Many sermons have been preached on love from First Corinthians 13, yet very few mention that the context of this great "Love Chapter" is in the midst of Paul's discussion of miraculous spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12-14). The church at Corinth was divided (1 Cor. 1:10-13). At least part of what fueled that division was wrong attitudes toward possessing miraculous gifts. It seems that some who had the gifts acted as if the body of Christ did not need those who did not have them. Likewise, those who did not possess the gifts thought they were not important to the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:14-21). What was the key to handling miraculous gifts without dividing the church? Love.

All "Love" Is Not the Same

Before looking at the text of First Corinthians 13, let us examine some truths concerning love and the New Testament. There were four basic words for "love" in the Greek world of the apostle Paul.1 First, the word storge referred to natural love, such as the love family members have for each other. For parents to love their children and children to love their parents is natural. In the New Testament, this word is only found as a negative (alpha privative construction), translated "without natural affection" (Rom. 1:31; 2 Tim. 3:3).

Second, the word eros referred to passionate, sexual love. It is the word from which we get "erotic." This Greek word is not found in the New Testament.

Third, the word philia referred to friendship love. It is the word from which we get "philanthropist" (one who loves mankind). This is the kind of love in which one is emotionally involved with the object and derives pleasure and delight from it. The noun occurs only once in the New Testament, where it is translated "friendship [of the world]" (Jas. 4:4). The verb occurs several times (Mt. 10:37; Jn. 5:20; Tit. 3:15, etc.). For all practical purposes, it carries the same meaning as agape, with a notable exception being John 21:15-17. "Friend," the person with this love, is also found several times (Jn. 15:14; Jas. 2:23, etc.).

Fourth, the word agape referred to love that was not contingent on natural ties, passionate desires, or emotional involvement. Forms of this word occur more that three hundred times in the New Testament. This love carries more of a "volitional and idealistic element" than philia, and it "always seeks the good of its object, even to the point of the greatest personal sacrifice" (cf. Jn. 13:34).2 The verb form of this love is always the one used when love is commanded (Mt. 5:44; Eph. 5:25). The KJV's translation, "charity," comes from John Wycliffe (1329-1384), who took it from caritas, the word Jerome used in the Latin Vulgate. Jerome used caritas because the kind of love the Latin meant by amor (the common Latin word for love) was not what the New Testament meant by agape. There is some value, however, in the translation "charity" because this English word expresses love in action.

The Importance Of Love

Having considered the different Greek words for love, let us go back to the context of First Corinthians 13. Paul first stated that love was more important than having miraculous abilities: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling 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, and have not charity, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:1-2). Paul specified some of the miraculous gifts he just mentioned in Chapter 12. First, love was more important than "speaking with the tongues of men and of angels." Some have taken "of angels" to refer to humanly unknowable languages that "tongue speakers" claim to speak today. However, this is best taken as a conditional statement (i.e., "even if I spoke..."), implying that Paul did not actually speak this way (cf. 1 Cor. 14:19). "Sounding brass [noisy gong, NAS]" is from a word that literally meant "copper, brass, bronze," and was reminiscent of "the Copper Bowl of Dodona, at the oracle of Dodona, that was said to 'sound'...all day long and therefore was used to describe a person who talked incessantly."3 Next, love was more important than the "gift of prophecy" and miraculous understanding. "Mysteries" refers to something that was formerly unknown, but now (at the time of writing) was known, being miraculously revealed (cf. 1 Cor. 2:7). Finally, love was more important than miraculous faith. It is possible for one to have faith, or at least think he has faith, and still not be saved (cf. Mt. 7:21-23). Judas, for example, had the ability to work miracles (cf. Mk. 3:14-19), but obviously was not saved-could he have used his miraculous ability, like some of the Corinthians, without love?

Paul then states that love is more important than sacrificing one's possessions and life: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). The word "bestow [give, NKJ]" is from a word that depicts one who has given all his goods in small portions to a large number of people.4 "Give my body to be burned" is a reference to sacrificing one's physical life and is reminiscent of Daniel 3:28, though the absence of love certainly would not apply to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Paul's declaration of the importance of love, even over miraculous powers and personal sacrifice, served at least two purposes. First, it set up the remainder of the discussion on the characteristics and duration of love. Second, and perhaps more important to the overall context, it showed that love must be allowed to regulate their use of miraculous gifts. If they would receive the gifts in love and use them in love to build up the church (which is what Chapter 14 is about), they would not have the division over miraculous spiritual gifts. Though the age of miraculous gifts has ceased (1 Cor. 13:8-13), love must still regulate all that we do (cf. Mt. 22:37-40). Do we love enough to seek God's will, obey it, and be united with Him and His people?

End Notes

1 Much of this section is adapted from Howard Winters, Commentary on First Corinthians: Practical and Explanatory (Greenville, SC: Carolina Christian, 1987) 176.

2 Homer Kent, Jr., Light in the Darkness: Studies in the Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974) 227.

3 Cleon L. Rogers, Jr. and Cleon L. Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998) 379.

4 Rogers and Rogers 379.