Commentary on "The Fruit of the Spirit is Love"

RICHARD PEIFER

 

Day 4: Tuesday, January 5, 2010

 

Overview

“Love defined is the first step; love applied is the next. We must be careful not to glibly say we love; but rather, we need to analyze carefully how we live and how well we apply the principles of love as expressed in the Bible.”

 

Observations

Having defined love on Sunday, the author now turns to applying love. Because the author gave an incomplete (that is, solely Old Covenant based) definition of love initially, 1 Corinthians 13 is reduced to a list of do’s and don’ts.

There is a reason Paul wrote about love in Chapter 13, and did so right in the middle of his extended treatment of the Corinthians’ abuse of Spiritual gifts. A quick glance through the letter reveals a church in serious trouble. Paul never calls them anything but saints, but these saints were getting nearly everything wrong. The worst example of their situation was Spiritual gifts. They had turned what God had intended for strengthening the Body and evangelizing the lost world into a no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners competition.

In one of those unfortunate accidents of Bible interpretation, the chapter break between 12 and 13 is in the wrong place, so we very rarely get the whole picture. Chapter 13, I believe, should start with the last sentence in Chapter 12, Verse 31: “And now I will show you the most excellent way.”

First, we must note the radical change that had occurred in Paul. As Saul, he was the most feared Pharisee in the world. “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:3). He hated everything to do with the Way and did everything in his power to eradicate it. So complete was his hatred that he later described himself as the “chief of sinners.”

And then, Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus. “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do’ ” (Acts 9:1-6).

Paul spent the next 14, or so, years having his mind renewed by the love and grace of God. His Spirit-led writing in 1 Corinthians 13 was based on his total understanding of who he had been before Jesus (a hot-headed, self-absorbed, prideful, competitive, completely unloving lost man – just like the Corinthians to whom he was writing) to who he was in Jesus (a strong, God-focused, humble, serving, completely loving saved man).

This could not have happened under Law!

Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 13:8-14. I’m going to organize this a bit differently in order to make the situation as clear as possible.

Love is patient	God is patient
Love is kind	God is kind
Love does not envy	God does not envy
Love does not boast	God does not boast
Love is not proud	God is not proud
Love is not rude	God is not rude
Love is not self-seeking	God is not self-seeking
Love is not easily angered	God is not easily angered
Love keeps no record of wrongs	God keeps no record of wrongs
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth	God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth
Love always protects	God always protects
Love always trusts	God always trusts
Love always hopes	God always hopes
Love always perseveres	God always perseveres
Love never fails	God never fails

It is obvious that Paul is defining love completely in terms of Who God is.

Now, let’s change the list just slightly.

I am always patient

I am always kind

I never envy

I never boast

I am never proud

I am never rude

I am never self-seeking

I am never easily angered

I never keep a record of wrongs

I never delight in evil but always rejoice with the truth

I always protect

I always trust

I always hope

I always persevere

I never fail

Anyone reading this who got past the first statement, “I am always patient,” isn’t paying attention. Agape love is not hard for us, it is impossible! We are no more capable of agape love than my dog is of writing a computer program. This kind of love is completely beyond us, reserved to God alone.

This is why you cannot turn 1 Corinthians 13 into a list of things to do or to avoid. Failure, any failure, any single failure, to express agape love perfectly is exactly the same as open rebellion against God. On our own and held to this standard of love, we are doomed to Hell.

So, what’s a person to do?

Go back to Jesus’ own commands—Believe in Jesus and love as we have been loved. Jesus is God. Jesus loved perfectly. Therefore, believe (that is, stake your life on) Him. Jesus has already demonstrated His love for us (at the cross and resurrection), and He will continually minister His love to us. As we discover how much we are loved by Him we will begin to allow that love to spill over to others. We are invited to participate in His divine nature and, therefore, escape the corruption in the world (see 2 Peter 1:3-4).

Are we called to examine ourselves? Yes. However, this self-examination is never to determine how I am DOING, but to ask how I am BEING. 1 Corinthians 13 is about attitudes and attributes, not behavior. If I allow God to love others through me, then my behavior will follow His lead. If I try to behave lovingly, then I will make a complete hash of things.

If I am not a saved, born-again, child of God, then asking me to love is pointless.

If I am a saved, born-again, child of God, then I will not ask a pointless behavioral-judgmental question. Instead, I will rest in His perfect agape love while allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to renew my mind and teach me how to express that same love to others.

Loving is God’s business. Trusting Him to love is my business.

 

Summary

1. Monday’s and Tuesday’s lessons focus on the best chapter on love in the Bible.
2. Unfortunately, they define love almost solely in behavioral terms. Sure, this is God-stuff, but we’re supposed to work it into our lives.
3. Paul’s approach was completely opposite. He sees love as the very definition of God and calls his readers to ask, “Am I, as God’s child, allowing Him to live this kind of love through me?” In the immediate context, the obvious answer was No. But that same answer applies to you and me on any day of the week.
4. Our battle is not to learn how to behave lovingly. Our battle is to learn how to walk by faith that God is working His love through us to others.

 

GO TO DAY 5

 

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