1 Corinthians 13:13 - "But now abide faith, hope, love,
these three; and the greatest of these is love."
Someone once said that these three things, faith, hope and love, are three marks of a maturing christian, or a maturing church. Paul begins his letter to the Colossians by saying in Colossians 1:3-5 - "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel." One of the first things he mentioned to them is that he heard, first, of their faith in Christ, second, of their love for the brethren, and third, of their hope of salvation. These three things are all common themes of scripture. Paul mentions the three of them together again at the beginning of his first epistle to the Thessalonians. In chapter 1 verses 2-3 he says - "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father."
Faith - We're told in Ephesians chapter 2 that we are saved by grace through faith. Faith in Christ Jesus is the first step in our christian lives, but that's not the end of faith. In 1 Thessalonians Paul talks about "your work of faith." Faith works. Hebrews chapter 11 is probably the most popular chapter in the Bible regarding faith. The men and women throughout this chapter not only believed by faith to the salvation of their souls, but they lived lives of faith. They were in this world but they lived for heaven. They had their eyes trained to see the unseen. And that is the essence of faith.
Hope - We're able to live lives of faith because our hope is in heaven. We have hope of eternal life because of what Jesus accomplished on our behalf on the cross. In Titus chapter 2 Paul talks about the "blessed hope, and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." He is our hope. He is the one we're looking for, and apart from Him there is no hope.
Love - Love is a dominant theme throughout the scriptures. In John 13 Jesus said - "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Our love for one another identifies us with God. And of course, the key text on love would be First Corinthians 13, where we're not only given the definition of love, but also told that apart from love we are nothing.
These three characteristics are greatly lacking in the church today. So many are not living by faith. Their pursuing the temporal rather than the eternal, their comfortable here so their not looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Self sufficient so that they have no need to hope in Christ, and everyone is looking out for number one. Selfish rather than selfless. Lovers of self rather than lovers of God. That's the norm in much of Christendom today, but God wants us to pursue faith hope and love.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 - "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation."
Someone once said that these three things, faith, hope and love, are three marks of a maturing christian, or a maturing church. Paul begins his letter to the Colossians by saying in Colossians 1:3-5 - "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel." One of the first things he mentioned to them is that he heard, first, of their faith in Christ, second, of their love for the brethren, and third, of their hope of salvation. These three things are all common themes of scripture. Paul mentions the three of them together again at the beginning of his first epistle to the Thessalonians. In chapter 1 verses 2-3 he says - "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father."
Faith - We're told in Ephesians chapter 2 that we are saved by grace through faith. Faith in Christ Jesus is the first step in our christian lives, but that's not the end of faith. In 1 Thessalonians Paul talks about "your work of faith." Faith works. Hebrews chapter 11 is probably the most popular chapter in the Bible regarding faith. The men and women throughout this chapter not only believed by faith to the salvation of their souls, but they lived lives of faith. They were in this world but they lived for heaven. They had their eyes trained to see the unseen. And that is the essence of faith.
Hope - We're able to live lives of faith because our hope is in heaven. We have hope of eternal life because of what Jesus accomplished on our behalf on the cross. In Titus chapter 2 Paul talks about the "blessed hope, and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." He is our hope. He is the one we're looking for, and apart from Him there is no hope.
Love - Love is a dominant theme throughout the scriptures. In John 13 Jesus said - "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Our love for one another identifies us with God. And of course, the key text on love would be First Corinthians 13, where we're not only given the definition of love, but also told that apart from love we are nothing.
These three characteristics are greatly lacking in the church today. So many are not living by faith. Their pursuing the temporal rather than the eternal, their comfortable here so their not looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Self sufficient so that they have no need to hope in Christ, and everyone is looking out for number one. Selfish rather than selfless. Lovers of self rather than lovers of God. That's the norm in much of Christendom today, but God wants us to pursue faith hope and love.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 - "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation."
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