1 Timothy 1:15-16

"The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life."

Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We must accept this! Jesus did not come for the sake of those who are perfect. He did not come for those who had things under control spiritually. There are no such people. Jesus came to save sinners.

Jesus came for the worst of sinners. Paul called himself the foremost of sinners (perhaps because of his former opposition to the gospel's advance or perhaps because he just knew his own heart they way we know our hearts). Paul wasn't saying that no sinner worse than him could get into heaven. He was saying that if God accepted him, then everyone should know that God is extremely patient, and His grace is for you too—regardless of what you have done.

Are you a sinner? Then Jesus came into the world to save you.

My prayer: Father, it is hard to understand why You sent Your Son for sinners. It is such a mystery that many people have rejected it. But You sent Jesus for the good of Your sworn enemies. You love those who hate You. And Your mercy can change their hate into love. Thank you for loving even me, and help me to show others that You love them too.

1 Timothy 1:6-7

"Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."

Every time I read verse seven, I think about my time in a Christian college's dorm. There were many confident assertions made about the Bible there, but in many cases, the debaters barely knew what they were talking about. Their problem was immaturity.

The way to a mature walk with God is through love. In your dealings with other people, are you hoping they will look well upon you? Do you want to look smart or to look like you are further along then they are? If those are your goals, you will be easily lead astray into meaningless discussions. You will talk without understanding and think you sound good. But as 1 Cor.13:1 teaches, you will be a meaningless noisemaker.

If, on the other hand, you want your relationships to be valuable, you must be driven by love. Seek to understand God's love for you. And as you understand that love, share it with others by living example and verbal testimony. That will be a faithful stewardship of your faith, and it will protect you from lofty-headed worthlessness.

1 Timothy 1:5

"The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

Right in the middle of a section dealing with the measures taken to thwart false teaching, Paul draws attention to the need for love. Love should motivate us. When a believer is right with God, they follow in His steps. And God always acts in love. Even when dealing with false teachers, we should follow this example and act in love.

1 Corinthians 16:19-24

"The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen."

After sending greetings to the Corinthians from various believers, Paul returns to the subject of love to close the book. He already spent the better part of a chapter teaching us what love looks like and helping us realize love's importance. But in these closing verses, Paul uses even stronger language than he did earlier in the book.

He says, "if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed." In other words, love God or be damned. That's unsettling! How can we be given such an ultimatum? Well, I don't think it is an ultimatum. I think its a warning that if you don't love Him, you are not His.

When you come to understand how God revels Himself in the Bible, you must either love Him or hate Him. Those who love Him, love Him because they are His. And troubling statements will not cause them to stumble though they must wrestle through them at times. Those who have no love for him will simply reject Him and go into eternity as His enemy.

1 Corinthians 16:12-14

"Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."

Paul had a strong opinion about what Apollos should be doing. He believed Apollos should go minister to the Corinthians. But Apollos wanted to continue ministering where he was. Knowing that the Corinthian believers were going to be without the benefit of Apollos' help, Paul urged them to stand firm in the faith and in love.

God gifts the church with preachers and teachers to lead His people toward a closer walk with Him. When a church is struggling, no man no matter how gifted, is the answer. But God can use a man to direct His people toward Himself. The pastor is to be directing God's people to follow him in watchfulness, to be firm in the faith, to be strong, and to act in love.

1 Corinthians 14

Finally, I have reached the most controversial of these three chapters dealing with spiritual gifts—the tongues chapter. I have heard several different attempts to explain this fourteenth chapter. None of them have fully satisfied me.

1. Those who believe tongues have ceased, argue that the word tongue or tongues is used three different ways in this chapter (spoken languages, heavenly languages, and nonsense babble that is falsely believed to be a spiritual gift), but this explanation offers no textual indication of which way was used when, and this interpretation seems to force fore-drawn conclusions on the text.

2. Another cessationist view claims that there is a textual distinction between the way Paul uses "tongue" and "tongues," the first being a mystical language—that is really a perversion of the true gift, and the second being the true New Testament gift, the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign language without study. This interpretation makes a bit more sense, but it fails to work consistently throughout this chapter and much less through the entirety of the New Testament.

3. A common non-cessationist's view to consider holds that all of the occurrences of the terms tongue and tongues speak mostly of the mystical language, but occasionally speak of a foreign language. This view also suffers from a lack of consistency, and unfortunately those who take this view most commonly, although not exclusively, abandon the guidelines in this chapter for use of the gift.

The best understanding of the chapter comes from a consideration of its meaning within the context of chapters twelve and thirteen. In chapter twelve, God reveals that He gifts people in many different ways and that we should be content with the gift that God gives us, using it to selflessly serve the church. Chapter thirteen explains why we should use our gifts to selflessly serve—the spiritually meaningful motivation of love. Now in chapter fourteen, the Bible addresses a specific application of this truth, indicating that the exercise of our spiritual gift in the church should benefit others. If we focus on this truth and always strive to edify the believers with our gifts, then wrangling about what tongues is becomes much less of an issue. If it can be used in obedience to Scripture and for the edification of the saints, then we must not forbid it, but if it is not used in obedience to the scriptures and it does not build of the Saints then it must be abandoned.

1 Corinthians 13:9-13

"For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Our knowledge and understanding are not complete. But God has given us all we need to know to be rightly related to Him at this time. Though His word, we know quite a lot about God, but we do not know everything. We have many questions because God's Word contains many paradoxes. For now, these mysteries remain, but there will be a time when our understanding of God will go far beyond its current level.

Then we will have full knowledge. When we look at a child's limited understanding of the world, it often results in chuckles and smiles for us. Someday when we are face to face with our Savior, we will look back on our limited understanding and think "I knew nothing at all." And if we, in heaven, were to look upon our desire for gifts that would increase our influence, we would realize that we were pursuing the wrong thing. We should have been pursuing things that last. Faith lasts; hope lasts; love lasts. Let's pursue what is best—love.

1 Corinthians 13:8

"Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away."

Those who enjoy history respect the achievements of the past, considering the effects and implications the past has on us today. But historians don’t care about everything that ever happened. They won’t be clamoring to soak up the minutia of my blogs nor do they care much about my extended family. Likewise, when eternity comes, there will be some things that abide and some things that will fall from our consideration as dust falls from a piece of clothing once shaken before entering a house.

When this world is not as it is now, when we have left the realm of the temporal and entered the eternal, love will still remain. God’s choice to love is what brought Christ to earth to die. And His love shall endure throughout all eternity.

When eternity comes, your advancement and influence will be gone forever. But love will never end. What is most important to you know: clout, wealth, personal achievement, or distinction? Or are your desires and priorities eternal in nature? If you value eternity, love should motivate all your actions.

1 Corinthians 13:6-7

"It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Some in the world rejoice at wrongdoing because they want to see evil triumph. No true Christian desires this. But how would you react if you knew that your pastor or some other prominent church member was wrongly accused of something? Would you rejoice at your newfound opportunity for personal advancement? If so, you do not love him as you should and are worthless. You should rejoice that the truth is known, regardless of the effect it has on your personal aspirations.

Neither should you wait with eager anticipation for that truthful accusation of someone else that will propel you forward. Real problems need to be addressed and dealt with, but we shouldn’t ever want to see someone fall. We should love others so much that we are willing to suffer wrong, enduring it, hoping and believing that the people who wrong us are growing and will realize their error. All the while we are patient and kind, loving them in every way possible.

My mother is a wonderful example of this to me. When she was helping someone who was making some selfish and self-destructive choices, I encouraged her to cut the person off. I will never forget my mother’s response. She said “I just thought that (s)he would make the right choice this time.” At the time, I thought “How foolish. That person is never going to make the right choice.” Now I think, “How loving. My mother saw bore and endured many things from that person, hoping and believing that (s)he would come to walk in the truth.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful."

These verses have broad, sweeping implications for the lives of all believers. However, remembering that the larger context of this chapter is the subject of spiritual gifts helps us apply these verses in a few specific ways.

We are all equal in God’s sight, but we are not equal in each other’s sight. Though there are no more important spiritual gifts, some people are more clearly gifted or perhaps gifted in more ways than others.

We should love those who seem to be more gifted than we are. You may look at a clearly gifted individual and wish that you had his gifts. You may treat him rudely because you wish you had the gifts that he has. You are resentful, and you are failing to love. You should rejoice and give thanks that God has so gifted your brother.

We should also love those who seem to be less gifted than we are. You may be quite happy with the gifts God has given you, but you may think of other believers as inferior because of what they don’t have. Perhaps you are short tempered when dealing with people who can’t do what you do or can’t do it as quickly. Perhaps you aren’t willing to consider other people’s opinions because you think that your way is always better or that they couldn’t possibly come up with a good idea. Perhaps you are irritable because you always have to deal with what you view as other people’s incompetence. You are have an over-inflated view of yourself, and you are failing to love.

1 Corinthians 13:3

"If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."

God is not interested in disinterested benevolence. Actions alone are incomplete, they need to be based on right motivations. The greatest of sacrifices are hollow without love. What would be your motivation to sacrifice if it were not love? You might be motivated by a desire to be repaid for your sacrifice, a desire to be thought well of by other people, or a desire to simply end you life. All of these reasons are selfish, and selfish sacrifice does not honor the Lord. There are good reasons to sacrifice, in addition to love. But if these reasons are devoid of love, they will not honor the Lord.

1 Corinthians 13:1-2

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

Love is the more excellent way that the last chapter alluded to. Love is more important than any or all of the spiritual gifts that the Corinthian believers has clamored for. People in the church then and now foolishly want recognition, prominence, and influence, and they earnestly desire spiritual gifts that will give them these things. But if they wanted what God wants for them, they would desire love and not a more important position.

Any spiritual gift exercised without love is worthless. We give lip service to this truth but we fail to understand the depth of this reality. A pastor who preaches faithfully for thirty-five years, never committing a moral sin or violating any code of ethics, if he did not love his people, his ministry was nothing. A seminary professor who has unpacked weighty truths and prepared countless students to accurately handle God’s word, if his teaching was not motivated by love, it was a waste of his time. A Christian (perhaps a missionary like me) who sees God’s power and faithfulness in life and comes to understand God’s trustworthiness, trusting that he can do anything, if his faith is loveless, he is nothing.

While we know that these things are true, there is something in us that still objects: they helped so many people; they did many great things; they were faithful for so many years. Yes, but they left off the greatest thing. It is love that empowers ministry and gives it meaning. If I am going to do something of value, I must first learn what it means to love.

1 Corinthians 9:3-7

"This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?"

Why would Paul defend his rights here if he intends to surrender them? So why waste these five verses? It seems to fit with the previous chapter on Christian liberty. He has stated that, out of love, a Christian may need to surrender his rights for the good of a fellow-Christian. And now Paul gives an example of how he has done this himself. He goes through several things that were well within his rights to do. Then he explains that he has chosen not to claim these rights "rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ" (9:12).

So why take the time to enumerate his rights? Why show that he is giving something up? I don't believe that it was done to make other people think better of him. It was done to set an example—to show that you can sacrifice your rights for the good of others. He sacrificed certain foods. He sacrificed relationships that most people desire (and that most apostles had). And he sacrificed the remuneration that was rightly his for the ministerial work that he was doing. His example shows us that the things you give up don't have to even be morally questionable things. Love your brother, and be willing to surrender your rights for him.

1 Corinthians 8:7-13

"However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."

The Christian who understands that he has the freedom to do something (in this case, eat meat once offered to a fake thing) has the responsibility to make loving choices that will build up other Christians, making them stronger and bringing them into a closer relationship with God. If, on the other hand, the knowledgeable Christian over-values his freedom to do something, he will make choices that will be destructive. The choices may not be self-destructive, but they will hurt others.

If another Christian is unsure about doing something and he sees you doing it, he may be encouraged to do that thing, which to him seems like a sin. Then after he has done it, his conscience plagues him. He may think himself to be a failure, and acting on his presumed failure, he may turn away from Christianity and return to his former practices.

Knowing the potentially damaging effects of your choices, you must sensitively seek to build you fellow Christians up in love. Christ died for your brother. Can you fail to love him? But one protests, “I know that I am allowed to engage in this activity,” remember the words of verse two: “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.”

1 Corinthians 8:1-3

"Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that 'all of us possess knowledge.' This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God."

Knowledge is concerned about what can be done, but love is concerned with what should be done. When someone thinks that he knows better and thinks that he can do as he pleases, he has a "knowledge" that puffs up. But it is an incomplete knowledge. It is a knowledge that will act without regard for how his actions effect other people. It is a knowledge without love. That kind of knowledge is not true knowledge, and the person with that kind of knowledge "does not yet know as he ought to know."

It would be far better to be known by God. Now obviously God knows all of us, but when a person truly loves God, he is in a relationship with God. That is, God knows him relationally. When a person loves God and has an understanding of who God is and what He is like (a knowledge that "he ought to know"), the person will not be puffed up by this knowledge. He will be humbled, and he will act out of a desire to build up those who love God and are loved by God.

1 Corinthians 5:3-5

"For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."

These are strong, seemingly harsh words. How could a Christian ever "deliver [a] man to Satan"? That statement seems anti-Christian. So how could such a thing be done, especially in the spirit of Jesus who died to save us?

To answer that we need to understand what it means to "deliver [someone] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh." And we need to keep in mind why it would be done. It has already been established in the previous verses that this person in question is in gross, unrepentant sin. He is on a self-destructive path. According to Matthew 18, the church is to step in and try its hardest to turn the man from his sin. But if he refuses, you must release him from the church's fellowship. When someone refuses to repent, you need to allow him to experience the consequences of sin. It is better for someone to experience the bitter consequences of his sin and then repent than for you to shield him from the consequences and he go on sinning.

I believe that the phrase in question simply refers to turning a person over to the the natural consequences of his own sin. And it is done to see the person restored. Failure to discipline is not loving, but failure to love while you discipline is no good either.

2 John 7-9

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”

Right after being directed to walk in love, obeying God’s commandments, we are given a reason to walk in love. The motivation for living a life filled with faithful, obedient love is that their are deceivers in the world. The deceivers do not know Christ, and they deny important truths about Him. How is the danger presented by a deceiver a motivation to love believers? Perhaps the healthy relationships guard against unhealthy ones. When we love and are loved by those who walk in the truth, we are not tempted to seek love where we should not.

2 John 4-6

“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”

Seeing others who are faithful to the truth is a joy. And if you played a part, even an indirect part, in someone walking in the truth, it is an even greater joy. We walk in the truth by obeying God’s commandments. One of God’s commandments is that we love one another, and one of the ways that we love one another is to obey God’s commandments. Although it comes naturally, and though we were to do it from the start, we must be reminded to keep loving one another. We must not only do the right thing; we must keep doing the right thing.

2 John 1-3

“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.”

The truth unites us in love. There is a bond of love that you have with Christians you know and even with Christians you don’t know. This bond exists because of the truth’s work in you and others. If you have the truth and you know what it has done for you, then the when you see, meet, or even hear of others who have the same truth, you are bound to them in love. Our relationship with other believers, as with all aspects of our lives, should flow out of the gospel. God, in love and truth, has worked in our lives, and that should bind us, in truth and love, to others who know Him.