  God wants our submission, not our originality.

To walk by faith is to take only those steps in service to Him that He has spoken.  “We walk by faith, not by sight”, II Corinthians 5:7.

Faith may refer to the trust in God which was displayed by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  King Nebuchadnezzar said, worship me.  He said, if you do not worship me, you will be thrown into a fiery furnace.  The three young men said to him, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:15 – 18).  Faith says to error, “do your worst, we will not serve your gods”.

Faith  “is the assurance of things hoped for … “ Hebrews 11:1.  As we walk by faith we are assured that our hope is valid.  Faith supports hope.

HOPE abides.  Hope is desire plus expectation.  Hope is produced by character, Romans 5:4. Things we desire but do not expect are not hope, they are wishes.  Things we expect but do not desire are obviously not hoped for.  However, when the thing I desire is something I can reasonably expect, then I have hope.  All sensible people desire to go to heaven.  Those who have obeyed the gospel of Christ, and walk in the light, can expect heaven, James 1:21.

What does an abiding hope do for us?    Well,                          it gives us a helmet which is “the hope of salvation”              (I Thessalonians 5:8) .  We all know about helmets, and what they provide for athletes, bicycle – and tricycle -- riders of every age, protecting the head with its precious cargo, things essential to life.  The helmet which is the hope of heaven gives protection against the “hard knocks” of life that might otherwise overwhelm us.  How do people without hope survive the anxieties and heartaches of life?  I have stood at caskets containing the bodies of loved ones lost, and the survivors’ hopeless grief was simply overwhelming, sympathetic words fail.  

Hope sustains.  “Rejoicing in hope” (Romans 12:12).  We get loaded down with the cares of life, and sometimes those cares seem to be more than we can bear.    The God we serve, “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think …’, Ephesians 3:20.  Able to deliver us, He will not always respond in the way we think He should; but He will respond – and we should rejoice in hope.

LOVE is “the greatest of these”.  Greater than faith?  Greater than hope?  How? 

 All three “abide” (remain).  Love is greater than faith, and hope.  Faith may fail, Luke 22:32, but love never ends, I Corinthians 13:8.  Hope is the motivation of patience, in anticipation of that which is not seen. Romans 8:24, 25. Paul wrote, “Let all that you do be done in love” (I Corinthians 16:14), thus revealing our motives for all we do.  And John said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (I John 5:3) revealing the behavior of love toward Him.

What is love?  The “commanded love” is not something you “fall into”.  It is not a feeling, not an emotion.  It is illustrated by the heavenly Father, who “so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life …” John 3:16.   What did the Father do, to show He “so” loved the world?  He did that which the world most needed: He gave perishing people a Savior.  He loved.

Again, Matthew 5:43-45:  “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”

Children take on the appearance or mannerisms of their parents; so that an observer can say, you sound just like your Daddy.  It seems that this is in view when Jesus says, do these things that you may be seen to be sons of your Father: Who loves His enemies by doing good for them: giving sun and rain, to bad and good alike.  Are we seen, by our behavior, “to be sons of your Father”?

Paul writes, “Let all that you do be done in love” (I Corinthians 16:14).  From time to time we may find it necessary to rebuke someone.  The admonition of this verse demands our careful attention.  Our rebuke or instruction or whatever should be presented in the most effective way possible, not using the occasion to beat the person down but speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).  Let all that you do be done in love.

No picking and choosing; “So now faith,  hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”