Monthly Archives: September 2025

Cultural Christianity- Pray You Are Genuine in Your Faith

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Cultural Christianity- Pray You Are Genuine in Your Faith (Matthew 7:21-23)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel; Sunday, September 28, 2025

In 1990, Garth Brooks released a song, which goes like this:

… Just the other night, at a hometown football game
My wife and I, ran into my old high school flame
And as I introduced them, the past came back to me
And I couldn’t help but think, of the way things used to be

… She was the one, that I’d wanted for all times
Each night I’d spend prayin’, that God would make her mine
And if he’d only grant me this wish, I wished back then
I’d never ask for anything, again

… Sometimes, I thank God, for unanswered prayers
Remember, when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs
And just because, he doesn’t answer, doesn’t mean he don’t care
Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers

… She wasn’t quite the angel, that I remembered in my dreams
And I could tell, that time had changed me
In her eyes too, it seemed
We tried to talk about the old days
There wasn’t much, we could recall
I guess the Lord knows what he’s doin’, after all

… And as she walked away, and I looked at my wife
And then and there, I thanked the good Lord
For the gifts, in my life

… Sometimes, I thank God, for unanswered prayers
Remember, when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs
That just because he may not answer, doesn’t mean he don’t care
Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered

… Some of God’s greatest gifts, are all too often unanswered
Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers

Does that song mean that Garth Brooks is a Christian? Only God knows.

When I was in high school, I began to deepen my faith. At that time, I listened to country music, as well as other genres. I really liked “LeAnn Rimes.” I remember talking with a co-worker, and I said, LeAnn Rimes is a Christian. She responded, “Everybody is a Christian, Steve.”  During that time, many singers, especially country singers, talked about God and their faith. Garth Brooks would talk about God,[1] but the next moment, sing a song about a teenager having an affair with an older woman.[2] Alan Jackson is still known for singing songs about God.  In 2000, he released a song called “Where I Come From.” Some key words in that song are: “Workin’ hard to get to heaven…” Is that Christian theology? Do we earn our way to heaven?

Furthermore, athletes, politicians, and actors often discuss their faith. It is common for politicians to talk about their faith. We all know that. Of course, many of them will say whatever people want to hear. For years, athletes have pointed to heaven after scoring a touchdown. Remember the movie, “Angels in the Outfield”?

I do not think any of the things that I mentioned mean they are Christians. Only God knows one’s heart. I am sure some are genuine. But these are signs of the remnants of “cultural Christianity.” Some would say “cultural Christianity” is dead, but I think it remains in parts of our world.

My theme today is- pray that you are a genuine believer in Jesus.

  1. What is a cultural Christian?
    1. Cultural Christianity is more about the social aspects of the Christian faith than the genuine life of commitment to Jesus.
    2. Many will identify as Christian because of family history, or even the values they like.
    3. In April 2024, Richard Dawkins identified as a cultural Christian. He said he liked Christmas Carols and old churches. He was one of the most militant atheists.[3]
    4. One source writes, Cultural Christianity is religion that superficially identifies itself as “Christianity” but does not truly adhere to the faith. A “cultural Christian” is a nominal believer—he wears the label “Christian,” but the label has more to do with his family background and upbringing than any personal conviction that Jesus is Lord.[4]
    5. In American history, we clearly had a culture with Christian values. Therefore, it isn’t easy to parse through the writings of Washington, or Lincoln, or Jefferson, or Adams, or Eisenhower, or Roosevelt, or Nixon, or anyone else to know the genuineness of their faith.
    6. We can discuss the founding fathers further later.
    7. Most people in eighteenth-century America held a commitment to the Scriptures. However, many of our founders were impacted by rationalism. But if we read quotes from them, we think they are committed Christians. However, it was common to say the things they said.
  2. How does Jesus address this (Matthew 7:21-23)?
    1. Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV)
    2. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
    3. First, we see that doctrine alone does not save us.
    4. Now, where are we in the Bible? This is a section at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been talking about knowing false teachers. In the previous verse, Jesus says that we will know them [false teachers] by their fruits.
    5. We see in that passage that they had the right doctrine. Jesus says they come to Him with “Lord,” “Lord,” implying they see Him as Lord.
    6. There are many people who may have correct doctrine but do not know Jesus.
    7. Don’t get me wrong, doctrine is very important. Sometimes, wrong doctrine shows that one is NOT saved, but that is another sermon. Let’s get back to the text. If you keep reading, they do not submit to Him as Lord. They do not do His Father’s will.
    8. Emotions do not save us.
    9. In the passage, the people who approach Jesus are quite serious. They seem very emotional. They seem very persistent. They seem like they really care. They are saying, “Lord,” twice.
    10. Still, that does not save them.
    11. We can have the correct doctrine and be passionate about it, yet not be saved.
    12. At the end of verse 21, Jesus says the one is saved who does the will of His Father. We will come back to that.
    13. Then we see that actions do not save us, but right actions are important.
    14. They say to Jesus, “Did we not prophesy in Your Name?” Stop right there. We could easily think, “They did a miracle, they prophesied.” But even the demons can do counterfeit miracles. We see this in Rev. 13:13-14, which is a key passage about this. Prophesy could mean preaching the Word, or it could mean rebuking sin, or it could mean calling out the future. These false believers could do that naturally without God, or they could do it by demonic forces. Jesus says they are not saved.
    15. They say to Jesus, “Did we not cast out demons in Your name?” Again, they are not saved. In Acts 19:13-16, we see false teachers, non-Christians, trying to cast out demons. They may cast out demons, but maybe the demons do not stay out. Of course, they could be lying; maybe they never did any of these things.
    16. Lastly, we see that miracles do not save us. These people claim that they performed miracles in Jesus’ name. They could be lying, or perhaps they performed the miracles through demonic power. Again, I refer you to Rev. 13:13-14.
    17. So, how do you know if you are saved?
    18. We will come back to that in a minute, but firstly, right here, Jesus says, “Do the will of His Father.” This would be following His Word.
    19. John 15:14–15 (ESV)
    20. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
    21. James 2:18–20 (ESV)
    22. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
    23. We interpret Scripture with Scripture; this means that, based on Ephesians 2:8-9, we know we are saved by grace. We know based on the theology of salvation that we cannot earn our way to God. But our works validate our faith.
  3. Apply this to your spiritual life:
    1. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul writes that we should examine ourselves. How can we examine ourselves?
    2. Are we repentant of sin?
    3. Does sin in our life grieve us (Acts 2:38; Romans 7- Paul did not like the sin in his life)?
    4. Do certain sins grieve us, and others do not?
    5. Does sin grieve us because it grieves God or because of selfish reasons?
    6. Do we desire to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31)?
    7. Is Jesus our Lord? Do we follow Him (Luke 9:23)?
    8. Here is a breakdown of 5 things to look for:
    9. Penitence towards sin (Psalm 32; 51).
    10. Pursue righteousness (1 Tim. 6:11).
    11. Willing and joyful submission to Christ (James 4:7; Eph. 5:21) and others.
    12. Longing to obey the Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Psalm 119:9-11).
    13. Love for God and others (Matthew 22:37-39).

I have shared this before, but it is so good that it merits sharing again.

I read about an atheist who had the correct doctrine. Listen to this debate between an atheist and a liberal, supposed Christian:

Marilyn Sewell

Unitarian Universalist  Minister and Christopher Hitchens Author, God is NOT Good: How Religion Poisons Everything

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of the atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens:

Only in this respect: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, in other words, the Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Sewell:

I disagree with that. I consider myself a Christian. I believe in the Jesus story as story, as narrative, and Jesus as a person whose life is exemplary that I want to follow. But I do not believe in all that stuff that I just outlined.
Hitchens:

I simply have to tell you that every major Christian, including theologians, has said that without the resurrection and without the forgiveness of sins, what I call the vicarious redemption, it’s meaningless. In fact, without that, it isn’t even a nice story – even if it’s true . . .

Sewell:

It doesn’t really matter to me if it’s true literally. It matters to me whether the story has efficacy for my life.

Hitchens:

Well, that’s what I meant to say. When C.S. Lewis, for example, says, . .  ‘if this man was not the son of God, then his teachings were evil’ because if you don’t believe that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and you can get to it by the way, the truth, and the life, offered by the gospel, then there’s no excuse for telling people to take no thought for the morrow, for example, as he did. . . It would be an evil nonsense.

Pray You Are Genuine in Your Faith (Matthew 7:21-23)

Believe, confess, trust, commit to Him: Firmly make the decision to be with Him in order to become like Him and to learn and do all that He says and then arrange your affairs around Him.

[1] Song, “Unanswered prayer.”

[2] That Summer

[3] Breakpoint; Richard Dawkins, a “Cultural Christian”

You can’t have Christianity’s fruit without its root. April, 09, 2024; accessed on 08.24.2025.

https://www.breakpoint.org/richard-dawkins-a-cultural-christian/

[4] Got Questions Ministries, Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2014–2021).

Paul Is Encouraged by Jesus (Acts 18:1–23)

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Paul Is Encouraged by Jesus (Acts 18:1–23)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, September 21, 2025

I have been encouraged many times and in many ways, but often I receive encouragement through a note or something someone says. I know of pastors who have an encouragement file. If they are ever discouraged, they go to that file and find the encouragement they need. We need encouragement, I do. Many times, my encouragement comes from an email, a text message, or a phone call. Sometimes I do not realize how encouraging it is until later. Sometimes someone will text me a Scripture verse. A few times, I have been praying, and the Holy Spirit reminds me of something.

Today, we talk about Jesus encouraging Paul, and the Holy Spirit encouraging us. As we start this subject, it should encourage us, but also challenge us. Living by the Holy Spirit is not easy.

Francis Chan writes in Forgotten God:

CHRISTLIKENESS: A PAINFUL PROCESS

The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldn’t normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be. This often incredibly painful process strips you of selfishness, pride, and fear.
For a powerful example of this, read in C. S. Lewis’ book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader about the boy, Eustace, who becomes a dragon. In order to become a little boy again, he must undergo a tremendous amount of pain as the dragon skin is peeled away and torn from him. Only after he endures this painful process is he truly transformed from a dragon back into a boy. Sometimes the sin we take on becomes such a part of us that it requires this same kind of ripping and tearing to free us. The Holy Spirit does not seek to hurt us, but He does seek to make us Christlike, and this can be painful.[1]

In today’s passage, we see that Jesus encouraged Paul, BUT, notice first that Paul was stepping outside of his comfort zone following the Holy Spirit’s will. He was sharing the Gospel, despite resistance.

Today, my theme is Jesus encourages Paul.

  1. Overview of Acts 18:1-23
    1. First, I want to summarize Acts 18:1-23. Then, we will focus on Acts 18:5-11.
    2. In Acts 18:1-3, we meet Paul’s friends (Acts 18:1-3).
    3. Paul meets Aquilla and Priscilla.
    4. We are also introduced to Paul’s stay in Corinth and his work as a tentmaker. Paul was reasoning with people in the synagogue.
    5. In Acts 18:6-11 Paul is opposed but the Holy Spirit encourages him. We will come back to that section.
    6. In Acts 18:12-17, he faces more opposition, but this time he doesn’t need to flee. He stays.
    7. He stays in Corinth for at least 18 months. The only place he stayed longer would be Ephesus.
    8. Paul in Cenchrea (18:18): Here he shaves his head and takes a vow.
    9. Paul in Ephesus (18:19–21): The apostle’s stay here is short, for he plans to observe a special feast soon to be celebrated in Jerusalem.
    10. Paul in Antioch of Syria (18:22): No doubt he gives a report here at his home church.
    11. Paul in Galatia (18:23): He begins his third missionary journey.[2]
  2. Paul is opposed, but the Lord encourages him (Acts 18:6-11).
    1. Now, let’s focus on one section of this passage.
    2. Acts 18:6–11 (ESV)
    3. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
    4. Why is he opposed?
    5. He had been reasoning with them in the synagoes.
    6. What does he do?
    7. Paul shook out his clothes, this is similar to shaking the dust off of your feet.
    8. Paul said that he was innocent.
    9. Verse 7: Paul goes to a man’s house next to the synagogue.
    10. In verse 8, we see the synagogue leaders receive Jesus.
    11. He believed. That is a major event when a synagogue leader accepts Christ. This is like reaching a Jehovah’s Witness leader. Not a common person.
    12. Remember, when we share the Gospel, Jesus is in charge of the results.
    13. Many of the Corinthians were being saved.
    14. They were being baptized as well.
    15. 1 Cor. 1:14 Crispus is one that Paul baptized.
    16. Baptism follows salvation. We are baptized to follow Jesus’s footsteps. We are baptized to make a public profession of our faith in Christ. We are baptized to symbolize dying with Christ and rising again. We are baptized, as that is symbolic of washing away our sins.
    17. This must mean water baptism.
    18. Verse 9: This verse begins a message from Jesus. Do not be afraid…
    19. Jesus says to go on speaking and not be silent.
    20. Verse 10: Jesus says that He is with Paul.
    21. Jesus says that no man will attack him to harm him.
    22. Sometimes we feel like we are alone, but we are never alone as a Christ follower. God has other witnesses, and the Holy Spirit is with us.
    23. Verse 11: Paul stayed a year and six months (eighteen months).
    24. Paul settled. He made his home around them.
    25. ESV Study Note:
    26. Up to this point, opposition to his ministry had usually forced Paul to leave a place of witness. But the Lord in a vision assured him that he would have a successful ministry in Corinth and would suffer no further harm. In obedience Paul remained there for 18 months (c. d. 49–51, during which time he wrote 1–2 Thessalonians).[3]
    27. Paul was teaching God’s Word.
  • What about us?
    1. It was Jesus Who encouraged Paul.
    2. The direct application is that when we are doing what God calls us to do we can keep at it. God is with us. We are never alone.
    3. Seek the Lord.
    4. Stay in His will.
    5. Look for Him to encourage you as you follow His will.
    6. God is with us. Immanuel. Matthew 1:23 says that Jesus’ name shall be called Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Matthew 28:20 says that the Lord is with us in the great commission.
  • Be an encourager and look for Jesus to encourage you.
      1. An indirect application. Remember this is indirect, not a direct application, is that we all need encouragement.
      2. Get up every morning and pray that you are encouraged and an encourager.
      3. I was reviewing a message I previously delivered on this passage, and I wrote this in 2014.
      4. We had a childcare and preschool at my church, and the children would walk by my office.
      5. My children attended there.
      6. I shared:
      7. We need encouragement, and the Holy Spirit may encourage you through circumstances. You know how encouraging it is for me to be sitting in my office when Mercedes walks by and says, “Hi Daddy, that’s my daddy, that’s my daddy.” That is exactly what she said a few weeks ago [remember in 2014]. That brightens my day, and I hope I never forget it [I am glad I read the reminder]. You know how encouraging it is when I walk in the door only to slammed by Mercedes with a hug. A few weeks ago, Mercedes was up in the night coughing, so I got her up and gave her a drink and some crackers. She was wide awake. She sits down at the table and says, “Daddy, I’ll sit here and you sit here.” She pointed next to her. I wanted to unload the dishwasher, oh, but she wanted me with her. She wanted presence.
      8. While serving as the pastor, I would read to the children at the childcare.
      9. One year, just after Christmas, I was at Wal-Mart and heard a child say, “There is Jesus.” The mom looked around, and so did I. We heard him say the same thing again. He pointed directly at me. He associated me with Jesus since I work at the church and read stories about Jesus to him.
      10. Are those encouraging words from God? Not directly, but God can use them. Mercedes and Abigail encourage me by being my loving daughters and being proud to say, “That’s my daddy!”
      11. Jesus may encourage through the church. Jesus may encourage you through a kind letter from a friend. Jesus may encourage you through the Scriptures.
      12. Have you ever read the right Scripture at just the right time? Jesus may encourage you through circumstance. Jesus may encourage you in prayer. You may be praying, and you feel this presence. Jesus may speak to you that way.
      13. In Acts 18:10: Jesus said that He had others in the city.
      14. Remember the church.
      15. You are not alone.

I read:

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.  (William Arthur Ward)

Prayer

[1] Francis Chan. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit (pp. 50-51). Kindle Edition.

[2] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ac 18:18–23.

  1. about, approximately

[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2123.

Love Is the Greatest Gift (1 Cor. 13:8-13)

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Special Topic: Love Is the Greatest Gift (1 Cor. 13:8-13)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, September 14, 2025

Tony Evans writes:

At many amusement parks and museums, they have 3-D movies. When you walk into the theater, you receive a pair of glasses. If you try to watch the movie without the glasses, you see a distorted picture. No matter how hard you strain and look and twist to try to make sense of what is happening on the screen, there is still a distortion because of the dimension through which you are looking. By handing you a pair of glasses when you walk into the theater, they give you the tool you need to see the screen without distortions.

One of the problems many of us have is that we have a distorted view. We see what we see, but we don’t see all that there is to be seen. If all you see is the physical, visible scenario, then you are looking at your situation without your glasses. We need to have a divine frame of reference in order to see what is really going on.905,[1]

In the passage we are going to look at Paul shares that in Heaven we will have a better picture of things.

We are in a short sermon series on love.

My theme today is:

Strive for self-sacrificial love. This love will last into eternity.

  1. Context:
    1. As we reach 1 Corinthians 13, we are in the third of three chapters in which Paul writes about spiritual gifts.
    2. 1 Corinthians 12 is written about the theology of spiritual gifts.
    3. 1 Corinthians 13 is written about the motivation behind spiritual gifts.
    4. 1 Corinthians 14 is written about the practice of spiritual gifts.
    5. The Corinthian church was a divided church.
    6. I remember sitting in a New Testament class at Indiana Wesleyan University. The professor shared how, when he was a pastor, he would hear people say, “We want to be like the New Testament church.” He would say, “Really, do you want to be like the church in Corinth that was divided over communion [see 1 Cor. 11:18]?”
    7. The thesis of 1 Corinthians is in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
    8. 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NASB95)
    9. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
    10. By the time we get to 1 Corinthians 13, Paul has already written about many subjects, among them, but not limited to: marriage (1 Cor. 7); food sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. 8-10); the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11); and now spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12-14).
    11. Now, we get into the motivation behind spiritual gifts.
    12. Last week, we looked at the adjectives that describe love. In the English they are adjectives, but in the Greek they are verbs.
  2. The greatest gift is love.
    1. Paul began with this idea, and now he returns to this.
    2. Verse 8 says literally that love never “falls to the ground,” which likely means that it is never defeated or that it never fails. Other good gifts that are quite valuable, such as prophecy or knowledge, are specifically meant to equip the believer to endure in this age. In due course they will be brought to nothing. Tongues will cease when the Lord returns and completes his plan for Christians. Partial knowledge such as the Corinthian Christians now have will be brought to nought. Paul stresses “we know now but in part, but one day the completion of our knowledge of and relationship with God will happen.” Then believers will know as they are known by God. Then they will see face to face.
    3. The Corinthians are childish because, unlike Paul, they have mistaken the part for the whole and the partial for the final and in particular have overlooked the fact that while love already has finality here and now, knowledge is only in part. These verses are part of the larger rhetorical strategy to demonstrate the childish nature of the Corinthians’ behavior and thinking throughout this letter (cf. 3:1ff.; 14:20).35,[3]
    4. Look at the passage:
    5. 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 (ESV)
    6. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
    7. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
    8. Love never ends… He is making the case that the various gifts will no longer be necessary, but love will always remain.
    9. Prophesies- no more needed.
    10. The gift of tongues- they will cease.
    11. The gift of knowledge will pass away. I believe he is referring to a special spiritual gift, rather than knowledge itself.
    12. Verses 9-10: We all know partially; we only prophesy partially, but eventually the perfect will come. He is referring to the time when God makes all things new. Then, the partial will be done away.
    13. “Perfect,” or some translations read, “complete”: The Greek for this word can mean “end,” “fulfillment,” “completeness” or “maturity.” In this context the contrast is between the partial and the complete. Verse 12 seems to indicate that Paul is here speaking of either Christ’s second coming or a believer’s death, when they will see Christ “face to face” (v. 12)[4]
    14. Paul is building a case about how when we are in heaven, or the New Heavens and the New Earth, we will no longer need these gifts.
    15. In verse 11 he gives this illustration of going from being a child to being an adult.
    16. Witherington III helps us: Verses 11f. should probably not be understood as saying that it is childish to speak in tongues or to prophesy, since Paul himself still does such things. He is saying that there is an age appropriate to such things and that now is that age. When the completion of the age finally comes, then it will be time to set aside what was appropriate and needful in that age. Only later will one know as one is known by God.
    17. For now, Christians, even the most mature,36 see through a glass or mirror en ainigmati, which can be transliterated as “enigmatically.” The phrase may mean “obscurely,” but its literal meaning is “in a riddle.” Paul’s point is not to castigate mirror-making, which was a trade practiced in Corinth. Nor were ancient bronze mirrors necessarily all that bad. His point is, rather, that as a mere image of the truth a mirror only partially tells the tale of what we look like. What we know of Christ, self, others, or salvation through the Spirit is not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. Some scholars have suggested plausibly that vv. 12a and 9b should be coordinated, in which case Paul would be referring in this image to the partial or fragmentary nature of prophecy. One may see a vision, but it is enigmatic and incomplete. This makes sense in light of what follows in ch. 14.37,[5]
    18. This does not mean we will be omniscient or know all things, but that we will have a fuller grasp of things. Furthermore, I believe he is referring to the spiritual gifts of knowledge, prophecy, and tongues. They will not be needed anymore.
    19. These gifts are about the upbuilding of the church.
    20. Now, verse 12: Paul uses an image of a mirror to show that we do not see perfectly. He will see “face to face.” Face to face suggests a reference to Christ’s second coming (the OT uses this phrase to refer to seeing God personally; cf. Gen. 32:30; Ex. 33:11; Deut. 5:4; 34:10; Judg. 6:22; Ezek. 20:35). Then, the spiritual gifts of this present age will no longer be needed.[6]
    21. Now, the image of what we see is not complete, but then we will fully know, even as we are fully known.
    22. IVP BBC NT: Mirrors (13:12) were often made of bronze, and given the worldwide renown of Corinthian bronze, would perhaps strike the Corinthians as a local product (also 2 Cor 3:18). But even the best mirrors reflected images imperfectly (some philosophers thus used mirrors as an analogy to describe mortals’ searching for the deity); contrast the more open revelation of Exodus 33:11, Numbers 12:8 and Deuteronomy 34:10.[7]
    23. Verse 13: So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
    24. Faith and hope will not be needed in eternity. Love will remain.
    25. CSB SB: Of faith, hope, and love, love is the greatest because it continues into the next age. Both faith and hope will be fulfilled in eternity, and so will not remain. This statement concludes a semantic bracket that began in v. 8—“Love never ends.”[8]
    26. ESV SB: The relationship of these three Christian qualities is a frequent theme in Paul’s letters. See Rom. 5:1–5; Gal. 5:5–6; Eph. 4:2–5; Col. 1:4–5; 1 Thess. 1:3; 5:8.[9]
    27. Love is the greatest of the gifts.

Haddon Anderson writes on Desiring God on December 14, 2021:

In 1738, Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon entitled “Heaven Is a World of Love.” He pointed out that since heaven is God’s dwelling place, “this renders heaven a world of love; for God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven fills heaven with love, as the sun placed in the midst of the hemisphere in a clear day fills the world with light” (Works, 8:369). Furthermore, “love reigns in every heart” in heaven, as the saints abound in love for God and for one another (8:373).[10]

Prayer

[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 302–303.

33 J. Weiss, Der erste Korintherbrief (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1925), p. 311.

[2] Ben Witherington III, Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 270.

34 Holladay, “1 Cor. 13,” p. 97.

35 Ibid.

[3] Ben Witherington III, Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 270–271.

  1. verse (in the chapter being commented on)

[4] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 2022.

36 Notice the emphasis on “we” in this final section of ch. 13, where Paul places himself in the same eschatological situation as his converts.

37 Cf. below and R. E. Heine, “The Structure and Meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:8–13,” in Increase of Learning, ed. R. J. Owens, et al. (Manhattan: Manhattan Christian College, 1979), pp. 63–72.

[5] Ben Witherington III, Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 271.

[6] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2211.

[7] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 1 Co 13:8–13.

  1. verse

[8] F. Alan Tomlinson, “1 Corinthians,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1830.

[9] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2211.

[10] Haddon Anderson, Desiring God, December 14, 2021. Accessed on August 10, 2025:

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/faith-hope-and-heaven-on-earth?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=193678078&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Hq89Nf9vROO45JZ7prjkb6VsKPEADHktRyYNhoDgJZIEmpNpPFGEEUv1ymRAChW7yVUZXQ2F7LfJg8eJLvz3Ya_zwbg&utm_content=193678078&utm_source=hs_email

Paul exhorts us in Christian love (1 Cor. 13:4-7)

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Special Topic: Paul Exhorts Us in Christian Love (1 Cor. 13:4-7)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, September 7, 2025

In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis writes:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God’s will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness. It is like hiding the talent in a napkin and for much the same reason ‘I knew thee that thou wert a hard man.’ Christ did not teach and suffer that we might become, even in the natural loves, more careful of our own happiness. If a man is not uncalculating towards the earthly beloveds whom he has seen, he is none the more likely to be so towards God whom he has not. We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it.[1]

My theme today is:

Paul exhorts us in Christian love:

  1. Context:
    1. As we reach 1 Corinthians 13, we are in the third of three chapters in which Paul writes about spiritual gifts.
    2. 1 Corinthians 12 is written about the theology of spiritual gifts.
    3. 1 Corinthians 13 is written about the motivation behind spiritual gifts.
    4. 1 Corinthians 14 is written about the practice of spiritual gifts.
    5. The Corinthian church was a divided church.
    6. I remember sitting in a New Testament class at Indiana Wesleyan University. The professor shared how when he was a pastor he would hear people say, “We want to be like the New Testament church.” He would say, “Really, do you want to be like the church in Corinth that was divided over communion [see 1 Cor. 11:18]?”
    7. The thesis of 1 Corinthians is in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
    8. 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NASB95)
    9. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
    10. By the time we get to 1 Corinthians 13, Paul has already written about many subjects, among them, but not limited to: marriage (1 Cor. 7); food sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. 8-10); the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11); and now spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12-14).
    11. Now, we get into the motivation behind spiritual gifts.
    12. This is the character of Christian agapē. The word agapē is not uniquely Christian. Christians likely derived it from the Septuagint, where it is often used of God’s love, not ordinary human love. It is a unique privilege to be a bearer, by means of the Spirit, of God’s love. This love differs from both natural human affection (philia, so-called brotherly love) and erōs (desiring love, usually related to physical attraction).29,[2]
  2. Love is:
    1. One source shares: The point of Paul’s rhetorically polished description of love is its contrast to what he has earlier said about the attitudes of the Corinthians. [3] Remember, earlier Paul wrote about how the Corinthians were divided. But now, look how he describes love:
    2. 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (ESV)
    3. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
    4. Again from Dr. Witherington III:
    5. The setting of ch. 13 makes evident that Paul is not talking about “natural” human love, but of a sort of love that a human being can only express and share when he or she has been touched by God’s grace and enabled by God’s Spirit. It goes quite against natural human inclinations to love the unlovely or those who do not love in return. Agapē love, as V. P. Furnish has aptly said, is not the sort of love that is dispatched like a heat-seeking missile due to something inherently attractive in the “target.”40
    6. Now, Paul starts to define love.
    7. In Greek, these are verbs, but in English, they are adjectives.
    8. Verbs are action statements. For example, running, walking, etc. Adjectives modify something. The color is red. Or, Jane is patient.
    9. Love is patient and kind:
      1. These are a pair.
      2. Tim Keller makes this come alive:
    10. Patient means, literally, suffers a long time. In fact, as we’ll see in a minute, one of the essential characteristics of love is that you stay vulnerable. When you’re getting beaten, you don’t immediately retreat. Being patient is an amazing thing.
    11. By the way, this is just a story that has always meant so much to me. Edwin Stanton was Abraham Lincoln’s political opponent. When Abraham Lincoln was running for office … You have to remember Abraham Lincoln was a Midwesterner. He was considered a hick, and he was called a hick by Edwin Stanton. He was called a gorilla. Have you ever noticed that? Abraham Lincoln does look a bit like a gorilla. He does. He called him a gorilla. He called him a monstrosity. He called him a hick. He called him all kinds of things.
    12. When Abraham Lincoln won the election and he looked around to find the most able person possible to be his Secretary of War or Secretary of the Military, he chose Edwin Stanton. He chose him and put him in his Cabinet. He put up with an amazing amount of stuff and turned him into his friend because he said, “I know this man is great.” When Abraham Lincoln lay dead, at his funeral Stanton was there. He got up in tears and said, “Here lies the greatest ruler among men in the earth.” Just amazing. Patience was the way in which Abraham Lincoln loved him.[4]
    13. If we look at Gal. 5:22-23, we see patience is a fruit of the Spirit.
    14. How are we doing with patience? We can be patient because the Holy Spirit is within us.
    15. Do we snap at others when they ask for something? What about traffic? Are we patient when waiting in traffic? I struggle with this. Most recently, driving through Chicago on the way to Wisconsin was a test of my patience. Driving on the Indiana Turnpike on the way home was a test of my patience. How are you doing with this? I want to do better.
    16. [Love] does not envy or boast: Again, these are pairs, and they are reflective of problems in Corinth. Do we envy what others have and that leads to boasting? Are we boastful? Why do we say the things we say? Are we trying to “one-up” someone else? In other words, if someone claims to have done something, do we feel compelled to say, “Well, yes, I did that too”? Or do we always feel like we need to defend ourselves? Why? Why not let someone else have the credit?
    17. [Love] is not arrogant or rude: These pairs go along with the previous. Love is humble. We are not trying to look better than someone else. How are we doing?
    18. [Love] does not insist on its own way: Perhaps an indirect reference to their unruly and dishonorable conduct in worship (11:18–22).[5] This is a real gut check. Do we insist on our own way? Someone once told me that he did not agree with something but he would not make an issue of it. That is more of the Christian way.
    19. [Love] is not irritable or resentful: Are we irritable? Do we express bitterness?
    20. [Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. One source shares: does not delight in evil- As they were doing in [1 Cor. 5].[6] This is one in which I have heard it could be translated “thin-skinned.” Let’s do a gut check. How are we doing?
    21. One person writes: It is reported that when the Moravian missionaries first went to the Eskimos, they couldn’t find a word in their language for forgiveness. They had to combine a series of shorter words into one compound word: Issumagijoujungnainermik. Although the word appears formidable, its meaning is beautiful, being translated: “Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore.”
    22. You’ve probably noticed that unforgiving people usually have good memories. Some can hold a grudge for a lifetime. But love never keeps a record of wrongs committed against it. It forgives and is unable to think about them anymore.
    23. That’s what Paul had in mind when he said that love “does not take into account a wrong suffered” (1 Cor. 13:5). The Greek word translated “take into account” was used of the entries in a bookkeeper’s ledger. Those entries helped the bookkeeper remember the nature of each financial transaction. In contrast, love never keeps a record or holds others accountable for the wrongs they’ve committed against it.
    24. The greatest example of that kind of love is God Himself. Romans 4:8 says, “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” Second Corinthians 5:19 adds, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”
    25. Every sin we commit as believers is an offense against God, but He never charges them to our account. We are in Christ, who bore our penalty on the cross. When we sin, we are immediately forgiven.[7]
    26. [Love] bears all things, believes all things, endures all things
    27. [Love] hopes all things: MacArthur shares: Hope is illustrated in the true story of a dog who was abandoned at the airport of a large city. He stayed there for over five years, waiting for his master to return. People at the airport fed and cared for him, but he refused to leave the spot where he last saw his master. If a dog’s love for his master can produce that kind of hope, how much more should your love for God produce abiding hope?[8]

Let’s go back to C.S. Lewis as Tim Keller quotes and shares:

“[C.S. Lewis shares] Though natural likings should normally be encouraged, it would be quite wrong to think that the way to become charitable is to sit trying to manufacture affectionate feelings … Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did.” Do you see what he is saying? He says, “It doesn’t matter whether you like your neighbor or not. Do for him. Help him. Serve him. As soon as you do this you will find one of the great secrets. When you’re behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love him.”

Now there is an exception. “If you do him a good turn, not to please God and obey the law of charity, but to show him what a fine forgiving chap you are, and to put him in your debt, and then sit down to wait for his ‘gratitude’, you will probably be disappointed … Christian charity … is quite distinct from affection, yet it leads to affection.” Oh my, have I seen that, and you have, too.

I don’t know how many times I have sat with people who have been married for about 20 years. They say, “There is no love left in the marriage, and I want out.” I can tell you exactly what happened. They had children. When you have a child, what happens is you have a person who needs to be served. The essence of love is to serve somebody else’s needs regardless of what you want to do.

Your child is up in the middle of the night screaming and wailing. He is 3 weeks old. What do you do? Do you say, “Hey, this is no good. I’m tired. I’m going to bed?” You get up. You feed him. You do whatever you have to do, and you get nothing from that kid for a long time. After several weeks the kid might actually reach up, grab your finger, and smile at you. Wow. You get so little and so little. The fact is, as time goes on you’re giving and you’re giving and you’re giving, and you’re getting just very little back. As a result of you giving and giving, and in spite of your feelings, what happens is your love for that kid grows incredibly strong.

Meanwhile, what happens when your spouse acts like a baby? What happens when your spouse is acting in a way that’s immature, silly, and awful, and you’re called upon to continue to be loving to her or him in spite of how that person is acting? What do you do? You say, “Well if she is not going to be the wife she used to be, why the heck do I have to be the husband I used to be?” You immediately start to say, “Since I don’t like him, I don’t have to love him.”

Then what happens is the less you love him the less you like him. The less you like him the less you love him and so on. So after 20 years here you are doing the biblical kind of love to your kid even though the kid is giving you nothing. After 20 years your kid could be an absolute jerk, and you love him. In those same 20 years you are operating in a completely selfish way with your spouse. Instead of continuing to serve even when you don’t like, you follow your feelings.

In other words, your love for your kids is biblical because it leads to affection. It’s not affection; essentially it’s service. You think of your love for your spouse as basically as an affection, and if the affection and the erotic feeling is not there, there’s no reason to give. As a result, the opposite thing is happening. Here, the more you love, the more you like. Here, the less you love, the less you like, and the less you like, the less you love.

After 20 years of no love between the spouses and lots of love between the parents and kids, even when the kids are rebellious and a mess and so on, they look at me and they say, “There is no love left in the marriage.” No kidding, because the way they define love isn’t biblical. Love is meeting the needs and concerns of others before or instead of your own.[9]

[1] Lewis, C.S. The Four Loves. (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1960), 169-170

29 On this whole subject one should see the classic studies by C. Spicq, Agape dans le nouveau testament (Paris: Gabalda, 1958–59), and A. Nygren, Agape and Eros (London, 1932 and 1939). There is some obvious overlap between agapē and philia; cf. John 21:15–19.

[2] Ben Witherington III, Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 269.

[3] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 1 Co 13:4–7.

40 On this whole subject, cf. V. P. Furnish, The Love Command in the NT (Nashville: Abingdon, 1972).

[4] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[5] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 2021–2022.

[6] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 2022.

[7] John MacArthur devotional, the link is no longer accurate

[8] John MacArthur devotional, the link is no longer accurate

[9] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).