Is love more important than faith?

[Seasoned by Grace]

Hello everyone.
I was recently shocked when I read a verse that I have read who knows how many times in my 42 years as a Christ follower, but had never connected to it's possible significance, until this last time I read it yesterday, because of a topic being discussed here on the forum.

The verse is 1st Corinthians 13:13, "But now abide faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.

There are other verses that I barely remember seemed to indicate the same idea of LOVE trumping (No, not that Trump ) faith.

1st Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angesl, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have all knowledge ;and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, BUT DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I AM NOTHING.

Another words what we have decided to believe about our faith, could be less important than to love God and all of man the best we can.

If you have any "BIBLICAL IMPUT," not just opinion, I'd love to hear from you.
I'm going to begin a study, as I have a pretty large library of study material, and this could be significant for me, and answer a lot of recent questions that being at different forums I joined have been brought up by, and confused me about peoples attitudes and what it is that really saves us as being born again.

There's a verse that says love covers a multitude of sins, and I know there are others.
This is just eating at me now.
I can't wait to start my study tomorrow just for me.
I don't try to force my views or opinions on anyone, as I don't see it as a way to be kind to people and I need to let them grow in the Grace and leading of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read this and possibly respond.
My name is OLIGOS.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated

 

[Paul Christensen]

Hello everyone.
I was recently shocked when I read a verse that I have read who knows how many times in my 42 years as a Christ follower, but had never connected to it's possible significance, until this last time I read it yesterday, because of a topic being discussed here on the forum.

The verse is 1st Corinthians 13:13, "But now abide faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.

There are other verses that I barely remember seemed to indicate the same idea of LOVE trumping (No, not that Trump ) faith.

1st Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angesl, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have all knowledge ;and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, BUT DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I AM NOTHING.

Another words what we have decided to believe about our faith, could be less important than to love God and all of man the best we can.

If you have any "BIBLICAL IMPUT," not just opinion, I'd love to hear from you.
I'm going to begin a study, as I have a pretty large library of study material, and this could be significant for me, and answer a lot of recent questions that being at different forums I joined have been brought up by, and confused me about peoples attitudes and what it is that really saves us as being born again.

There's a verse that says love covers a multitude of sins, and I know there are others.
This is just eating at me now.
I can't wait to start my study tomorrow just for me.
I don't try to force my views or opinions on anyone, as I don't see it as a way to be kind to people and I need to let them grow in the Grace and leading of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read this and possibly respond.
My name is OLIGOS.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated

Here's a Scripture that might explain things more clearly:
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love" (Galatians 5:6).

This implies that without love, we cannot have true faith in Christ. So love is the most important because it forms the foundation of our faith in Christ. Therefore the person who says they have faith in Christ, but does not love, is deceived. The Scripture says that the person who does not love does not know God who is love (1 John 4:8).

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

Very good Paul Christensen.
Thank you so much.
I will add that verse to my studies.

God bless you my friend.
My name is OLIGOS

 

[FHII]

Seasoned,

I wish you well in your study on this. Here is something to look into: 1 Cor 13.

The KJV uses the word "charity" several times, but some versions probably use the word "love", as the original Greek root for that word in 1 Cor 13 is "agape". In fact, even the KJV notes it isn't talking about what we would consider "charity" to be in verse 3. Charity is not (in this chapter) about giving to the poor.

It's talking about "love". A special kind of love that is not human emotion. Thus verse 4, which really doesn't fit romantic notions of love. This type of love is without envy And is not easily provoked...

Verse 6 is curious and I believe important. It says rejoice not in inquiry, but in the truth.

So, it's a weird thing to state in the middle of a discourse bout love UNLESS the is a connection between love and truth.

Now, just as an exercise, substitute the word "charity" or "love" in 1 Cor 13 with the word "truth". It still fits.

I am not making a statement that love is truth necessarily, but in light of the 6th verse of this chapter, it may be something to look into.

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

Thanks so much FHII
Your right that 1st Corinthians 13 is a major player even at just the beginning of this study.
Acts like a nice start for a good foundation to move forward on.

I hope by morning there is more imput to help me have plenty to consider for my study.

Thanks again for helping me get started.
My name is OLIGOS

 

[Enoch111]

Any thoughts greatly appreciated

Love is more important than faith AFTER a person is saved. Faith is critical BEFORE a person is saved. And here is your answer from Scripture: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. (Gal 5:6)

So what you do not need at this time is a library. What you need to do is to go out into the hedges, and highways, as well as the wilderness of unbelief, and preach the Gospel.

 

[DNB]

Well, as far as salvation goes, fundamentally speaking, we understand that God's covenant with man was originally the Law. And to observe it, lead to one's approbation with God. Subsequently, God abrogated the Law and instituted the Law of Faith. And it is through this final covenant that man has eternal redemption with God.

Romans 3:27-28
3:27. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Romans 4:13-16
4:13. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 16. For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

Galatians 2:16
2:16. nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

Galatians 3:2-12
3:2. This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 5. So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 12. However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."

Philippians 3:9
3:9. and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

But, as far as love is concerned, as to whether or not it supersedes faith, I would have to say no, for then Christ's death was nothing but superfluous. In other words, the Law of Faith is believing in Christ's resurrection from the dead and all that it entails. Faith is meaningless without having something to be convicted of. Furthermore, the principle of love alone, defines what all the other religions around the world subscribe to as their sole tenet. Thus, intrinsically incompatible with Christianity, which is defined by it's principles of forgiveness, grace and faith.

Of course, here's the paradox, can true faith and love be separated? Not when one's faith is in line with a universal, God ordained truth. The wisdom behind the Christian faith, elicits love from every facet of it's theology. For where is the offense in grace and forgiveness? What is absurd and tyrannical about confessing our sins, and recognizing their innate corruption and repulsiveness? Who will deny Christ his supremacy, considering that he fulfilled God's holy Law, and equally loved God with all his heart, mind and soul (both are inseparable btw)?

Our love is derived from our perception of God, and our perception of Him is elucidated and defined by His Law of Faith.

 

[mailmandan]

Love is more important than faith AFTER a person is saved. Faith is critical BEFORE a person is saved. And here is your answer from Scripture: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. (Gal 5:6)

So what you do not need at this time is a library. What you need to do is to go out into the hedges, and highways, as well as the wilderness of unbelief, and preach the Gospel.

Amen! After we have been saved through faith, love certainly is the greatest quality of the three because God is love and it outlasts them all. Long after faith and hope are no longer necessary, love will still be the principle that governs all that God and his saints are and do throughout eternity in the new heaven and new earth.

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

Great posts.
Thank you all for your input.
It will be a good day of study.

God bless your day.
My name is OLIGOS

 

[Taken]

Hello everyone.
My name is OLIGOS.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated

Hi -
God IS Love.
Faith IS a Gift.

Jesus gave TWO Commands and both were About Love.

Mankind IS not Love, but rather Expresses Love.

I see the Two Commands of Jesus, ONLY capable of being fulfilled by the Power of God IN a man, rather than the power of man.

God Bless,
Taken

 

[BreadOfLife]

Love is more important than faith AFTER a person is saved. Faith is critical BEFORE a person is saved. And here is your answer from Scripture: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. (Gal 5:6)

So what you do not need at this time is a library. What you need to do is to go out into the hedges, and highways, as well as the wilderness of unbelief, and preach the Gospel.

Amen! After we have been saved through faith, love certainly is the greatest quality of the three because God is love and it outlasts them all. Long after faith and hope are no longer necessary, love will still be the principle that governs all that God and his saints are and do throughout eternity in the new heaven and new earth.

And, as we were reminded in an earlier post - you CANNOT even have faith itself without love (1 Cor. 13:1-3) - so you are arguing in circles.

True faith requires Love . . .

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

Bread of life - Very true.

But don't forget that LOVE and FAITH aren't traits of our faith that are "STATIC". Both grow together in us as we grow in Christ.
As you said, we need faith to become a believer, but along the path of our faith, once we are a believer, God begins the super-natural transformation of our lives, and we can begin loving God and man Gods way if it becomes our heartfelt desire when we seek God out for Him to help us learn, as our faith continues to grow, and begins to cause us to love others and God, God's way.

For me, after being a believer for several years I began feeling an emptiness of not having a GODLY love for my creator and for those in my life that I started becoming aware that I needed to love differently.
I knew there was a difference I could have and wanted it for others sake, so I prayed to God and told Him How empty I felt, and wanted to love Him and others the way my heart was calling me to, but I had no clue how.

God over many years was gracious to me, and began leading me to love His way. Sometimes I would BLOW IT BADLY, because there was still a lot of sin in my life, but God was patient and knew my heart, and grew me to understand the hurt and pain many people live with in their lives as I have in the past, and it gave me a new sense of empathy about the condition of mankind around me struggling with their own lives and it truly has touched my heart.

God bless you for your comment.
My name is OLIGOS

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

Hello everyone.
I was recently shocked when I read a verse that I have read who knows how many times in my 42 years as a Christ follower, but had never connected to it's possible significance, until this last time I read it yesterday, because of a topic being discussed here on the forum.

The verse is 1st Corinthians 13:13, "But now abide faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.

There are other verses that I barely remember seemed to indicate the same idea of LOVE trumping (No, not that Trump ) faith.

1st Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angesl, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have all knowledge ;and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, BUT DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I AM NOTHING.

Another words what we have decided to believe about our faith, could be less important than to love God and all of man the best we can.

If you have any "BIBLICAL IMPUT," not just opinion, I'd love to hear from you.
I'm going to begin a study, as I have a pretty large library of study material, and this could be significant for me, and answer a lot of recent questions that being at different forums I joined have been brought up by, and confused me about peoples attitudes and what it is that really saves us as being born again.

There's a verse that says love covers a multitude of sins, and I know there are others.
This is just eating at me now.
I can't wait to start my study tomorrow just for me.
I don't try to force my views or opinions on anyone, as I don't see it as a way to be kind to people and I need to let them grow in the Grace and leading of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read this and possibly respond.
My name is OLIGOS.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated

When it comes to faith one must truly love God first to be able to have that faith in him and his word. So it's reasonable that love would be the greatest since without love you wouldn't be able to have faith in the True God and therefore we would be without hope.

 

[Invisibilis]

Truth, Love, and Faith are interlinked, and all three are unconditional.
Faith opens up to Truth. Truth expressed is Love. Without Faith and Love, there is no flow of Truth within us.

 

[Taken]

God IS the provider...
Gods Word IS God,
Gods POWER IS God,
Gods LOVE IS God,

God has MADE Available TO man, FOR man, an Offering FROM God...
To Receive;
Gods Word...
Gods Enlightenment...
Gods Love...
Gods Faithfulness...
Gods Power...
Gods "Reflective" Glory...

Gods Offering is ONE thing.
A man receiving is ANOTHER thing.

Gods Word, enlightenment, Love of God, Faithfulness toward God, Righteous in a man, Crucifing a man, saving a man's soul, giving a man Gods Seed, Quicking a man's spirit, Quickening a man's body raised in glory, and on and on and on....
Have nothing to do with a mans POWER...
And everything to Do With:
1) Gods Offering.
2) a man Heartfully Accepting Gods Offer
3) Gods POWER

Arguing.. over a man's Love of God and Faith in God...is silly.

A man can have neither, Without God giving it to the man via His Power.

Glory to God,
Taken

 

[Brakelite]

As @Taken said, God is love. That doesn't simply mean that God loves. Or that He is loving. Love is who God is. Love is His very nature... His character. He doesn't do anything that isn't motivated from that character of love.
The purpose of the gospel is to make of mankind a sanctuary for the presence of God. "Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" is as much a new testament declaration as it is old. We are to be His sanctuary. "Christ in us, the hope of glory". We are to be moulded and recreated in the image of Christ. In the image of love. And love is the fulfilling of the law. Obedience to God's commandments through loving God with all our hearts, soul, and mind and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Yes love, being the nature and character of God is absolutely paramount
. And to attain to this character of love is not only attainable... Not only essential... But also only can be accomplished by faith.

 

[Giuliano]

When it comes to faith one must truly love God first to be able to have that faith in him and his word. So it's reasonable that love would be the greatest since without love you wouldn't be able to have faith in the True God and therefore we would be without hope.

I agree. We also cannot properly love God if we have the wrong ideas about Him. Could I love someone or trust him to do the right thing by me if I felt He hated me and wanted to do me harm?

We may begin a relationship with God, loving Him a little and being in some fear; but if we continue, we begin to see fear is not necessary unless we are failing to be loving ourselves.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Perceiving that God loves us is important; and I doubt we can have much faith in Him if we don't see that.

 

[Brakelite]

I agree. We also cannot properly love God if we have the wrong ideas about Him. Could I love someone or trust him to do the right thing by me if I felt He hated me and wanted to do me harm?

We may begin a relationship with God, loving Him a little and being in some fear; but if we continue, we begin to see fear is not necessary unless we are failing to be loving ourselves.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Perceiving that God loves us is important; and I doubt we can have much faith in Him if we don't see that.

Our apprehension, or misapprehension as the case may be, of the character or nature of God directly and proportionately affects how much we believe His promises toward us, and toward others. Ironically, many believe God will be good to others, but not to themselves.

 

[mailmandan]

1 John 4:19 - We love Him because He first loved us.

Romans 5:5 - Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Those with true faith have love and faith works through love. (Galatians 5:6) If we have faith, then we have hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.. (Hebrews 11:1) Paul is using hyperbole in 1 Corinthians 13 to stress the importance of love.

1 John 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

As I previously mentioned, after we have been saved through faith, love certainly is the greatest quality of the three because God is love and it outlasts them all. Long after faith and hope are no longer necessary, love will still be the principle that governs all that God and his saints are and do throughout eternity in the new heaven and new earth.

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

I agree. We also cannot properly love God if we have the wrong ideas about Him. Could I love someone or trust him to do the right thing by me if I felt He hated me and wanted to do me harm?

We may begin a relationship with God, loving Him a little and being in some fear; but if we continue, we begin to see fear is not necessary unless we are failing to be loving ourselves.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Perceiving that God loves us is important; and I doubt we can have much faith in Him if we don't see that.

We wouldn't just improperly love the True God if we had the wrong ideas about him, but we wouldn't be loving the True God at all if we had the wrong ideas about him. We instead would be loving that person those wrong ideas describes. That why it's so important to know the truth about The True God and the truth concerning how he will save his creation.(mankind) The truth that's in his word, which is why The True God tells us to search for that truth in his word as though we're searching for gold or treasure.