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NASB | 1 Corinthians 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God's love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love. |
Bible Question:
1 Cor 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. A very interesting quote this verse is! But into what category of thought do these three things fall? The Apostle Paul just says “these three.” And my question is, “these three what?” What are these three things; are they three concepts, three principles, three moral values, three what? I’m looking for a unity here. In what class of things do these three things belong? What word, what concept, or what idea unifies faith, hope and love? |
Bible Answer: From Easton's Dictionary: Hope one of the three main elements of Christian character (1Co 13:13). It is joined to faith and love, and is opposed to seeing or possessing (Ro 8:24; 1Jo 3:2). "Hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity (1Pe 3:15; Heb 10:23). In it the whole glory of the Christian vocation is centred (Eph 1:18; 4:4)." Unbelievers are without this hope (Eph 2:12; 1Th 4:13). Christ is the actual object of the believer's hope, because it is in his second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled (1Ti 1:1; Col 1:27; Tit 2:13). It is spoken of as "lively", i.e., a living, hope, a hope not frail and perishable, but having a perennial life (1Pe 1:3). In Ro 5:2 the "hope" spoken of is probably objective, i.e., "the hope set before us," namely, eternal life (comp. Ro 12:12). In 1Jo 3:3 the expression "hope in him" ought rather to be, as in the Revised Version, "hope on him," i.e., a hope based on God. Praise the Lord! Norm |