Faith... love... hope. — in this first of his writings, St. Paul has already fixed upon the three great abiding principles (1 Corinthians 13:13) of the Christian life, and the forms in which they mainly exhibit themselves. The genitive in such phrases as “work of faith,” etc., is almost equivalent to a very emphatic adjective — “faithful activity,” i.e., a work characterised by faith and prompted by faith, such as faith alone could have enabled you to accomplish; so “labour of love” is similarly equivalent to “loving labour,” laborious toil undertaken for love’s sake, and done in the spirit of love; and “patience of hope” to “hopeful endurance of trials,” a steadfast endurance which is grounded upon and cheered by hope.
In our Lord. — More correctly, of The words in the Greek go with all three clauses: He is the object of the faith and love, as well as of the hope. This “hope of our Lord” includes, but is not limited to, the hope of His second Advent.
In the sight of God goes closely with “remembering,” and is equivalent to “in prayer.”