Question description

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul describes love as the greatest among faith, hope, and love. While faith and love serve different purposes,

Answer description

You pose several questions. So I have tried to narrow down my answer to cover your basic inquiry, "How do faith and love work together?"

In researching for my answer I came across an interesting quote, "Love sits down and comforts itself in the discoveries of faith." The two are dependent on each other. Neither stands alone in God's plan. You can't walk in love without walking in faith and vice versa. I find four verses (there may be many more) where Paul commends believers for their faith and love (II Thessalonica 1:3, Philemon 5, Ephesians 1:15, and Colossians 1:4). They are always joined together. However, going back to that original quote, it is love that is initially dependent on faith coming first. Let me see if I can give you examples from God's work.

Regeneration, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit breathes life into our dead souls. That breath produces faith which manifests itself in love for God and mankind.

Union With Christ, Faith unites us with Christ which then mysteriously allows the in-flowing of Christ's life into our own. And this amazing joining manifests itself in having love for others.

Obedience, Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is expressed in obedience (Hebrews 11:8). In (John 13:34) Jesus commands us to love one another. This command needs to be obeyed and that obedience is expressed through our faith in Christ and His words. Thus, faith leads us to this required love.

The Nature of Salvation, We are saved from sin. Sin is a failure of love. We understand that salvation from sin comes through faith and thus we are able to replace our tendency to sin with a desire to love.

You are correct in quoting Paul's declaration that the greatest of the spiritual gifts is love. But after careful examination, we can see that without initial faith, divine love is not possible. So love's greatness comes as we grow in faith. But, as we learn to be channels of God's love, it also helps our faith and trust in God for spiritual growth. Thus, faith is also dependent on love. So faith reveals the object of love, while faith also works by love. They simply cannot be separated. God's plan and ways never cease to amaze us. And, at least for me, I am even more committed to digging into the Word to learn more about how our great God works. May you find blessed amounts of faith and love in your life as you seek a closer walk with our Lord.

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