In his first letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul rates spiritual gifts in the order they are needed to further God’s Work and build His Church on earth: Apostles, or those sent forth with God’s message; Prophets, or inspired preachers/foretellers; Teachers, or those who could educate in doctrine and lifestyle. These along with miracles, healings, tongues and their interpretation are impressive, but only if they are used for the “profit of all.”
Which of these would you and I rate as the best gift of the holy spirit; or the second best; or the third best – what would be your top three desired gifts?
I Corinthians 12 and verse 31 states this:
“But earnestly desire the best gifts. AND YET I SHOW YOU A MORE EXCELLENT WAY.”
It seems that Christians in Corinth didn’t correctly understand the application of gifts of the spirit any more than they correctly understood unity, worship, morality, Passover, dispute resolution or anything else Paul mentioned prior in this epistle.
So, what did Paul mean by “A More Excellent Way?”
Moving into the next chapter, Paul elaborates (paraphrased):
“Those gifts of the holy spirit are really nice if they are humbly used for the benefit of the Church of God, but without a vitally important element, tongues and prophecy, and faith and wisdom and spiritual knowledge and service and generosity – or any other gift – they don’t help you or me or anyone else.”
What is that vitally important element? I Corinthians 13:1 please:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing…to verse 3…
“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me [nor anyone else] nothing.”
In the various letters Paul wrote to the churches, there were evidently spiritually “gifted” Christians who were not using their gifts for the benefit of all. In fact, as we just read in I Corinthians 12 and jumping forward into I Corinthians 14, we read Paul’s description of how some were selfishly using such gifts as prophesy and tongues to promote themselves.
Paul mentions in verse 12 of I Corinthians 14, that:
“Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel…verse 20…Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature…”
In other words, “Grow up and embrace a MORE EXCELLENT WAY!” So, what is that more excellent way? Any spiritual gift must be used with LOVE – translated from the Greek agape – the love only God has, and only He can impart to us. It is God-like affection or benevolence, the dearest of feeling for another that comes only with God’s holy spirit.
But unlike different spiritual gifts given by the holy spirit to certain persons, this agape is passed on to ALL those who receive the spirit of God. We see this in Romans 5:5:
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the holy spirit that was given to us…”
We read in Romans 8:9 that if we do not have the holy spirit of God in us – which pours out into our hearts that affection for God and His creation, including our fellow man – we do not belong to Him.
Let’s return to a description of the more excellent way that comes with the holy spirit in us – I Corinthians 13 and verses 4 to 8 from the Phillips Translation:
“The love of which I speak is slow to lose patience – it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.
“Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it shares the joy of those who live by the truth.
“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love never fails.”
Paul goes on about what will fail or vanish or fade away in verses 8 to 13 – this is important, because too many have put the most important attribute of the holy spirit, God-like dear affection – agape – behind impressive gifts that helped the church to grow, but that did not, in the end, help keep the church together.
“For if there are prophecies, they will be fulfilled and done with [when they come to pass – and they must – what good will the gift of inspired preaching and foretelling be?], if there are tongues, the need for them will disappear [the dissonance of Babel will pass away and we will all be able to understand each other fully], if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth [ultimate truthfulness will become as widespread as the waters that cover the ocean floors].
Paul continues about knowledge and prophecy in the last part of verse 9 – by inference, how futile it is to be so self-righteous and proud about having either or both:
“For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete [or completion] comes, that is the end of the incomplete.”
Continue in verse 13 to see what else will pass away:
“In this life we have three lasting qualities – faith, hope and love, but the greatest of them is love.”
Love will never pass away, but what will pass away are faith and hope. When all is fulfilled as God has promised (and it will be, because true history has shown that God has declared the end from the beginning and He cannot lie), what need will there be of faith that what God has messaged to us by the mouths of all His servants from the foundation of the world comes to pass.
And, why would we still have to hope for His Plan to be carried out once it is already completed. But love endures forever, and, therefore, Paul continues in the next verse of the next chapter – I Corinthians 14:1:
“Follow, then, the way of love, while you set your heart on the gifts of the spirit.”
To be clear, the gifts of the holy spirit are important as they are given severally to certain individuals fulfilling roles in the body of Christ, but they must be accompanied by agape, given to ALL who belong to Christ – benevolent love that thinks, speaks and acts God-like.
Let’s analyze how Paul described this dear love that we have in us, if we are Christ’s. From Barclay’s The Daily Study Bible with other sources and paraphrasing, I Corinthians 13:4-7 lists fifteen characteristics of Christian love:
Love is patient – the Greek word for patience describes patience with people, not circumstances…In our dealings with men, however refractory and however unkind and hurting they are, we must exercise the same patience God exercises with us.
Love is kind – it is a benignity or warmheartedness that is compassionate to all no matter what their faults. Barclay comments, that “so much Christianity is good, but unkind,” and goes on to give examples. He added, “there is in so many good people an attitude of criticism.”
Love knows no envy – “There are two types of envy. The one covets the possessions of other people. The other is worse – it grudges the very fact that others should have what it has not; it does not so much wish things for itself as wish that others had not got them.
Love is no braggart – “There is a self-effacing quality in love. True love will always be far more impressed with its own unworthiness than its own merit…love is kept humble by the consciousness that it can never offer its loved one a gift which is good enough.”
Love is not inflated with its own importance – “The really great man never thinks of his own importance.” Paul expresses this in Romans 12:3-4 as so (from the J.B. Phillips Translation): “Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of faith…”
Love does not behave gracelessly – “There is a kind of ‘Christianity’ which takes delight in being blunt and almost brutal. There is strength in it but there is no winsomeness (charm or appeal). There is graciousness in Christian love which never forgets that courtesy, tact and politeness are lovely things.”
Love does not insist upon its rights – “There are in this world only two kinds of people – those who always insist upon their privileges and those who remember their responsibilities…It would be the key to almost all problems…if men would think less of their rights and more of their duties.”
Love never flies into a temper – “Love never becomes exasperated with people. Exasperation is always a sign of defeat. When we lose our tempers, we lose everything…The man who is master of his temper can be master of anything.
Love does not store up the memory of any wrong it has received – “The word translated ‘store up’ is an accountant’s word. The word is used for entering an item in a ledger so that it will not be forgotten…Christian love has learned the lesson of forgetting.”
Love finds no pleasure in evil-doing – “It is not so much delight in doing the wrong thing that is meant, as the malicious pleasure which comes to most of us when we hear something derogatory about someone else. Christian love has none of that human malice which finds pleasure in ill reports.”
Love rejoices with the truth – “There are times when we definitely do not want the truth to prevail; and still more times when it is the last thing we wish to hear…love has no wish to veil the truth; it has nothing to conceal and so is glad when the truth prevails.”
Love can endure anything – “It is just possible that this may mean ‘love can cover anything’ in the sense that it will never drag into light of day the faults and mistakes of others. It means that love can bear any insult, any injury, any disappointment.”
Love is completely trusting – “In relation to God it means that love takes God at His word, and can take every promise” to say, “That means me.” “In relation to our fellow man it means that love always believes the best about other people.”
Love never ceases to hope – Believing that people can change for the better and never giving up on them is a demonstration of great love. Never stop hoping that another who is hurting themselves or others will do better: in the church, in your family and in the world.
Love bears everything – “Love can bear things, not merely with passive resignation but with triumphant fortitude.” It can also mean that love “endures all things” – and to the end of our lives or this age if necessary.
This type of love is what Jesus Christ summarized as “the two great commandments.”
During His brief ministry on earth, Jesus was constantly hounded by the Jewish religious authorities with questions meant to trip Him up. One such question is in Mark 12:28, when a scribe asked Him, “Which is the first [foremost] commandment of all?” His answer is LOVE, but what kind of love – agape, of course – verses 29 to 30:
“The first of all commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first [foremost] commandment.”
He was only asked for one, but Jesus wanted to link a second commandment as being similar to the first – verse 31:
“And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
He followed this with, “There is no other commandment greater than these.” If you and I don’t have dear love, affection or agape for God with everything in us and love our fellow man at least as much as we love ourselves, then we are not keeping God’s great commandments.
If we are putting other things before God or outright worshipping idols, or using God’s name cheaply or profanely, or violating His sabbath, we are not keeping the foremost commandment.
And Paul outlines in Romans 13:8-10 that he who loves another fulfills the law. Then after listing some of the last six of the ten commandments he wrote,
“Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Demonstration of this agape love, shed abroad on our hearts by the holy spirit, through benevolent love that thinks, speaks and acts in a God-like way is “the more excellent way.”
