Lesson 66
Study of
First Peter Chapter 4
Rabbit Trail - 1 Cor 13:4-7 The Characteristics
of Love
1. 13:4
Love's Unselfishness.
2. Love's Conduct 13:5-6
3. Love's Optimism 13:7
Love bears
all things
Idea
here is that love covers, love keeps a confidence.
- A secondary meaning of ste,gw is to endure, to put up with.
- Love then is the kind of quality in a relationship with
others that tends to not broadcast ones weakness, and tends not to broadcast
ones sins; it covers and protects.
Love
believes all things
-
What Paul is not saying here is that love is gullible in the sense of easily
being duped.
- What he is saying is that Love puts the best construction
on things; it is the idea that in doubtful cases, love would rather be generous
in his conclusion than to suspect something unjustly.
- When love has no evidence, it believes the best.
Love Hopes all
things (evlpi,zw)
- Love is not pessimistic; its optimistic.
- Paul does not link optimism to personality traits, its
presence or absence is linked to the characteristic of love being operational
in the life.
Love
Endures all things
- Here we have the word for patient endurance with reference
to the details of life, the circumstances of life which all of us will face in
our niche.
- not the idea of being obstinate
regardless of the facts or reality.
- nor is it a gutting it out, a
passive resignation, its an active positive thing.
- So love stands against overwhelming opposition and
refuses to stop bearing, or stop believing or stop hoping. Love will not stop loving.
- This verse is often used to attempt to show that love is
superior to everything, including truth.
- What Paul is saying is that Love is the highest Christian
virtue.
- Having described the characteristics of love in the
immediate context he now says that love as a Christian virtue is a fundamental
and basic quality of the believers character.
- If we are evaluating whether one is living the CWOL or
not what do we look for?
Observations:
1. Love should never
be evaluated in terms of sentiment or feeling; love is to be judged by actions;
it is not what love says, it is what love does.
2. We are to
"walk in love" as imitators of God; as His progeny. Eph 5:1-2
3. If we walk in love then we will be
manifesting the fruit of the spirit. Gal 5:22
4.
There is a relationship between faith and hope in our lives. - Heb 11:1
5. Faith and hope are related to our confidence in the
integrity of God.
6. Love is enduring and what it produces will endure. (DGP)
7. 1 Cor 13 shows us that
Christianity has standards and norms of conduct unmatched by any of the
religions of the world.
Back to 1 Pet 4:9
4:9 An example of this fervent love
applied
Be hospitable
to one another without complaint.
- this exhortation was not to
just any stranger who might knock on your door, but as noted in the next word
its to be directed towards other believers.
- and we're to do this without complaint goggusmo,j murmur, grumble or complain
This is
added as a reminder that hospitality can be an exasperating chore, to be
shouldered cheerfully if it is to be worthwhile.
4:10-11
The duty of mutual service, or
exhortation to the proper use of our spiritual gifts.
As each one has received a special gift,
What
has each one received? a special
gift ca,risma, refers to a gift freely given, with
no strings;
We
are exhorted to use our spiritual gifts in serving one another
We are to apply these spiritual gifts as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God.
- adjective good kalo,j good, noble and worthy in contrast to
what is worthless and of no value
the manifold
grace of God As good stewards
applying the spiritual gifts as appropriate we are actually managing the
manifold grace of God.
- recognizes that God's grace
provision is multifaceted and will meet the need.