IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 282

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part LXVIII

We made it through all of the thoughts that are directly in regard to Love from the Thirteenth Chapter of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians and this chapter is generally regarded as about Love and so it is but there is more. From the beginning there is Paul’s reference to the Gifts of the Spirit as he continues on from his thoughts in Chapter Twelve and, as we reflected on yesterday, the apostle does make note at the end of his thoughts on Gifts to the “more excellent way“. We should here remember that the chapter and verse arrangement of the New Testament are not as written by the apostles but they are the creation of man dating back to the thirteenth century as regards chapters and the sixteenth century as regards verses thus making up the bible as it appears today. Reading 1 Corinthians as it progresses from the Twelfth Chapter to the Thirteenth without separation would go like this:

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 12:25-13:3).

This is how these verses likely appear in the original text as written by Paul or his surrogate and this is how we are reading them. Paul first speaks to us of the problems in the church  A at Corinth regarding position and moves on to reiterate that the church is one body and not many and that the gifts, though they may vary in importance, are all necessary to work together and in this is the beginning of his teaching on Love as regards the idea that when one member suffers or is honoured, all members suffer or rejoice together….willingly. Seeing that the whole of his dialogue in this Chapter Twelve regards the Gifts themselves as well as the place of each man in regard to the Gifts and the church, we should see the ending of it as acknowledging the idea, as the Master says it in the parable, that “to every man according to his several ability” (Matthew 25:15). Paul is telling us that we should “covet earnestly the best gifts” and his next idea here paves the way into how his thoughts relate these Gifts to Love which IS the better way. This is seen in a single thought as above and graphically painting the picture for us that these Gifts that he has spent his time discussing are meaningless, empty, profitless, they are nothing or, more accurate yet, the possessor of these Gifts, without Love, is nothing.

It is interesting to note that some commentaries ignore this flow from Gifts to Love and interject doctrine and dogma. For example:

• John Gill in his Exposition of the Bible⁸ tells us that: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way: if by the best gifts are designed the above graces of the Spirit, then by “the more excellent way”, Christ must be meant, the author and object of these graces; who is the way to the covenant, and to a participation of all the blessings of it, as justification, pardon, adoption, and eternal life; the way into a Gospel church, and to all the ordinances of the Gospel dispensation, as baptism, and the Lord’s supper; for faith in him is the prerequisite, and proper qualification for the enjoyment of each of these: Christ is the way of salvation, and the way to the Father, and to heaven and eternal happiness; and an excellent one he is, the more, yea, the most excellent; he is the only way to each of these…. ⁸. Gill goes on but the idea remains the same; this is the doctrine that he teaches and the words Love and charity appear in this commentary only once in his saying that men may have the greatest gifts, and yet not be saved, as Judas and others; but he that has the least degree of faith in Christ, hope in him, and love to him, shall be saved by him with an everlasting salvation: or particularly the grace of charity, or love to the saints, may be intended by the more excellent way⁸.
• Conversely the The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible⁸ paints this more along the lines that we read saying: and yet–Greek, “and moreover.” Besides recommending your zealous desire for the greatest gifts, I am about to show you a something still more excellent (literally, “a way most way-like”) to desire, “the way of love” (compare 1 Corinthians 14:1 ). This love, or “charity,” includes both “faith” and “hope” ( 1 Corinthians 13:7 ), and bears the same fruits ( 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ) as the ordinary and permanent fruits of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:22-24 ). Thus “long-suffering,” compare 1 Corinthians 12:4 ; “faith,” 1 Corinthians 12:7 ; “joy,” 1 Corinthians 12:6 ; “meekness,” 1 Corinthians 12:5 ; “goodness,” 1 Corinthians 12:5 ; “gentleness,” 1 Corinthians 12:4 (the Greek is the same for “is kind”). It is the work of the Holy Spirit, and consists in love to God, on account of God’s love in Christ to us, and as a consequence, love to man, especially to the brethren in Christ ( Romans 5:5 , 15:30 ). This is more to be desired than gifts ( Luke 10:20 )⁸. Do we see the differences in these commentaries; Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown who wrote the Commentary Critical apparently have a much greater understanding of the idea of Love that does Mr. Gill telling us that ALL of the Fruits of the Spirit are contained in this Love.
• Vincent tells us here that there is a definite relationship between the end of the one chapter and the beginning of another:

• Yet (eti). Some construe with more excellent, rendering yet more excellent. So Rev. Others render moreover, and give the succeeding words a superlative force: “and moreover a most excellent way,” etc. See on with excellency, ch. ii. 1⁴.
• Way. To attain the higher gifts. The way of love as described in ch. 13. “Love is the fairest and best in himself, and the cause of what is fairest and best in all other things” (Plato, “Symposium,” 197)⁴. 

Do we see the rather stark differences between these commentaries which are based upon the doctrine that the writer of each professes. For us this has been a long way around to show the relationships between the Gifts of the Spirit and the Unifying Principal of Love so that we can make the next transition. As we say above, Paul is at first telling us that there are Gifts and then that Love is the “more excellent way” and that without Love any Gift that one may have or believe he has are meaningless, empty, profitless, they are nothing or, more accurate yet, the possessor of these Gifts, without Love, is nothing. The apostle then gives us the defining terms of the Love that the disciple IS and that he expresses and then returns to the theme of comparison to the Gifts which so many believe are important and tells us again of the superiority of Love. He says:

“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away“

In yesterday’s post we looked at this in terms of the ongoing nature of the Soul, the consciousness, the Christ Within which is, as we know, the Real Man. The form Life of the man is a temporary one and can be seen in the same Light as all of these things that the apostle ascribes to the Gifts of prophecy, tongues and knowledge, that thy shall fail, cease and vanish away. All of these things act and work through the personality of the man, his appearance on the Earth, and therefore die with the dying of the form. God IS Love, Christ IS Love and the Christ Within IS Love  so therefore the Soul which is, in our understanding, God in man IS Love as well. From this perspective we should see the reality of Life which is also Love because God IS Love never fails and this is, in part, the message of Paul. We can compound this message however by attaching it also tho the verses that follow and reading them together as: “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:8-11).

Paul is here testifying to the worldly nature of these Gifts; not that they are not important nor to be desired but that they are only of use to the man in the world. He goes further here to tell us that in the striving to spiritual power, to discipleship, that these Gifts can be known and used “in part” and that when that time of discipleship comes, when we are perfect in discipleship, “then that which is in part shall be done away” and the disciple will be in the FULLNESS of the Christ Within. This is as the Master tells us it should be in His saying that: “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). Can we understand Paul’s logic here? The apostle has a similar thing to say to the Ephesians, telling them that: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13). Do we see the teaching here? that when we come “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” then these things that are meant for one’s perfecting and for the edifying of the whole are no longer necessary.

Paul next brings us to an analogy that covers his saying of things failing, ceasing and vanishing away and the allied thoughts of knowing in part. The child is to the adult as the aspirant is to the disciple; the aspirant is desirous of that True relationship with the Christ Within and to grow into discipleship and in this growth, he outgrows those things that may have been necessary at an earlier stage. Paul likens this to those things that the aspirant may know in part. Think about our own lives in regard to spiritual matters and how many things we may have at one time done but which we have outgrown; that is they no longer serve a useful purpose. This could in the things one reads or the way one prays and it is especially in the way one thinks about God and the Kingdom; we move forward and, if we are doing our part in Love, every day brings us more and more Light and we KNOW more and we understand more through revelation and, of course, we do more. This is the steady march to discipleship and to perfection. Following the quotation above from Ephesians is another reference to children which reflects the same message albeit in a different way; Paul says: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:14-15). Can we see the relationship here? that Paul is saying to the Ephesians that when they come “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children“. Can we see also how the apostle ties this also to Love?

The next part in this is one that we discussed briefly several posts ago and it is aligned with the thoughts above regarding the idea of things in part. Paul tells us that: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Many get tied up in the ideas of the glass or the mirror here much like they do in the saying on deceiving oneself by the Apostle James that led us here several posts back to these words by Paul. The glass is unimportant except for the analogy that it provides and we should see this in the same Light as knowing in part and knowing in the perfection of discipleship; in the same Light as the child and the adult. As an aspirant we see ourselves dimly; we sense the reality of the Christ Within, the Soul, but we have no clarity. When, however, the full term of discipleship arrives, when we are perfect we will see clearly the Christ Within, our True Self, face to face. This is a reward for the hard work that we do. Similarly the apostle tells us of how one knows in part, as he does above and how, when the fullness of discipleship takes us, we shall know fully as the conscious Soul in form, even as the Soul knows ALL. Our words are necessarily cumbersome here as there are none that will allow us to understand the Truth and the reality of the Soul, the Christ Within, and how He can be fully conscious, pure and unblemished in His own place yet immersed in this world of illusion at the same time.

The final line in this Chapter on Love is another that supports ALL of our ideas on the importance of Love and its ability to cure ALL; the apostle says:

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity (Love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (Love)“

(1 Corinthians 13:13).

Greater than ALL things; greater than Faith, greater than Hope, greater than the Gifts of the Spirit is LOVE for GOD IS LOVE.

We will get back to our ideas on illusion, glamour and deception in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day