A Letter to the Church in New Orleans
(God knows I have issues)
(God knows I have issues)
Introduction:
Eschatology - the Already and the not yet.
Gospel Ethics - Christianity 101
Ecclesia - the image of the church - As the Body of Christ and the Temple of Christ.
All you need is Jesus (Love)
1 Corinthians 13
Because of the beauty and lyrical nature of this passage it is so easy to think of love as an abstract quality. But for the Apostle Paul, love is primary in this passage because it has already been given concrete expression in the coming of Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV) 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In this passage, Love is not an idea, and not even a “motivating factor” for behavior. It is behavior. To love is to act; anything short of action is not love at all. Secondly, love is not set over against the gifts, because it belongs in a different category altogether. Love is the way in which the gifts are to function. Love is the way that our entire lives must function.
Jesus said himself: Matt 22:37-40 (NIV) 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
I. The Necessity of Love (vs. 1-3)
A. The Corinthians thought that the operation of the gifts among them meant that they were spiritually mature. They prided themselves in their interest in “wisdom” and “knowledge” their false view of freedom based upon the exercise of carnal desires.
Gospel Ethics - Christianity 101
Ecclesia - the image of the church - As the Body of Christ and the Temple of Christ.
All you need is Jesus (Love)
1 Corinthians 13
Because of the beauty and lyrical nature of this passage it is so easy to think of love as an abstract quality. But for the Apostle Paul, love is primary in this passage because it has already been given concrete expression in the coming of Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV) 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In this passage, Love is not an idea, and not even a “motivating factor” for behavior. It is behavior. To love is to act; anything short of action is not love at all. Secondly, love is not set over against the gifts, because it belongs in a different category altogether. Love is the way in which the gifts are to function. Love is the way that our entire lives must function.
Jesus said himself: Matt 22:37-40 (NIV) 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
I. The Necessity of Love (vs. 1-3)
A. The Corinthians thought that the operation of the gifts among them meant that they were spiritually mature. They prided themselves in their interest in “wisdom” and “knowledge” their false view of freedom based upon the exercise of carnal desires.
B. Their so called spirituality showed evidence of all kinds of behavioral flaws. From chapter one onward the Apostle Paul deals with one thing after another which reflects their condition. Theirs was a spirituality that lacked the primary evidence of the Spirit: behavior that could be described as “having love.”
C. To “have love” means to “act lovingly.” The primary imperative of walking in the Spirit is to love God and love others. There is no one without the other. Impossible! 1 John 4:7-8 (NIV) 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
II. The Character of Love (vs. 4-7)
A. The first two clauses represent the two side of the Divine attitude toward mankind. Love is Patient, love is Kind. Patient here reflects long forbearance toward us, he is long suffering with us... Kindness reflects God’s active goodness on our behalf. On the one hand, God’s loving forbearance is demonstrated by his holding back his wrath toward human rebellion; on the other hand, his Kindness is found in the thousandfold expression of his mercy.
B. The two positive expressions are followed by seven verbs that indicate how love does not behave.
C. Love does not envy - meaning here to the Corinthians that Love does not allow fellow believers to be in rivalry or competition. It seeks quite the opposite: How best do I serve these for whom Christ died, whatever my own desires?
D. Love does not boast - meaning literally does not behave as a braggart or a windbag. It suggest self centered actions in which there is inordinate desire to call attention to oneself.
E. Is not Proud - literally means to be puffed up, carrying with it the overtones of arrogance.
F. Is not rude - the verb means to behave shamefully or disgracefully.
F. Is not rude - the verb means to behave shamefully or disgracefully.
G. Is not self-seeking - meaning it does not seek its own; it does not believe that “finding oneself” is the highest good; it seeks the good of one’s neighbor—or enemy (Phil 2:4 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. )
H. Is not easily angered - it suggest that the one who loves is not provoked to anger by those around them.
I. Keeps no record of wrongs - Just as God in Christ does not “reckon our sins against us” (2Cor 5:19), so the one who loves does not take notice of the evil done against them in the sense that no records are kept, waiting for God or man to settle the score.
J. Does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth - what is reflected here is the truth of the Gospel and all that is opposed to it. Love stands on the side of the gospel and the truth and absolutely rejects that which is opposed to God’s standards of righteousness.
K. Always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. The character of love is this: “there is nothing that Love cannot face.”
III. The Permanence of Love
A. Love never fails - on the one hand it means that it is never defeated, is never brought to the ground; it persists even when repuffed. On the other hand it means that love is eternal in its nature, because it reflects God’s character and nature.
III. The Permanence of Love
A. Love never fails - on the one hand it means that it is never defeated, is never brought to the ground; it persists even when repuffed. On the other hand it means that love is eternal in its nature, because it reflects God’s character and nature.
B. In our present Christian life, there are three imperishables: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love.
