Love Never Fails

“Now about spiritual things, brothers and sisters, I don’t want you to be in the dark. You know that back when you were Gentiles, you were led away to those idols that have no voice, in whatever way you were led. So I am telling you this: no one who speaks by God’s Spirit says, ‘Jesus is cursed.’ No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ unless it is by the Holy Spirit.

“The gifts are of many kinds, but the Spirit is the same. The ways of serving are of many kinds, and the Lord is the same. The ways of working are of many kinds, but it is the same God who works all things in all. But each one is given a showing of the Spirit, for everyone’s good.

“Through the Spirit, one person is given a word of wisdom. Another is given a word of knowledge by the same Spirit. Another is given faith by the same Spirit, and another gifts of healing by the same Spirit. Another is given the doing of miracles; another, prophecy; another, telling spirits apart; another, different kinds of languages; and another, interpreting languages. But one and the same Spirit does all of these, handing them out to each one separately, just as he wants.”

“The body isn’t made of one part, but of many. Suppose the foot said, ‘I’m not the hand, so I’m not part of the body.’ It would still be part of the body. Suppose the ear said, ‘I’m not the eye, so I’m not part of the body.’ It would still be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole of it were hearing, where would the smelling be? But God has set each of the parts in the body, just as he wished. If all of them were one part, where would the body be? But now there are many parts, and only one body.

“The eye can’t tell the hand, ‘I have no use for you,’ and the head can’t tell the feet, ‘I have no use for you.’ No, it is quite the opposite: the body’s parts that seem weaker are necessary. The parts of the body we think less honorable are the ones we give more honor, and the parts we don’t show are treated with more modesty, while the parts we can show have no need of it. But God joined the body together, giving more honor to the lesser part, so there would be no division in the body, and the parts would all care for one another the same way. When one part hurts, all the parts hurt with it. When one part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is one of its parts. In the assembly God has set some: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, guiding, and different kinds of languages. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts to heal? Do all speak in other languages? Do all interpret? But set your hearts on the best gifts. And beyond that, I am showing you a far better way.”

“Brothers and sisters, suppose I come to you speaking in other languages. What good would I be to you, unless what I say to you is a revelation, or knowledge, or prophesying, or teaching? Even lifeless things make sounds, like a flute or a harp. If their notes all sounded the same, how would anyone tell what was being played? And if the trumpet gave an unclear sound, who would get ready for war? It is the same with you. Unless your tongue speaks words that are easy to understand, how could anyone tell what was spoken? You would be speaking into the air. There may be a great many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without meaning. So if I don’t know what a language means, I would be a foreigner to the one speaking it, and he would be a foreigner to me. The same goes for you. Since you long for spiritual gifts, seek to have plenty of them for building up the assembly.

“So whoever speaks in another language should pray to be able to interpret. If I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my understanding bears no fruit. What should I do? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with understanding too. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with understanding too. Otherwise, if you give a blessing with the spirit, how will the one who is in the place of the untaught say the ‘Amen’ when you give thanks? He doesn’t know what you are saying. You are certainly giving thanks well, but the other person isn’t built up. I thank my God that I speak in other languages more than all of you. But in the assembly I would rather speak five words with my understanding, to teach others too, than ten thousand words in another language.

“Brothers and sisters, don’t be children in your thinking. Be babies in doing harm, but in your thinking, be grown up. In the law it is written, ‘Through people of strange languages and the lips of strangers I will speak to this people. They won’t listen to me even that way, says the Lord.’ So other languages are a sign, not for those who believe, but for those who don’t. And prophesying is a sign, not for those who don’t believe, but for those who do. So if the whole assembly meets together and everyone speaks in other languages, and people who are untaught or who don’t believe come in, won’t they say you are crazy? But if everyone prophesies, and someone comes in who doesn’t believe or is untaught, everyone shows him his wrong, and everyone judges him. The secrets of his heart come to light, and so he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed.”

“Let two or three of the prophets speak, and let the others weigh their words. But if a revelation is given to someone else sitting nearby, the first speaker should be quiet. All of you can take turns prophesying, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints.

“Let the wives be quiet in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to be talking except in submission, as the law also says, if they desire to learn anything. ‘Let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a wife to be talking in the assembly.’

“What! Was it from you that the word of God went out? Or did it come only to you? If anyone thinks he is a prophet, or spiritual, let him recognize the things I write to you: they are what the Lord commands. But if anyone doesn’t know it, let him go on not knowing. So, brothers and sisters, set your hearts on prophesying, and don’t forbid speaking in other languages. Let everything be done decently and in order.”

“First of all, I handed on to you what I myself received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once. Most of them are alive to this day, but some have died. Next he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as if to a child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me too.

“I am the least of the apostles. I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace given to me was not wasted. I worked more than all of them, yet not I: it was the grace of God with me. So whether it is I or they, this is how we preach, and this is how you believed.”

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first fruit of those who have died. Since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also came by a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, when he comes. Then the end comes. He will hand the Kingdom over to God the Father, once he has done away with all rule and all authority and power. He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be done away with is death, for ‘He put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when he says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is clear that this leaves out the one who made all things subject to him. When all things have been made subject to him, then the Son too will himself be made subject to the one who made all things subject to him, so God may be all in all.

“Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?

“And why are we, too, in danger every hour? I die daily. I promise you that is true, by the boasting about you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human reasons, what good is it to me? If the dead are not raised, then ‘let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Don’t be fooled! ‘Bad friends spoil good morals.’ Wake up, as is right, and don’t sin, because some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.”

“The resurrection of the dead is like that. The body is planted perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is planted in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness; it is raised in power. It is planted a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is also a spiritual body. And so it is written: ‘Adam, the first man, became a living being.’ And the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. But the spiritual is not first. The natural is first, and then the spiritual. The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. Those who are made of dust are like the one made of dust, and those who are heavenly are like the heavenly one. As we have carried the image of those made of dust, let’s also carry the image of the heavenly.

“Now I say this, brothers and sisters: flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom, and the perishable doesn’t inherit the imperishable. Look, I tell you a mystery. Not every one of us will die, but all of us will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, never again to decay, and we will be changed. This perishable body must become imperishable, and this body that dies must put on immortality.

“But when this perishable body has become imperishable, and this body that dies has put on immortality, then what is written will happen: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! And so, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm and unshakable, always overflowing in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not wasted in the Lord.”

“I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, because I am passing through Macedonia. I may stay with you, or even spend the winter with you, so that you can send me on my journey, wherever I go. I don’t wish to see you now only in passing. I hope to stay with you for a while, if the Lord permits. But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many opponents.

“If Timothy comes, make sure he has nothing to fear among you, because he does the Lord’s work, as I do too. So no one should look down on him. Send him off on his journey in peace, so that he may come to me, because I expect him with the brothers. As for Apollos, our brother, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers. He did not want to come at all just now, but he will come when he has the chance.

“Keep watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong! Let everything you do be done in love.

“You know the household of Stephanas, brothers and sisters: they are the first fruits of Achaia, and they have set themselves to serve the saints. Now I beg you also to put yourselves under people like these, and under everyone who helps in the work and works hard. I am glad Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus came, because they have made up for what was lacking on your part. They refreshed my spirit and yours. So recognize people like that.

“The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, together with the assembly in their house. All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

“This greeting is from me, Paul, written with my own hand. If anyone doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Come, Lord!”

He wrote “Come, Lord!” in Aramaic: “Maranatha!”

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.”