Faith, Hope, and Love

And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Who hasn’t read this text a dozen times because who hasn’t read the love chapter a dozen times?! We come back to it again and again. It is poetic. It is deep. It is inspiring. It is the subject of artwork we decorate our homes with. There is something about this verse that brings us back to it repeatedly.

In my lifetime I lost count of the number of times I have read this verse and the number of times I have wondered why the apostle picked those three. Surely there was a reason, but what was it? What did he know that I did not? What message was Paul trying to get across? Dozens and dozens of times, I read it, I pondered it, then I left it—emptyhanded.

Until...

several years ago.

I was reading in my second bible—the book Education by Ellen White. I reread the following paragraph from the end of the “Bible Teaching and Study” chapter. That’s when the light bulb lit up, 2 + 2 equaled 4, and the sun rose in the eastern sky of my dark mind!

The great motive powers of the soul are faith, hope, and love; and it is to these that Bible study, rightly pursued, appeals. The outward beauty of the Bible, the beauty of imagery and expression, is but the setting, as it were, for its real treasure—the beauty of holiness. (Ed 192.1)

That isn’t the whole paragraph (we’ll get to that), but I think you see what I saw. THE GREAT MOTIVE POWERS OF THE SOUL! Faith, hope, and love are the great motive powers of the soul. We do what we do and we choose what we choose because we believe, because we desire, and because we value. Our words and actions are the result of our choices, and our choices are the result of our faith, hope, and love. We are made in the image of God, which means we are beings of faith, hope, and love.

Now many people would stop here and say we now know what Paul meant in Corinthians 13. “Ellen White has spoken so now we are done."

However, the lesser light leads to the greater light. The Spirit of Prophecy is the beginning of Bible study, not the end.

Let me share just a small sample and then you can take time to explore the website and the textionary.

“The just shall live by FAITH.” (Romans 1:17)

“We are saved by HOPE.” (Romans 8:24)

“By grace you are saved.” (Ephesians 2:5) Grace is God’s love given to the undeserving sinner. “We LOVE him, because he first LOVED us.” (1 John 4:19)

Salvation, eternal life, righteousness by faith—all these things come to us by faith, hope, and love. We trust Christ. We hope in Christ. We love Christ, all because Christ first believe in us, had hope for us, and loved us.

Now let’s go back to the next part of the paragraph. Notice that she changes the wording a bit.

“In its record of the men who walked with God, we may catch glimpses of His glory. In the One ”altogether lovely“ we behold Him, of whom all beauty of earth and heaven is but a dim reflection. ”I, if I be lifted up,“ He said, ”will draw all men unto Me.“ John 12:32. As the student of the Bible beholds the Redeemer, there is awakened in the soul the mysterious power of faith, adoration, and love. Upon the vision of Christ the gaze is fixed, and the beholder grows into the likeness of that which he adores." (Ed 192.1)

Adoration is substituted for hope. This is because faith, hope, and love are not magic words—they are categories. Each word has different shades of meaning in different contexts and they often overlap each other. Here, adoration overlaps with love, but also conveys the meaning of, “Looking up.” The Bible student looks up in love and hope to the Savior and so s/he begins to grow, which is the point of hope.

Every act from talking to hugging to yelling to working has a motive. Our actions come from thoughts and feelings which spring from our beliefs, desires, and values—faith, hope, and love.

Let’s start with an obvious example. Two people get married because they trust and love each other and hope to spend a long, happy life together.

A mundane example would be brushing one’s teeth. I value (love) my teeth and do not want to lose them to cavities. Because of what I have been taught, I believe brushing helps me toward that goal, and I obviously hope to achieve it.

We take vacations because we believe we need a break. We hope to gain rest and energy. We love feeling good and strong.

We go to work because we believe we will get paid and we trust our employers to pay us. We hope this will give us a better life and provide for us and others because we love them. Some love their work (positive). Some hate it (negative).

We trust and love our friends and hope to maintain close relationships with them.

Faith, hope, and love work on the negative side also. A mother does not love changing diapers, in fact, she detests it. However, she hopes and believes in the cleanliness and health of her baby. Therefore, she changes the diapers because she loves her baby.

A dark example would be the serial killer so in love with himself and the feeling of power that he believes, and hopes, he can get away with killing. Also, the cheater believes true love is found behind the back of the faithful lover and hopes to live the double life without consequence. In the case of the mother, the negative is in the external environmental conditions. Her motives toward her child are pure and unselfish. However, the killer and the adulterer are harming other people by their selfish choices.

The power of choice can be destroyed, by drugs or alcohol, for example. Yet, the choice to use drugs is itself a choice based on what the person believed, hoped to experience, and valued in life.

Just as with physical interactions, we are challenged to find an exception on the spiritual level.

When I use the phrase, predictable faith, it is not so much that faith is predictable as predictability leads to faith. Faith is a choice. It is not caused. It is not under the control of outside forces. However, given a group of intelligent, open minded people all facing the same high quality pattern of evidence, faith should be fairly predictable.

The fable of the boy who cried wolf illustrates this very well.

There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement. He rushed down towards the village calling out “Wolf, Wolf,” and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable time. This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterwards he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help. But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from the forest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course cried out “Wolf, Wolf,” still louder than before. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. So the Wolf made a good meal off the boy’s flock, and when the boy complained, the wise man of the village said: “A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.”

The boy had created a pattern, and although not forced, the villagers learned and trusted the pattern. When their predictions of tomfoolery proved true again and again, they came to have faith in the foolishness of the boy. This is what intelligent minds naturally do.

Patterns lead to predictions. Fulfilled predictions give rise to faith. Intelligent, healthy, positive faith depends on predictability. That is what I mean by, faith.

This insight helps us be more effective parents, teachers, pastors, and leaders. Don’t tell others to believe. Show them a pattern to believe. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Show them a pattern of scripture that repeats over and over again. Then they will believe it because they know it is God’s pattern, rather than your cherry picked opinion. Show your kids a pattern of love and they will feel loved. Show your coworkers a pattern of consistent behavior and they will trust that you will continue doing it. Make exceptions, then more exceptions, then people are confused and really don’t know what to believe. But make a strong pattern with few exceptions and you will be trusted.

“The discrepancy of profession and practice is doing a baleful work, and misrepresenting the character of Christ. Oh that all would realize what great harm is done to souls by little acts, and by sinful inconsistencies! Oh that all might see this and be converted!” (PC 394)

Now one final note. Don’t think that the pattern is to tell people over and over what to do. We make this mistake repeatedly in school and sermons. We think our duty is to drill into the head, Believe, believe, believe; Trust, trust, trust; Know, know, know. No, our duty is show our experience and lead them through experiences that sooner or later will inspire confidence.

 

For similar treatments of hope and love, please read this page.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Jesus is the Author, the Beginner, of our faith. Why? Because He believes in us. He believes we are worth saving. He believes we are savable! He believes we can be transformed into noble, selfless kings and queens who can walk among angels. That future joy was His lifelong hope that kept Him going through all the trials and temptations, all the opposition and pain. His love was rooted in that faith and hope. That is what made it a real and sincere investment. His death on the cross was not a quick toss of a dollar in the homeless person’s cup and then He moved on. No. His love believes in us and hopes for us with an everlasting love that produces real change.

Ever before Him He saw the result of His mission. His earthly life, so full of toil and self-sacrifice, was cheered by the prospect that He would not have all this travail for nought. By giving His life for the life of men, He would win back the world to its loyalty to God. Although the baptism of blood must first be received; although the sins of the world were to weigh upon His innocent soul; although the shadow of an unspeakable woe was upon Him; yet for the joy that was set before Him, He chose to endure the cross, and despised the shame. (DA 410.2)

Did His investment in us 2000 years ago pay off? Let’s look 1000 years into the future.

Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by the Father and the Son in man’s behalf. The hour has come when Christ occupies His rightful position and is glorified above principalities and powers and every name that is named. It was for the joy that was set before Him—that He might bring many sons unto glory—that He endured the cross and despised the shame. And inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the shame, yet greater is the joy and the glory. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image, every heart bearing the perfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness of their King. He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is satisfied. (GC 671.1)

Jesus lived a life of faith, hope, and love for us so that we could live a life of faith, hope, and love in Him.

Why?

What makes love greater than faith and hope when all three are necessary for salvation and all three are necessary for a happy life?

I think the answer is that Love can love in spite of negative patterns. Faith and hope need a positive pattern to grow. Love will also grow when it receives a positive pattern, but it can love even in the face of rejection, hatred, ridicule, and even persecution. Faith and hope will wither the darker the pattern gets, but love can see through the darkness and choose to see the potential locked in the dark heart. Even when the potential drains to zero and the hater becomes hopeless, love can choose to love just because it is good to love that hater.

“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you.” (Jude 1:9)

Satan is hopeless, but Christ chooses to love him.

“But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Jesus died for us in spite of our selfishness.

Love loves a positive pattern, but it can love the negative pattern makers.

The great moral powers of the soul are faith, hope, and love. If these are inactive, a minister may be ever so earnest and zealous, but his labor will not be accepted of God and cannot be productive of good to the church. A minister of Christ who bears the solemn message from God to the people should ever deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God. The spirit of Christ in the heart will incline every power of the soul to nourish and protect the sheep of His pasture, like a faithful, true shepherd. Love is the golden chain which binds believing hearts to one another in willing bonds of friendship, tenderness, and faithful constancy, and which binds the soul to God. There is a decided lack of love, compassion, and pitying tenderness among brethren. The ministers of Christ are too cold and heartless. Their hearts are not all aglow with tender compassion and earnest love. The purest and most elevated devotion to God is that which is manifested in the most earnest desires and efforts to win souls to Christ. The reason ministers who preach present truth are not more successful is that they are deficient, greatly deficient, in faith, hope, and love. There are toils and conflicts, self-denials and secret heart trials, for us all to meet and bear. There will be sorrow and tears for our sins; there will be constant struggles and watchings, mingled with remorse and shame because of our deficiencies.

Let not the ministers of the cross of our dear Saviour forget their experience in these things; but let them ever bear in mind that they are but men, liable to err, and possessing like passions with their brethren, and that if they help their brethren they must be persevering in their efforts to do them good, having their hearts filled with pity and love. They must come to the hearts of their brethren and help them where they are weak and need help the most. Those who labor in word and doctrine should break their own hard, proud, unbelieving hearts if they would witness the same in their brethren. Christ has done all for us because we were helpless; we were bound in chains of darkness, sin, and despair, and could therefore do nothing for ourselves. It is through the exercise of faith, hope, and love that we come nearer and nearer to the standard of perfect holiness. Our brethren feel the same pitying need of help that we have felt. We should not burden them with unnecessary censure, but should let the love of Christ constrain us to be very compassionate and tender, that we can weep over the erring and those who have backslidden from God. The soul is of infinite value. Its worth can be estimated only by the price paid to ransom it. Calvary! Calvary! Calvary! will explain the true value of the soul. (3T 187.2)

These paragraphs are focused on the pastor in the pulpit, but we are all ministers of different kinds in different situations. As we have previously seen, faith, hope, and love apply to all situations.

Ever since I first stumbled across it, I have never ceased to be amazed and awed by the power of the following quote.

It were better not to live than to exist day by day devoid of that love which Christ has revealed in His character, and has enjoined upon His children. Said Christ, “Love one another as I have loved you.” We live in a hard, unfeeling, uncharitable world. Satan and his confederacy are plying every art to seduce the souls for whom Christ has given His precious life. Every one who loves God in sincerity and truth, will love the souls for whom Christ has died. If we wish to do good to souls, our success with these souls will be in proportion to their belief in our belief in, and appreciation of, them. Respect shown to the struggling human soul is the sure means through Christ Jesus of the restoration of the self-respect the man has lost. Our advancing ideas of what he may become is a help we cannot ourselves fully appreciate. (FE 280.1)

Jesus did not merely do good to people. He did whatever it took, He did all the good necessary to convince the soul that He honestly loved them, that He sincerely wanted them. As they believed in His belief in them, they came to Him. They made requests they would not otherwise have made. They confessed sins they would not otherwise have confessed. They felt safe enough, desired enough, supported enough, to make efforts humanly impossible.

The sinners in the Bible personally came to Jesus because they hoped He would personally believe in them. They were not disappointed!

Jesus told the centurion, As you have believed so be it done unto you. Jesus told the woman, Your faith has made you whole. He told the mother, Great is your faith. He told the blind man, Your faith has saved you. (Matthew 8:13; 9:22; 15:28; Luke 18:42)

Respect shown to the struggling human soul is the sure means of restoration. Jesus acknowledged the power, and the right use of that power, in each case of healing. Faith saves us, because faith is a two-way connection to Christ. Our faith reaches out to Him and His faith reaches out to us.

May our faith in each other reach out to each other as fervently, as earnestly, as positively as Christ’s faith in us.

Many who are sincerely seeking for holiness of heart and purity of life seem perplexed and discouraged. They are constantly looking to themselves, and lamenting their lack of faith; and because they have no faith, they feel that they cannot claim the blessing of God. These persons mistake feeling for faith. They look above the simplicity of true faith, and thus bring great darkness upon their souls. They should turn the mind from self, to dwell upon the mercy and goodness of God and to recount His promises, and then simply believe that He will fulfill His word. We are not to trust in our faith, but in the promises of God. When we repent of our past transgressions of His law, and resolve to render obedience in the future, we should believe that God for Christ’s sake accepts us, and forgives our sins. (SL 89.1)

Sometimes my situation is so confusing and so messed up that I don’t know what promise to trust. In those times, I trust the Promise Giver. I trust that He will make known a guiding Scripture to lead me forward. There is a text for every problem. There is a specific piece of advice and lightgiving command for every situation. God brings it to my mind as I wait and pray and read, every time, every time.

Darkness and discouragement will sometimes come upon the soul and threaten to overwhelm us, but we should not cast away our confidence. We must keep the eye fixed on Jesus, feeling or no feeling. We should seek to faithfully perform every known duty, and then calmly rest in the promises of God. (SL 89.2)

Do you sometimes feel discouraged as you look into the darkness of the world falling apart around us? Do you feel discouraged about the dark time of trouble ahead of us? Do you feel discouraged about the darkness inside you? Fix your eye on Jesus who has His loving eye fixed on you. Put that bad feeling on a shelf and press forward, closer to your Savior. If there is something in your conscience bugging you, deal with it. Surrender to the still small Voice. Obey Scripture. Trust His promise to bring you out the other side into the light. “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

At times a deep sense of our unworthiness will send a thrill of terror through the soul, but this is no evidence that God has changed toward us, or we toward God. No effort should be made to rein the mind up to a certain intensity of emotion. We may not feel today the peace and joy which we felt yesterday; but we should by faith grasp the hand of Christ, and trust Him as fully in the darkness as in the light. (SL 90.1)

Many are longing to grow in grace; they pray over the matter, and are surprised that their prayers are not answered. The Master has given them a work to do whereby they shall grow. Of what value is it to pray when there is need of work? The question is, Are they seeking to save souls for whom Christ died? Spiritual growth depends upon giving to others the light that God has given to you. You are to put forth your best thoughts in active labor to do good, and only good, in your family, in your church, and in your neighborhood. In place of growing anxious with the thought that you are not growing in grace, just do every duty that presents itself, carry the burden of souls on your heart, and by every conceivable means seek to save the lost. Be kind, be courteous, be pitiful; speak in humility of the blessed hope; talk of the love of Jesus; tell of his goodness, his mercy, and his righteousness; and cease to worry as to whether or not you are growing. Plants do not grow through any conscious effort. Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.” The plant is not in continual worriment about its growth; it just grows under the supervision of God. The children of God are to cease worrying, cease looking at themselves; they are to take an earnest interest in others, and seek to lead the feet of the straying in the narrow path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. In this kind of work they will gain breadth of thought, tact, and skill. They will realize that they are to become agencies through which God will convey the truth to other minds, and that they are never to be left alone in their efforts; for heavenly angels will work with them, and impress the hearts of those who hear. (YI 2/3/1898)