Verse 7 – Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Paul closes out his fifteen characteristics of love with four sweeping (πάντα, “all things), positive statements about love.

Love “bears all things” (πάντα στέγει). The verb has led to much speculation about Paul’s meaning here. The cognate noun στέγη designates a “roof” and thus the verb means “to cover” and by extension “to endure” or “to bear.”[1] It is used in non-Biblical Greek to describe covering to keep something from coming inside, like a ship in order to keep the water out[2] or a roof on a building to keep the weather out.[3] It can also be used of a lid that keeps liquid in a container.[4]Thus, it can have an outward reference (to hold off) and an inward reference (to hold in). The meaning “to protect” or “to ward off” and “to defend” allowed for the development of meanings such as “to endure,” “to support,” “to bear.”[5] Thus, the word could be used in a general sense and mean “to bear up against difficulties.”[6] This seems to be how Paul used the term in 1 Thessalonians. He described a set of circumstances “when we could bear it [στέγοντες] no longer” and “were willing to be left behind at Athens alone” (1 Thess. 3:1). Paul added, “I could bear it [στέγων] no longer” and so “sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain” (v.5). Similarly, he used the term earlier in 1 Corinthians as he discussed the right to financial support from the Corinthian believers, “If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure [στέγομεν] anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:12).

How then are we to understand its meaning here? It is sometimes argued that the more general sense of “to endure” is unlikely here, for he will soon use the more frequently used verb that conveys that idea with the declaration, love “endures all things” (πάντα ὑπομένει). Such a redundancy is viewed as unlikely. For these reasons some view the covering as designed to keep something in and suggest the meaning “to keep confidential” in the sense that love “throws a cloak of silence over what is displeasing in another person.”[7] Spicq suggests the meaning “keep secret, hidden,” so that “in all circumstances, love is characterized by discretion; in particular, it keeps quiet about evils and does not record them on a balance sheet; it covers evil with silence and does not try to exploit it.”[8] This, then, becomes a rough equivalent of the command to “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21; cf. 1 Thess. 5:15; Rom 12:17; 1Pet 3:9).[9] This appears to be the intent of the NASB 2020 update, which translates “it keeps every confidence.” But, as we have seen, the covering also may keep something out. The NIV views love as safeguarding others (“It always protects”). Most English translations accept the more general the idea of bearing up under wrongdoing (e.g., CSB, ESV, NASU).

Love “believes all things” (πάντα πιστεύει). The Apostle is not advising gullibility. Love is ever wise and always discerning. Love is willing to follow the evidence, but does not assume the worst in others. It never looks for the downfall of others. Love “does not rejoice” in the possibility of “wrongdoing” (v.6a). When a negative report is received, love holds out for the best possible reality. When wrong is exposed, love holds out for the best possible intentions. Love does not deny painful evidence, but it is not quick to assume what is not proven. Furthermore, where wrongdoing is proven, love holds out for the fullness of God’s best for the wrongdoer. Love lays hold of God’s promises for both the accused and the guilty. Love claims in prayer all God’s promises on behalf of the fallen one. Love views people through gospel-eyes. In this way it “rejoices in the truth” (v.6b).

Love “hopes all things” (πάντα ἐλπίζει). Regarding a person’s present reality, love “believes all things.” Regarding another’s future, love “hopes all things.” When history said the Corinthian Christians could not be trusted, Paul chose to “hope all things” and trust them anyway. He held tenaciously to a great hope for them, believing he would reap a spiritual harvest among them (1 Cor. 9:10), their labors for Christ would not be in vain (15:58), as they shared in his sufferings, they would share in the comfort he received from God. (2 Cor. 1:7), and their faith would continue to grow (10:15).

Love “endures all things” (πάντα ὑπομένει). The verb is a compound, made up of ὑπό (“under”) and μένω (“to remain”). Thus, it depicts remaining under some downward pressure, refusing to move out from under its weight. Paul could say, “we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.” (1 Cor. 9:12). At the end of his life, facing martyrdom, he testified, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10). He told the Corinthians he served God

… by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. (2 Cor. 6:4-10)

… with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”  (2 Cor. 11:23-27)

Truly, with his life Paul proved love “endures all things.”

The Corinthians seemed to believe they had a right to “all things” (πάντα is used three times in 1 Cor. 6:12). Paul turned their self-seeking, right-grabbing attitude on its ear, showing them the “more excellent way” (12:31) of love is not to selfishly grab after and demand “all things” for oneself, but to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things out of love for God and others.

[1] Friberg, 24894.

[2] BDAG, 6804.

[3] TDNT, 7:586.

[4] Spicq, 3:290.

[5] TDNT, 7:586.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Spicq, 3:291.

[9] Ibid.

Verse 6 – it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

One final consideration of love from the negative side reminds us that “it does not rejoice in wrongdoing” (οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ). The verb (χαίρει, “rejoice”) depicts resting in a state of happiness and well-being.[1] The present tense indicates the present and ongoing bliss of that state of mind and heart. But that state is disrupted when “wrongdoing” (τῇ ἀδικίᾳ) takes place. The noun means “unrighteousness” and here stands over against “the truth” (τῇ ἀληθείᾳ) in the next clause.[2] Note the definite articles with both nouns. There is only one truth and every act against it is imagined here. Wherever unrighteousness occurs love recoils over the offense. Where joy recedes, grief fills the void. The preposition (ἐπὶ, “at”) generally depicts something resting “on” something else.[3] Like the dove sent out by Noah, love finds no place to rest over the sea of “wrongdoing” (Gen. 8:8-9). It remains in flight until it can return to “the truth” and at last rest itself again in rejoicing. It is not that love does not discern the presence of “wrongdoing,” it is that it cannot rest upon it in rejoicing. The world and its people, of course, find their joy in acting out their own desires in disregard for “the truth.” For this reason, John commands, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world– the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions– is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16). “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Rom. 8:7). That is why Paul said, “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (v.6). This raises questions, then, about how those indwelt by the Spirit are to respond to acts and expressions of “wrongdoing” perpetrated in their presence. Dirty jokes and coarse language. Unlawful unions. Breaking the law. Defying authorities. Backstabbing, backbiting, gossip. All these and more grieve the heart of the one where dwells the Spirit whose first fruit is love.

By way of a contrast (δὲ, “but”) Paul returns to viewing love from a positive angle, telling us love “rejoices with the truth” (συγχαίρει . . . τῇ ἀληθείᾳ). The verb (συγχαίρει, “rejoices with”) is a compound comprised of the immediately preceding verb χαίρω (“to rejoice”) and σύν (“with”) as a prefix (“with”). Where love must stay in flight over and find no rest upon “wrongdoing,” here love at the mere sight of “the truth” fills with delight. As already noted, “the truth” (τῇ ἀληθείᾳ) stands in direct contrast to “wrongdoing” (τῇ ἀδικίᾳ). If “wrongdoing” is all that stands in opposition to God’s expressed will, then “the truth” is that will itself, as expressed in the gospel, declared, unfolded, and expounded for us in the written Word of God. Joy breaks out wherever love spies one who finds reality expressed in the gospel and conforms one’s life to it.

[1] BDAG, 7866.1; Louw-Nida, 25.125.

[2] Friberg, 475.

[3] Harris, 137.

Verse 5 – or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

The description of love continues, now adding four more traits of what love is not.

Love is not “rude” (οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ). The “noun σχῆμα refers to someth[ing] that has a pattern or form” and often “of a type that the public considers standard or laudable.”[1] With the α– prefix serving to negate this root idea, our verb points toward actions that defy accepted boundaries of behavior. The compounded form is used only two times in the NT, both in this letter. It has to do with defying either moral (7:36) or social (13:5) standards, or both.[2] Love conversely respects boundaries of socially acceptable behavior and speech. It avoids the outrageous and scandalous. Love does not look to shock, outrage, upset, shame, or create disgrace. Much of the entertainment industry depends on actions and speech embraced for no other reason than their shock value. Popularity in the world of social media requires acquiring each person’s next “click.” Each video must outdo the last. In such a world, social norms get in the way. Not only is love violated, it must be jettisoned for popularity and profit. Love, rather, does not seek attention and thus acts in quiet ways that do not create a stir or draw the spotlight.

Thus, in a related way, “It does not insist on its own way” (οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς). More woodenly the phrase reads, “does not seek the things of herself.” The reflexive pronoun is feminine (ἑαυτῆς) matching up with the feminine noun “love” (ἀγάπη). Thus the KJV’s “seeketh not her own.” Paul exemplified this love when he used the verb earlier to confront the attitude, prevalent among the Corinthians, that one ought to be able to do all that is legitimate under the redemption in Christ. He commanded the Corinthians, “Let no one seek his own good [μηδεὶς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ζητείτω], but the good of his neighbor” (1 Cor. 10:24) and testified “I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage [μὴ ζητῶν τὸ ἐμαυτοῦ σύμφορον], but that of many, that they may be saved” (v.33). Love does more than seek its own freedom. It seeks what is good for the other. This, Paul knew, the Corinthian believers were struggling to do. They demanded their rights, even if exercising those rights harmed other believers (9:1-27). They demanded their Christian “freedom,” even when the exercise of that freedom might damage a brother or sister in Christ (10:23-11:1). They gobbled up the best food during the love feast, grabbing up what they desired before others were well-nourished (11:20-21). But love “does not seek” those things which are only to one’s advantage. Love heeds the command to “seek [ζητεῖτε] to abound for the edification of the church” (14:12, NASU). As Paul will later assure them, “I seek not [οὐ . . . ζητῶ] what is yours but you” (2 Cor. 12:14).

Also, love “is not irritable” (οὐ παροξύνεται). The verb is compound made up of παρά (“beside”) and ὀξύνω (“sharpen” and as an extension “provoke”).[3] The passive voice indicates that stimulus comes upon one from one’s environment. The negation indicates that despite such sharp, pointed, and painful goads, love does not respond negatively. The suggested rendering, “it does not let itself be provoked,” brings this out well.[4] The only other use of the verb in the NT describes Paul as he waited for comrades in Athens. While detained his “spirit was provoked [παρωξύνετο] within him as he saw that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). The cognate noun is used to describe the contention that arose between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:39) and positively in the exhortation “let us consider how to stir up [παροξυσμὸν] one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24). We cannot eliminate the sharp goads of life, but by God’s Spirit we can keep them from controlling our responses. Love practices self-control. As such it may appear to some as weak, unable or unwilling to respond with strength. But what the blind call weakness is power under the control of love.

Nor is love “resentful” (οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν). The translators have compressed a four word phrase into one word. More literally and woodenly it might read, “no to count the evil.” But what does that mean? The adjective, used here with the definite article as a substantive, means “evil,” that which is “socially or morally reprehensible.”[5] It points to that which is “bad, with the implication of harmful and damaging.”[6] It is active evil. It is evil made personal and objective toward another. The definite article makes it specific and objective. It is “the evil” that comes to mind in the moment, and which threatens to inflame ill-will. This is not an imagined sleight, but an active, personal, historical act that does in fact exist. What does the lover do with those acts and the memories that they form? Love does not “take [it] into account” (NASU). It does not count it, enter it into a mental file, keep a record of it for later use. At its heart, the verb (λογίζεται) is mathematical, meaning to count, calculate, compute. By extension it then comes to describe the process of how one adds up one’s thoughts, reasons through them, and comes to conclusions. “The thinking in view arrives at sound conclusions that demand corresponding actions.”[7] The NLT comes closer to the original: “keeps no record of being wronged,” except it turns an adjective used as a substantive into a verb (lit., “the wrong” becomes “being wronged). The NIV is closer yet, “keeps no record of wrongs,” except that the adjective is singular and articular, (lit., “the wrong” rather than “wrongs”).

[1] BDAG, 1233.

[2] Friberg, 3989.

[3] BDAG, 5711.

[4] TDNT, 5:858.

[5] BDAG, 3878.3c.

[6] Louw-Nida, 88.106.

[7] NIDNTTE, 3:128.

Verse 4 – Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

Spiritual experience (v.1), insight (v.2), and sacrifice (v.3) are not definitive markers of true spirituality, love is. So, what is love?

Paul does not provide a definition of love. Rather, he describes love in action. With fifteen verbs (running through verse 7) he provides descriptors of love on the move. Love is not static, but active. Love is not inert, but always on the move. We discover that love makes itself known both in what it embraces and in what it rejects. In what follows Paul will state positively seven times what love does and negatively eight times what loves does not do. He begins with two positive statements about what love is (v.4a), then lines up the eight statements about what love is not (vv.4b-6a), and then closes with five more positive statements about love (vv.6b-7).

We learn first that “Love is patient” (Ἡ ἀγάπη μακροθυμεῖ). Note the definite article (lit., “the love”). The verb (μακροθυμέω) means “to bear up under provocation without complaint.”[1] Thus, “patience” involves three elements: a provocation that creates a weight that presses downward upon us, remaining under that weight rather than fleeing, and refusing to complain while waiting for relief from that weight. It is “to be patient in bearing the offences and injuries of others; to be mild and slow in avenging; to be long-suffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.”[2] The root word is a compound, comprised of μακρός (long) and θυμός (anger/wrath/rage). The resulting sense is “to take a long time to become angry.” Patience holds out a long time before it gives way to emotion, before breaking out into flames of anger. We might say, then, that patience is inflammable. Paul used the same verb to tell the Thessalonian believers to be “patient with everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14, NASU). Some need admonishing, some need encouraging, others need helping, but love sees that everyone gets patience. The present tense pictures the ongoing and abiding nature of love.

In addition (“and,” not in Greek text) Paul tells us that love is “kind” (χρηστεύεται ἡ ἀγάπη). More literally it might be rendered, “kind, the love.” The verb is used only here in the NT. It means “to provide something beneficial for someone as an act of kindness.”[3] The middle voice is deponent, thus having an active meaning.[4] The cognate noun is used ten times in the NT, all of them by Paul. It refers to goodness, kindness, and generosity, either of man (2 Cor. 6:6; Gal. 5:22; Col. 3:12) or of God (Rom. 2:4; 11:22; Eph. 2:7).[5] The unredeemed man has no such “kindness” in himself (Rom. 3:12). It can only come from him as God produces it in him (Gal. 5:22).

With a turn toward the negative consideration, Paul says, “love does not envy” (οὐ ζηλοῖ, [ἡ ἀγάπη]). In each case of negation Paul uses the adverb οὐ (“not”), which denies a thing categorically or absolutely.[6] This first verb means to desire intensely and earnestly. That desire can be positive (e.g., 2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 3:19), but here is negative, pointing to “intense negative feelings over another’s achievements or success.”[7] Interestingly, Paul brackets the entire discussion of love with the command to “earnestly desire [ζηλοῦτε] the higher gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31a) and “Pursue love, and earnestly desire [ζηλοῦτε] the spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 14:1). And he then closes out the entire discussion of spiritual gifts by exhorting them, “So, my brothers, earnestly desire [ζηλοῦτε] to prophesy” (v.39). Thus, he does not deny the legitimate and holy use of such strong desires put into action, but only their sinful tendency. Love is the great constraint on all human passions.

Neither does love “boast” (οὐ περπερεύεται). The verb is found only here in the NT. It is to act as a braggart, to heap praise upon oneself or one’s accomplishments. The middle voice effectively emphasizes acting upon oneself in such self-preoccupation and self-promotion. While the verb is used only here, Paul has just used a different, but semantically related verb in the previous verse (καυχάομαι, “I may boast,” NIV). Paul uses that verb and its cognates throughout his two letters to Corinth to speak frequently of the matter of boasting. That word group is found ten times in this letter (1:29, 31; 3:21; 4:7; 5:6; 9:15, 16; 13:3; 15:31) and twenty-eight times in 2 Corinthians. How are we to relate love’s prohibition of boasting to Paul’s boasting as the Corinthians appear ready to reject him in favor of other leaders (cf. 2 Cor. 10-12 where the word group is used nineteen times)?

God has worked through Christ “so that no human being might boast [καυχήσηται] in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:29). And indeed, “because of him [i.e., all of God’s gracious doing] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” and this “so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts [καυχώμενος], boast [καυχάσθω] in the Lord’” (vv.30-31). That is the very opposite of the self-absorbed, self-promoting boasting (περπερεύομαι) love prohibits here. Thus, Paul continues to denounce boasting (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:21; 4:7; 5:6). But he does find a place for Christ-centered, Christ-exalting glorying (boasting) for those who deflect all praise to God (1 Cor. 9:15-16; 15:31). This, then, helps us understand the boasting of the apostle in 2 Corinthians 10-12. There he views the very gospel as at stake for in the Corinthian’s rejection of him as Christ’s apostle they are in danger of being led astray from Christ Himself. Thus, he dares, uncomfortable for him though it is (cf. 10:2; 11:1, 17, 21-23; 12:1, 11), to compare their “false apostles” (2 Cor. 11:13a; indeed, “super-apostles,” 11:5; 12:11) to a “true apostle” (12:12), as embodied in, though not restricted to (cf. 11:13b), himself (1:1). He only does so by laying out proper boundaries for his actions (10:13-18; 11:30-31; 12:9). He undertakes this uncomfortable and unorthodox practice as a last resort in view of the spiritual danger that looms over them (11:3-4, 14-15). His discomfort with the entire practice and its inherent Christ-centeredness identifies it as in fact an act of love, not a violation of it.

With love’s rejection of boastful self-promotion, it comes as no surprise then that love “is not arrogant” (οὐ φυσιοῦται). The verb appears seven times in the NT, all from the pen of the Apostle Paul and all but one here in 1 Corinthians (1 Cor. 4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:14; Col. 2:18). It comes from φῦσα (“a pair of bellows”) and literally means “to puff up” or to “inflate.”[8] It came to be used metaphorically of pride and arrogance, as it is here. The fact that six of the seven usages of this verb occur here in 1 Corinthians indicates that they had a particular struggle in this area. In its only other use, it describes false teachers (Col. 2:18). This may indicate that the Corinthian’s arrogance is a fruit of their listening to the “false apostles” with whom they had taken a fancy (2 Cor. 11:3). The true gospel exalts Christ. Any other “gospel” (indeed, “another Jesus,” cf. 2 Cor. 11:4) exalts the disciple, not the Savior, for it rests not upon His work and free grace, but upon the disciple’s efforts and the pedigree of their “apostles.”

[1] BDAG, 4683.2.

[2] Thayer, 3301.2.

[3] Louw-Nida, 88.67.

[4] BDAG, 7975.

[5] Ibid., 886.

[6] Thayer, 408.

[7] BDAG, 3375.2.

[8] Thayer, 660.

How does one discern who has the Spirit of God upon them? (12:1, 31)

I. The sure sign of the Spirit’s presence is not spiritual experience. (1)

A. Possessing eloquence. (1a)

B. Possessing ecstasies. (1b)

II. The sure sign of the Spirit’s presence is not spiritual insight. (2)

A. Knowing what is true. (2a)

B. Knowing what to do. (2b)

III. The sure sign of the Spirit’s presence is not spiritual sacrifice. (3)

A. Giving up my stuff. (3a)

B. Giving up myself. (3b)

Those marked by the Spirit are those who so glory in their relationship to Jesus’ experiences, insight, and sacrifice that the love which moved Him moves through them.

As we do so, His love becomes our love, for “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5)

More experienced, more insightful, more sacrificial people are not going to change the world.

The world will be changed through people who because of Jesus’ experiences, insight, sacrifice live in such fellowship with Him by His Spirit that the love that moved Him moves through them.

Quite simply, the surest sign of the Spirit’s presence is love.