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3. Love is Patient toward Sinners (1 Cor. 13:4)

Richard Ostella — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

In the big picture, to be loving is the way to live a life that communicates meaning, that has music, significance, dignity, and value. Without it you are nothing and your life has no value (1 Cor. 13:1-3). Love in this chapter has to be seen as a product of redemption because of the good fruits here that come from formerly corrupt trees. The love of the triune God is being reflected in the lives of redeemed sinners. It is reflected or manifested in specific ways. The first specific cited by Paul is patience (13:4).

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4. Loving-kindness (1 Cor. 13:4)

Richard Ostella — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

The text (1 Cor. 13:4) combines the patience of love with its kindness: love is patient and kind (as in Gal. 5:22). These are two aspects or elements of love that are presented in explanation of what love is (cf. the subject love is repeated here, love is patient, love is kind; except for a variant after the word envy, the term love is not used again until v. 8). Then comes a list of eight things that love is not (4b-6a). Of course, from what love is not we learn what it is by implication to its opposite.

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5. Love Is Contrary to Envy (1 Cor. 13:4)

Richard Ostella — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

As we study the description of love given to us in 1 Corinthians 13, we should look to the Lord in earnest prayer and to ourselves with careful self-examination. It is very important to a healthy Christian walk that we endeavor to learn with a sense of need driven by an awareness of the subtlety of sin (personalized, this means "my sin"). Therefore, we cling to the work of Christ in His life, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sin and the sure promise of eternal life.

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6. Love Is Not Proud but Humble (1 Cor. 13:4-5)

Richard Ostella — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Another aspect of the dark backdrop that puts love brightly in the foreground is pride. Thus, Paul says, "love …does not boast; it is not arrogant or rude" (1 Cor. 13:4-5). This is perhaps one of the most important considerations in living a life of love that has abiding value and true meaning. It is the key to becoming a Christian and receiving the sure promise of the glories of heaven. The Christian life begins with the eyes facing downward and the lips saying, "God, have mercy on me a sinner" (Lk. 18:13).

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7. Unselfish Christian Love (1 Cor. 13:5b)

Richard Ostella — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

The words of our text (1 Cor. 13:5b) are translated in a number of ways: love seeks not her own, does not insist on its own way, and is not self-seeking. A very literal rendering that goes right to the heart of things is, love does not seek the self. You can see how this leads to the translation, not self-seeking. Therefore our topic for this morning and next Sunday is Unselfish Christian Love. This week I will develop some perspectives on the unselfishness of Christian love and next week I will discuss the motives that drive us down this road.

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8. Motives to Unselfish Christian Love (1 Cor. 13:5c)

Richard Ostella — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Last week we began a study of the phrase: love is not self-seeking in 1 Corinthians 13:5b (cf. the flow of thought, vs. 1-5). This gave us the topic of unselfish Christian love. Today we will consider unselfish Christian love again in two ways: 1) A summary of this love, and 2) Motivation to this love. The danger zone of getting too full of ourselves needs a red flag; we need to learn how to get out of ourselves, out of the box of our own narrow interests and concerns. This summary and these motives should help us get out of ourselves.

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9. Loving versus Unloving Anger (1 Cor. 13:5d)

Richard Ostella — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Turning to 1 Corinthians 13:5c (love is not irritable, love is not easily provoked), we should note that Paul cites an aspect of anger that implies the larger biblical picture of anger. We are going to discuss that larger picture by means of a group of words related to anger (being ready to be provoked, anger, wrath, etc.). As we do this some questions arise. How can we characterize the sin of anger? What is the opposite of anger that Christian love displays?

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10. Love Is Not Censorious (1 Cor. 13:5e)

Richard Ostella — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Earlier during Scripture reading we cited two passages (Rom. 4:1-8; Matt. 7:1-5) that must be kept in mind as we take up the last phrase in 1 Corinthians 13:5. (We should review the flow of thought by reading verses 1-5 by which we come to the final phrase love does not impute sin.) Briefly put, on one hand, what we have is the marvelous fact that God does not impute evil to those who trust in the risen Christ (per Romans).

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11. Love’s Delight in Holiness (1 Cor. 13:6)

Richard Ostella — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Today our attention is on 1 Corinthians 13:6, which states, “[love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” If we reflect on the key words for a moment we can come up with a title for this message. Rejoicing is the main verb in each clause on both sides of the contrast (“does not rejoice” but “does rejoice.”). So the notion of joy, pleasure, or delight has to be part of our title. I will use the term delight.

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Sanctification

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