And now In the present world; abideth In the hearts of holy persons, and influencing their lives, even all their tempers, words, and works; faith, hope, love, these three The principal and radical saving graces, of most frequent use in the Christian life, and productive of all the others. 1st, Faith, whereby we receive as infallibly true, and infinitely important, the testimony of God, contained in his word concerning things past, present, and to come; especially all the truths of his holy gospel; whereby being penitent, and believing on Jesus with our heart unto righteousness, we are persuaded of God's love to us in Christ, rely on his promises, and stand in awe of his threatenings; faith, ελεγχος ου βλεπομενων, the evidence, conviction, or persuasion of things not seen; ελπιζομενων υποστασις, the confidence, namely, of receiving, (so the latter word is rendered Hebrews 3:14,) or the anticipation, of things hoped for; giving them a present subsistence, as the word also signifies, in the heart. 2d, Hope, namely, of eternal life, Titus 1:2; of an incorruptible inheritance, 1 Peter 1:3; an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory, 2 Corinthians 4:17; hope, founded on our being heirs of these blessings, in consequence of our being children of God by adoption and regeneration, John 1:12-13; Romans 8:17: hope, productive of gratitude, joy, patience, purity, and all good works: see 1 Peter 1:3; Rom 5:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1Jn 3:3; 1 Corinthians 15:58. 3d, Love, namely, to God and man, described in this chapter. It is justly observed by Dr. Macknight here, that “the clause, now abideth, &c., implies, that the graces spoken of are not always to abide; at least the graces of faith and hope.” For faith, by which we walk, that is, are directed and governed, while we are at home in the body and absent from the Lord, is (2Co 5:7) opposed to sight, by which we shall walk, when, being present with him, we shall see him as he is; (Matthew 5:8; 1 John 3:2;) and as it is a confidence, or persuasion, of receiving things hoped for, when those things are actually seen and received, it must cease of course. Hope, likewise, that is seen, as the apostle observes, or the hope of blessings already possessed, is not hope: therefore, when the eternal life, the heavenly inheritance, &c., which were the objects of our hope, (the true and only Christian hope,) are enjoyed by us, the hope we entertained of them can have place in us no more, its object being attained. It is, however, far otherwise with love. The objects of this grace exist in the greatest perfection in heaven, and will exist there to all eternity, in a degree of fervour and purity of which we can now form no adequate idea.
“Thus constant faith and holy hope shall die, One lost in certainty, and one in joy:
While thou, more happy power, fair charity,
Triumphant sister, greatest of the three,
Thy office and thy nature still the same,
Lasting thy lamp, and unconsumed thy flame,
Shalt still survive;
Shalt stand before the host of heaven confess'd,
For ever blessing, and for ever blest.”PRIOR.
The greatest of these, therefore, is love The greatest, because the most durable, and also for divers other reasons: as, 1st, Faith and hope are graces chiefly suited to our fallen state, and intended to raise us from our fall: love was in man in his state of innocence and perfection, and was then his chief excellence, as it now is, and ever has been, the chief excellence of angels. 2d, Faith and hope are only means of salvation: love is the end to which these means are intended to bring us. 3d, Faith and hope may be termed selfish graces; particularly the latter is such, having our own interest in view: love is generous, disinterested, noble, and carries us out beyond ourselves. 4th, Faith and hope are human: love is divine; it exists, always has existed, and ever will exist, in God himself, in whom the former graces can have no place, and is in him his highest glory.