1 Corinthians 13:13

13. And now As the net result from all these premises.

Abideth In endless permanence.

Faith Not the transient charism of 1 Corinthians 13:12, (where see note,) but the sure reliance on God that will be ever sure in heaven.

Hope That even amid the highest good looks for a still higher. We cannot remember any other passage in the Bible that indicates the existence of progress for the soul in heaven than this word in this place.

These three In view of the many passages of Paul in which the trinity is shadowed without being fully expressed, we cannot quite reject the opinion of Grotius, that Paul means a trinity of graces.

Greatest… is charity Love is not only an eternal grace, but the highest among the eternal. Faith is indeed the condition to our Christian life, but love is its completion. Faith but unlocks the door by which we enter into the blessedness of its superior, love. Other graces contribute to heaven; love constitutes heaven: for a heart of love in a world of love is heaven. If love is a happiness derived from the happiness of others, how rich must be that happiness where countless millions are as happy as the boundaries of their finite natures permit! And this love is but a continuance and enlargement of a grace here possessed. If a spark of God’s love beams now in our heart, it is of the nature of heaven. If not, then we have no true faith, no well-grounded hope, no godlike love. These three go hand in hand, and never can be separated; nor can one exist without the others.