Paul's Favorite Trio in the Trenches

Sing along if you know the words:  "But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13) A modest estimate would tell us, I am convinced, that roughly two million people have, in the past five years, translated some portion of these words into a 90s script font and placed them into a picture of an ocean sunset. You can find them all on Facebook.

That aside, though, the trio of faith, hope, and love is certainly one of Paul's favorites.  He mentions this combination a number of times in his biblical writings, and it is evident that, for him, these are more than just pretty words or ideas.  They are the helmet and the breastplate for the sober Christian warrior (1 Thess. 5:8), essential defensive components in the chaos and struggle of Christian life. 

Consider the basis of Paul's thankfulness for the Thessalonian believers, taken from 1 Thessalonians 1:3 - "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."  These qualities were not incubated in a pristine bubble of comfort (read:  they did not pitch their tents in the candle aisle of a Christian book store).  There was hardship, persecution, confusion, difficulty - even from the very beginning (see Acts 17:1-9, for instance).  Let us look at faith, hope, and love in the above context, and see what they teach us about the commendable Christian life.

1.  Our faith must work.  We cannot mention faith and works without James' famous treatment in James 2:14-26 springing into our thoughts, can we?  The faith of the commendable believer is one that is active.  It is not content to rest upon the (presumed) laurels of (supposed) salvation; rather, the natural outpouring of genuine faith is committed action for the Lord.  A lazy faith is not one that will excite gladness from our spiritual family, and it will not fasten us to an immovable pillar of assurance, because true faith should naturally generate godly works (cf. 1 John 5:2-4).  The circumstances through which our God leads us are manifold and complex, but biblical wisdom and godly discernment always, always demonstrate to us how we can serve Christ in faith in a given situation. 

2.  Our love must labor.  Paul's word choice behind "labor" is kopos.  This is toil, exertion to the point of weariness or pain¹ - perhaps not the usual sort of idea when love is discussed.  Our love, both for God and for others (and it is difficult to completely separate those two objects; is it not?), should motivate us to lavishly pour out our energies in useful, selfless kingdom work.  The immortal words of David Brainerd, that earnest missionary of the 18th century, spring to mind:  "I want to wear out my life in His service and for His glory."  We live and work in the only kingdom that will never be overthrown; we enjoy the only salvation which is true and permanent.  We serve the only righteous Lord and life-giving Savior - what cause could clamor more loudly and rightly for the near-prodigal expenditure of our energies and zeal?  Put another way, what would we seek to withhold from ourselves for the sake of the love which God commands and implants?² 

3.  Our hope must endure.  We know from Paul that hope grows from the soil of steadfastness (Romans 5:3-5), and he explains here that steadfastness must also be a facet of that same hope.  True hope in the Christian world is never an uncertain venture, for it is grounded in the faithful truth of our immutable God - it possesses the element of expectation, not assumption.  Hope for the believer is always favorable.³  It is easy to see, then, how genuine hope can either set a believer up for devastating failure, or else carry through with them to victory for God's glory, in any given endeavor.  Hope that falters and comes short when circumstances grow difficult is of little use; it merely mimics one's emotional state when it should be driving one beyond the frustrating confines of emotional mire.  It has no weight, and is thus without momentum (simple physics teaches, of course, that momentum is the product of mass and velocity).  Hope's reality is proven in its endurance - true hope knows and believes in God's character and promises, and acts accordingly.

True faith, hope, and love, are serious pursuits, as well as powerful tools.  They require effort and endurance, and they will be tinged with the dirt and sweat of spiritual battle, but they will provide energy, direction, and protection, all from God, in our lifelong pursuit of Christ and His kingdom!



¹Brown, Colin. Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Vol. 1. Grand Rapid, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1975. pp. 262-263.

²This is not at all to suggest that love should be given without wisdom or reck (e.g. giving the family house to a homeless man who shows up at your door).  Love must fall within the righteous confines of God's wise word, or it is not love at all, for it fails to love Him.  Make your love a wise, godly love.

¹Vine, W.E., et al. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. "An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words." Nashville, TN:  Thomas Nelson, 1996. p. 310.

12 Evangelistic Points from an Old Pro (Part 2 of 2)

We last looked at the first six of twelve evangelistic guidelines which could be derived from Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 2 - a knowing boldness, pure exhortation, God-honoring speech, honest speech, humble comportment, and gentle care.  Today's discussion will comprehend the final six, which we will quickly see are no less crucial or desirable in the righteous pursuit of the gospel, and of the discipleship which must be a part of every believer's life.

7.  Selfless affection.  "Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us." (v. 8) Paul and his fellow soldiers did not cloister themselves atop a tower of smug condescension:  "We will give you the gospel, and you will listen and ask polite questions, and we will then return to our own rarified company."  No; they developed a genuine love for those to whom they imparted gospel truth; they were close, personal, and real (most people are more savvy to dissembly and condescension than we care to suppose).  Especially as the Lord began to build the Thessalonian church, the evangelists invested their very lives into these dear people. 

8.  Unselfish living.  "For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God." (v. 9) Seeing to their own needs allowed Paul and his friends to present a very uncluttered message.  Imagine how pedestrian they would have appeared, had they on one hand presented (as they claimed) the only way of salvation and eternal life, while on the other demanding some manner of material benefit.  This harkens back to the television gospel charlatan who draws people into his church, only to leech their financial resources to the breaking point.  We must take care to avoid a two-faced appearance in our interaction with unbelievers or new believers.

9.  Purity of conduct.  "You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; " (v. 10) Just as they did not seek monetary gain in their work, they were careful to avoid the sort of hypocrisy that would only have blunted the force of their discipleship work amongst these new believers:  "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - here; let us show you."  Or, "As Christians, righteousness is, on occasion, incredibly important to us."  They sought, as we should, to exemplify Christ's righteousness.  This does not mean that young believers look at us and see people basking in the glories of moral perfection, but they see people for whom striving after godliness is a continual priority - this constitutes a distinction from unbelievers (cf. Ps. 119:20, Rom. 7:22).

10.  Earnest exhortation.  "just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, " (v. 11) By now, you have noticed the transition in this passage from strict evangelism toward general Christian discipleship - the natural consequence of evangelism and salvation.  New believers must be nurtured and directed in their newfound faith and zeal (or else Scripture would avail us nothing after salvation), so Paul passionately cheered and warned and pled with his Thessalonian family, bringing sanctifying biblical truth to bear with the gentleness, care, and wisdom of a father addressing his children. 

11.  A heart of discipleship.  "so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." (v. 12) The simple goal of Paul's work was godliness - to gird the infant Thessalonian believers such that they were living as children of the true, holy, and sovereign God should.  Some preach morality from a desire to cleanse the fabric of society, or to make their church look appealing to outsiders, or to salve the human conscience.  Paul's motivation was far greater than any of these things, though - the worthiness of His God to have holy partakers of His blessings.

12.  A humble heart before God.  "For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." (v. 13) These godly believers, in delivering the gospel to the Thessalonians, did not congratulate themselves in their masterful powers of persuasion or righteousness.  Rather, they recognized the active work of God as being the sole catalyst behind the spiritual life which sprang up before their very eyes in that city.  This recognition led to their thankfulness toward God, and indeed their reliance upon Him in their crucial work.  Thus God, in His sovereignty, was glorified in their hearts, and they looked to Him for the results of their labor. 


We begin to see, then, that evangelism is more than simply declaring the gospel, and its undertaking demands more than a little care and caution from us.  It is a comprehensive program of godliness, love, selflessness, boldness, and reliance upon the Lord as we declare the gospel, and it resolves itself into a lifelong work of discipleship and shepherding when a person is graciously saved by the Lord.  In short, it is a weighty undertaking.  Praise be to God alone, who blesses us with His perfect Word and His own Spirit, by which we may be fitted for this indispensable kingdom work!