The apostle Paul uses the 3-fold combination of faith, hope
and love at least 4 times in his epistles. Let's look at them in their settings
in the Scriptures.
1 Thessalonians 1:3,
"Remembering without ceasing your
work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the
sight of God our Father." The apostle's first epistle to the
Thessalonian believers is considered to be the first letter he wrote to any
church. Paul in his to prayers to God remembered three particular attributes of
these believers.
1. Your
work of faith. Faith to me is an unswerving conviction and a deeply
felt trust in someone, or something. Therefore my work of faith is to follow my
unswerving conviction and put into practice my deeply felt trust. James states
in his epistle, in chapter 2:26, "For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also." Ephesians 2:10 tells
us we have been "...created in
Christ Jesus for good works...
2. (Your) labour of love. How well this follows
on from the work of faith. The labour of love stems from the outworking of
faith in our lives. Love enriches faith and faith enhances love. Our human
labour of love is inspired by divine love in our lives. Colossians 3:23,
"And whatever you do, do it
heartily, as to the Lord and not to men."
3. (Your) patience
of hope. The word hope
denotes something in the future. Patience is required if hope is to be
fulfilled. Ephesians 1:18, "The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." Titus 2:13,
"Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our
great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."
1 Thessalonians 5:8,
"But let us who are of the day be
sober, putting on the breastplate of faith
and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." In chapter
5 the apostle Paul uses the illustration of a soldier's armour to help us
and comfort us. This chapter starts off by telling us of the coming Day of the
Lord; a time of wrath and judgement on the nations. Paul exhorts the
Thessalonian believers to be vigilant and sober. Faith and love here are
likened to a breastplate that protects the heart and lungs. The helmet protects
the head and thus protects the hope of our salvation.
Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers in verse 9, "For God did not appoint us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Corinthians 13:13,
"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of
these is love." In 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 we find that these
verses form a part of the Holy Scriptures known to Christians as the love
chapter. Verse 13 our heading verse is the last verse of the chapter. It is
Paul's summation of the chapter.
The word abide can
also mean dwelling or remaining. Remaining seems to fit this verse best. From
all the things Paul tells us in chapter 13 that will cease, faith - hope - love
remain. However, he points out that the greatest of the three is love.
1 John 4:16,
"And we have known and believed the
love that God has for us. God is love,
and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." Love is not just an attribute of God. God
Himself is love! All love therefore has its original source in God Himself.
When we get to heaven faith and hope will no longer be required; for we are in
the presence of God, who is love! This outcome is also the fulfilment of our faith,
hope and love.
Jon Peasey
Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com
Ebooks
author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey
[All
Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted.
Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted
for clarity. Words in bold type
emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or
elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate
directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]
[If
you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the
comments section below.]
