1
Corinthians 13:13 KJV
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the
greatest of these is charity.
The Apostle tells us that in
the world of faith, three things remain
- Faith
- Hope
- Charity
Not that there is nothing else
for in the world of secularism. There remained still
- Virtue
- Honor
- Chivalry
- Knowledge and etc.
In the world of religion there
yet remained things such as
- Dedication
- Loyalty
- Leadership and etc.
Paul did not suggest that these
things no longer existed. He simply contrasted them to these three and these
stand out far beyond the others.
Faith, hope and charity so
excel the others as to leave them as nothing.
But of the three, one excels
them all. Charity was the word selected by the King James Version translators
and not the word love. It seems right to at least consider that they saw in
this text something unique, something set apart from the common idea. Indeed,
according to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, this word is a
unique form of the root Agape not previously seen in Greek writing prior to
Paul's use of it in 1 Corinthians 8:1. It is a unique word. It is the sort of
love that one has for the church for which Christ died.
Charity, love directed toward
that thing Christ loves, is unquestionably the greatest quality a man may have.
- Virtue may be earned by cruel acts
done in the name of the state
- Honor may be defended in a bloody
dual to death
- Knowledge too often puffs up the
possessor
But
- Faith sees the unseen
- Hope reaches passed the earthly for
the eternal and
- Charity blends faith and hope into
a quality that benefits the people of God right now
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